Favorite game of the main series?

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What is your favorite game of the main series overall?

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Icegryphon
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Re: Favorite game of the main series

Post by Icegryphon »

Suikoden 3 was the best.

First off it was actually difficult which is something most of the other games are not.
Only game where your main characters actually talk.
You fill up your castle for a reason other than "come help me defeat the evil empire".
One of the best stories, if not the best.
The longest in the series yet doesn't feel that way because it's put together so well with such a good plot.
Best army battles of the series.
The paired combat can be annoying but adds an extra element of strategy and I think it works well.
Great characters. The character designs are some of the best in the series.
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Belcoot4
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Re: Favorite game of the main series

Post by Belcoot4 »

Icegryphon wrote:Suikoden 3 was the best.

First off it was actually difficult which is something most of the other games are not.
Only game where your main characters actually talk.
You fill up your castle for a reason other than "come help me defeat the evil empire".
One of the best stories, if not the best.
The longest in the series yet doesn't feel that way because it's put together so well with such a good plot.
Best army battles of the series.
The paired combat can be annoying but adds an extra element of strategy and I think it works well.
Great characters. The character designs are some of the best in the series.
Suikoden III is #1!
In making my choice i took in consideration which game met all of my expectations as far as plot, ending, characters, difficulty and length.

To me SIII had a very detailed plot which made you want to play it again like watching a great movie again. Its the only game of the series that I didn't have to say "wow this is how it ends", the game climaxed and concluded in a very smooth transition. I have nothing negative to say about SII's ending but to me it really seemed that things died down after Luca gets killed, it climaxed too early. SIII by far is the most difficult out of any, you can't constantly use "auto" you actually have to be somewhat tactical when choosing your party and how they attack. The characters were fantastic, I completed the game 4 times and there are still characters who I'd like to use more. Then when it comes to length it exceeds the others and like Icegryphon said since the game was put together so well time flys and the story flows before you even know it.
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SuikoMJM
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Re: Favorite game of the main series

Post by SuikoMJM »

I'm sure if this was a ranking poll, where first counted for 5 points, second for 4 points, third for 3 points, and so on, the results would be different. Problem is Suikoden II sucking up all of the votes that would go elsewhere if it weren't an option, which is why I think V is so drastically behind I, II, and III.

II > V > III > I > IV, for me.
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Captain Tenneal
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Re: Favorite game of the main series

Post by Captain Tenneal »

The captain voted for II. It's the first one I played and while it has it's silly moments it was a very charming game with a good story about a war between friends. It also really captured a feeling of antiquity. Suikoden III accomplished this as well.
I was surprised to see a few choose 4 as a favorite, but it's an interesting choice.
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Blutiger Engel
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Re: Favorite game of the main series

Post by Blutiger Engel »

Captain Tenneal wrote:The captain voted for II. It's the first one I played and while it has it's silly moments it was a very charming game with a good story about a war between friends. It also really captured a feeling of antiquity. Suikoden III accomplished this as well.
I was surprised to see a few choose 4 as a favorite, but it's an interesting choice.
I'm more surprised that IV beat V than by the fact that people chose it at all. Though V is a bit long and the missable characters are annoying, which is a bit of a turn off, alongside the random battles and slow load times. If I hadn't voted for II though, III would have been my choice. It was the first in the series that I played/heard off so it's a bit sentimental, plus I loved a lot of the characters.
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Captain Tenneal
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Re: Favorite game of the main series

Post by Captain Tenneal »

Heh, you're right I didn't see that IV outvoted V, I haven't played V yet. III also would have been my second choice, I felt it had solid production value and pretty good characters (I also liked how "quiet" the game was). The only complaints I had about III was the constant backtracking (until I got Viki), I became annoyed at the Mountain Path fairly quickly. The other complaint is that I was disappointed with the main villain's motive.
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Blutiger Engel
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Re: Favorite game of the main series

Post by Blutiger Engel »

The backtracking was in fact very annoying, and since it was my first Suikoden, I was very glad that the others didn't have that same map system when I played the other ones. Of course, I'd much prefer that to IV's ship. Luc's motive was a bit cliche and frankly to me it made no sense. Since I played III before I and II, I had no idea who he was and the effect of him taking the mask off had no impact on me whatsoever. Once I played I and II and learned who he was I started liking him a lot more, but that didn't change my opinion of his motive.

