Dragon Scroll: Yomigaerishi Maryuu

 A pretty obscure Zelda-like for the Famicom, even if it was developed by a high profile company like Konami.  Dragon Scroll puts a bit more emphasis on RPG elements than Zelda though, with experience points and levels being a prominent mechanic.  Levels upgrading your maximum health, magic points and allowing the use of new weapons, while found equipment upgrades your other abilities; the silver ring lets you move faster than your glacial walking pace, while the gold ring reduces all damage taken.  Other items are required to progress the plot, such as a magic key to open doors or a branch that creates a bridge over an impassable lake.  Basically, there's a lot of good adventure-RPG hallmarks there.  So, why wasn't this game as well-regarded as many other adventures on the platform?  I think it mostly comes down to the puzzles; they're not the fun, intuitive Zelda style of puzzles, but rather tedious guesswork a la Milon's Secret Castle.  Standing in a certain spot, or shooting a certain nondescript statue (multiple times), or walking a specific path through a room being required to progress.  There are NPCs to talk to, but the game also just pops up clues after defeating arbitrary enemies, which makes it easy to accidentally skip them by pressing the button at the wrong moment.  Combat also tends to be more tedious than fun, with enemies sponging up damage and landing cheap shots on you as you enter rooms or pass through narrow halls, and health and magic refills only being available by finding specific chests in dungeons (or dying).  The game does at least have a fair bit of longevity (and a password system to save progress), as well as Konami's usual excellent visual and musical chops, but overall it's a fairly average open world adventure RPG that doesn't stand out much from others on the system.

Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Released: 1987
Platform: Famicom

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin

Continuing the Castlevania franchise's very successful outing on portable platforms, Portrait of Ruin once again serves as a direct followup to an earlier game in the franchise - in this case, the Sega Genesis outing Castlevania: Bloodlines.  But does its new two-character gameplay and a heightened focus on puzzles and sidequests add to the experience, or does the Portrait get ruined by its own ambitions?

The "Metroidvania" style Castlevania games were of course quite popular on the GBA, so when Nintendo's new handheld system rolled around it wasn't long before they began to appear on that platform too.  The first, Dawn of Sorrow, was a direct sequel to Aria of Sorrow, utilizing similar gameplay with a couple new features mapped to the face buttons (being able to swap between two soul and equipment sets on the fly being the notable one) and some touchscreen gimmicks added; most annoyingly requiring you to quickly draw out a seal on the bottom screen or the bosses would regenerate a big chunk of health and continue the fight - a pretty annoying thing when the battles were already pretty difficult to begin with and fumbling with a stylus while focusing on dodging and attacking got to be pretty frustrating.

Portrait of Ruin thankfully largely exhumes the touch screen gimmicks (only utilizing them in a couple of bonus game modes) and instead builds on the idea of having multiple movesets, though this time it's in the form of two separate characters to control.  Jonathan is the more archetypal Castlevania protagonist, utilizing various melee weapons and sub-weapons like throwing daggers, axes and boomerangs (as well as temporary stat-boosting "stances"), while Charlotte is more of a mage-type character, with a weaker primary attack and generally lower physical stats, but with the ability to cast spells that can really lay on the damage (and be charged up for greater effect).  Not all of her spells are offensive, though - some can also heal, cure status effects, buff your characters' stats temporarily or even morph them into different forms.  Both characters share experience levels and the same health and magic meters, but have separate stats and equipment pages, with many items usable by one character but not the other.  Jonathan's subweapons gain SP when enemies are defeated with them, getting a power upgrade when you earn enough points.  These can be a bit grindy if you want full completion, but most players can get by just picking one or two that they like and focusing on using those.  Ironically I found the Shuriken to be one of the most useful sub-weapons despite it being among the quickest to master.

As in some earlier Castlevania titles, you can swap between Jonathan and Charlotte on the fly by pressing the X button, letting you adapt your strategies to traverse certain obstacles or deal with enemies a particular character is more suited to.  However, Portrait of Ruin expands on the concept by giving you a variety of ways to utilize both characters in tandem.  You can call out your partner briefly for one quick attack with the R button, or press A to have both characters active at once - generally to solve various puzzles by having them do things like stand in one spot to activate a switch, help push a heavy object or jump off their shoulders to reach a high ledge.  Pressing Up + A also does a team-up attack that generally drains a large chunk of your magic gauge and roots you to the spot while it's active, but can deal heavy damage when timed well.  While both characters are out only the one you're actively controlling takes damage, though if the other is hit they'll deplete some of your magic gauge instead; if the magic gauge hits 0 they'll be stunned for several seconds, locking you out of any ability to swap out or use any special or team-up moves until they recover.

Shops return once more so you can buy new equipment or potions for the boss battles, but new to this game are sidequests.  These are given to you throughout the game by the "Wind", and are rather bizarrely referred to in the menu as "studies" (and the act of working toward completing one is "studying").  Most of these are optional (you must do the first one to progress as it unlocks a key move), but they are are worth doing because they earn you powerful equipment, items or new skills.

Something else relatively new to the series is that there are multiple areas to explore now; not just one huge map.  Portraits serve as portals to sub-areas, giving the game a wider variety of locales than just "another big labyrinthine castle".  There's nine of them in total, ranging from a twisted circus to an Egyptian pyramid to a medieval village with numerous houses and shops.  Something slightly confusing is that rather than giving each map its own completion percentage, it simply accumulates them all together on the menu; so by the time I was most of the way through my first Portrait the completion counter was over 100% and kept going up as I continued in the game.  It tops out at 1000 once you've explored all ten maps, though you'll have to return to some areas to get items that aren't accessible the first time through, so backtracking is a definite requirement if you want full completion.

Portrait of Ruin is a game I didn't really pay much mind when it released, but giving it another shot on the Dominus collection made me realize I was missing out on something great.  It's a solidly designed game, and unlike Dawn of Sorrow, the new gimmick actually complements the gameplay quite well - swapping between two characters and tactically teaming up to take down foes and get past obstacles is surprisingly fun and intuitive.  The series of course maintains its usual high standards for visuals and music too, with the dark yet fun atmosphere of Castlevania fully represented even in the strange new locales you visit.  Even the voicework is surprisingly good, and of high quality for the DS.  Koji Igarashi strikes gold once again.

 

Developer: Konami

Publisher: Konami

Released: 2006

Platforms: Nintendo DS.  Also rereleased as part of the Castlevania Dominus Collection for PS4, XBox Series, PC and Switch.

Recommended Version:  The Dominus Collection port is an emulation of the DS game, with right-stick (or touchpad) emulation for the touch screen features.

