Eternal Heroes

Eternal Heroes is a fighting game developed by Draconian Games and published by The Deviant Fighting Company, released on February 22, 2022, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and Microsoft Windows via Steam and Epic Games Store. It is the eighth and final game in the Phase One of the DraconianVerse.
Overall reception for the game is mainly positive as the critics praised the gameplay, plot and characterization. It sold around 12,500 copies in the first week.
==Gameplay==
Eternal Heroes is a 2.5D fighter, where the combats are done between teams of three, inspired in The King of Fighters series with a four-button scheme. The Vigor Indicator (the game's super meter) has a maximum capability of three levels, but with each team member getting defeated in a round, it expands to five levels. Every character can use their EX Special Arts with only half portion of the Vigor Indicator. Common mechanics include the Evasive Roll and the Knockdown Attack.
Characters can activate the Stamina Mode in its two variations, the normal version which buffs their overall status and the quick version that allows them to link their special moves for combos. In addition, if the players use an enhanced version of the Knockdown Attack which costs a half portion of the Vigor Indicator, the opponents can get collapsed in order to expand their combos. The Stamina Indicator's length is based depending on the variation, which is long for the normal version and short for the quick version.
The Quick Combo is a beginner-friendly mechanic that allows the players to do chain attacks by pressing the same light punch button three times, with a fourth one varying depending on one of the four attack buttons and can be deactivated to avoid cheapness.
The Super Arts are performed with one level of the Vigor Indicator, with an enhanced version added by pressing two buttons within the corresponding command, costing two levels, and the three level cinematic supers are called the Ultra Arts. Super Arts can be cancelled through the Super Connection. If done within the Stamina Mode, the cost varies depending on the length of the Stamina Indicator.
==Story ==
Eternal Heroes takes place in the year 2022, with Velhallen Beo escaping from his imprisonment in the Forbidden Dimension after getting the Eternal Gauntlet made from the old hermit residing there. Beo was arrested for making a pyramidal scam by converting his own photo into a NFT (Non-Fungible Token), robbing money from people who bought it, and then from other buyers who bought modified versions from the sellers. Beo has threatened the Dimensional Planes with a parademon invasion if they don't defeat him.
With the news confirming about Beo's escape, the United Hero Force, led by the Colonel Mack Strong, has announced the first All-Star Fighting tournament, with an important rule: Every single fight must be done with teams of three people. The main intention of the tournament is to seek three worthy individuals that will be the chosen ones against the evil plan of Velhallen Beo before every single dimension will be destroyed for good.
Hikaru Hamato, a teenage rookie member of the United Hero Force, joins the tournament alongside with his two adult teammates Cobalt Horse and Raquel Estrada to defeat Velhallen Beo and reveal the purpose for why he has the powers of light. Similarly, Cleamont Cale, a disgruntled former UHF rookie with an irrational hatred on Hikaru, picks George Matthews (rival of Carlos Velásquez) and Shadoz (rival of Rudolph Barrett) with the intention to defeat Velhallen Beo by himself, much to the iconic rivals' dismay.
Which will be the fate of the Dimensional Planes if Velhallen Beo gets away with his invasion?
==Characters==
Eternal Heroes launched with a total of 50 characters, consisting of 16 teams with three fighters each, plus the single-entry sub-boss and final boss serving as unlockable characters. Additional characters are available as paid downloadable content, with the first season pass comprised of 12 characters spread across four teams, two of these are guest teams from The King of Fighters and Heavy Hitters. A second season pass comprised of six single entry characters are confirmed.
Characters debuting in the game are marked in italic.