Not sure what you meant by III being "Quiet", unless you meant the lack of voice acting, which to me was also a plus. English voices don't seem to have the same appeal as the Japanese ones to me in any case where I had the opportunity to hear both. I played V before IV (so I thought it was the first to have voice acting) and I hated it. Not only did it slow the already slow dialogue down, but a lot of the voices seemed cheesy or overdone. They seemed to get better after the beginning, or maybe I just got used to them. I actually thought IV's voices were better though, once I played that.
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Captain Tenneal
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Re: Favorite game of the main series

Post by Captain Tenneal »

***SPOILER***

You're right, I didn't quite understand why Luc was choosing to do what he was doing. It also didn't seem to fit his character. I don't think they justified enough how he went from being Leknaat's assistant to a cruel, calculating villain bent on destroying all life (ok, they had the side bit about the origin of him and Sassari but that wasn't a very strong part of the story, as I remember it anyway). Maybe I'm missing something?

When I say quiet, I mean that Suikoden III really had a quiet quality about it. A lack of voice acting was a part of it, but there were a lot of moments where no background music played, or it would be toned down for conversations, and the graphical style is subtle without being drab. It was serene and it made me take the game more seriously.

From what I've seen so far, IV does seem to have pretty solid voice acting.
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Re: Favorite game of the main series

Post by Oppenheimer »

Blutigengel wrote: I'm more surprised that IV beat V than by the fact that people chose it at all. Though V is a bit long and the missable characters are annoying, which is a bit of a turn off, alongside the random battles and slow load times.
I think it's a travesty that V is losing. It is my second favourite after III. Its plot is so deep and the political intrigue is so real. I like the art design and the voice acting is top notch. People say it had a slow beginning but I think that kind of set up made what happened after the crisis began that much more of an impact. V is one of my favourite games, it's just that very little can beat the trinity sight system and a potential protagonist who's not a teenager and not a male.
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Captain Tenneal
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Re: Favorite game of the main series

Post by Captain Tenneal »

Hey, don't make me go through IV faster than I already want to! 8) And I just realized I even have to go though Tactics after that before I can play V.
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Blutiger Engel
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Re: Favorite game of the main series

Post by Blutiger Engel »

Captain Tenneal wrote:Hey, don't make me go through IV faster than I already want to! 8) And I just realized I even have to go though Tactics after that before I can play V.
Haha, well you don't have to. But V did have a great story- it's just the patience issue with me: slow loading and lots of cut scenes, talking in the beginning. I almost quit within the first hour or two, but decided to give it another chance and got addicted. Well worth it, once it got going.
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Belcoot4
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Re: Favorite game of the main series

Post by Belcoot4 »

Captain Tenneal wrote:***SPOILER***

You're right, I didn't quite understand why Luc was choosing to do what he was doing. It also didn't seem to fit his character. I don't think they justified enough how he went from being Leknaat's assistant to a cruel, calculating villain bent on destroying all life (ok, they had the side bit about the origin of him and Sassari but that wasn't a very strong part of the story, as I remember it anyway). Maybe I'm missing something?

When I say quiet, I mean that Suikoden III really had a quiet quality about it. A lack of voice acting was a part of it, but there were a lot of moments where no background music played, or it would be toned down for conversations, and the graphical style is subtle without being drab. It was serene and it made me take the game more seriously.

