[Discussion] Reviews and Opinions of Suikoden I

A forum to ask questions if you are stuck in the The Gate Rune Wars; or wish for more clarity on the gameplay systems.
Sniper_Zegai
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Post by Sniper_Zegai »

Blasphemy, Raging BLASPHEMER (I probably mis-spelt that) lol Im just kidding. I agree with you.Suikoden one was great but you cant really get in touch with the emotional parts of suikoden because there is nothing to really physically draw you in. I dont mind admitting that in metal gear solid 2 I shed a tear for E.E. because there were actual voice actors, and realistic images in front of you portraying the scene. Suikoden 1 and 2 is'nt the sort of game that makes me wanna cry but it does put a smile on my face and it does have alot of realistic elements that are true to real life.
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Post by Pollensalta »

I don't know. I thought that Gremio's death was one of the saddest scenes ever in a video game - I cried the first time around. I loved his character.
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Miklotov
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Post by Miklotov »

Haha same for me..pretty embarrassing looking back at it even though I was probably around 7 when I played Suikoden 1 but Gremio's death was very sad..but being able to resurrect Gremio and being able to prevent Pahn's death. One other sad moment is when the Village of the Elves is burned down and you see Kirkis throw the ring down..but he still didn't lose Sylvina so meh..
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Post by Iris »

I think Gremio's death transcends just videogames- I haven't cried so much in anything.

I think it was his speech that did it for me. Yeah, Nanami's was sad, but Gremio's was just so tear jerking, y'know?
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27x4=108
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Post by 27x4=108 »

"this is my first, and last request"

anyone who loves a good char behaviour development, and saw this in the entire game, when read that "this is my first, and last request"
, cry ( if u didnt cry ur a monster! :twisted: )
Sorry for my very bad english! :S
Sniper_Zegai
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Post by Sniper_Zegai »

I'll have to admit. Gremio was a very involving character. I guess your more likely to feel for him because you get to know him throughout the game and besides the speech is pretty sad. A man living a life of servitude and loyalty. I think the most touching part is that he doesn't feel betrayed or angry. I was shocked that they killed Gremio because it seemed like such an innocent game when I played it. But Suikoden does bring up a lot of realistic issues about war, love, friendship and betrayal less so in Suikoden 1 than 2 but its still there.

EDIT: I agree that the death of Mathius was a lot more shocking to me than the death of Gremio. It was a shock because you didn't see it coming he was wounded but not badly but at least he died for something. I always think its a shame when great people die.
Last edited by Sniper_Zegai on Wed Feb 14, 2007 8:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Gamer1826
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Post by Gamer1826 »

27x4=108 wrote:( if you didnt cry your a monster! :twisted: )
*Shows teeth?*

Bleh, it might have been just because I'd played it when I was younger and didn't quite grasp the whole "Wow, he was loyal, and is now gone" thing. It was sad, but not to that point. Mathiu's death got me more than anything, since he is one of my favorite characters in the entire series. Odessa just seemed so innocent... and just... had everything stolen from her.

It's not that the game didn't have emotion period... I just wasn't touched by some of the characters the way I was in other games. It might be just because I originally played the game and saw everything when I was much younger, and later, when I matured, I had already known what was going to happen.
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Pollensalta
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Post by Pollensalta »

Yeah, Mathiu's death was pretty intense. His last conversation with Dr. Liukan moved me to tears, as well. No death scene in any Suikoden after his and Gremio's moved me in the same way.
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Miklotov
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Post by Miklotov »

Luc's death was also pretty sad..I really didn't see that coming..a little bit of a shocker..would have rather had Sasarai go than Luc :( haha..and Ferid's death was also pretty sad to me..
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Post by KFCrispy »

ok but that's not Suikoden I.
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Re: Reviews and Opinions of Suikoden I

Post by Transcending_time »

:) I loved this version....

more importantly: Gameplay -- Esprit de Corps :!:

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Re: Reviews and Opinions of Suikoden I

Post by LTM »

Gameplay: Pretty snazzy at the time, good controls and simple to learn as well as fun. Unite Attacks added something that was found previously only in Chrono Trigger, but expanded on in a different way (Not so much technique based but character personality based) but it also had magic unite attacks, which could excel far beyond Chrono Trigger's Tripple Techs and combine I believe up to six spells. (you'd need six different characters with six compatible runes of course). The only crushing blow to this is needed a rune to run. That was a little asinine, as even Super Nintendo games like Chrono Trigger didn't need that. Glad it was changed. Also, you had 108 CHARACTERS to choose from, and SIX character slots for the main party. This gave the player the ability to finally use only characters they liked, and not really get stuck too often with people they didn't wanna use (It did still happen a bit but most characters in Suikoden I were pretty likable).

