Suikoden V

[SilentSoul92]

Ahaha...I actually hadn't planned on buying this, but it was accidentally put into the Suikoden Tactics section and I didn't look so...ehe...

Still, it's an addicting game, no idea why. The storyline's nice and the graphics are decent, the music's all right and the gameplay overall is ok. But I can't stop playing it, I have absolutely no idea why XD

But anyways, I've always heard good things about the Suikoden series so this was a bit of a let down, but then again everyone kept talking about the 2nd or 4th one or something like that so I guess I'll have to check that out as well.

Thoughts about the Suikoden saga anyone?

[WizardoftheWood]

Suikoden v is a very long game. I think I put over 80 hours into it and I still couldn't find every single character. The only thing I found bad about this was the number of unit battles instead of the actual character fighting. Anyways, the game is a masterpiece and I love it.

[SilentSoul92]

Oh yeah, I didnt mean to make it sound like the game was bad. Its really addicting, its just I was reading all sorts of propaganda about the series so my expectations were way too high XD

[lightepsilon39]

Its reputation has been dropping coz of Suiko IV. I've finished the game 5 times(all secrets unlocked) my record is 49 hours

[SilentSoul92]

Suikoden isn't a really popular title like FF since I never even heard of it until a bit beforehand. I'll have to check out the other games, although everyone said IV sucked. :( Bleh, oh well. I enjoy almost any game.

[WizardoftheWood]

I'm tired of people saying iv sucked. That really pisses me off. The only problem I had with iv was that it was too short. Seemed like their was so much more story to tell.

[SilentSoul92]

Well, I haven't played IV yet, so I won't comment on that. Really, from the reviews I've read, it seems like it was a really good game just had a bunch of little flaws that added up. That's fine with me as long as it's not anything huge.

[Leotaku]

[quote="SilentSoul92"]Suikoden isn't a really popular title like FF since I never even heard of it until a bit beforehand. I'll have to check out the other games, although everyone said IV sucked. Bleh, oh well. I enjoy almost any game.[/quote]

Unfortunately, if it's not a Final Fantasy game, it's probably not going to be nearly as popular and well-known. It's a real shame that so many people miss great RPGs just because it's not Final Fantasy.

I have Suikoden I-III, but I haven't played III yet. I love I and II though (they're on PS1). I think the Suikoden games are produced in small numbers, so they can easily become hard to find. Aside from the fact that it's not a Final Fantasy game, this could also contribute to why the games aren't very popular: Not enough people have the chance to pick it up in the first place.
_________________
[url=http://leotaku.avalanchestudios.net/]Taku Bell: My Art and Games[/url]
[url=http://leo-taku.deviantart.com/]My deviantART page[/url]
[url=http://www.fanart-central.net/profile-Leotaku.php]My Fanart Central page[/url]
[url=http://www.myspace.com/leotaku]Myspace[/url]

[Autumn-Sacura]

Suikoden5 is the best of Suikoden Saga... after 2nd, of course. Georg, I think, maybe the greatest videogame character ever!

[SilentSoul92]

Ahaha, I know. I've been looking for 1-3 on Ebay but they're pretty expensive. It's like Disgaea, greatest strategy ever, smallest amount of numbers produced ever...T_T Oh well, Christmas is nearing.

[Trinity_Fire]

Hey, sorry to kind of burst into a thread like this, but I was wondering.

What exactly is the Suikoden battle system like? Real-time? Turn-based? Strategic?
I've wanted to get this game because of all the good stuff out there, but to be honest, I know just about squat about it. (Well, story outline for III, but that's it XD )

So, would anyone care to quickly brief me over on how it's played? How good is it?
And if I'm a first-timer to Suikoden, which game should I get??

