Do you bring the 'old gang' together to finish the game?

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sticky-runes
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Do you bring the 'old gang' together to finish the game?

Post by sticky-runes »

For example, sometimes when I've played through Suikoden 1, I put Cleo, Pahn and the revived Gremio in my free party slots when I go to fight Barbarossa. They're the first people to join my party at the beginning of the game, so it seems fitting to have them finish the game with me.

Or when you complete Suikoden 5 you can have all the queen's knights together for the final level and use their combo attacks.

Obviously there are characters who can't be used for the endgame (Nanami, Sialeeds, S1 Ted) but do you like to finish the game with older characters or prefer to use some of the powerful characters you've picked up later?
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Neclord X
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Re: Do you bring the 'old gang' together to finish the game?

Post by Neclord X »

Nope, I always use my favorite team regardless they are good or old pals
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wataru14
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Re: Do you bring the 'old gang' together to finish the game?

Post by wataru14 »

I do it in S3 with all three parties. That's the only game I do it, though.
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Re: Do you bring the 'old gang' together to finish the game?

Post by Antimatzist »

Yeah I like to do it in S3, also for the extra dialogues.

In suikoden IV, I ALWAYS use the four Knights for the Graham Cray Battle. I wish this game had a 6-member party so you could have Razro, Snowe, Tal, Keneth, Paula and Jewel all in one team!
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sticky-runes
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Re: Do you bring the 'old gang' together to finish the game?

Post by sticky-runes »

Yeah I normally use the 4 knights to fight Graham Cray. Wish he had some henchmen or something for that fight, it feels a bit crap fighting him on his own.

For the Giant Tree I'll use Lino, Kika and either Flare or Ted.
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Re: Do you bring the 'old gang' together to finish the game?

Post by Wolkendrache »

Not sure why, but upon reaching the final dungeon my excitement for the game is quickly fading away. Then I just want to get over with the game, so I simply choose some powerful party members. Perhaps by then I’ve reached my goals by recruiting all characters, but on the other hand this occurs to me even in other games. I don’t know.
As for late-game before the final dungeon, it’s the exact opposite: I want to make use of the late recruits, knowing there’s not much time left for them.
However, it’s mostly the ‘old gang’ that pops up in my mind (along with some Suikoden melodies), forcing me to play that game again.
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wataru14
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Re: Do you bring the 'old gang' together to finish the game?

Post by wataru14 »

I would love to do it in S1, but it poses all sorts of continuity problems with the final story scenes if you do.
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sticky-runes
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Re: Do you bring the 'old gang' together to finish the game?

Post by sticky-runes »

If you let Gremio die (and Pahn) then besides Cleo you've got long standing allies such as Camille, Humphrey, Lepant and his family, Luc, Kai, Kirkis and his elves... Depends on how you play and who you become attached to. I pick Valeria as one of my old allies even though she doesn't do much in the story once you've defeated Kwanda, but I favor her in S2 as well over ninja-minge.

Humphrey is one of the original liberation army members, along with Viktor and Flik, so I like using them as a trio. I often bring them all together for the end of Suikoden 2 as well (they do often sit drinking together in Leona's tavern)

From the early recruits in S2 I like to use Rikimaru, Kinnison and Shiro a lot. I know kinnison is not exactly final dungeon material compared to a lot of characters who join later, but I don't like to separate Kinnison from Shiro (and why not have a wolf fighting a giant 2headed wolf?) and I like to imagine him becoming good buddies with Riou.
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Sasarai10
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Re: Do you bring the 'old gang' together to finish the game?

Post by Sasarai10 »

I have finished the games multiple times, and I use different characters each time. I have used the team you mention as well, but I like using people who are related somehow. Apart from Flik and Viktor, I have used the Ninja trio, or the Pirate trio, or the other three Imperial Generals apart from Kasim, and such.
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Re: Do you bring the 'old gang' together to finish the game?

Post by ChikouStar »

It's not something I've ever personally done before, but I like the idea! I think it also begs the question of what exactly would the most story-relevant parties be for some games?

For example, in Suikoden IV, even if the 'original gang' is Chiepoo and the Razril Knights, I think a party of Lazlo, Lino, Kika, and Snowe makes the most storyline sense as those are the army's most important leaders. You could then send the Razril Knights after Cray as a consolation prize.

For Suikoden II, it's tough since Nanami isn't available. I'd say Riou, Viktor, and Flik are necessities, then maybe you can fill it out with Chaco, Sierra, and Shin who show varying levels of relevance throughout the game? But it's up for debate, I guess.

And just an extension of these thoughts, but I would love for people to come up with storyline-relevant parties for multi-party scenarios, like the Night Raid in SII or the Ashtwal Mountains in SV! Would be interesting to see what people come up with.
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sticky-runes
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Re: Do you bring the 'old gang' together to finish the game?

