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

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.

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.