- On the Colloseum -
- On the Darkness Rune and Silver Armor - (this is on a "hidden" secret page)This was something we planned to do from the beginning when we started working on the Saturn version.
Originally we wanted to have the characters fighting each other in a test of strength, but we had to give up on the idea as it would have required a completely different battle system and graphics.
It's a bit annoying to have to start from A rank every time, but if we didn't have a large number of battles every battle would just be settled immediately with a single powerful magic spell, leaving no tension at all so we had to settle for the current system.
The idea that Eikei would use a rune to summon monsters actually came from Mr. Murayama, the director and writer of the original Playstation version.
Originally we actually had the colloseum displayed on the roof of the base but it had to be removed for various reasons.
Speaking of lost content, there was an event where you had to fight a monster summoned by Eikei to recruit him but this also ended up having to be cut. We even completed a battle stage for the Teien port for this.
There's a rumor going around that I got frustrated back then because I couldn't find the hidden chest that contained the Rage Crystal and that's why the Rage Rune is available as a prize here.
Some of the monsters in the Colloseum have different stats from the normal versions. So do be careful.
- On the Pirate Kidnapping Event -Since this was an original feature of the Saturn version we really struggled to come up with good prizes for the Colloseum, that's when Mr. Murayama (the director and writer of the PS version) suggested these two items to us and said: "You know, we're planning to include something like these in the sequel, so please feel free to use them."
The Darkness Rune is a bit different from the one in Suikoden II.
The silver armor was conceived of as the "strongest possible armor the hero could wear" and it's called a Silver-Threaded Dragon Armor.
In a sense these two items were the main feature of the Saturn version but for story reasons we couldn't use the existence of these items to market the game, much to the annoyance of the marketing staff.
We had to wait until Suikoden II released before we were allowed to talk about it.
Sidenote: a mention on the page seems to imply that the ending might change if you finish the game without rescuing the kidnapped girls. Like "X died in battle" if people die in war battles.The only truly new event in the Saturn version.
In order to add scenarios without accidentally potentially messing up the story and world of Suikoden we had to think of scenarios that could occur outside the main story, so the game can keep going even if you don't complete them.
Because most events in Suikoden are sequential events that lead into each other we were made keenly aware how hard it was to have an indepent event occuring alongside them.
I think what makes this event "special" is the ridiculous conversations that occur between the kidnap victims and the lake pirates, if you have the time, I encourage you to see them all.
- On new dialouge -
Context: Some people in the castle have new lines in reaction to certain events.
- Playing as Gremio?! -One of the most common requests and comments we got for the PS version was "It's a bit sad that even after a major event where a character dies, no one in the base really changes what they say and just keep repeating what they always say."
This is a flaw that bothered us too because the characters in Suikoden have strong personalites, so we asked the director of the PS version "Please change this for the Saturn version!!"
After figuring out which characters to change and some rough ideas for spots to make the changes, we presented some line changes and after proof-reading and alterations from Mr. Murayama, we settled on these
We also included some lines from unexpected characters like how if Pahn is defeated by Teo, Antonio will still prepare a meal for him or Sarah being puzzled by Gremio's willingness to do laundry. so please try to talk with them in the base from time to time.
Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20050315103 ... naisyo.htmI can't give any details about this event, but I'm sure Suikoden fans (Gremio fans?) can already guess what it is?
Though we say that you can control this character, it's only for a short while and there aren't any battles.
It's quite uncommon to control anyone but the main character in Suikoden, so please think of it as a little bonus for getting all 108 characters.