Suikoden

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AuthenticM
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Suikoden

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Postby AuthenticM » Tue Dec 05, 2006 1:33 pm

All right, I'm creating this before I start deviating from another thread's topic again.

Does anyone here have played one of them? The Suikoden series is awesome. The one thing that makes it apart from the rest of JRPGs is that it's all about politics, with practically no supernatural. It's not about saving the entire world from an eternal evil, it's about saving your country from someone who has different ideals than you. That's what makes them awesome. I just love its in-game history; how each game makes little references to past (and future) ones.

For those who don't know, in each Suikoden, you control the Stars of Destiny, which are people that are destined to achieving something great (which is the main plot of the game). There are 108 Stars, the protagonist being one; which means that you can recrute 107 people. This feature of the game I love. Some characters appear in more than one game (some appear in each, like Jeane and Viki), and sometimes their backstory will be delved into more. For instance, in Suikoden 2, near the end of the game you could recruit Georg, whom only served as a fighter, as he had no involvment in the game's plot (he was entirely optional). In the same game, you would then hire a detective (who was part of your team) to do some research on his backstory (which you can do for every character in the game). The detective would then gather the most he could, and tell you about it. He tells you that this Georg came from the Queendom of Falena, and that he fled the country because he was wanted for the Queen's murder. Now jumping to Suikoden 5, which take place in the said Queendom of Falena (where women have power, ahh, paradise :)) Georg is a main character, and the game starts with a Coup d'État. Other characters appear in some particular Suikoden game, only to return in another, but as a main character whose story is vital to the game's plot. That's what I like from the Suikoden series.

The only Suikoden that sucked was the 4th. But every other was great. I've played and beaten the 2nd, 3rd and 5th. Did you notice that each Suikoden gives the player hints at the next installment's location and plot? My guess for the 6th is that it will revolve around the Nagarea Theocracy, or New Armes internal conflicts.
In my case, I refuse to go easy on the ignorant, regardless of degree. Hitler was ignorant. Joshua C. Whatshisface is ignorant. To me, they're in the same category of ignorant and stupid people who should have been left in some isolated corner of the world where they couldn't bother anyone. --The Eva Monkey

Kaysow
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Postby Kaysow » Wed Dec 06, 2006 7:19 am

I'm at the very end of #3, and too frustrated with it to finish, so I haven't played in months. It wasn't as good as the first two games anyway.

See first you play Suikoden 1, a pretty decent RPG, good enough a story and some neat functions with all the minigames, characters, and castlebuilding. But when you then move on to Suikoden 2, you get everything that made #1 fun, plus a story that beats out any old greek tragedy.
Since FFVII, I have been on-and-off working on my own script for an RPG I plan to make/sell or something. Only after Suikoden 2, you pretty much lose hope to ever attain something like it without plagiarizing. Because this game is sooo emotionally manipulative. The showdown at the end? You yourself are not told what to do or anything. You just instinctively KNOW what you must do, because you're so into it. (We should have spoilertags at this board, but I won't go on about this any further). For some reason, this world just has so much soul and believability.
I'll pick this series of FF, because it is so very much more mature. There's nowhere near as many predictable scenes, because with Suikoden you may always end up getting sideswiped. People die all the time, so you have to stay on your toes.

I cried a bit when Aeris died. That happened twice in Suikoden 2. With FFVII, I was 14 years old and inexperienced. With Suikoden 2, I was 22 and jaded, so I think that says a lot about it's inherent power. It is therefore deserving of it's place as my new #1, occupied for the past 8 years by FFVII.
Even if that one DISEARNED it's place on the pediestal, Suikoden is still objectively superior.

Three banzais for RPGs for the PSX from the late nineties.


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