Another note, the introduction to a war system in which the characters you recruit aid you in battle and give you more members for your army was very intriguing, never been done before as far as I know outside of strategy rpgs, and even then not ever anything like this. While it was only glorified rock, paper, scizors, it was still incredibly fun and unique and could still offer a challenge if you ran out of spies or had none (or didn't know to use them :lol: )

Another note (yes yes I know blech) was the introduction to runes. Magic had never been anything like this before, and until FFVII came out a year later, we'd never seen a game quite like this except maybe Final Fantasy VI, but even felt more limited than the magic in Suikoden. Runes worked very differently, and besides FFVI most games did not allow you to customize who used what magic/skills and such. While yes, FFVI offered that a bit, you couldn't go buy magicite throughout the game (and magic summons giving you powers was kinda over done by then) or even sell them if you wanted. Runes were also unique compared to the whole magic summon creature gives you powers.

The last thing I'd like to mention in the addition of one on one duels. These duels are unique, epic, and very fun! Though once you understand how they work, its glorified rock paper scizors and presents little challenge but still entertaining.

Graphics: For 1996, those graphics were INSANE! Totally blew away the SNES and Saturn and I think they were simply amazing for the time, some of the best 2d I'd ever seen.

Artwork: Most people would hang me for this, but I like the artwork for Suikoden I. It was unique, and not the typical anime look thats been in every other jrpg and Suikoden game. Though the cover art SUCKED. That was horrible, and probably scared people away!

Music: Critically acclaimed and touching in every moment. I could listen to the entire soundtrack over and over again and never get tired. One of the few game soundtracks I actually bought, I'll always treasure it. The music fit every scene, every town, every character...it did what it was supposed to do and still was worth listening to after the game was over. I've found after the composer for the first two games left, the music in Suikoden just isn't as good (and don't get me wrong, the new composer Michiru Yamane did Symphony of the Night, another great Konami title).

Story: The story was a fresh, unique feel to the rpg world. It was much different, and the world of Suikoden was much more fleshed out than the typical Final Fantasy where you can fly around the entire planet in five minutes. This world has different cultures, traditions...and this one story in the first game was just epic. It was something never done before, and taken from a Chinese legend that is heralded as a great story in itself. The one flaw I found was they really didn't let you get too attached to Odessa. I think Odessa died way too soon, or they should have made the Odessa quest (where you go to Sarady) longer so that you could really get attached to her before she dies. Gremio, Teo, and Ted were all great though. Each one was sadder than the last, and I couldn't help but shed a tear.

Character development: The character development was incredible, and even small minor characters like Clive or Gon had their own small amount of development and charm. The only one like I previously mentioned where this was lacking on, was Odessa. There should have been a bit more on her.

Difficulty: This is where Suikoden begins to fall. As far as rpgs go, Suikoden is an easy easy rpg, and is good for warming up to Final Fantasy (which is just a warm up for Dragon Quest :mrgreen: ) but the difficulty in Suikoden doesn't offer much. Its relatively easy to defeat all the bosses, the random encounters are pretty easy without the Soul Eater so with it you're just mutilating the enemies, and the war battles while fun, offer no real challenge...send in the ninjas/thieves, use your enemy's weakness. Thats it really. One on one duels are just as easy once you understand the way it works, and all enemy attacks can pretty much be figured out. For the time, this wasn't a bad thing but the difficulty should have been harder. Random encounters should have been given less exp and potch and been tougher, bosses should have been less easy to totally destroy, war battles should have been less easy to predict and probably not rock paper scizors (glad this changed in II), and the one on one duels should have been much harder to predict. There should have at least been an option to make the difficulty harder before you start playing/after finishing the game.