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance

 Most fans probably wouldn't Circle of the Moon a standout title in the series; while it was a decent attempt to adapt the Metroidvania format to a much smaller medium, the overall design left a fair bit to be desired. Still, it was a strong sellerfor Konami, so a followup (or several) was sure to happen.  Harmony of Dissonance was released the following year, and with SotN's Koji Igarashi writing and producing, definitely feels like a more polished game.  The game feel is definitely more in line with Symphony of the Night, with a heavier feel to its physics and more polished, deliberate action in general; even the protagonist bears a resemblance to Alucard and leaves behind afterimages as he moves despite being a Belmont.  One can also use the L and R buttons to backdash and even forward-dash to quickly evade attacks and close space, so combat in general is much more engaging this time. You only get one main melee weapon (your whip, of course), though it can be equipped with add-ons to give you slightly more damage against certain enemy types, charge attacks to break down certain walls, or add other properties like being able to spin your whip.  The castle's overall design is considerably better, with far less drab hallways and vertical corridors, and far fewer cheap hits from blind-jumping offscreen and landing right on an enemy or their projectile.  Money and shops return, and there's an odd sidequest where you collect furniture to decorate a room.  Magic and subweapons are given interplay in a pretty creative way - subweapons still run off hearts, though when combined with equippable "magic books" they instead utilize your MP meter and take on new properties.  For example, equipping the Ice Book with the fist subweapon results in a forward dash with a large ice spike, while a dagger will fire a barrage of homing icicles.  All in all, a more polished effort in just about every way, and a game certainly worthy of your attention if you love the Metroidvania format.

 

Developer: Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo

Publisher: Konami

Released: 2002

Platform: Game Boy Advance.  Also part of the Castlevania Advance Collection for PlayStation 4, Switch, PC and XBox One.

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon

Following Symphony of the Night's success on the Playstation (despite Sony's attempts to bury it), there was naturally more demand for the "metroidvania" format.  Circle of the Moon was actually a launch title for Nintendo's new Game Boy Advance system, all but ensuring it an audience, and the fact that it sold over 1 million copies naturally ensured the franchise would find a home on portable machines for years to come.  Circle of the Moon follows the same open-ended roaming as the original, with occasional boss fights and earning new items that allow reaching new areas.  Rather than having an extensive equipment and spell system and a shop like SotN, though, Circle of the Moon has something called the "Dual Setup System" (DSS), which allows you to combine two cards together to create a new effect.  Cards depicting the Greek gods form the base effect while monster cards provide a modifier; for example, Mercury adds elemental damage to your weapon; combining it with Salamander causes fire damage, Serpent causes ice, and so forth.  A lot of these effects are very niche and situational while others are almost comically overpowered - for instance, there's little point to using elemental effects  to target specific enemies when you can just attach a flat 25% damage boost to all of your attacks.  Similarly, summoning orbiting fireballs that inflict continuous contact damage lets you quickly destroy many bosses, much faster than would be possible just using your whip and/or subweapon.  Unfortunately most cards are a very low drop chance from various enemies, so you'll have to do a lot of tedious farming to collect them all.  The high difficulty of many boss fights also ensures you'll really want specific card setups to stand much of a chance, unless you really like naked experience grinding too.  Being limited to only one effect at a time is also a bit annoying, particularly as SotN allowed you to freely mix-and-match weapon types, armors, spells and boost effects while here they're all tied to random drops and/or the DSS.  Two of the strongest cards are also tied to rare drops from postgame bosses at the tail end of a long gauntlet of boss fights, so you'll be doing an arduous amount of grinding if you want to get full completion.

Circle of the Moon is far from perfect, but is a passable first attempt at a portable Castlevania.  Despite the obvious downsizing it retains a good semblance of the open-ended roaming and character building that made SotN fun, and it's got plenty of moody atmosphere, story twists and the same rewarding gameplay loop that made the format a hit to begin with.  Worth checking out, especially since you can get it for a pittance with the Castlevania Advance Collection on multiple platforms nowadays.

Developer: Konami Computer Entertainment Kobe

Publisher: Konami

Released: 2001

Platforms: Game Boy Advance. Also part of the Castlevania Advance Collection for PlayStation 4, Switch, PC and XBox One.  The Advance Collection also has a built-in rewind feature which substantially cuts down on the tedium of farming drops.

Suikoden IV

The fourth Suikoden game and the first to not be helmed by Yoshitaka Murayama.  It's also a pretty big departure for the series in other ways - rather than continuing the ongoing storyline from the first three games, it's a prequel set 150 years before the first title, resulting in a story largely disconnected from its predecessors.  The gameplay is somewhat reverted to the series classic style, with individual control over each character (though only a maximum of four this time as opposed to the series usual 6).  War battles are now turn-based and mostly take place on the open sea, utilizing an elemental wheel to determine attack effectiveness and having you form attack parties to raid ships in close combat.  The game was criticized for these elements, its overall lackluster length (reportedly as short as 15 hours once you know where to go), as well as for its absurd encounter rate that made traveling about the map extremely tedious.  That said, it's not without is merits - it does have a well written, complex deuteragonist in Snowe Vingerhut, whose journey is easily the most intriguing part of the game.  The game's overall presentation is quite strong, with some well-animated characters and surprisingly good voiceover for the time; oddly it also looks significantly better than its followup game, Suikoden V, with more detailed character models and environments that game's.  All in all a pretty mediocre Suikoden, but one with a few strong elements that make it worth at least checking out for series fans.

Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Released: 2002
Platforms: Playstation 2, Playstation 3

The Goonies II

The Goonies is a popular adventure film from the '80s, following the tale of a group of kids in search of a lost treasure to save their homes.  It of course had a couple of video game adaptations, including one by Konami which oddly never had a cartridge release in North America (though it would be featured as a VS System arcade cabinet and on some Playchoice-10 demo units).  The film itself never had a sequel, but that didn't stop Konami from producing a game under the title "The Goonies II", with a similar premise to the original game - finding all of the lost Goonies.  However, rather than a short, stage-based arcade title, The Goonies II went more nonlinear, having a player explore a large map with a "front" and "back" side, connected by interwoven first-person maze segments.  The navigation is a bit confusing, though the locales are distinct enough to eventually let you piece together how everything connects together.  It's also a relatively easy game overall (dying rarely sets you back very far, you can track the location of each Goonie with a Magic Locator device, and there's a password system to save your progress), so it's one of the more forgiving early NES adventure titles.

Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Platform: NES
Released: 1987, 1988