===Initial Roster===
;Rookie Heroes Team
* Hikaru Hamato
* Cobalt Horse
* Raquel Estrada
;Rivals Team
* Cleamont Cale
* George Matthews
* Shadoz
;Battle Rhythm Team
* Carlos Velásquez
* Joaquín Ortiz
* Rina Yamanaka
;BeastKnights Team
* Rudolph Barrett
* Gretchen Eillan
* Iron Crusher
;Reign of Violence Team
* Erika Wright
* Samanta Olsen
* Gerard Olsen
;Space Fighting Championship Team
* Timothy Simmons
* Megumi Hashimoto
* Victor Goodson
;Fighting Ladies Team
* Adrian Salazar
* Aatahua
* Kyteena
;Olympic Sports Team
* Mister Muscle
* Favio Olivera
* Kelly Barrett
;League of Spies Team
* Natalya "Natalie" Volkova
* Marion Hansen
* Francine Lewis
;Argonian Squadron Team
* General Volt
* Captain Lyrus
* Commander Proton
;Aliens Team
* Zen-Garr
* Meteo-Ken
* Kamozan
;Spirits Unleashed Team
* Mantigore
* Maria Iolkos
* Ophelia Silverdust
;Chinese Pride Team
* Tao Ziyi
* Lu Fong
* Huang Hui Xing
;Millionaires' Club Team
* Clarissa Collins
* El Vez
* Lucky Ace
;Cult of Sacrifice Team
* Ramiro Puentes
* Steel Massacre
* Kirara Satsujin
;Madmen Team
* Cerebrous
* Stinger
* Funzo Jack
===DLC Roster===
;Vigilantes Team
* Murdock Jameson
* Patrick Jones
* Paulina Guzmán
;KnightHunters Team
* Camila
* Yaxkin
* Mahnaz
;KOF Heroes Team
* Kyo Kusanagi
* Benimaru Nikaido
* Goro Daimon
;Heavy Hitters Team
* Mark Lieng
* Gene Turot
* Lizzie Rapsod
===Bosses===
;Sub-Boss
* Col. Mack Strong
;Final Boss
* Velhallen Beo
== Stages ==
* AAA Wrestling Bar: Fighting Ladies Team stage
* Acapulco Beach: Reign of Violence Team stage
* Air Force Base: Space Fighting Championship Team stage
* Amusement Zone: Spirits Unleashed Team stage
* Argonian Command Center: Argonian Squadron Team stage
* City of Wuhan: Chinese Pride Team stage
* Destroyed Helicarrier: Velhallen Beo's stage
* Freshly Squeezed Bar: Rivals Team stage
* Hall of the Millionaires: Millionaires' Club Team stage
* Helicarrier: Col. Strong's stage
* Laboratory of Evils: Madmen Team stage
* League of Spies' Headquarters: League of Spies Team stage
* Medieval Museum: BeastKnights Team stage
* Mesoamerican Ruins: Cult of Sacrifice Team stage
* New Tokyo Stadium: Olympic Sports Team stage
* Training Stage
* United People's Academy: Rookie Heroes Team stage
* Universal Planetarium: Aliens Team stage
* Zocalo: Battle Rhythm Team stage
==Development==
Eternal Heroes began development around 2018, with its official announcement taking place on December 12, 2019. According to Saúl Saavedra H., he planned the game to be the cornerstone of the DraconianVerse in the same vein as The Avengers movie was for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Development was temporally halted in 2020 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic before restarting in early 2021.
The announcement trailer featured Carlos Velásquez, Rudolph Barrett, Erika Wright and Timothy Simmons, which are the protagonists of the previous DraconianVerse titles, alongside with the silhouettes of Hikaru Hamato, Cobalt Horse and Raquel Estrada, billed as the main protagonists of the game. Hikaru's English voice actor, Tom Holland, provided the narration of the trailer as the character in question.
Originally, the game was planned to be released in mid-to-late 2021, however, due to the fact that the main team is testing the GGPO Rollback Netcode provided by Tony Cannon himself when he visited the Draconian Games' studio, in addition to tuning the established characters' gameplay to make them compatible and fixing various bugs, plus the aforementioned COVID-19 impact in the gaming industry, the game got delayed to February 22, 2022.
===Cast===
Eternal Heroes features a selection of characters from previous DraconianVerse IPs such as Battle Rhythm, Beast Knights, Reign of Violence and SFC: Space Fighting Championship, alongside with brand new characters specifically made for the game.
The main character, Hikaru Hamato, is conceptualized as a modern-day teenager whose hobbies include interacting with social media, as the creator wanted to make the character relatable to the younger audiences, as opposed to Carlos, Rudolph, Erika and Timothy being seasoned veterans. Other original characters include Cleamont Cale, the rival of Hikaru with a serious attitude problem, Kelly Barrett, the modern-day descendant of Rudolph who has her own Animal Spirit, and Colonel Mack Strong, the benevolent head of the United Hero Force. Gloria Miller, Col. Strong's no-nonsense partner, appears as a NPC in the story mode of the game.
Velhallen Beo, a character created by Ben, is the main antagonist of the game. Saúl actually contacted Ben to use the character, which he agrees. Ben himself is quite surprised that Beo's dark sense of humor remains intact.
Due to an in-universe embargo, no single character originating from The Superpowered Trilogy participated in the game, as the timeline where the trilogy takes place, 2077, is marked as off-limits due to the Homunculi outbreak happening at the end of Superpowered Catastrophe.
Mark Lieng, Gene Turot and Lizzie Raspod, from Ultima Games' Heavy Hitters series, were added as DLC guest characters with the permission from series creator Josh Garriga.
