The Best and Worst Story arcs in Suikoden

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gilgamesh31
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The Best and Worst Story arcs in Suikoden

Post by gilgamesh31 »

I brought a book off ebay called the Marugoto Genso Suikoden art book, a few weeks ago and it has this section in it called "the 108 best episodes". It details the top 108 best storylines out of all the games excluding card stories and Tierkreis. The only problem is, its all in Japanese but luckily the screenshots make it farely obvious which "episode" it is dipicting in most cases. I have posted here the top 5 episodes from each of the games. I think theres some rather strange choices afoot, does anyone agree or disagree with these lists? What do you think are the best and worst story arcs? Lets try not to make this a list topic though because otherwise it will get locked.

Suikoden
#5. Time travelling back to the village of the hidden rune.
#4. Teds death in seek valley.
#3. Odessa brief apperance.
#2. Being imprisoned by the Elves.
#1. Recruiting Mathiu.

Suikoden II
#5. Annabelles assassination.
#4. Genkaku and Hans fixed duel ontop Jowston hill.
#3. Nanami's “death”.
#2. Jowy's ascention to the throne.
#1. Miklotov breaks his oath to Gorudo.

Suikoden III
#5. Jimbas death and his passing of the water rune to Chris.
#4. Iku and Franz in Le Buque...
#3. Luc confronts Sasrai and tells him what he is before stealing the earth rune, Awesome!
#2. Thomas defends Budehuc castle from the zexen council.
#1. Hugo repels the Harmonian army at Brass Castle.

Suikoden IV
#5. When Lazlo gets the rune from Glen Cott and gets exiled.
#4. Forging an alliance with Na-nal and the elves capturing Lazlo and crew.
#3. Shows a sceneshot of Izak in the foreground, with Lazlo, Reinheart & Mazuki behind him?
#2. The Fog ship chapter.
#1. Katarina Cott salutes the tower in razril, where her father died?

Suikoden V
#5. Sialeeds betrayal on the battlefield and the wounding of Lyon.
#4. Sialeeds death and the passing of her twilight rune to Lyon.
#3. Roys death.
#2. Arshtat goes insane due to the sun rune and her death at the hands of Georg Prime.
#1. Rahal and Roog confront Craig about the Dragonhorses not taken any action.

Suikogaiden
#5. Seirra's encounter with Rean and their backstory.
#4. Nash vs Zaj part 1.
#3. Nash vs Zaj part 2.
#2. Humphrey and Futchs dragon adventure.
#1. Luca finds Jowy in the Highland camp and convinces him to defect.

Suikoden Tactics
#5. Yohn returns to her own world.
#4. Martin attacks Kyril who he thinks has kidnapped Corselia.
#3. Edgars death and a grieving Lady Kika by his coffin.
#2. Andarc kills Walter who has become a fishman.
#1. Is just a screne shot of Kyril and Corselia standing in a room by themselves?
Last edited by gilgamesh31 on Wed Jun 29, 2011 11:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Nikisaur
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Re: The Best and Worst Story arcs in Suikoden

Post by Nikisaur »

Annabelle's assassination was good, especially coupled with the scene with Viktor just before that. But I love Viktor to bits so I'm biased. It was emotional because of that AND because of Jowy.

I think maybe Neclord's defeat was a good one too.

Rahal dressing up wasn't THAT funny...?
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Re: The Best and Worst Story arcs in Suikoden

Post by Belle »

Hmmm... well, some of that I do agree with. I won't make my own top five list per game, but I will make a few comments.

Er, just as a warning, this post will probably be very TL;DR.
gilgamesh31 wrote:#4. Teds death in seek valley.
This was a good one, but to be honest, I thought Teo's death was even better. Mostly because he was just so at peace about the whole thing.

Plus, stupid Milia ruined the moment with her stupid "O HAY GUIZE LETS GET SOME TACOS" attitude two seconds after Ted died.

#2. Being imprisoned by the Elves.
If they're referring to the entire episode, from Kirkis swimming to your castle to taking Panna Yakuta, I agree. I especially liked the part you returned with Kirkis to the Elves Village, only to find it burned down. Kirkis' anguish, and Gremio encouraging him to go on, using Sylvina's engagement ring as a symbol of that, nearly getting captured by the Imperial Army, only to be saved by the Liberation Army who was only guided to your location because SYLVINA WASN'T DEAD AFTER ALL AND KIRKIS' WORLD WASN'T COMPLETELY SHATTERED YAYAYAY ...haha. Well, anyway, it all served to make a great episode.
#1. Recruiting Mathiu.
Maybe. But I lol'd when Mathiu answered Viktor literally about where he lived, instead of just saying "Oh, I'm Mathiu, did you need something?"
Suikoden II
#5. Annabelles assassination.
It was painful to watch, especially when it meant Jowy being a traitor.
#4. Genkaku and Hans fixed duel ontop Jowston hill.
The story of Genkaku, as told by Viktor, is definitely worth mentioning. Darrell was such a dirty little prick... in more ways than one!
#1. Miklotov breaks his oath to Gorudo.
Most definitely. That was an amazing speech, after all the crap Gorudo gave him.