From what I've seen so far, IV does seem to have pretty solid voice acting.
I chose S3 as my favorite so I'm going to go off topic momentarily to show my view on Luc's motives. First, playing S3 before the previous 2 is very cripilling because how close the stories are along the timeline. Luc was practicaly a slave for Leknaat to go serve the Tenkai and maybe even to monitior him. My first time playing through S3 I was a little confused about his motives but that was due to my own mistakes in character recruting.

Spoiler below*****





After looking at the list of SoD's I noticed that Luc, Yuber, Albert, and Sarah are all included on the list although they were antagonists. So on my next playthrough I made sure I recruited all 108 Stars and then completed the game. After the character summaries and the credits the screen takes you back to the trinity site where you can choose Luc and play mostly all of the main parts of the story as him. During his chapters there are many cut scenes that you don't see when playing as Hugo, Chris, or Geddoe like the conversation between him and Sarah in the rune shop at LeBuqe. Finally, when the cut scene with Nash and Sasari at the, not sure on the correct name, Crystal Shrine is taking place an extended version of the same scene you saw earlier happens. There Luc has a conversation with Sasari on how they were both basicaly not even real people and that the fact Hikusaak could create more beings such as themselves with True Runes. Hence, Luc was born of the True Wind and Sasari of the True Earth. Luc said it himself that he never touched or felt real human love. This knowledge alone is enough for someone to plot a motive of destruction. Its almost like finding out your parents were never your parents. The fact that he wasn't born naturaly like everyone else and with the worlds knowledge from the rune, like he said he felt like he was in a giant cell with an invisible leash around his neck, destroying everything and everyone including himself was a very fitting motive. Like I said above its really cripilling playing 3 before the others because Luc doesn't have a mask and although he does speak from time to time in the first two his background was always a mystery so when his mask came off it was quite dramatic, atleast to me.

Just to add another point on why I chose S3 as my favorite. I loved S2 like everyonelse but S3 was just special to me. Its like most FFVII fans, they think its the greatest and I agree that its great but FFVI/III is my favorite. But my point is I feel like how the story is linked from SII to SIII was a smoother, more interesting, and more fulfilling the SI to SII.
"Even the dead reveal their secrets to me." Yuber

"I have not lived long enough to become a myth." Chris Lightfellow

"They betrayed us and fled. Cowards." Zegai
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Captain Tenneal
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Re: Favorite game of the main series

Post by Captain Tenneal »

I was able to play in the order of II, I, and then III, so it was nice to see the masked villain was Luc. Well, not nice to see I guess, I didn't want to see him in that role, but it was a nice surprise. I was really hoping that I wouldn't end up fighting him, that he would really be working for the side of good in secret in some sort of capacity.

You made a nice summary of Luc's dilemma. I suppose his past and various realizations could be seen as a motive for what he did, but it could have also motivated the opposite response. I just think that Luc wasn't developed enough to truly know if he would really do that or not.

Regardless, as Blutigengel said, it's a bit cliche. The globally invested villain hell bent on destroying humanity has really been done to death in RPGs. I think locally invested villains are more interesting and probably lend to more believable plot devices. It's interesting that you bring up FFVII because Luc actually reminded me a lot of Sephiroth. They're essentially the same, just a different time and place. FF3/6j is also my favorite Final Fantasy.
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Blutiger Engel
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Re: Favorite game of the main series

Post by Blutiger Engel »

That's the appeal of the other Suikodens besides III: the fact that they don't have the cliche "I'm going to destroy the world" villain. Even IV had a believable, albeit boring, human enemy that caused conflict for political reasons rather than cliche, destroying the world reasons. However, that cliche aspect didn't ruin III for me, it just made it to the top of the list of cliche RPGs that I like- and the trinity sight, choose your hero aspect brought it out of that realm enough to make it better.
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Captain Tenneal
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Re: Favorite game of the main series

Post by Captain Tenneal »

Yeah, I still loved III despite that and it's near the top of my list. Speaking of cliches...

The Grand List of Console RPG Cliches
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