Thanks for anyone who pays attention; otherwise, just go on with your chatting. :)
_________________
[url=http://www.fanart-central.net/user-Trinity_Fire.php][img]http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e326/MomentaryEternity/sig3.jpg[/img][/url][url=http://www.fanart-central.net/user_stories-Trinity_Fire.php][img]http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e326/MomentaryEternity/sig2.jpg[/img][/url]

[Leotaku]

[quote="Trinity_Fire"]What exactly is the Suikoden battle system like? Real-time? Turn-based? Strategic?
...
So, would anyone care to quickly brief me over on how it's played? How good is it?
And if I'm a first-timer to Suikoden, which game should I get??
[/quote]

I can only comment on I and II. If any of this is inaccurate, some feel free to correct me. It's been a while since I played them. :\

The main battle system is turn-based, and you choose all your moves at the start of a turn. Once you choose all your moves though, the actions go by pretty fast; characters usually attack before other characters are done attacking, and sometimes, they even attack at the same time. So it's not always one person at a time that's doing something, which speeds the battle up.

You have a party of up to 6, and some characters can team up to perform a single stronger attack (kinda like in Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross, if you've ever played those). You can also attach Runes (1 or 2, I think) to your characters, which will let them use magic.

Formation counts too. All characters have either Short, Medium, or Long range weapon attacks. Short range has to be put in the front row to do physical attacks. Medium range can be put in the front row or the back row, but they do more damage in the front row. Long range can attack from the front or back row, and they'll do the same damage in either row. The thing is, the front row takes more damage than the back row.

Then you have 2 other battle systems, but they only show up for a few key points in the game. One battle mode is one-on-one, where you only get a regular attack, a defend, and a desperate attack to use. No items or Runes (magic). It's a little like rock-paper-scissors, in that some choices will be highly effective against other choices. For example, if you defend, and the computer does a desperate attack, you'll dodge it and counter attack.

The third battle system is a massive army-on-army. Um...I don't remember the first game too well, but the second game (which is different from the first game's army battles) has you moving your characters around on a grid map.
...Come to think of it, I don't remember the second game too well either. That's all I remember.

You can recruit 108 characters (the 108 Stars of Destiny), and in Suikoden II, there's a little over 108. Many of these characters can be used in battle, while others will stay in your castle and provide services or add new functions to your castle. So the castle you acquire will grow as you recruit more people.

Weapons aren't bought, but they're improved by paying a Blacksmith to work on it. You can also have a Blacksmith attach Rune shards to give your weapon some sort of extra effect or elemental property. I don't remember if this is in I, II or both.
The rest of the game is fairly standard RPG-fare.

Again, I can only comment on I and II. If you had the chance to, I'd get both. II is actually closely tied to I (and you'll even see quite a few familiar faces from the first game, which you can recruit or who will join automatically), which is rare for an RPG. So playing I before II would be nice, though not necessary.

Hope that helps. ^^;;
_________________
[url=http://leotaku.avalanchestudios.net/]Taku Bell: My Art and Games[/url]
[url=http://leo-taku.deviantart.com/]My deviantART page[/url]
[url=http://www.fanart-central.net/profile-Leotaku.php]My Fanart Central page[/url]
[url=http://www.myspace.com/leotaku]Myspace[/url]

[Trinity_Fire]

Wow, that's real interesting. Even makes turn-based sound kinda good, for someone lazy like me. (Don't ask how lazy people prefer real-time battle XD)

But, anyway, I'll definately look into that.

...Problem is, I don't know if I can ever find the first two Suikoden games. ;A;
All I ever see in the stores are III, IV, and V.

...Astri was right; V's main character is uber-femmy. :o

Anyway, thanks a lot, and I'll see what else I can find out. ;)
_________________
[url=http://www.fanart-central.net/user-Trinity_Fire.php][img]http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e326/MomentaryEternity/sig3.jpg[/img][/url][url=http://www.fanart-central.net/user_stories-Trinity_Fire.php][img]http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e326/MomentaryEternity/sig2.jpg[/img][/url]

[Fayore]

I think it really depends on which one you're looking at. I've played them all except for III and V - III, I haven't seen around here in a long while, and V, well... I've had that game for months but I haven't even taken it out of the plastic seal yet, OTL.