Post by sticky-runes »

Snowe is hardly an important member of the army in S4 since he's not actually required to complete the game, if you take him along on the final mission that's more about reuniting the two best friends for one last time (you do go through a lot to reunite them, so you might as well make the most of your reward for gathering all 108 stars)
I always take Lino and Kika, and the forth will either be Flare, Tal (he's my personal fave of the 4 knights) or a strong magic user such as Jeane, Viki or Ted, who are all recurring characters. I kinda like the idea of them being in a major fight before we see them again in another game. Imagine playing Suikoden 1 and thinking "yep. That's the guy who helped me take down the giant tree at El Eal!"

There is a bit of comedy with Viki if you have her in the final party at the end of S2. When the castle starts shaking, she tries to teleport you out of there but it doesn't work!

With S2, I think it's quite touching to include the characters who randomly joined you after the mercenary fort burned down. It's a point in the game where you are very vulnerable, having no home base to return to and separated from the rest of your allies, and they help you get through a very tough dungeon, so bringing them together for the final quest seems quite fitting.
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Sasarai10
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Re: Do you bring the 'old gang' together to finish the game?

Post by Sasarai10 »

Gameplay wise though, it's not the best idea to do this, because most characters who joined when the fort still existed are average at best (Gengen, Millie, Hanna, etc.)...but if you want some extra challenge it's a good idea.

As for SIV, I have brought once the 4 other Razril Knights, taking on Graham Cray. Kinda makes a little bit sense. As for bringing Ted in the final party...it'd be nice if he had some extra dialogue about the Rune.
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Re: Do you bring the 'old gang' together to finish the game?

Post by ChikouStar »

I agree about it being nice if there were extra dialogue! Kinda like how there are extra scenes in SIII if you bring either Geddoe's unit or the Zexen Knights with Geddoe and Chris in their respective battles.

Since SV was the latest game I played, I thought up some "plot-relevant" parties for the Ashtwal Mountains just for fun.

Prince's Team: Kyle, Galleon, Roy, Bernadette, Zerase
Lyon's Team: Miakis, Rahal, Roog, Lance, Flail
Georg's Team: Zweig, Lorelai, Killey, Shoon, Dinn

Basically, the Prince gets the protection of two remaining Queen's Knights, Roy as his sort-of-rival, Bernadette who he shares familial ties with, and Zerase who will probably want to watch over the Dawn Rune.

Lyon gets Miakis and the Dragon Horse Knights because they're all important (and I couldn't think of anyone else to put here haha).

Georg gets the Sindar hunters 'cause Zweig is already there anyways, and Dinn and Shoon who are long-time allies and who seem like the type to work with Georg anyways. (Killey isn't exactly story-relevant, but meh)

I'll probably think of something for the Night Raid in SII soon!
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Re: Do you bring the 'old gang' together to finish the game?

Post by ZaruenVoresu »

Sasarai10 wrote:I have finished the games multiple times, and I use different characters each time. I have used the team you mention as well, but I like using people who are related somehow. Apart from Flik and Viktor, I have used the Ninja trio, or the Pirate trio, or the other three Imperial Generals apart from Kasim, and such.

Yes I enjoy using Iconic Teams as well.... these are among some of the Combinations I like to use.

ROYAL GUARD Gremio Pahn Cleo Ted
GREAT GENERALS Kwanda Milich Kazim Sonya Griffith
ELVES Kirkis Stallion Sylvina Ruby
PIRATES & BANDITS Varkas Sydonia Stallion Sylvina Ruby
DRAGON KNIGHTS Milia Futch Humphrey Kreutz Pesmerga
BLACKSMITHS Maas Meese Moose Mose Mace
MARTIAL MASTERS Pahn Kai Eikei Morgan Ronnie
ANIMAL WARRIORS Kuromimi Gon FuSuLu
ORIGIN LIBERATION Flik Viktor Humphrey Odessa
SAGES Luc Lotte Mina Crowley Hellion
NINJA Kasumi Fuma Kage
SAILORS\ENGINEERS Tai Ho Yam Koo Kimberly Kamandol Gen
FORMER IMPERIALS Griffith Valeria Alen Grenseal

Wolkendrache wrote:Not sure why, but upon reaching the final dungeon my excitement for the game is quickly fading away. Then I just want to get over with the game, so I simply choose some powerful party members. Perhaps by then I’ve reached my goals by recruiting all characters, but on the other hand this occurs to me even in other games. I don’t know.
As for late-game before the final dungeon, it’s the exact opposite: I want to make use of the late recruits, knowing there’s not much time left for them.
However, it’s mostly the ‘old gang’ that pops up in my mind (along with some Suikoden melodies), forcing me to play that game again.

Well if I am playing a series of games , than i usually begin getting excited to start the next part of the series as I get closer to the end of the game, so this can be a good reason as to why, it can also be because once you are at the end of the game , it starts feeling pointless to grind and power your characters for one last dungeon, its completely understandable unless the game has a bunch of post game content, than I usually like tocontinue playing and finish powering up, or grinding my characters to the max.
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Sasarai10
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Re: Do you bring the 'old gang' together to finish the game?

Post by Sasarai10 »

Wait...can you use Odessa with Viktor, Flik and Humphrey at the same time? I don't recall Flik and Humphrey joining you before Odessa's death...
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