Hybrid Heaven

 A science-fiction RPG developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo with the intent of besting Metal Gear Solid in terms of design (yes, really).  Every serious gamer knows about Metal Gear, of course, but the fact that nobody really talks about Hybrid Heaven these days shows that it didn't have nearly the same impact.  Not for a lack of trying, though, as Hybrid Heaven is surprisingly unique among action-RPG hybrids.  Outside of battle you jump platforms, crawl under low doors, hit switches and disable robotic drones and traps with your pistol, not unlike the Tomb Raider games.  Once you encounter a humanoid enemy, however, the game shifts into a combat mode that somewhat resembles a cross between a fighting game and Final Fantasy's Active Time Battle system.  You have a Power bar that fills over time (faster when standing still), and once it fills abut a quarter of the way, you can pick one of several moves from a menu to perform, doing more damage the more full it is.  There's a lot of them, too - jabs, hooks, kicks, throws, armbars, and so forth, and you can set up combos between fights to do more damage and potentially add a free extra hit or two if you find certain effective sequences.  Likewise, when the enemy attacks, you're given several choices - you can step back to try and avoid it entirely, block to reduce the damage it deals, or even go for a counterattack to turn the tables back on them.  Being grabbed behaves similarly, as you're given the option to try and shake out of it, take the fall intentionally to reduce damage or even turn the throw attempt back on them.  Strangely, the game utilizes both traditional levels as well as granular stat growth, but in addition to your core stats (HP, Offense, Defense, Speed, etc), your limbs all power up individually too, gaining more offensive or defensive power through battles the more you use them or they get abused by enemies.  It's not quite as fun as you'd think, though - while you do have to be at a specific range to land attacks (you can't punch someone from several paces away, obviously), countering, escaping throws or avoiding hits while downed just seem to come down to rolls of the dice, which feels like a missed opportunity - being able to recognize incoming attacks and counter them consistently could have made for a more fun and strategic experience.  There isn't much attempt made to balance out your wide repertoire of moves, either - in fact, you can generally stick to your basic jabs and kicks for the most part, and once head-targeting attacks become available, they're very abusable - they tend to knock down and stun enemies very often, leaving them vulnerable to followup hits.  Its campaign also isn't overly long, but enemies in new areas tend to take large leaps in power, requiring you to stop and grind in addition to spending a good amount of time learning how to counter all of their moves.  Its level design is rather drab too, with a lot of large empty rooms and narrow corridors; they definitely could have taken a cue from their "rival game" here, as every room in Metal Gear Solid felt distinct and had an equally unique purpose.  An interesting experiment whose components don't quite come together, Hybrid Heaven definitely isn't the most well-regarded or remembered RPG of the time period; you didn't really have a lot of other options on the Nintendo 64, though.

Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Released: 1999
Platforms: Nintendo 64

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia

The third and last Castlevania game developed for the Nintendo DS, and the last of the "Metroidvania" styled ones, though it definitely puts much more focus on action this time.  Seemingly drawing inspiration from games like Contra, Mega Man Zero and Astro Boy: Omega Factor, your weapons are now more or less "sidegrades" to one another, being earned by defeating specific enemies or found in specific spots in dungeons, and all run off of your MP gauge, meaning you have to ration even your normal attacks now and getting cursed makes you completely unable to defend yourself until it wears off.  Bosses are huge, extremely sturdy and based around pattern memorization, as you die in only a few hits and they take dozens of blows to whittle down.  Leveling up and getting new armor only helps you to a point - you really do need to fight and die to each boss several times, learn exactly how to avoid each of their attacks, wait for openings and use the small handful of weapons best suited for each fight if you want to stand any chance at all.  Enemies will also "hard counter" many of your moves (Dracula himself famously instantly swats you down if you attempt to fly), so there really aren't any cheap exploits this time - you have to play by the exact rules it lays out, which takes away the element of experimentation present in most of the older Metroidvanias.  It's not without its charm if you like games with difficult marathon boss battles, but I would strongly recommend playing it on the Dominus Collection with a proper controller, as the DS's clunky D-pad really does not suit its style of gameplay whatsoever.

Developer: Konami

Publisher: Konami

Released: 2008

Platforms: Nintendo DS

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow

A direct followup to the Game Boy Advance's Aria of Sorrow, even retaining most of the same characters and the same gameplay mechanic of absorbing souls to learn new abilities and power up your character.  It certainly takes advantage of the DS's capabilities too, for both good and ill - the game looks and sounds fantastic with high-quality music and high resolution graphics for the period, but bosses now cannot be killed unless you use the touch screen to quickly draw a "seal" on the screen after sufficiently weakening them - fail to do so within a few seconds and they get some health back and resume the fight, which can get very irritating.  The game also loses its gothic feel in part, as cutscenes now have all the characters drawn in more of a generic anime style.  It's still competently made and fun overall, but definitely not as good as the original, and to me at least it marked the beginning of a turn into stagnance for the series.

Developer: Konami

Publisher: Konami

Released: 2005

Platforms: Nintendo DS

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow

The third Castlevania game to get a Game Boy Advance release, and like most post-SotN releases, it follows in that game's mold, giving the player a vast castle to freely explore and new abilities to explore it as they defeat bigger and tougher bosses.  Aria of Sorrow's new twist is the Tactical Soul system - by defeating enemies you have a chance to absorb their abilities and use them for yourself.  These abilities can be offensive (throwing bones, daggers, fireballs etc), defensive (restoring health or deflecting projectiles), or give passive benefits like higher stats, spotting secrets or immunity to certain status effects.  These abilities can also be mixed and matched to suit your playstyle, which is quite a lot of fun to experiment with.  I can also say its easily the most entertaining game in the series after SotN, so if you can track down a copy, it's well worth a look.

Developer: Konami

Publisher: Konami

Released: 2003

Platforms: GBA, Wii U Virtual Console, also released as part of Castlevania Advance Collection

Castlevania II: Simon's Quest

One of the more divisive Castlevania titles, Simon's Quest was the first in the series to take on an RPG format, adapting the action-platformer gameplay of its predecessor into a more open and non-linear experience where solving puzzles and purchasing items was just as important as vanquishing foes.  To this end, the game works in towns, purchasing upgrades to one's equipment, gaining levels for more power, and conversing with NPCs and finding hidden messages to learn hints and uncover useful items.  However, some troubles quickly began to show themselves, with a world that was confusing to navigate (with stairwells up and down leading to new areas on the overworld), unclear puzzles made more obscure by a clumsy translation, and some rather lackluster design at times.  The most prominent example of this being the few bosses in the game, which were laughably easy overall.  Using a clunky password system instead of a battery backup for the NES port probably didn't help its case either (though it is at least only 16 characters long).  Still, the franchise's impeccable standards for atmosphere, music and tight core gameplay remained in place, making this a flawed but enjoyable title.  Just bring a walkthrough along, because you're going to need it, especially if you want to get the best of three possible endings.

(Fans of ROM hacks may also want to check out "Castlevania II Redaction", which addresses several criticized elements of the game - notably speeding up the text and day/night transitions and rewriting much of the dialog to provide useful clues.)

Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Released: 1988

Platform: FDS, NES

Lagrange Point

 A mostly forgotten Famicom-exclusive RPG released by Konami in 1991, which had some relatively unique elements and, per company standards, a fantastic presentation.  But is this overlooked game one that retro RPG enthusiasts should play, or should it simply be left alongside the dozens of forgettable Dragon Quest clones on the platform?

Lagrange Point was a pretty overlooked RPG in its time (and still is today), but a lot of that can come down to its Japan-exclusive release and for coming out in 1991, at a time when the 16-bit consoles were rising to prominence and the Famicom and Master System were starting to be phased out.  Still, it's a Konami game, and as they were known for making some extremely high quality games on the system, it attained enough of a following to get an English translation in 2014 by Aeon Genesis.

It took me a while to dive into this one proper, but I can say that Lagrange Point is definitely worth the small but dedicated following it has and then some.  Right from the word "Go", the game sets out to impress with its amazingly detailed visuals and a stunning soundtrack.  One of only two games to use the VRC7 memory management chip, Konami definitely put it to use here, creating a soundtrack rich with space ambience and nearly on quality with 16-bit SNES or Genesis titles in quality - it really is that good, and well worth a listen even if you have no interest in the game itself.