Then again, I never finished I or II, so I can't really comment on those, either.

My first Suikoden was Tactics - as the name implies, it's not entirely cut from the same mold as the other GS games. While the main series all have silent protagonists (something I find mildly irritating, but eh), this one has an obvious main character. Also, the battles aren't so much turnbased as, well, tactical grid system, but! I assure you, GS Tactics has a pretty nifty battle system which I can't really describe right now, heh. It's a really short game, though, which seems to be a common complaint about the entire franchise in general.

I wouldn't advise playing GST first, since it's really more of a prologue to GSIV. Seriously, I was more or less confused about certain events in it since I hadn't exactly played IV yet. o.o; Despite those parts, though, it has a pretty nice standalone plot that makes you go "awww" on the inside when you finsh the game.

IV is pretty fun. You get your own boat and you can sail/adventure around in the archepelago the game's set in... Though actually being forced to move the ship from island to island in the first part of the game before you get that nifty teleportation mirror is kindof annoying, though. Characters levelled up an awful lot because of that; it's not like the ship's fast in the first place, even when you make it speed up. <<; But besides that...

Still astounded at the sheer number of characters, which is one of the things the series is pretty famous for. 108 playable characters? @___@ I'm having a hard time collecting them all. T_T; Owell.

I'd say the plot is standard RPG fare - main character gets cursed and is exiled from his homeland for a "murder" he didn't commit, etc etc~ But I'm only about 17h in, so who knows how the plot'll go from there? I just wanna see what's up with that curse, ohoho.

The battle system's pretty standard RPG stuff, too. Turnbased. Can't say I enjoy it that much (I prefer either real-time or tactical, lol) but ya know. Not too hard to learn the ropes~ You can put the game down for months (like I did with IV, haha) and you won't have a problem with the battles when you pick it back up. :3

There's also character battles (one-on-one with another enemy, and rather than just fighting outright, you have to predict the enemy's attack and respond accordingly) and ship battles, where's it's set on a tactical grid and you just fire at each other using the elemental rune cannons.

But yeah, most of the systems are really similar to what Leotaku mentioned. They probably used the same systems throughout the entire series (barring Tactics) as some kind of motif, anyway.

Note: you might as well give up on grabbing GSI/II for the time being since they're both PS1 games and exceedingly rare. They're even really expensive on eBay, so... :l

[Leotaku]

[quote="Trinity_Fire"]Wow, that's real interesting. Even makes turn-based sound kinda good, for someone lazy like me. (Don't ask how lazy people prefer real-time battle XD)
[/quote]

...Yeah. I don't get that.
When I'm feeling lazy, and looking for a more laid-back game, I'd take a turn-based RPG over an action RPG.

Despite being turn-based, the battles move along pleasantly fast. So it shouldn't feel like a chore like it can in some other games.

Anyway, you're welcome.
_________________
[url=http://leotaku.avalanchestudios.net/]Taku Bell: My Art and Games[/url]
[url=http://leo-taku.deviantart.com/]My deviantART page[/url]
[url=http://www.fanart-central.net/profile-Leotaku.php]My Fanart Central page[/url]
[url=http://www.myspace.com/leotaku]Myspace[/url]

[BlackSmoke]

[quote]I'm tired of people saying iv sucked. That really pisses me off. The only problem I had with iv was that it was too short. Seemed like their was so much more story to tell.[/quote]

I completely agree. The only thing that disappointed me was you could only have four people (including the main character) in the party. But you are allowed to have two other parties as well, so that makes up for it I guess. I'm sad, because I'm at the end of the game, and I don't want it to stop. It's really fun.
_________________
[img]http://drakengard.net/drakengard2/urick.jpg[/img]
Outside my dream life, I realize that real life is stupid. Idiotic. That's why I have a dream life in the first place.