== Voice Cast ==
* Jon Bailey: Announcer
* Laura Bailey: Natalya "Natalie" Volkova
* Ogie Banks: Favio Olivera
* Dave Bautista: Kamozan
* Steve Blum: Iron Crusher
* Andrew Bowen: Joaquin Ortiz
* Christine Marie Cabanos: Rina Yamanaka
* Vic Chao: Mark Lieng
* Jeff Cobb: Steel Massacre
* Lilly Collins: Kelly Barrett
* Justin Cook: Kyo Kusanagi
* Auli'i Cravalho: Aatahua
* Jim Cummings: Cerebrous
* Viola Davis: Gloria Miller
* Robbie Daymond: Benimaru Nikaido
* Vin Diesel: Victor Goodson
* John DiMaggio: Timothy Simmons
* Richard Epcar: Funzo Jack
* Luis Fernandez-Gil: Ramiro Puentes
* Erika Fong: Tao Ziyi
* Jesse Godderz: Mister Muscle
* Jennifer Hale: Lizzie Rapsod
* Mark Hamill: Velhallen Beo
* J. G. Hertzer: Mantigore
* Tom Holland: Hikaru Hamato
* Kaori "KAIRI" Housako: Kirara Satsujin
* Camille Hyde: Samantha Olsen
* Patricia Ja Lee: Megumi Hashimoto
* Saraya Jade-Beavis: Ophelia Silverdust
* Victoria Justice: Raquel Estrada
* Cherami Leigh: Adriana Salazar
* Mary Louise "Maria" Kanellis-Bennett: Maria Iolkos
* Samuel L. Jackson: Colonel Mack Strong
* Phil LaMarr: Murdock Jameson
* Reuben Langdon: Carlos Velásquez
* Jared Leto: George Matthews
* Scott McNeil: Stinger
* Idina Menzel: Marion Hansen
* Liam O'Brien: Yaxkin
* Quinn "Moose" Ojinnaka: Gerard Olsen
* Britanny Anne Pirtle: Erika Wright
* Jamieson Price: Shadoz
* Norman Reedus: Commander Proton
* Patrick Seitz: Zen-Garr
* Holly Shanahan: Camila
* Parry Shen: Huang Hui Xing
* Robin Shou: Meteo-Ken
* James Sie: Lu Fong
* Christopher Corey Smith: El Vez
* David Sobolov: Patrick Jones
* Cole Sprouse: Cleamont Cale
* Jason Statham: Commander Volt
* Karen Strassman: Mahnaz
* Tara Strong: Gretchen Eillan
* Keifer Sutherland: Captain Lyrus
* Taylor Swift: Clarissa Collins
* Fred Tatasciore: Goro Daimon
* Owen Thomas: Lucky Ace
* Cristina Valenzuela: Paulina Guzmán
* Cerina Vincent: Francine Lewis
* Jordi Webber: Cobalt Horse
* Elijah Wood: Rudolph Barrett
* Johnny Yong Bosch: Gene Turot
* Arynn Zech: Kyteena
==Future==
Eternal Heroes serves as the conclusion of the Phase One of the DraconianVerse, however, a sequel is expected to form part of the line-up of the Phase Two, confirmed to be titled Eternal Heroes: Darkness Rising.
==Trivia==
*The official opening theme song is "Invincible" by Adelitas Way, while the ending theme is "Come Together" by Gary Clark Jr.
*"Written in the Stars" by Tinie Timpah ft. Eric Turner can be heard in the Helicarrier stage.
*Pre-order copies include a download code for Carlos Velasquez' classic outfit from the first Battle Rhythm game, additionally digital-only copies include Gretchen Eillan's classic outfit from BeastKnights: The Feudal Tamers.
* Eternal Heroes is the last game from Draconian Games to be developed in Unreal Engine 4. It's confirmed that the game will move to Unreal Engine 5 in a future post-release update.
*Season 1 guest characters Kyo Kusanagi, Benimaru Nikaido and Goro Daimon reuse their Japanese voice clips from The King of Fighters XIV, except for the team's story mode, their cinematic intros and win quotes.
*Season 1 guest characters Mark Lieng, Gene Turot and Lizzie Rapsod reuse their voice clips from Heavy Hitters 3, except for the team's story mode, their cinematic intros and win quotes.
*Both Jeff Cobb and Kaori "KAIRI" Housako recorded their new lines of Steel Massacre and Kirara Satsujin for this game in Japan due to their commitments with New Japan Pro Wrestling and STARDOM respectively.
*A Google Stadia version was planned but got cancelled due to the negative reception and eventual discontinuation of the platform.
Category:Games
Category:2.5D Games
Category:Fighting Games
Category:Crossover Fighting Games
Category:PlayStation 5 Games
Category:Xbox Series XS Games
Category:Nintendo Switch Games
Category:Windows Games
Category:"T" Rated
Category:PEGI 16
Category:CERO C
Category:Video games set in 2022