One other episode I'd add to the list is when the three races of Two River united to repel the Highland Army.

Suikoden III
#5. Jimbas death and his passing of the water rune to Chris.
I think it could have been better... then again, I do prefer the version in the manga. :P
#4. Iku and Franz in Le Buque...
My favorite part about Franz' struggles is when Geddoe punched that one villager in the face. You know, the guy who kept talking shoot about Franz being loyal to Harmonia even after Franz helped save the villager at Mt. Senai.

#3. Luc confronts Sasrai and tells him what he is before stealing the earth rune, Awesome!
Yes. And sick in the traditional sense!
#2. Thomas defends Budehuc castle from the zexen council.
That was a great moment. Also worth mentioning is when the Council tried to remove Thomas as castle master. I got so many warm fuzzies when Cecile and the other castle residents refused to let the Zexen Knights take Thomas away. And nothing will ever compare to "Just leave... before things get ugly."

Suikoden IV
#2. The Fog ship chapter.
Not a whole lot of memorable moments in this game, but this one was one of them.

Snowe Vingerhut changing as a character, from spoiled brat to cowardly leader to pretty noble girl to [s]hello sex toy[/s] pirate to hobo that finally acknowledged his vices and weaknesses... well, I suppose that's more of a saga than an episode. But still worth mentioning.

Also when Obel was being invaded sticks out in my mind. But I think it was because of Setsu shaking his ass at the enemy.

Suikoden V
#5. Sialeeds betrayal on the battlefield and the wounding of Lyon.
#4. Sialeeds death and the passing of her twilight rune to Lyon.
Definitely painful to witness, those two moments.

#3. Roys death.
I never took that route, though someone was kind enough to upload the video to Youtube some years back. It was sad to watch, though for some reason didn't impact me as much as Ridley's death in S2.

#2. Arshtat goes insane due to the sun rune and her death at the hands of Georg Prime.
Oh, definitely. Galleon's flashback is just one big bawwwfest. I can't watch it without wanting to cry. The moment Arshtat realizes she has sentenced her own husband to die after ironically trying to save him, and Ferid accepting his fate and literally... well, vanishing isn't the word, but you saw what happened. And that look on Arshtat's face when she sees him disappear! Arrgghh! It just hurts to watch! But still pretty damn awesome.

#1. Rahal disguises himself as a women to allow Frey to sneak past some guards.
XDDD

It's scary how well he fits into his sister's dress at their present ages!

I also liked the duel with Miakis at Doraat. Miakis' struggle with the tragic events and losing her position as Lymsleia's bodyguard, redefining her position and desperately clinging to the one thing she had left--her role as a Queen's Knight.

I'd also like to mention the whole Lordlake episode... in two parts.
1) When the truth was finally revealed about the Barows' role in the uprising, and the stolen Dawn Rune.
2) When you got the water back to Lordlake. Countless warm fuzzies from that.

Also, Euram Barows! Euram was kind of a wussier, more comical version of Snowe Vingerhut, but his antics were ten times as awesome. The Book of Condemnation episode was funny, with Euram dreaming about princesses. And then the Bandit Prince scheme! Euram proved to be even more of an assclown, and managed to get an entire town to chase after him! If that didn't make you pee yourself laughing, I don't know what will. One more thing about Euram- I love the fact that he can be redeemed. I wish they'd done a better transition of it, rather than him just manning up two seconds after Luserina yells at him, but he is considerably way less of a douchebag once you recruit him.

One more thing.. the many variations of Mathias' vows to exact swift and final retribution against some evil person, then deposit their loathsome corpse at the bottom of some random body of water.

Suikogaiden
#5. Seirra's encounter with Rean and their backstory.
#4. Nash vs Zaj part 1.
#3. Nash vs Zaj part 2.
#2. Humphrey and Futchs dragon adventure.
#1. Luca finds Jowy in the Highland camp and convinces him to defect.
I've read summaries, but damn, what I've missed being a gamer in North America.

