Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is a nostalgic throwback to JRPGs of yesteryear, with some entertaining and polished elements and others leaving much to the imagination. I enjoyed playing the game and liked its large, colorful cast of characters, even though I wished several of them had more narrative presence. This desire was incredibly genuine with Marisa, a young woman touted as the tale’s third main protagonist who didn’t receive as much of the spotlight as Nowa and Seign.
Thus, I had high hopes for the expansion of Eiyuden Chronicle’s first DLC story, The Chapter of Marisa. I even patiently waited through the DLC’s delay, hoping that the prequel side story would reveal sides of Marisa and her fellow Guardian companions barely glimpsed in the game’s main narrative. Unfortunately, the roughly two- to three-hour adventure we have here can be disappointing from a plot stance.
To even start The Chapter of Marisa, you need a save file set sometime after the main game’s Recapture of Eltisweiss event, which is admittedly a bit odd given the DLC’s prequel status. Go to the room in your HQ where Marisa and her fellow Guardian friends hang out, and you find a glowing urn with an exclamation point over it; interacting with said urn starts the DLC event proper. You then take control of a past Marisa on the day she encounters two strange young women she’s fated to become good friends with.
I’d say more on the story, but there isn’t much to add. I’d hoped that this DLC would offer further insight into Marisa and the other characters involved, but they remain pretty spot-on to how they are in the main game. You get a slightly closer look into Marisa’s feelings as someone adopted and how that impacts her perceptions of the recently awakened Nil’s circumstances as she tries to find a place to belong. In a similar vein, Leene gets one surprising scene of vulnerability, but there aren’t any major narrative revelations or significant plot threads untangled. Other Guardian characters like Wayve, Alwe, and Lilwn seem content to retread story beats from the base game, which is incredibly disappointing with Wayve, given how likable a character he is and his status as Marisa’s adopted sibling. There’s a small attempt to make the masked members of the Conclave of the Dawn seem more like a main antagonistic force, but they still come across as an afterthought that could have more substance later if the story ever permits. It’s a shame, given the wait for the DLC’s release and the fact that these characters have potential if they were only fleshed out more.
Players will already be familiar with the game’s core mechanics when they access this DLC. Nothing has changed from the base game regarding controls or party setup. All character levels, equipment, and items in your inventory when you initiate the DLC carry over into The Chapter of Marisa, which is another odd choice for a prequel. Party battles are the only type of combat you participate in, so you don’t have the occasional strategy fight or cinematic duel as you would in the base game, which could arguably be in Marisa‘s favor, depending on your battle format preferences.
Marisa must travel through the DLC’s dungeon areas and the one town hub, quickly progressing through plot events at a breakneck pace. Your battle party is initially limited but eventually gains six members for the DLC’s final assault. The turn-based combat is polished enough that it isn’t tedious or frustrating, though there isn’t a lot of enemy variety when exploring. Locked doors bar the way to the dungeon’s next area, and solving the “puzzle” for them essentially means that you travel from point to point on the area’s map to gather enough floating orbs of light (inexplicably called “fluffy things”) to open the door. Each subsequent “phase” of the puzzle gets slightly more time-consuming, but the concept is simple. It isn’t long after this dungeon exploration that you reach the expansion’s ending.
You can access save points throughout The Chapter of Marisa and return to the base game whenever you encounter a glowing urn, but it doesn’t take long to go through the expansion for a one-time playthrough. This brevity is disappointing from a narrative stance and because the dungeon areas you progress through have decent designs. I enjoyed exploring them! Unfortunately, this DLC also does not provide achievements and trophies or special items/bonuses for those wanting them.
Like the base game itself, The Chapter of Marisa is visually impressive in terms of character sprite work and area backgrounds. I also like the character art, though it remains unchanged from the main game. Soundwise, the BGM tracks, like “Runebarrows” and “Marisa’s Theme,” are lovely to listen to but also carry over from the base game. The English voice acting continues to be hit or miss, depending on the character. However, I love how Nil’s voice actor conveys her mechanical-yet-tentatively-emotional character through her delivery.
Essentially, The Chapter of Marisa is more Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes. That’s probably in its favor if you enjoyed the base game, but if you were expecting drastic change or development, this DLC will disappoint. Given its length, I’m reluctant to recommend purchasing this DLC for its full asking price, as it seems more than a tad steep for its short playtime. Should The Chapter of Marisa ever get a significant sale, that might be a different story if you enjoyed Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes. Just be warned to temper your expectations accordingly.
