Suikoden

Based on the Chinese novel Shui Hu Zhuan, Suikoden is one of the most significant JRPG series of the 90s.

Within the realm of JRPGs, it was clear that Suikoden stood apart from the pack. The old concepts of magic, mythological races and castles remain, but the overall feeling is very different, boasting a plot that explores topics of rebellion, corruption, and most of all, war. In fact, the greatest accomplishment of the game is in its capacity to document the sacrifice, cruelty, and tactics of war in detail. Despite the abundance of narratively meaningless characters, Suikoden manages to craft and maintain a strong supporting cast, with an array of poignant character moments both tragic and introspective. In particular, Mathiu dominates the show with his calculating, frigid, almost cruel outlook towards wartime tactics - Tactics Ogre's ideal representative.

Gameplay-wise, Suikoden expands upon Breath of Fire II's base building mechanic and its recruitment system. The war base - a type of primary headquarters where recruits make their stay, is the most impressive aspect. The base's existence essentially turns the game into an metroidvania-like, where the player can backtrack across the world map searching for allies that benefit both combat (the unite attack system) and the base itself. Among those: opening shops, fast travel, and even miscellaneous cosmetic options basically finds a new meaning to 'base building'. The gradual progression of the headquarters and the several systems and mechanics involving it act as a major incentive for players to explore.

The one glaring fault of Suikoden lies in its combat. Although the potential for experimentation in its unite system is a neat idea, and the dynamic camera-work and animation flows well, combat is too painfully slow-paced to ignore, and doesn't offer much room for variety despite its runes system. Difficulty is also a non-factor, with bosses that are either forgettable or disappointingly easy.

Its been 2 years since I played this game, I remember it was right around the time Bowie died and I had just bought the first 3 Suikoden games in a PSN sale, and I heard these games were underlooked RPGs from the PS1 era. Suikoden I knew would be a bit rough since I heard 2 is the better of the PS1 games, and when first playing it I could see it felt a bit dated. The game is a decent enough RPG, you have your typical stats, your turned based combat, your home base you can rest and store items and change party members, your open World map to travel to different towns. It feels very inspired by the Final Fantasy games at the time, but that's not to say this is completely a Final Fantasy VI clone, it does some things different, has its own graphic style, and it for the most part has its own unique universe. It is set in a fantasy medieval looking universe with magic and you have your generic evil empire that you must recruit party members to stop. The thing about this is there are something like over 100 party members you can recruit and its one of the first RPGs where you could have such a selection of playable characters, on top of that you can have up to 6 members in your party at once. Compared to the usual 4 most RPGs had this was somewhat of a difference. Suikoden also is a fairly serious game and isn't as comical or lighthearted as the Fantasy games.

I mean it plays pretty typical and is decent enough, the story is a little generic, but it does feel like you are working towards defeating a powerful force and you actually feel like as you progress you become more powerful with more party members, and hell the variety of party members gives you tons of customization if you want to go all out magic, combat, or maybe a mix. The boss fights are decent enough too and some are pretty memorable and for PS1 the graphics aren't too bad for 2d, and there are a number of decent and likable characters. On the other hand Suikoden doesn't really commit fully to anything or feel 100% unique either, it does borrow a little from the Fantasy games, it does have a bit of a generic plot, there are a lot of forgettable and generic characters, the combat isn't too variable or interesting compared to other RPGs, and the music really doesn't stand out either. I mean it is a decent enough RPG and worth playing if you've already played the better of the 90s RPGs, the game has alright design and plays decent enough, but I just didn't find it super memorable or great either.

I was nearly 20 years late to the party on this game, but I'm glad I finally gave it a shot. Suikoden is a traditional turn-based RPG that possesses the infamous gimmick of containing 108 party members (not all of them are used in the party, but they all become part of your forces). When I've thought about this series in the past, I figured there was no way this could be done adequately. I like media with ensemble casts, but the idea of 108 characters seemed ridiculous. Fortunately, I was very pleased with how the developers handled it in this game. By the end, I didn't feel like too many characters got the short end of the stick. It's true that a lot of them weren't as important as the principle cast, but what's great about Suikoden is everyone has something to contribute. The main characters all fight, the innkeeper heals you, the thieves and ninjas are critical to getting information in castle battles, and so on and so on. Having 108 characters also makes the game great for completionists--there are a lot to people to find, but it's not such a high number that doing so gets tedious, or worse, impossible like in some of the Pokémon games. Although the game is obviously primitive and some ideas are sure to be improved in sequels, I love what it was going for and think the army aspect of the game is pulled off beautifully.

Some of the game's worst problems come down to poor design decisions. Obviously, it's hard to conceive of a system with so many options that feels properly tweaked and fine-tuned, and while Suikoden tries its best, it comes short here. The game is laughably easy; no battle took any kind of planning ahead or tactical know-how to complete. Status magic is unimportant, and most characters are strong enough to hold their own with the materia-like runes the game gives you. The duels and castle battles are also not very engaging: the former requires a guide to play without screwing up and the latter just feel like scripted events after a point. It's great to have the whole army involved in a battle, though, so I can easily look the other way and hope these are improved in the sequels. In truth, the biggest problem with the game is how clunky the interfaces are for assigning runes and passing equipment around. In many ways Suikoden was treading new ground for these systems, but that doesn't make it more fun to deal with a primitive menu nowadays.

Suikoden's story is a little on the generic side, but it kept me engaged. It wisely opens with the introduction of a character (Ted) who is more than he seems and leaves the player wondering about his origins for quite some time. That, combined with how his special rune is so important to the villains, left me curious to know more as I played. On a more negative note, the game relies a bit too much on mind control as a plot device to avoid killing too many of the bad guys. It's nice to add the generals to your entourage after facing them, but it felt pretty cheap from a reader's perspective for them to be forgiven immediately because of magic. The use of this device is a big problem with Final Fantasy IV's story, and it's just as bad here. Late in the game, the story starts taking a darker turn and poses the question of whether Tir (the main character) is doing the right thing by attacking the empire. I enjoy developments like this, but the game doesn't go anywhere with it and ends after defeating the emperor anyway. While that may be addressed in the sequel, I still felt peeved that the plot would bring up an interesting concept and not follow through on it. I should also note that I greatly enjoyed the game's sense of humor. I expected the dialogue to be very serious and not have many light moments, but many of the characters' antics really put a smile on my face. None of the humor felt overdone, just like the kinds of things kids caught up in a war would say.

All in all, I can see why so many think this game is a classic, and it left me wanting to play the rest. Collecting the characters was fun (though some were near impossible to find without a guide) and the game had enough variety in tone and gameplay to keep me engaged the whole way through. If you never played Suikoden, I suggest giving it a try.