Suikoden Creator Has Died

Yoshitaka Murayama, the creator of the classic JRPG franchise Suikoden and the director of its spiritual successor series Eiyuden Chronicle, has died. He had apparently been fighting an unspecified illness, which led to his untimely passing in the middle of the development of Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes.

Murayama created Suikoden, which launched for the PlayStation in 1995. The first and second Suikoden games became big hits among RPG fans in the PlayStation era, with their biggest defining feature being the huge character rosters, known as the 108 Stars of Destiny. This concept was based on the ancient Chinese novel Water Margin, which involved historical figure Song Jiang and his band of 108 outlaws who rebelled against the government.

Murayama's development company, Rabbit & Bear Studios, clarified that he died on February 6. He and his team were still hard at work on Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, which had begun development back in 2020 after it was successfully funded by Suikoden fans on Kickstarter. Despite the unfortunate circumstances, the team stated that they would continue their commitment to finishing the game and achieving Murayama's dream.

In the meantime, longtime fans can look forward to reliving the glory days of Murayama's past creations. They can start with Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising, the first game in the new series released back in 2022. While it does its own thing as a side-scrolling action RPG, as the spiritual successor to Suikoden it still brings back familiar elements from the original series.

And for those who want to play the original games, the first two Suikoden titles are still available on the PS3 via PSN. Konami plans to release an HD remaster of Suikoden 1 and2on the PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Switch, but the titles have encountered some delays after originally being announced for 2023.

Beyond the first two games, the rest of the Suikoden series is also worth playing, especially for JRPG enthusiasts looking to explore some deeper