PAX East 2022: 505 Games

We checked out Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising and Rogue Spirit. Two of the newest titles releasing for 505 Games. 

It’s been two years since PAX was in person. Now PAX is back to showcase the latest in gaming with a plethora of titles from the hottest studios. 505 Games, the publisher that’s released games such as Dead by Daylight, Control, and the PC release of Death Stranding, is one booth you cannot miss at PAX East 2022 as they debut two very exciting titles: Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising and Rogue Spirit.

Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising

First up is Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising. This unbelievably fun 2.5-dimensional action RPG was developed by Rabbit and Bear studios and NatsumeAtari. It serves as a pre-war backstory to Eiyuden Chronicles: Hundred Heroes. Below the town of New Neveah, a massive quake reveals treasured ruins deep underneath. As a result, adventurers looking for fortune seek to explore the city. Three heroes, CJ, Isha, and Garoo, team up out of mutual interest to restore New Neveah to glory. The game will be available on Playstation 4 and 5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, Steam, Epic, and GOG on May 8th.

Highlights of the Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising Demo

• Combat is unbelievably smooth and refined with pinpoint accuracy.
• Boss fights were more difficult than I expected, with just the right balance of challenge and clever pattern-learning to find their vulnerability. 
• Dialogue bubbles are pretty fun and reminiscent of old-school RPG Gameboy game text.
• Artwork is just outright beautiful, with gorgeous 2D landscapes of forestry and life. New Neveah looks alive and full of the hustle and bustle of an everyday village. 
• The gameplay does feel very fetch-quest at the beginning. 
• Lootable items and goods per defeated enemy make for a fun replayable level RPG. 
• The best thing is finding the allies to eventually partner and do sick combo chains with as this is the reason you’ll want to play. Be sure to ask for a further save file or push through the first 20 mins of play at least to really see what this has to offer.

Rogue Spirit

Next is 505’s other game being demoed, Rogue Spirit. It’s a classical Japanese-anime 3D rogue-lite developed by Kids with Sticks, who are a Polish team of devs who’d worked on games such as Dying Light and The Witcher 2. This game is about overcoming enemies to eventually challenge a Demon King, not just by fighting as a single class, but by possessing the bodies of others. Rogue Spirit is a possession game of transfer from body-to-body of your defeated enemies as a ghost. Sort of like Soul Reaver, but set in an anime world. 

At PAX East, 505 is showing off new features in an upcoming content drop including two playable characters, a boss battle, and a biome. It’s available now on Steam in Early Access and will fully release everywhere soon.

Highlights of the Rogue Spirit demo: 

• Seriously challenging like any good rogue-lite.
• Immediately thought of Soul Reaver because of the fun body possession mechanic.
• A little buggy as the game can freeze when visiting some shopkeepers
• The mysteriously spiritual anime setting fits well in the 3D adventure. Lots of lore and decor about and there’s a good amount of in-game world-building.
• Combat felt slightly stoic but it could also be because of stamina limits.
• Does feel like a basic system. Attack, strong attack, dash, or parry.  The upgrade and progression system feels a little too straightforward.
• Overall, the gameplay is fun in that possessing and swapping new enemies allows for new combos/attacks. Sometimes as a tanky wolverine type, sometimes as an archer, other times as a quarterstaff warrior.