The setting and design are also relatively unique, especially by Famicom standards.  While most RPG-producing companies on the platform were just content to make a forgettable Wizardry or Dragon Quest clone and call it a day, Lagrange Point definitely does not take that route.  Instead, the game is set in the far-off future of the 22nd century, when mankind has colonized space and set up colonies at the lagrange points.  Rather than generic hostile RPG "monsters", you're also fighting something a bit more sinister - a human faction known as the Bio Corps, who have launched a campaign to overtake the colonies for themselves.  You begin as a group of soldiers who are sent to the colonies to assess the situation, but you end up being shot down and are one of the few survivors; so you must band together with the resistance factions aboard the satellite and take the fight to them.  Fittingly, your weapons are mostly futuristic in design (from acid guns to laser knives) and you traverse the world map with an escalating variety of vehicles right from the start and never have to go on foot.

The playable cast is actually a fairly diverse one, too, with five human characters, three cyborgs and two robots.  Humans have the unique weakness of having their mental states deteriorate during battle in varying ways, which can cause them to inflict less damage (Nervous) or even outright panic and become uncontrollable; some skills and items can reverse these effects, and even put them in a more positive state of mind (Hype) where they deal more damage than they normally would.  Robots, naturally, don't gain either the positive or negative effects from mental states and are generally more durable, but require specialized healing items to recover from damage taken.  Each also gets a unique skill set and Super move, so it's worth trying them all out as you get them to see which ones you like the best.  As with most RPGs of the time, though, some characters are much better than others, so you're often better off just finding a core team you like and focusing on leveling them up while leaving the rest behind at your base.

Core combat mechanics are pretty much in the same league as games like Dragon Quest - turn-based fare where you target enemies, defend against attacks, use techs to heal up or bolster your status when needed, et cetera, though a few twists are added.  The aforementioned Super attacks are one - each character gets one of these, and their effects vary quite a bit, inflicting differing elemental damage to a single target or all enemies, at the cost of some of their HP.  This can be worthwhile in some situations for characters who have a lot of HP to spare, but for the most part these are of questionable value; generally you only do slightly more damage than a normal attack at a cost of a big chunk of your health, which usually isn't a good tradeoff.  Techniques are not learned by gaining levels, but rather found in chests along the way, and only certain characters can use certain techniques (though you generally won't know who can use what in advance).  Each of the enemies in a battle also has a life gauge visible at the top of the screen at all times, which gives you a good gauge of how much damage you're doing to them and whom you should target next.

The other pervading mechanic is BP, which you'd think would function like MP in most RPGs - casting supportive and offensive spells.  You'd be right in that regard, but normal attacks consume it as well, with more powerful weapons generally eating it up more quickly.  Once it runs out, your attacks will be massively nerfed and you'll be unable to use any techniques until you refill it, either at an inn or by using items to recharge a portion of your meter.  Unlike most RPGs, it also does not increase with your character's level - instead, you buy batteries at the shop with higher capacities to carry you through.  Even that may not be enough if you have a particularly powerful weapon that quickly eats battery power, though, so finding a good balance between raw damage and power consumption is key.  One must also factor in the elements of specific weapons for specific areas - some enemies may be highly resistant to one type of attack but weak to another, so changing up your equipment accordingly (and having a good combination of types) will go a lot further than raw power.

Another fairly unique element to this game is that you don't simply buy new weapons at shops and be done with it.  That's fine for the early stages, but in order to unlock the best weapons you must utilize the game's weapon combination mechanic - combining two weapons of similar type to produce a higher tier one with greater power, with numerous recipes being revealed through dialog and books found throughout the game.  A relatively novel idea at the time, and one that later games like Robotrek and Dark Cloud 2 would attempt to replicate with varying degrees of success.  There is a catch, though, in that you can't simply fuse the strongest weapons in the game even if you know how - higher tiers of weapons have higher stat requirements to equip, and characters will typically require quite a few levels under their belt before they hit that threshold.  

Lagrange Point does fall prey to a few common RPG shortcomings of the time, though.  The encounter rate in the game can be irritatingly frequent, though thankfully combat is fast-paced so it doesn't drag things down too badly.  The difficulty is also uneven - you can easily go from an area where you dominate everything to one where enemies will deal far greater damage and quickly wear you down.  One particularly annoying example of this is actually very early in the game - a tunnel that is only a few screens long, yet is one of the most treacherous areas in the game.  Enemies there have techniques that will cut your HP and BP reserves in half and completely ignore your armor and defenses.  Even moreso if you saved on the opposite side of the bridge and have no access to a shop or items that will replenish them, forcing you to just brute-force rush your way through.  Objectives are also occasionally unclear, though you do get maps of the various areas you'll explore early on, which can at least give you a good idea of areas you should check in order to advance; another nice touch is that, unlike in most JRPGs, the world "wrapping" at the top and bottom of the map actually makes sense since you're on a cylindrical space station rather than (ostensibly) a round planet.  You'll also have to stop and grind more than a few times to have enough money for essential upgrades, though I never found it to take so long that it became a detriment to the experience; just as long as you don't die (which robs you of all the money you would have received at a save point when checking in), you'll make plenty of cash on each excusion.

So, Lagrange Point may be recognizable as a JRPG, but it certainly was a pretty novel one for the time.  Not only did it look and sound a cut above virtually every other example of the genre on the Famicom, but it had a relatively unique science fiction setting, worked in some unique mechanics and required quite a bit more careful inventory and character management than many others on the platform.  It may not be a standout classic of the genre, but it's an interesting and fun little title that's well worth a look; certainly much moreso than a lot of the mediocre Dragon Quest and Wizardry clones the Famicom had.

Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Platform: Famicom
Released: 1991
Recommended Version:  N/A

Suikoden III

 The third game in the Suikoden series marked the franchise's debut on the Playstation 2 and also a significant overhaul in its design and gameplay.  But does Suikoden III nonetheless prove to be another enthralling war epic, or does it simply tamper too much with the format and fall apart?

The original Suikoden was a low-key hit on the Playstation 1, providing early adopters a solid RPG that didn't attempt to stray into the realm of early 3D while also implementing some relatively unique mechanics - war battles, building up a castle, one-on-one duels and even some story changes and endings depending on who you recruit (and who ultimately survives the game's events).  Suikoden II didn't get nearly the same level of attention, largely due to Final Fantasy VII taking the world by storm and Konami only giving it an extremely limited printing run outside of Japan (reportedly as low as 30,000 copies); however, it vastly polished up the presentation and added much more content, becoming a fantastic sleeper hit and one of my personal favorite RPGs of all time.

I ended up being more than a little surprised that Konami continued to localize the series, continuing on with Suikoden III on the Playstation 2.  Suikoden III arguably proved to be its most successful entry, being released to overall positive reviews and becoming the best-selling game in the series in North America (and one of the few to remain relatively affordable on the secondary market).  Of course, that may have been in part due to it predating Final Fantasy X's release by about two months.

