Review NaN of 63
, from USA
Price Paid:
$20.00 Summary:
"Experience an epic tale of warfare, magic, friendship, and betrayal."
Despite limited success in the United States, Konami decided to make a sequel for a little known role playing game called Suikoden. The sequel, dubbed the obvious Suikoden II, did not receive much success in the U.S. either. The lack of success is really a shame; millions of Playstation owners are missing out on one of the best RPG series out there. Suikoden II follows in the footsteps of its predecessor, while adding much, much more.
Suikoden II features a similar story to the original, keeping the war theme going. The story starts off innocently enough with the hero (you get to choose his name) and his best friend Jowy working at the Highland camp. During the middle of the night, however, the enemy group surprise attacks the Highland camp. The hero and Jowy escape from the attack, but only after both jump off a cliff. The hero is found near the river shortly after the fall and he is held prisoner by the group of mercenaries who found him. This little scene is only the beginning of what unravels into a truly epic tale with plenty of twists and turns.
Like the original Suikoden, the hero eventually acquires his own castle (you get to choose the name again). This castle is not some sissy-little castle either, it is downright huge! In fact, it might be too big - getting lost in the castle is commonplace if you don't have a good memory or a map to guide you. As one of the castle's many inhabitants says, "(Dragon) Castle is more like a city than a castle!"
Despite its massive size, the castle is a great place to hang out. There are tons of mini-games inside the castle such as a great cooking game (a la Iron Chef), mountain climbing, fishing, and a detective mini-game where the detective will help you find new recruits and give secrets on other members of the army. There are also a bunch of fun little additions like a suggestion box where other characters make suggestions or just write notes to you, and having a statue erected in honor of the character you use most. Let's not forget the fact that there are also many different businesses run in the castle, like a blacksmith shop and a trading post. Needless to say, if you are looking for time to kill then the castle is your best bet.
Another idea carried on from the original Suikoden is the recruiting of the 108 Stars of Destiny. The 108 Stars of Destiny are the most important characters you can recruit to join your force; recruiting all 108 of them opens up the best game ending and you will get a special little bonus at the end. However, recruiting these 'stars' is no easy task. Many obstacles will stand in your way of recruiting each character. For example, a character named Jude can only be recruited if you give him clay. Of course, Jude doesn't outright say that he will join your army if you give him clay, but he does hint around the fact that he needs clay. Give him clay and he joins. That's the way it is with recruiting most characters - you have to give them something in order to join. Also, some characters you will have to do quite a bit of backtracking to get. Getting all 108 Stars of Destiny is not required to finish the game, but like I mentioned it does give you the best ending and a little bonus.
Suikoden II uses three different battle systems, one of which is entirely new. The three types of combat are regular battles, duel battles, and the all new major battles. Each type of battle is used at the approriate time, with the regular battles occuring most often.
Regular battles play out in the traditional RPG turn-based format. The hero's party is given four choices when a battle occurs - fight, run/let go, bribe, and auto. Auto is the best bet if you are just fighting random battles, as it just selects regular attacks on the enemy. Fight is the best option if you are fighting a boss since it allows you to decide your options (attack, defend, rune, item, unite, and shift). The rune option allows you to perform various types of magic (fire, water, resurrection, etc.), with the only difference from the first Suikoden being that you can now have up to three different runes per character. Having three runes per character is great since it allows you to have both attack and heal magic at once. The unite option allows 2-3 different characters to 'unite' and do a combination attack on the enemy. These attacks will hurt the enemy more than one simple attack would, but they can leave your character 'unbalanced' so he/she can't go on the next turn. The regular battles have a slick format, but as in any RPG the random battles can become quite the pest.
The duel battles are probably the best in the game, although they are the shortest of the three types. Basically, the duel is just like the name states - a one on one battle with the enemy. Three choices are presented to you during the duel - attack, defend, and wild attack. The choices are similar to a 'rock, paper, scissors' format, as attack beats defend, defend beats wild attack, and wild attack beats attack. The key to finding out what the enemy is going to do depends on how good you decipher quotes because the enemy will make a subtle remark on what he is going to do before he actually does it. Despite being the best type of battle in the game, the duels are almost a rarity in Suikoden II. I believe there are only five total duel battles in the entire game, which is a shame considering how fun they are.
The major battles are entirely different from the third type of battle in the original Suikoden. The original had a fun battle system that played out like a game of 'rock, paper, scissors', but for Suikoden II, Konami decided to change that to a more strategic form of battle. These major battles play out like a strategy or a 'simulation' game - you are given units to advance through set spaces with the goal being to beat the enemy. You are presented with three choices after you move your unit - attack, wait, or rune. Attack allows you to physically attack the nearest enemy unit with weapons. Wait maintains current position. Rune allows you to attack via casting spells. Depending on what type of unit you have (infantry, archers, or spellcasters), you get special options like being able to move more than one spot. This type of battle system is really well done, but it suffers from one flaw - most of the battles are already decided before you begin to play. Out of the dozen or so major battles, well over half of them end with you or the enemy withdrawing from battle. It is almost rare to have a genuine battle with only one winner. Despite that one flaw, the major battles are a nice change of pace from the norm.
One of the best parts of the major battles is the absolutely fantastic background music that plays during the combat. The music is the type that will get you pumped and ready to destroy the enemy. The major battle music isn't the only good music track in Suikoden II; in fact, I dare you to find one bad music track in the game! Every track is wonderfully composed and each one fits the mood of the game. The sound effects are no slouch either, with some effects sounding lifelike (burning of trees) and others simply fun instead of realistic (battle sounds).
Visually, Suikoden II is much improved over its predecessor. While still maintaining the classic 2D look, Suikoden II manages to add a lot of detail to the visuals. Everything is more colorful and full of energy. The cities this time around are massive in size - it will take a while to talk to every citizen and visit every store in some of the bigger cities like Muse (the capital city) and Greenhill (the academy city). The cities themselves are actually quite beautiful and detailed, although there are a few exceptions such as Tigermouth Village where everything is dry and quite boring. The characters have much better pictures of themselves during dialogue, instead of the drab drawings from the original. The animation is also improved, with the walking looking more realistic as does the running. In fact, getting around is much easier this time since you can run any time you want instead of just having to have a holy rune like the first. The visuals really are better.
Overall, Suikoden II is a worthy sequel to one of the best RPGs of all time. While lacking in some areas (rare duel battles, pre-determined major battles), the game succeeds in others (tons of mini-games, an involving story, improved graphics, etc.) making it a well balanced sequel. If you have played Suikoden and want more, then by all means get Suikoden II. If you haven't played the original, I would recommend getting that first before playing Suikoden II. Either way, the Suikoden series is not one to be missed.
Best Feature: Loads of mini-games.
Worst Feature: Rare duel battles.
Final Analysis:
Graphics 8/10 - improved, more detailed, better animation
Sound 9/10 - excellent music, great sound effects
Gameplay 8/10 - lots of stuff to do, never gets too boring
Control 7/10 - still can't walk diagonal, no analog support
Replay Value 7/10 - worth playing again to get all 108 Stars of Destiny, 30+ hour game
Challenge 7/10 - more difficult than the original, but still not that hard
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