Suikoden Tactics
#3. Edgars death and a grieving Lady Kika by his coffin.
That was a great, sad moment. Actually, the whole episode including Brandeau inheriting the Rune of Punishment and Peck being turned into a corpse-like creature, very heartbreaking.

#2. Andarc kills Walter who has become a fishman.
Yes. And then Kyril, who couldn't kill fishmen until Corselia's life was threatened by Martin.
Nikisaur wrote:I think maybe Neclord's defeat was a good one too.
Yes, especially with Viktor's "piss on you" speech preceding the event.
Rahal dressing up wasn't THAT funny...?
Awww, come on, yes it was! :P Think about it... he's wearing Rania's dress! And liking it! And Roog was even turned on (briefly... well, he did say the outfit was "disturbingly attractive")! And Nick and Yoran were so confused... Ah well, I though it was funny.

Damn... talk about a trip down Suikoden memory lane. I've been replaying Suikoden 3 but I can't believe the amount of stories that this game universe has accumulated. I kind of miss it.
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Re: The Best and Worst Story arcs in Suikoden

Post by Nikisaur »

Wow. Lol. Way to quote EVERYTHING.

It was amusing yeah, but the #1 moment in the game? I think not.
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Re: The Best and Worst Story arcs in Suikoden

Post by gilgamesh31 »

:oops: My bad, I mistook the scene shot! #1 for Suikoden V should be when Rahal and Roog confront Craig about why the Dragon horses arnt taken action. I found the cross dressing scene at number 105th out of 108th, that makes more sense now. (Ill make a note in the list) Sorry, i dont know how i mistook the two?

Teo's death is listed as the 53rd best episode and the 8th best scene in Suikoden I. Two river doesnt appear on the list at all...

I like when Shu puts his ass on the line and beats Leon by sacrificing his life, only to be saved by Bear. Flik and Viktors "last stand" when Gregminster's crumbling deserves a mention also. Strange how they just let everyone think that they were dead though and then when you first play Suikoden II you see them right at the beggining, that was cool. The return to Gregminster and the Mcdohl side quest were exciting moments for me in Suikoden.
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Re: The Best and Worst Story arcs in Suikoden

Post by Night Shadow »

interesting topic. heres what i think.

suikoden 1
im surprised they didn't include that whole quest in milich's place, leading to the "surprising" death of our very dear gremio. i would agree with number 3 though. i actually would have wanted to keep odessa in my party a bit longer. and i love how after she dies, the game goes all black for like 10 seconds, leaving the player to be all "Did my game just hang? @_@". i

suikoden 2
why, oh why is not the whole greenhill arch included here? that was the BEST mission ever. period. i love the whole mystery feel to it, and how you're only limited to bring a bunch of kids. then again, i was 9 when i first played that part and i guess the concept of all kids getting into trouble was fun. miklotov doesnt really deserve to be there imo. i would pick the whole tinto arch, just cuz of the zombies and little lily.

ill add more when i have the time.

and yes, shu is so bad ass, he makes leon look like a fool. and yes, thats what makes suikoden so appealing...especially 2. when you get to go back and relive a bit of the original game. lurking around gregminster was awesome. and i love how we got to see the ninja village and all.
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Re: The Best and Worst Story arcs in Suikoden

Post by gilgamesh31 »

Did Odessa have a thing for Tir or is it just me? In Sarady its like they're staring into each others eyes about to kiss...then bam! Kage ruins the whole moment for them. I thought Tir might steal her off Flik but then she dies and spoilt that idea of mine.

I dont know i remeber getting lost in Greenhill because you have to explore it so many times and i always forget where Nina's hiding (Bottom left, 2nd floor, in the shadows) and that forest path never ends, thats one of the only parts of II that feels like a bit of a chore to me. Neclords arc was sweet though, i always thought it was a bit of a coincidence that Neclord choose to make an army of zombies to rule Tinto just when Riou had run out of allies to ask for help from. And the fact that he appears to act independently from Highland.

Rokkaku Hamlet was awesome i remember finding it by accident and being really proud of myself at the time. Theres not much there though...
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Re: The Best and Worst Story arcs in Suikoden

Post by EstrangedIX »

Hmm, some of the things from that list seem more like individual events rather than arcs. Like Katarina and Izak. Yes, we find out that Katarina's Glen's daughter, and we see a guy who wants to rebuild a devastated island, but those don't qualify as arcs imo.

From the first set I think that going to Ted's village was really cool, although that should be considered along with the whole bit about getting the SDS. And I agree totally about the stuff leading to Gremio's death. That should've topped the list for the first game, and been in the top 5 for the whole series.