Like many classic RPG franchises that made the leap to the Playstation 2, though, Suikoden III definitely made quite a few changes to its existing format.  Instead of a linear story seen from a single character's perspective, you now see the game from the viewpoints of three different protagonists - Hugo, a child of the Karaya tribal clan who have been waging war against the Zexen knights; Chris Lightfellow, a Zexen knight herself, and Geddoe, head of a mercenary band who gets swept up in the conflict under the pretense of searching for a hero known as the "Fire Bringer".  Their stories frequently cross over - in fact, you see events concerning each character multiple times, just from that character's perspective - and some minor events can change based on another's actions (for example, if one character picks up a discarded armor on a certain path, it won't be there when the other two come through in their own scenario).  Occasionally you'll see a small subplot or side-story from another character's perspective, though these are almost always very brief scenes that only last a few minutes (and generally you aren't required to see them at all).  Of course, all three characters' stories eventually merge into one as they unite under a common banner to face a common foe, though this happens quite a bit later on than in the first two Suikodens, and you are still afforded some choices that affect later events even after that point.

The gameplay for Suikoden III is changed up quite a bit too.  The world design is much less open and more linear (slightly reminiscent of Final Fantasy X).  The world map is reduced to something more akin to Final Fantasy Tactics - you just move your character to various nodes at which lie towns, small dungeons or pathways to other areas.  As a result of this, you aren't afforded nearly as much freedom to explore and the game in general just feels considerably more cramped.  Towns are still large and sprawling and thankfully provide a handy minimap to help you navigate (something I would have killed for in Suikoden V), but dungeons feel considerably shorter and more constricted.  You also don't get a lot of opportunity to customizer your party for a big portion of the game - characters mostly come and go as the plot dictates, and in Hugo and Chris's stories, there's little stability for your main party, which can be frustrating as you're reluctant to give them equipment, not knowing if they'll vanish for a long period of time after.

Combat in the game still utilizes three different systems depending on the context, though they've each undergone a number of changes.  One-on-one duels are the least changed, just adding a gauge that swings momentum in your favor as you land hits or deal heavy damage, or in the opponent's if the opposite happens.  Small-scale battles once again pit up to six of your characters against a group of enemies, though they now act in pairs - you essentially control three units of two instead of six separate characters, which cuts down on inputs but also doesn't afford you as much fine control over your team.  On the other hand, each character now has a passive ability, and who you pair them up with can allow these to sync up and produce some powerful combos instead of just relying on the series' usual Unite attacks.  War battles are the same thing, but with more teams in play - you form small groups of six units, move them across a grid and engage enemy units, with both sides automatically duking it out for a few turns.  Combat is somewhat more exciting to watch, with characters actively moving around the field instead of standing in a static formation, though as a result it's significantly slower than the Playstation 1 games, which can get a little irritating during war battles or when you're travelling through a long dungeon and fighting mundane enemies constantly.  Fortunately, the encounter rate is pretty reasonable this time around, so combat doesn't become too grating to deal with.

This was also the first game in the series to incorporate the Skill system, affording the player a more interesting way to power up as well as a degree of character customization.  Essentially, each character begins with a set of skills, and each is also accompanied by a Growth Type.  These cover things like Damage, Accuracy, Swing (the number of times a character can hit per turn), Parry (the chance to block and counter an enemy's attack), Magic skills, and so forth.  Winning battles earns the player Skill Points, which they can use to boost these skills up - the better their Growth Type for a particular skill, the less points it will take them to power up that particular category.  Most of these are centered around combat, though a few can grant you other benefits - Health will restore a small amount of HP after battle, Potch Finder causes you to earn more money, and Appraisal will allow you to identify items in the field, to name a few.

Of course, this was also the first Suikoden to utilize a full-3D perspective, and the result is somewhat mixed.  Environments and characters look pretty good for an early PS2 game, though they're considerably less impressive in motion, with somewhat stiff and awkward movements.  The low-to-the-ground perspective takes some getting use to as well, especially with the constantly shifting camera making it tougher to get your bearings (probably why they included a minimap), and the limited draw distance and non-connected maps makes Suikoden III feel much less like a contiguous world and much more like a stage play.  The mood is significantly different from the first two games, with the much different direction the soundtrack takes playing a significant role in that.  Rather the epic Asian themes of earlier Suikodens, this one has a more natural, almost tribal sound to it, with a lot of flutes and drums rather than orchestral beats.  Easily the standout track is the one from the game's animated intro - Exceeding Love, performed by Himekami - which is beautifully orchestrated and, paired with the excellent visuals, really gets you in the mood for another epic tale.

All in all, Suikoden III is a definite shift in design sensibilities from the first two Suikodens, changing up a lot of its familiar (and traditional) RPG elements in favor of something more linear, but also putting greater focus on its characterizations and personal drama.  You're no longer playing as a silent protagonist and the story is no longer focused on defeating a single, definite foe from the outset, taking several interesting twists and turns throughout before you get the full picture of what's really going on.  There are some great elements here, hampered by rather clunky gameplay, some awkward pacing and a somewhat lackluster localization job.  It's a shame that it was series creator Yoshitaka Murayama's final contribution to the series, leaving Konami before it was completed, as the guy clearly has a knack for grandiose war tales.  I definitely look forward to Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, especially if he can pair the ambitious narrative style of this game with gameplay in line with the first two Suikodens.

Developer: Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo
Publisher: Konami
Platform: Playstation 2, Playstation 3 (PSN)
Released: 2002, 2015
Recommended Version:  The Playstation 3 version is a direct port of the PS2 game.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Castlevania's second attempt at an RPG format and the first in which Koji Igarashi played a major role, Symphony of the Night is regarded as a classic and a building block for an entire subgenre of games that worked RPG elements into the open-ended exploration format of Metroid.  But does the turning point for the Castlevania franchise still hold up today, or is this just one for the history books and little else?

A relatively low-key entry in the early days of the Playstation (in part because Sony refused to promote it in favor of several 3D games coming out at the time), Symphony of the Night has gone on to become a huge fan favorite and as a result of that, radically changed the course of the Castlevania series.  Only rarely from then on would games be linear action-platformers, instead adopting the same non-linear exploration and gradual upgrade system as this game, which in turn was inspired by Nintendo's Metroid series.  This format endured for several years and numerous entries on the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS systems, and of course continues to be copied today by numerous indie developers wanting to make their own take on the format.

Playing it now, it isn't hard to see why, either.  While the acting and dialog is rather cheesy (as per standards of the era), it certainly tried to take the series' storytelling into a new era with plot scenes, a running narrative with a few clever twists (tied to solving some in-game puzzles) and full voice-over.  Even the audio and visuals have upped their game, with a stellar genre-melding soundtrack that works in elements of classical, techno, rock, jazz and metal, and even has vocals during the end credits.  Graphics are impressive too, with 3D backdrops and some 3d modeled enemies and bosses integrated into a world of impressively detailed, smoothly-animated 2D backdrops and characters.

The way it's done is also rather cleverly implemented.  The game at first appears to be another platformer (even opening with the player in Richter's shoes and re-enacting the final fight from Rondo of Blood), and afterwards is put in the shoes of Alucard, who is exceptionally powerful (defeating any enemies he encounters in a single hit).  However, it isn't long before the player encounters Death and has all of their equipment taken away, and at that point they must scavenge and buy equipment along the way, even gradually unlocking the "RPG elements" of the game like displaying damage inflicted on enemies and allowing them to drop items and hearts after being defeated.

