The Suikoden Series

[Tommy]

As far as this series goes, I`m aware the first one is great, the second one is spectacular, the third one great, and the fourth is average at best. I have recieved no info on Suikoden Tactics.

Guess which one I own?

Yes, the fourth. Is there anyone that`s a fabn that can give me the 411, yo?

-Hasn`t played it yet-

[everdred12a]

Suikoden 2 is, indeed, one of the best RPG's ever made IMO. I've heard that they're porting both 1 and 2 as a PSP game, which is great to me (I own 1 and 2 on PS, but PSP is way more portable). Personally, though, I have to rate them this way: 2, 1, 4, 3 (haven't played tactics). I think I'm the only person that hated 3, though (lol).

[Nate]

No, you're not, I as well thought 3 was a very poor game. I played it for about two hours and couldn't stand it anymore.

[everdred12a]

YES! THANK YOU! I couldn't stand 3 either. I played to about the end of chapter 4, I think (it's been so long... I don't really remember), then quit. I've been kinda sorta following the manga, though, so I could at least know the story.

(Reply from GS thread) Yes, Kaji, I am a HUGE Suikoden fan. I can't wait for 5 and I've just been too lazy to get Tactics, but I love 1 and 2. The Soul Eater is also my favorite Rune to date (they might make a cooler one - who knows?), although I didn't like the way they had it in 4.

[Tommy]

It looks like a contitnent with a sycthe.

IV is pretty good. Every claimed crappy RPG I play I end up liking. Actually, every RPG I end up liking. I heard III was way better than IV. Isn`t it medevil? This game appears to have a pirate theme.

Darn, the opening theme for IV won`t leave my head!

[everdred12a]

I liked 4, personally. 4 just... *felt* more like a Suikoden game than 3 did. 4 does have pirates on it, but I wouldn't say it's necessarily a pirate themed game, but more naval combat in general. If you were talking about how I didn't like the Souleater's portrayal in 4, that's because they made it completely different from previous versions. People *say* that 3 is one of the best in the series, but I don't agree, although everyone is entitled to their opinion ^_^

I never really knew what the Souleater symbol was supposed to be. At first glance, I thought it looked like a 2 with a scythe coming out of the top. As I've examined it over the years, though, I think it's actually supposed to be the grim reaper, or something like that. Or, maybe I'm reading too much into it and it actually *is* just a 2 with a scythe sticking out of it....

Anyway, here's a question - how many Suikoden games do you guys think they'll be making? The Suikoden games are, after all, just a chronicle of the 27 True Runes, of which they've only covered 11. That means (obviously) that there are 16 True Runes that don't really have a story yet.

[Tommy]

Wait, what is the Souleater?

Do I have to play the others to understand this story? I`m assuming different, but i believe i need to play the others to understand it better. Suikoden I and II is worth buying a PSP IMO unless you have to beat the first and then carry on to II.

[MasterDias]

Do I have to play the others to understand this story?

Each game technically covers a different war/era in the same world. However, you will better understand the game's world and events if you play all of them. Certain characters appear in multiple installments and past events are referenced.

Suikoden I and II is worth buying a PSP IMO unless you have to beat the first and then carry on to II.

Well, that might be true. However, there is unfortunately no plans to bring the Suikoden I&II PSP port to the U.S. currently.
I'm hoping this changes but who knows what Konami is thinking...

Anyway, here's a question - how many Suikoden games do you guys think they'll be making? The Suikoden games are, after all, just a chronicle of the 27 True Runes, of which they've only covered 11. That means (obviously) that there are 16 True Runes that don't really have a story yet.

As long as the Suikodens sell, they will keep making them.

As for Suikoden III, I thought it was a pretty good game. It wasn't the greatest RPG that I've ever played but it was decent overall.

What did you guys find so poor about it?

Haven't played any of the others.

[everdred12a]

Suikoden I and II is worth buying a PSP IMO unless you have to beat the first and then carry on to II.

I'm not *exactly* sure what you meant by this, but there is something you can do with 1 and 2 (and 3 as well, but there's no point in doing it with 3). If you have save data from the last save point in 1, you can import the save data into 2 to get some extra dialogue, as well as a few other extras.

And no, you don't have to play every one of the games to understand the whole story (there really isn't a 'whole story', like I said, because Suikoden is really just a chronicle of the 27 True Runes). There are, of course references in 1, 2, and 3 to each other, but 4 has no references to the others.

The Souleater is the first True Rune that the story tells about in Suikoden 1. It also has the most powerful spell set in the series so far (IMO), not to mention that it's just so freakin' cool to begin with.

I didn't like 3 mainly because after playing 1, which I thought was good, and 2, which totally blew me away, I had high expectations from 3. I was expecting voice over, a battle system at least close to the original, and *at least* some likeable characters. I didn't like Hugo and I absolutely despised Chris (but Geddoe was really cool. He should have been the main character!). The data port from 2 to 3 was total crap, and I hated how the story jumped around so much. That's why I didn't like it. Also, I hate how they give you the 'name your own character' feature. Every game so far (except 4) has had a main character that actually had a name (Tir from 1 and Riou from 2). That was probably the only thing I didn't like about 4 was how they always refer to the main character as 'him' or 'you' or 'he' and so on.

[Tommy]

That was a problum in FFX too. Something tells me that FFX is going to have more epic plot than Suikoden IV. In FFX, if they just had his name be Tidus and everyone pronounced it, the game would`ve been better.

Were there voice effects in Suikoden III?

Apparently, I will never play II.

[everdred12a]

I don't think they had *any* VO in 3, not even grunts and yells and stuff when you're in battle.

[Nate]

I'm with everdred. The combat system irked me for some reason (it's been about four years or so since I've played it, so I don't remember why, mind you). The storyline also seemed kinda flat and I really didn't care for any of the characters I met. If I can't start to care at least somewhat about anyone who's in my party, I don't have much incentive to go on.

Like I said, it's been four years since I played the game, so I don't remember exactly why it was I didn't care for the game, I just remember that I didn't.

[Tommy]

No idea why I`m bringing this up, but the whole motion of the main character of S4 when he runs is kinda funny.

[everdred12a]

It was kind of funny. Especially when you ran ^_^