After hosting a record-breaking Kickstarter for his latest game, the creator of Suikoden says he’d be open to returning to the series that made his name. However, for the time being, the RPG games veteran is all in on what’s right in front of him.
Speaking to Nintendo Everything, Yoshitaka Murayama, director of the first three Suikoden games, said he’d happily take the opportunity to go back to the classic IP, but only after his current project Eiyuden Chronicle is shipped and taken care of first. “Suikoden was a game I was very fortunate to work on. I will always love that series but it’s not really something that I own or control whereas Eiyuden can 100% be my thing,” He explained. “That being said, I would of course be more than happy to work on another Suikoden game if the chance presented itself in the future. However, for now, I want to pour my focus into Eiyuden Chronicle as the next chapter in my life.”
The first Suikoden is widely regarded as one of the greatest JRPGs of all-time, coming out in the mid-nineties on the PlayStation amid a surge in the genre. Murayama led development on it and the first two sequels, before parting ways with Konami in the early noughties. Last year, he and a team featuring talent from across the Suikoden series revealed spiritual successor Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, and their new studio, Rabbit & Bear. The anime game proceeded to become one of the most successful videogame Kickstarter campaigns of all time.
Here’s some early battle gameplay from Eiyuden Chronicle:
Murayama has made it clear Eiyuden Chronicle will be on Steam in addition to whatever other platforms it lands on, and right now the release window is set for sometime in 2022.