Bottom Line: Suikoden I was a great game, I give it a 8 out of 10. Why not a ten? Because of the problem with Odessa and the whole running thing, plus the horrible cover art and the easy difficulty. It might have been nice if the game was a bit longer too. But that doesn't take away the fact that the game is epic, a must have for people who love PSX rpgs and/or Suikoden series.
Kika

Re: Reviews and Opinions of Suikoden I

Post by Kika »

I had to put my two cents in here because the first of the series will always have a special place in my heart because without it I would obviously never played the others.

Well here goes:

Graphics:Graphics have never made the game and back in the days when this was out I do not remember graphics be as big a deal as they are now a days but for its time they were nicely done IMO. Everything from the united attacks to the animations for true runes but again as I said graphics were not as big a thing as they are now a days so I will leave this part of the review short.

Story The story was not all that unique with the exceptions of the idea of the true runes. I mean you could have read the same story an any novel that you pick up at the local book story and even some the more tragic parts of the story were nothing original, be that as it may I am sure most of you will agree that even if it was not unique it was well done. Everything from Odessa death to the fight with Wendy and Tir's duel with his dad it may not have made you cry but it did make you frown and feel bad for Tir. Then there is the fact that it was not about saving the world but more centralized around the empire and things that often happened in real history which was a nice change.

Game play This is where this game shines IMO . I loved the fact that they tried to bring both a strategic element to the game as well as classic rpg elements of that time. I mean they were not that hard once you understood what would work against what but it was really cool that you were the leader of an army liberating a corrupt nation. That was not something that rpg's were at that time doing and it gave the game a unique feel. The fact that you had a six man party plus the fact that you could have 108 characters in the game that you could use was great and the detail they put into each of them was very cool as well as the detail that went into recruiting them. I know it had me staying up late on the weekend trying to figure it out. Then after I recruited them I wanted to know more about them because of the bits of information that it gave me. The replay valve of this game was very high because there was no possible way you could learn everything that was in the game with one play through or get all the stars and see the best ending(without a book or looking at a review) that was not the case with the FF games.

*Deep Sigh*

Well that is my review of the game I will admit that it not very bias and the second one was better in its own way but as I said this was the one that got me started and therefore it will always be my favorite. :)
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Re: Reviews and Opinions of Suikoden I

Post by KFCrispy »

Kika wrote:Story The story was not all that unique with the exceptions of the idea of the true runes. .... Then there is the fact that it was not about saving the world but more centralized around the empire and things that often happened in real history which was a nice change.
hey if you want to save the world again, play any other RPG! one of the unique things about this game is it's actually somewhat "realistic". it deals with one major conflict at a time and there's no super ultra powered demon who decided that today he wants to destroy all humans for no reason and a little boy is going to stop him by finding legendary uber weapons by flying in an airship... again.
Kika

Re: Reviews and Opinions of Suikoden I

Post by Kika »

KFCrispy wrote:
Kika wrote:Story The story was not all that unique with the exceptions of the idea of the true runes. .... Then there is the fact that it was not about saving the world but more centralized around the empire and things that often happened in real history which was a nice change.
hey if you want to save the world again, play any other RPG! one of the unique things about this game is it's actually somewhat "realistic". it deals with one major conflict at a time and there's no super ultra powered demon who decided that today he wants to destroy all humans for no reason and a little boy is going to stop him by finding legendary uber weapons by flying in an airship... again.
I think you misunderstood me I enjoyed the stories very much much more then any of the FF stories and I still pull the games out from time to time and play them. My comment on how they were not unique was based on the fact how the wars are started so far we have had three civil wars and two invasion stories. While they were good stories I just wish that they would do something a little different like your the last of the surviving family of a conquered nation you go into hiding and discover a true rune and the story starts with you having to gather allies to reclaim you kingdom or your a small nation that is between two nations looking to expand their territory and you have to defend your kingdom against it on two fronts. In order to do this you take up a true rune that is worse then the rune of punishment.

Anyway I guess what I am trying to say it as much as I enjoy the games to me they are becoming a bit repetitious and I would like to see Konami start trying new things with the series and coming up with different stories. This does not mean that I want them to sacrifice what makes the series unique not at all but it just seems to me anyway that Konami does not realize the potential this series has to become a mainstream hit thats all. :mrgreen:
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