As for the second game, so many arcs tie together to form huge chunks of the story. Absolutely everything about Jowy being a part of Highland is awesome. I SO wish we could've played his side as an option, like a completion bonus or something. *sigh*
Yeah, it is weird that Neclord didn't make the cut. And Mik's speech was pretty damn sweet, too.

I think Franz's story rocks. Geddoe punching that guy was indeed grand. Also, Sarah making everyone (except Jacques) think the Zexen's were attacking Great Hollow is up there.

With IV I think maybe recruiting Ted, or the stuff between Elenor & Cray. I agree about Snowe's evolution. Yay for dog collars :lol:

Can't comment on the rest yet.
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Re: The Best and Worst Story arcs in Suikoden

Post by DoReMi_Vampire »

The Greenhill-arch fascinates me in a way, I also loved it for it's mystery and great atmosphere. But if you think about it from a pure gameplay-perspective it's almost nothing short of just running down a corridor. Same thing happens when recruiting Shu, this was also one of my favorite stories, and the only actual piece of action here was the duel with Amada.

Guess it goes to show how a good story and atmosphere can make you completely forget about gameplay sometimes. :mrgreen:
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Re: The Best and Worst Story arcs in Suikoden

Post by EstrangedIX »

I liked that part, too. The whole "ghost Flik" thing was cute.
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Re: The Best and Worst Story arcs in Suikoden

Post by Zykerion »

I'm slightly astonished that the whole 'Final Battle with Luca Blight' isn't mentioned anywhere in this thread. Granted, I'm sure it's been mentioned elsewhere to death, but while it may not be an 'arc' perse (unless you include the field battle beforehand, it does make a short one of sorts) it is most definitely one of my most memorable moments in gaming. Trying to take him down is an amazing experience.
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Re: The Best and Worst Story arcs in Suikoden

Post by Nikisaur »

Agreed. I get really excited when I get to that part of the game.
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Re: The Best and Worst Story arcs in Suikoden

Post by eldrasidar »

He's a pretty awesome villain, but I feel like he has great moments, but the ultimate fight against him ends up not being all that important. You kill Luca Blight, sure, but the war is still going on, and now you are fighting your best friend. The five points that are listed at the top are all critical plot points. By the time you kill Luca, he is already irrelevant to the plot.
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Re: The Best and Worst Story arcs in Suikoden

Post by Night Shadow »

you know what, i know its not much of a story arch, but that scene just after you recruit tsai and see the village burning, and find luca doing his whole "die pig!" speech should be placed somewhere among the best parts of the game. it was epic.

and yes, luca was just the warm up, jowy was the big guy to beat.
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Re: The Best and Worst Story arcs in Suikoden

Post by gilgamesh31 »

I thought that i would scan the pages with the 108 best episodes section, i never thought it would take that long though. Ok so they start from the bottom left and work there way right, i only say this because some of the numbers are a little blurred. I may have been incorrect in identifying some of the scenes so i welcome correction.

http://i1129.photobucket.com/albums/m50 ... mage16.jpg
http://i1129.photobucket.com/albums/m50 ... mage17.jpg
http://i1129.photobucket.com/albums/m50 ... mage18.jpg
http://i1129.photobucket.com/albums/m50 ... mage19.jpg
http://i1129.photobucket.com/albums/m50 ... mage20.jpg
http://i1129.photobucket.com/albums/m50 ... mage21.jpg
http://i1129.photobucket.com/albums/m50 ... mage22.jpg
http://i1129.photobucket.com/albums/m50 ... mage23.jpg
http://i1129.photobucket.com/albums/m50 ... mage24.jpg
http://i1129.photobucket.com/albums/m50 ... mage25.jpg
http://i1129.photobucket.com/albums/m50 ... mage26.jpg
http://i1129.photobucket.com/albums/m50 ... mage27.jpg
http://i1129.photobucket.com/albums/m50 ... mage28.jpg
http://i1129.photobucket.com/albums/m50 ... mage29.jpg
http://i1129.photobucket.com/albums/m50 ... mage30.jpg
http://i1129.photobucket.com/albums/m50 ... mage31.jpg
http://i1129.photobucket.com/albums/m50 ... mage32.jpg
http://i1129.photobucket.com/albums/m50 ... mage33.jpg
http://i1129.photobucket.com/albums/m50 ... mage34.jpg
http://i1129.photobucket.com/albums/m50 ... mage35.jpg
http://i1129.photobucket.com/albums/m50 ... mage36.jpg
http://i1129.photobucket.com/albums/m50 ... mage37.jpg
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