One of the things that can make it hard to fairly score and evaluate indie games is trying to figure out who they were made for and to be sure to keep that in mind. Rising feels like a title where that’s an important consideration because while it has the look of a pretty traditional 16-bit JRPG I don’t think that’s the crowd it’s meant for either necessarily. Playing out more like a classic side-scrolling adventure, the combat here is action-focused and as you move along and start to use your party’s link combos to score devastating damage it can get more involved as well. It’s one of those tricky sorts of combat, too, where it can feel really easy… until it isn’t, so you’ve been warned. When looking at the story, the cavalcade of characters, and your consistent log of quests to complete to help build up your town from ruin the RPG roots do come through, but in general it stays simpler and more surface level. Consistent with the fact that this title is a prelude to the future Eiuyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes it ultimately just feels like the beginning of something, and while it may enrich the experience once you get to that title it does leave this one feeling a bit lacking. This may make it a tougher call for more traditional RPG fans looking for greater depth, but for the price if you’re just looking for an attractive adventure that has a bit more structure than the norm it still isn’t a bad deal.