Strangely, the game also retains quite a few elements of the earlier platforming-based Castlevanias.  Alucard still gets access to sub-weapons from many of the prior games - Holy water, throwing daggers, bouncing diamonds, the time-stopping stopwatch, and others - and they're still powered by hearts, which can be found by defeating enemies or smashing open candles and lanterns along the way.  Once the game is completed, the player also has the option to replay it as Richter, who retains several abilities he had in Rondo of Blood, including the ability to do the "Item Crash" with sub-weapons and do powerful, often screen-spanning special moves at a large heart cost.  Even a lot of areas in the game are familiar, with series mainstays like the clock tower and underground caverns making appearances.

For the most part, though, the experience is a relatively fresh one.  Alucard gets access to a staggering number of weapons, shields, armor, capes and usable food and attack items, allowing for a staggering amount of player customization.  Moreover, several forms get unlocked over the course of the game, including a wolf form to allow for faster running, a bat form to enable flight and see in dark areas, a mist form which makes him intangible and able to slip through barriers and avoid damage (and can be upgraded to a "Poison Mist" form to damage enemies).  Other abilities get unlocked too, like the ability to leap up to the ceiling to avoid damage and damage enemies in one's path, and the ever-popular double jump to allow more mobility in combat and travel.  A number of spells are also found over the course of the game, letting Alucard mimic some of Dracula's signature attacks (teleporting and throwing fireballs) and granting him several of his own (like a charge attack with the bat form and the ability to "Soul Steal" enemies to recover HP).  Another odd addition is "Familiars", which cause a small 'sidekick' to follow Alucard and aid him along the way - a fairy that will use healing items or free him from Stone status, a demon that attacks enemies and presses switches, and a sword that flies around the screen slashing at enemies to name a few.  Strangely, two of these (Faerie and Tengu) were cut from the original US release, but have since been restored in later ports of the game.

Of course, once one is familiar with the game and its mechanics, they discover some rather hilariously overpowered (if not outright broken) combinations for weapons and armor.  One of the most famous of these is the Shield Rod; a weak weapon on its own, but it has the gimmick of granting Alucard various stat buffs when used in combination with shields one finds throughout the game.  By far the most powerful, though, is when used in combination with the Alucard Shield, which makes the player all but invincible and lets the shield rapidly inflict massive damage to anything it touches - enough to devastate even bosses in a matter of seconds.  Similarly, one can also use a gem-duplicating exploit to get ahold of the Duplicator item early, granting the player unlimited uses of any expendable equippable item and letting them rapid-fire shurikens and generate a limitless supply of HP-restoring food, which makes the game's difficulty overall rather trivial.  And of course, there are some rare drops that break the game in their own right, like the long-ranged Verboten sword and the rapid-firing Crissaegrim.

In spite of all that, though, Symphony of the Night is a very captivating game.  The sheer amount of content it offers allows casual players and those interested in a deeper challenge to tweak the game to their liking, and the amount of fan service and plot scenes are a treat for long-time series fans.  There is also substantial replay value thanks to the aforementioned Richter mode and various special passwords one can input to access new challenges  (my personal favorite being "Thief Mode" or "Luck Mode", which lowers all of Alucard's starting stats but raises his Luck to 99 right out of the gate, allowing you to get rare drops much more easily).  It may not be the most well-polished or balanced of games, but it's arguably the most entertaining Castlevania game ever made, and that alone gives it a lot of clout.

Developer: Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo
Publisher: Konami
Platform: Playstation, Saturn, PSP, 360, PS4, Vita
Released: 1997, 1998, 2007, 2018
Recommended Version: The PS4 version is the most readily-available one nowadays and is arguably the definitive release, bundling the game with its predecessor Rondo of Blood and restoring some content cut from the original PS1 release and updating the dialog and VO to more modern standards (and featuring the likes of Yuri Lowenthal, Michelle Ruff, Tony Oliver and David Vincent, among others).  If you can find it, though, the Saturn port does have some exclusive content not seen in other versions, including some new areas (the Underground Garden and Cursed Prison) and a playable version of Maria with very different mechanics than those seen in later releases.

Suikoden V

After a few entries that attempted to rework the gameplay and storytelling format with decidedly mixed results, Suikoden V was a return to form for the franchise, going back to a linear narrative and a more traditional style of gameplay overall.  But does Suikoden V bring back fans that were driven away by the series' new turn, or does it just go too far in this direction and feel like a retread?

Suikoden's leap to the Playstation 2 was a mixed bag; for newcomers to the series, the third game provided a relatively fresh RPG experience with its multiple-path narrative and engrossing storyline, though long-time series fans were somewhat let down by its flagging pace and changed-up gameplay mechanics.  Suikoden IV, created after long-time series director Yoshitaka Murayama left Konami, proved to be an overall mediocre entry with a generic story and little connection to the rest of the series (being a prequel set 150 years prior to the first game).  Suikoden Tactics, while a competent spinoff, proved to be short and, again, a mixup in gameplay that more traditional RPG fans didn't care much for.

So, as franchises often do when they begin to drop in sales, Suikoden V attempted to take things back to basics with a design philosphy more in line with the first two games - traditional turn-based RPG combat, a crisper pace and a more focused storyline.  It does admirably well on the final point, showing a queendom divided between two rival factions and strife among its populace as their queen slowly slips into madness.

But while the game does go back to the style of the originals in many ways, some elements of the later games are retained as well.  The player now has the choice of several formations in basic battles, allowing them to arrange their party in various ways to gain stat bonuses and put fewer characters in harms way.  For example, the Cross formation puts only one character on point, making them the target for most enemy attacks, but grants everyone in the party a bonus to their attack.  Double Arm puts two characters on point, gives all characters in the party a small defensive boost, and enables the use of the Guardian ability, which boosts the party's defense further for a single turn.  The player starts with just one basic formation that grants no bonuses, but more are found throughout the game, both in chests and as rewards for meeting certain requirements during war battles or particular quests.

The "Convoy" position of early games (here called "Entourage"), formerly just a place to put story-relevant characters until they could serve their plot purpose, now plays a more significant role in Suikoden V.  One can have not just their basic party of six in combat, but up to four more can be part of the Entourage, with the player able to swap them with active characters mid-battle to give their party more longevity in boss battles, or versatility in dangerous areas.  This also affords ways for non-combat characters to prove useful, as several will grant bonus effects when placed in the Entourage.  Egbert, for example, will cause the party to gain more gold from combat, while Marina will allow them to restore a small amount of HP each turn.  Not all necessarily pertain directly to battle, either; for example, Shinro's ability replaces the "Drop" command in the item menu with "Trade In", allowing the player to earn money for items they drop as if they'd sold them at shops.  In various ways, all of these things make life easier for the player, allowing to earn cash and battle enemies more efficiently.

