TheGamer’s Slack involves a lot of talking about, well, games. Whether people are jumping into a classic from their backlog orchecking out the latest indie that they intend to make their entire personality, games are always on our collective brain.
But we aren’t some anonymous hive mind, one big groupthink experiment who all play the same games and have the same tastes. I loveindie RPGsand any game that tries somethingmechanically freshorartistically daring. I lovepicking the brains of those who make such striking, intentional games, and playing anything that tries to take a risk.
Others on the website feel differently. We have platforming passionistas and fighting game freaks writing shoulder to shoulder with puzzle perfectionists, cosy connoisseurs, and – the backbone of any gaming website – immersive sim idolisers. This is what builds our balanced and varied coverage of each and every gaming release, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
Our latest discussions have involved talking about our favourite games of the year so far, specifically the ones that have gone under the radar. As I implored everyone to play1000xResist, my colleagueJames Kennedycountered with Eiyuden Chronicle: 100 Heroes.
His initial pitch was slow and meandering, but as soon as he got to the good stuff – there’s a shark lady and it’s on Game Pass – I was in. I set the game to download and jumped in.
Here I get to the problem. Eiyuden Chronicle: 100 Heroes starts incredibly slowly. I’ve played about six hours of the game and found plenty I like, parts that I don’t, but no semblance of a story. The opening hinted at powerful items that will inevitably become important later, and war is clearly brewing in the north, but where is Nowa’s (or my) motivation to press on?
I’ve given it a chance because of my peer’s recommendation, and I’m continuing to play because I like the writing and (most of) the characters – Kuroto’s gruff Yorkshire accent stands out like a sore thumb and I would die for him – but the narrative is barely present. I’m the kind of person who needs a good story to pull me into a game, and Eiyuden isn’t doing that right now.
By ‘good story’, I don’t necessarily mean a cinematic triple-A masterpiece akin to The Last of Us. Celeste has a good story, immediately apparent from the first few platforms you jump across. She’s trying to get up the mountain. That’s enough. Quickly, you realise that she has her own demons to battle, too, and the premise becomes even more gripping. To contrast, Eiyuden has no narrative grip on me at all. I get that some stories are a slow burn, but this is unnecessary.
This isn’t to say I hate the game – I like the characters, the combat, and the dungeon design. The whole thing is presented beautifully. I can’t wait to min/max runes and work out powerful team-up skills to strike down any foe who dares cross the path of the Eltisweiss Watch.
However, in this day and age, games need to be immediately gripping. None moreso than games that release on Xbox Game Pass, a system where players are encouraged to dip in and out of games at will. I know that’s what I use the service for – trying out games that I’m not sure if I’ll like or not. I give them a few hours to get their hooks in me, or get out.
My friends feel the same. As we all grow older, we no longer have entire weekends available to dedicate to the latest Call of Duty campaign. Work commitments mean we can’t stay up until the early hours playing Left 4 Dead 2 on voice chat. As gaming time becomes more precious, we get more picky about the games we play. If something doesn’t immediately grab us, we move on. It’s not a good way to engage with media, but it’s the reality of the modern gaming landscape.
WhileThe Plucky Squirewas by no means perfect, its inventive mechanics immediately drew me into its world and compelled me to finish it. I Am Your Beast opened with possibly the best tutorial I’ve ever played, thick with booming narrative beats and visceral gameplay. I’m told Eiyuden Chronicle: 100 Heroes gets better from here on out, but if it wasn’t for numerous respected opinions telling me to persevere, I think I’d be moving on already.
