As the number of video game remakes, remasters, and spiritual successors grows, so does the hesitation surrounding these projects. Though some might see these games as loving homages to the art and stories that made us who we are, it’s just as easy to see them as attempts to bottle lightning–or perhaps, more accurately, nostalgia. So, how do these games set themselves apart? Well, as Rabbit and Bear Studios’ debut title Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes–a spiritual successor to legendary RPG Suikoden–proves, having a team of veteran developers united under a beloved series’ creator is a great place to begin.
Rabbit and Bear Studios launched back in 2020, with four ex-Konami developers at its helm: character designer Junko Kawano of Suikoden fame, Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow director Junichi Murakami, Suikoden and Silent Hill’s Osamu Komuta, and Suikoden’s creator, the late Yoshitaka Murayama. The team came together with a very clear purpose: to create the game the four of them had always dreamed of making, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes.
“All of us are ex-Konami, so we’d meet up and drink together sometimes,” Junko Kawano told GameSpot. “One time when we were drinking and talking to each other, we sort of realized that we’ve reached a good age, and that we really wanted to develop a game that we were deeply interested in together. So we decided to form the studio.”