Skills are another returning element from the newer games, this time from Suikoden III.  As in that game, one can spend points earned through battle to bolster specific stats or, in the case of certain characters, unique abilities like Long Throw (giving ranged attacks a chance to hit an entire row, rather than a single target).  One also has a pool of "Party Points" that are stored separately and can be spent on any character, even those that haven't had an opportunity to see much battle yet, which can help to get weaker characters caught up (particularly later in the game).  Throughout the game, one can also find "Epic Skills" that effectively serve as all-in-one skills, bolstering multiple stats at once instead of one at a time

As in prior Suikodens, the game has three different combat systems for one-on-one duels, small-scale battles and large-scale battles.  While duels and small-scale battles remain relatively similar to the first two Suikodens (save for a few aforementioned differences), duels do have a couple of small changes.  First is that there is a time limit per turn; if no action is input within 3 seconds, the player will take a random action, which can prove hazardous to them.  The other prominent change is that if both players choose to Attack or Special attack, their attacks will clash; the player can then mash the button at this point to overpower the opponent and damage them without being harmed themselves.  Regardless, the overall strategy remains much the same - try to predict what the opponent will do based on their words, then counter it accordingly.

War battles are relatively similar to Suikoden II's, with a defined rock-paper-scissors weakness/strength hierarchy for units, though battles now work something like the Active Time Battle system in Final Fantasy, being in real-time save for when the player brings up the menu to take an action (at which point time pauses to let them make their decision).  Sea battles from IV return as well, though in a simplified format - similar to ground battles, there is a defined rock-paper-scissors heirarchy, with a few special units mixed in and individual characters' special abilities lending them unique tactics (such as healing some of their injured soldiers or damaging foes over an area of effect).

Suikoden V is a well-made game on the whole, but a few elements may be off-putting to some.  Probably the most prominent of these is the game's overall pacing, with a relatively slow start to the storyline proper (taking ~10 hours before you have a proper war battle and even longer before you get your castle), frequent load times and a rather irritating encounter rate.  Second, while the game overall has quite good production values (with nearly every character having a unique voice actor and well-animated cutscenes), the game does have a fairly drab color palette overall, with a lot of rather bland gray and brown towns and dungeons.  Even the more colorful cities, plains and forests have a relatively washed out palette, making the world feel bleaker than was probably intended.  Towns and dungeons can also at times be excessively large and confusing to navigate, which led me to some frustration as I played.

In spite of a few shortcomings, though, Suikoden V proves to be another worthwhile entry in the series, returning its design to form for fans of the original PS1 games while working in elements of the later titles to give it broader appeal.  Its engrossing story, a large yet distinct and fun cast of characters and a surprising amount of variety lend it much appeal, as does having multiple endings and plenty of hidden secrets for diligent RPG players to enjoy.  It really is a pity that this was the last proper Suikoden game and, aside from a mediocre spinoff game on the DS, the franchise hasn't really been heard from since.

Developer: Konami, Hudson Soft
Publisher: Konami
Platform: Playstation 2
Released: 2006
Recommended version: N/A

Suikoden

One of Konami's first attempts at breaking into the RPG market in North America was Suikoden, released in the early days of the Playstation in both North America and Japan.  But does this foray into war drama and JRPG-styled gameplay do a respectable job, or is this title mostly forgotten nowadays for a reason?

Suikoden is a bit of a cult favorite among Playstation adopters.  Loosely based on the classic Chinese novel "Water Margin", it featured somewhat higher stakes than many other JRPGs available at the time.  You weren't just battling against against an evil empire in Suikoden - you actually had to go through the motions of building your own army over the course of the adventure, recruiting generals, hiring people to staff and improve your castle, and repelling the empire in large-scale battles featuring hundreds or even thousands of soldiers.  Drawing from its inspiration, there really were 108+ characters to recruit in each game, with a good half of those being controllable within the main party.

The gameplay wasn't as complex as I'm making it sound, however, as the games' overall design were still very firmly clued in to the simpler, faster-paced style of Japanese RPGs.  In Suikoden I's case, the war battles play out somewhat akin to a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors, with each side picking between Warriors, Archers and Mages at the start of each turn; Warriors beat Archers, Archers beat Mages, and Mages beat Warriors, with a "victory" incurring a much larger loss of troops on the opponent's side.  The player is generally at a disadvantage in sheer numbers for storyline purposes, but characters they recruit over the course of the adventure give them an edge.  For example, recruiting some ninja characters allow the player to see what action their opponent will take next, while merchant characters can sometimes bribe some of the enemy's troops into changing sides.  Also important to keep in mind is the fact that the characters one recruits also take part in war battles, and taking losses can result in them being injured or even killed outright, which can rob the player of the best ending; thus, strategy, luck and saving beforehand in case things go wrong are all essential elements of the war battles.

One-on-one duels play out at some points of the story as well, and these also function akin to a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors, with Defend beating Wild Attack, Wild Attack overcoming normal Attack and Attack overcoming Defense, with the player getting clues from the character dialog for when to use which strategy.  Characters' stats do play into them as well, however, so if a character is underleveled, they can easily die in one attack while their opponent takes virtually no damage.  This makes it important to keep story-relevant characters' levels and equipment current for the times they will be needed.

Thankfully, this is not as big a chore as one may expect thanks to the cleverly-designed experience system.  Rather than leveling up in a linear fashion, Suikoden gears itself toward allowing weaker characters to quickly level up.  The amount needed for a character to gain a level is set at a flat 1000, and the experience characters gain from a battle is divided by their current level - thus, a lower-leveled character will gain far more experience than a higher-leveled one, allowing them to catch up quickly.   This is quite convenient for trying out characters for your main team as well.

Another notable aspect of the game is the fact that it has very few visible load times.  While the music does audibly stop and start when switching to a new area, the game itself runs very smoothly, with no load times beginning or ending combat and only a second or two when transitioning between maps.  A stark contrast to many games that came later, most particularly the ports of the SNES Final Fantasy games released as part of the Anthology and Chronicles compilations, which infamously had very long load times between every single battle.

As with any other JRPG worth its salt, Suikoden features a number of side-quests, hidden treasures and grinding elements for more hardcore gamers, with a plethora of enemy groups throughout having a small chance to drop rare runes or strong pieces of equipment that can't be easily acquired elsewhere.  Indeed, while it is possible to beat the game in a fairly casual run-through with few problems, the truly hardcore can outfit their entire 108-star army with strong equipment, top-tier runes and enough levels to trounce any opposition in only a turn or two, making it have appeal across the entire spectrum of gamers.

The first foray in the Suikoden franchise is a game worth checking out for any serious Japanese RPG fan.  Its well-crafted story, interesting setting and large cast of characters make it a rare example of a successful war epic in the realm of console gaming, and its impressive spritework was a pretty rare sight for a Playstation 1 game in an era when games were largely transitioning into very blocky, grainy-textured 3D models.  It may not be the franchise's best, but it laid the framework for much better things to come.

Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Platform: Playstation 1, Saturn, Windows, Mobile
Released: 1996, 1998, 2008
Recommended version: As of 2025 there is now an HD remaster compilation with this game and Suikoden II, which give the game a dramatic visual upgrade but surprisingly few other quality of life improvements.  Still, it's readily accessible, affordable and looks great.

Suikoden II

The second entry in Konami's grandiose war epic RPG franchise, as well as one of their most overlooked titles period.  But does this somewhat obscure title have anything to offer, or was it overlooked in the late '90s for a reason?

In the era before Squaresoft's mega-hit Final Fantasy VII, a few other franchises attempted to gain a foothold on the Playstation and establish themselves as viable names in the JRPG market.  Among them was Suikoden, Konami's attempt to combine elements of a traditional RPG with a storyline and gameplay elements that lent it the feel of a war drama.  Drawing inspiration from the Chinese classic novel "War of the Marshes", the player was tasked with recruiting the 108 Stars of Destiny and fighting back an evil empire in a setting that combined elements of fantasy, ancient Europe and ancient China.  While it was a bit rough, especially in comparison to its sequels, the original Suikoden became a modest success, gaining acclaim for its high stakes and grandiose feel despite its somewhat limited visuals and overall low difficulty level.

Three years afterward, when a plethora of 3D RPGs were making a big splash, Suikoden's sequel quietly slipped out in the background, seeing a very limited release and only a few low-key reviews across various video game publications (more than a few of which criticized it for still utilizing "outdated" 2D graphics).  Despite becoming a hit with fans of the original (as well as those who picked it up having never played the first game), Konami barely seemed to acknowledge it, seemingly more interested in pushing their other titles of the time (most notably their cinematic hit Metal Gear Solid).

It's all a pity, as Suikoden II has quite a lot to offer any serious RPG fan.  The high-stakes storytelling of the original game continues here, putting the player into a large-scale war between an encroaching evil empire and a handful of feuding city-states whom they must unite under their flag.  Each of these takes the form of a small standalone story, where the player must solve a problem the town faces.  Each area also has at least one recruitable character within, each with their own recruitment conditions to fulfill in order to add them to the party; some will not join until your castle reaches a certain level, some may require you to bring another NPC to them, and others still require you to partake in the game's minigames and side-quests (such as earning enough money through trading or winning 10,000 Potch in Chinchirorin).

The game also utilizes its premise in three different types of combat systems.  The most common is a turn-based system, wherein the player has a party of up to six characters and combats small groups of enemies and occasional bosses in a fairly traditional fashion.  There are also one-on-one duels, wherein the player has a choice of three moves (Attack, Defend or Wild Attack) and must predict their opponent's actions based on dialog lines, choosing the appropriate action to counter theirs in a  Rock-Paper-Scissors style: Defend beats Wild Attack, Attack beats Defense and Wild Attack beats Attack.  Finally, there are turn-based war battles, wherein the player gets a small group of units to move across a grid and must engage and defeat enemy forces, with each unit having differing statistics and a small selection of special abilities (such as the ability to heal or use "Fire Spears" that damage all units in a 3-square line).

Showing off its tactical inspiration, the 6-player battles also break from JRPG norms in a few ways. Each character can only equip a few item sets at a time to use freely in battle (empty slots can be filled from the general inventory mid-fight, but they must spend a turn to do this), and inventory space as a whole is somewhat limited, though the player has a storage room at their base where they can stash extra items they don't immediately need.  Spells are also slightly more limited than in most games, giving the player a set number of "spell levels" and charges for each that can only be restored by resting at an inn.  There is also a slight Chrono Trigger-esque mechanic in "Unite Attacks", wherein two or more units can spend their turns to perform a larger attack, usually with a drawback of some kind (such as dealing extra damage at the cost of dizzying a character, preventing them from attacking for a turn or two).  Finally, the player has a unique way to avoid some fights - one can either Bribe enemies, paying them a substantial amount of money for a guaranteed escape from battle, or, if the player is substantially stronger than the enemy, they have the option to "let them off", allowing them to leave without a fight (but earning no experience, money or items).

Of course, with a large cast of characters comes the concern that many of them will see very little (if any) use, with the player simply finding a few of the strongest ones and keeping them in their party as much as possible while ignoring the rest.  Suikoden II, however, handles the idea surprisingly well by introducing a cleverly-implemented experience system.  The total experience a character gains is divided by their current level, ensuring that lower-leveled characters will gain far more points and catch up to your main characters very quickly.  Each character one finds also has a unique skill set in some way, whether it be a unique spell rune, unite attack or just some interesting animations, and not all will be available for any given mission, so the player is given encouragement to try them all out and see which ones they like best.  Enlisting some characters will also prevent others from being recruited, which also lends the game some replay value.  If one also has a Suikoden 1 save file with all of the characters recruited and the good ending achieved, they can also unlock that game's protagonist as a powerful hidden character, which is a pretty cool bonus.

Suikoden II's overall presentation is very strong; despite being criticized for having "dated" 2D graphics in an era where 3D was becoming the new norm, it's very clear that Konami's staff put a great deal of effort into making this game stand out on an aesthetic level.  Environments and character animations are immaculately polished and beautifully animated, with details like casting shadows from light sources and surprisingly realistic interaction between characters (with some occasional anime-esque slapstick) lending the cutscenes a lot of personality.  The music in the game is also quite varied and extremely well-composed, with everything from oriental-sounding themes to vocal ballads to an intense, orchestral theme for the war battles.  However, a bug in the North American version of the game unfortunately prevents some tracks from playing properly, resulting in a few scenes (and several war battles) being set to awkward silence.

A few rough edges also show themselves in the game's translation.  While the overall story and narrative is very strong, this was still the era before well-polished RPG translations became the norm.  As a result, some dialog (particularly near the end) feels somewhat awkward and unnatural, and there is even some inconsistency in how characters' names are spelled (with Jowy being referred to as "Joei" more than once).  Worse, some dialog was also not translated at all, with the player seeing screens of garbled text when talking to some NPCs reminiscent of an unfinished ROM hack; such occurrences are rare, thankfully, but it does feel out-of-place from a company that generally shows such pride in the quality and polish of their games.

Despite some minor hiccups, however, Suikoden II is a very well realized war epic in the form of a Japanese RPG.  Its strongly written characters, moody soundtrack, polished animation and overall gameplay design that encourages player experimentation all lend themselves to a fantastic experience, and the compelling lore of Suikoden's world fits it in perfectly with other games in the series (both its predecessors and those that would come later).  It's a game that never really got the recognition it should have in its heyday, but with its recent release on the Playstation Network, hopefully a few more gamers will come to recognize its brilliance.  Its only real faults are having several prominent bugs, some of which prevent you from achieving full completion, and a a number of very lackluster minigames.  Some are alright (like the cooking contest, which also constitutes a subplot) while others are just plain wretched (mole whacking, a very tedious fishing minigame with little payoff).   They're something you can largely ignore, though, and certainly don't subtract from the game's many highlights.

Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Platform: Playstation 1, Playstation Network
Released: 1999, 2014
Recommended version: As of 2025 there is now an HD remaster compilation with this game and Suikoden I, which give the game a dramatic visual upgrade, fixes several prominent bugs and even lets you pause the event timer (letting you experience all of Clive's subplot without having to rush through the game).  It's readily accessible, affordable and looks great; even as a huge fan of the original, I consider this the definitive release.  The only downsides are they did tie achievements to completing some of the worst minigames and didn't add too many of the quality of life improvements seen in other contemporary RPG remasters.