Castle's and Rune's and Armies, Oh My!
Written: Jul 26 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: 108 playable characters, building a castle, magic & battle system, many side quests!
Cons: A little short, some annoying parts.
The Bottom Line: With over 100 characters, over 50 magic spells, three ways to battle and about 20 hours to beat the game, you'll be entertained for many days!
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| swanton00's Full Review: Suikoden for PlayStation 1 |
Back in early '00 I was in a video game store searching for a game that I thought I would have liked to buy. I found Suikoden and said "Hey it's an RPG that looks good!" I was told that it was supposed to be pretty good. I decided to buy it. I was not disappointed and was happy with spending $15 on it. Suikoden had turned out to be my favorite game owned at the time. Even now, more than a year later, it's still one of the best games I own. Though this game is kind of short (about 20 hours) the replay value is still good. The reason, beating the game and seeing the ending is not all to do. There is a lot of Unimportant characters that can be gotten. What I mean is, out of the 108 playable characters, there is probably around 60 that are not required to get. This is by far, one of Konami's best RPG's!
The Storyline 4 Star - Good
Many say that Suikoden's story is a little basic. I don't really agree as the more in-depth part of the story is one I have never seen before. Starting off you are in the main castle of the Imperial Army with one of the five great Imperial General's, your father, Teo Mcdohl. You will go to have an audience with Emperor. He sends Teo on a mission to destroy the problem in the North. You are assigned to do little missions for a Commander of the army.
After returning from your second mission, one of your companions will be taken to a meeting in the castle. Later, you find him at the front of your house hurt and bleeding. He explains that Lady Windy, the evil 300+ year old magician for the Imperial's, had tried to get his cursed rune from him. Windy had been after that rune for more than 300 years. That rune had allowed Ted to stay young for 300 years. Ted hands the rune to Hero (you, it's possible to name him). Once Windy finds out that you have the cursed Soul Eater Rune she will go after you. Being accompanied by Cleo, and Gremio you escape your house and make it to the inn. After staying there you meet a man named Viktor. He gets you out of the town and into a town with some of his companions.
He brings your party to the town of Lenankamp. The inn has an underground base for the Liberation Army, a group of rebels that are trying to build up their forces and face the empire. The leader, Odessa, ends up being killed by some Imperial soldiers when the hideout was attacked. After her death, you go out to find a man named Mathiu, Odessa's brother, in the town of Seika. After you saving one of his students he will join you and you will go out into Toran Lake where an abandoned castle sits. You get a boat from a man named Tai Ho and set out for the castle. After defeating some UN-dead Dragon in the midlevel floor you can name the castle and claim it your own. Tai Ho and his brother Yam Koo join you to fight against the Imperials. This castle will be used as your headquarters to fight against the imperials.
Going through the game, you will be able to recruit many characters. Some are from the Imperials, some travelers and some are old members of the Liberation Army. You will explore much in-depth stuff from the past. This is one interesting story.
The Battle System 5 Star - Great!
Suikoden has three unique ways of battling. One is your basic RPG battle way with your party vs. a few enemies. There's also one-on-one and army vs. army. Having multiple types of battle ways is a great way for players to play through the game without getting bored of battles and to have more fun!
Basic Battle's
This is just like most other battling in RPG's. You can attack, defend, use an item or use magic (runes). Turn for turn, you select what the 1 - 6 members in your party will do, than once their done the enemy will attack. This battling is the most common of the game which is done often.
One-on-One Battle's
These are done a few times in the game. Their challenging and sort of strategic. Each character has a life bar which you need to make your opponents empty to win. You can Attack, just a basic hit, Defend, receives less damage and will counter desperate attacks, Desperate Attack, hit for twice the damage but will be countered if opponent is defending. Sharpening your weapons, raising your level, and getting better armor are the only way to win these battles.
Army vs. Army Battle's
These are the most fun of all battles. Not to hard, but not to easy. Each army has thousands of men, some even more then 10,000! All the people in your army and their soldiers will gather to fight the enemy. There is about ten of these battles in the game. You can use a charge attack, arrow attacks, magic and other random things. Certain members of your army go into groups and will do different things. For example, 1 - 3 magic users will go into a group and do a magic spell. Other magic users have their own groups and do different magic. Certain groups are stronger than others. This applies for charge attacks and arrow attacks as well.
Rune's
The runes are what magic is called in Suikoden. However, like most RPG's, the magic is not given to characters by level upping. You have to get crystals and go to a RuneMaster's Shop to equip the crystal to the characters you want to use that magic. There is 27 major Runes. Also there's some other ones that are a little rare. Some of these runes contain Lightening magic, fire, water, holy, and special high damage attacks. Any character can use any rune. Some runes different things. Some will do damage, some heal, some affect the enemy by stats and more! These runes will each be able to go up levels as the character does. The character can learn up to four spells from the rune. Each spell has a limit to the amount you can use it.
The special high damage attacks are all different. For example, Pahn's Boar Rune will do a lot of damage but will make him unable to attack for the next turn. Others will just do the high amount of damage to the opponent. These runes have no limit to using them.
Graphics
Suikoden is an older Playstation RPG from like 1996 so don't expect a clear game. I would say they are good for the time. Since the game is all 2d, except for the ground during battle, the characters cant look blocky. The roads have lumps and stuff but it makes it look realistic. The characters don't look pixelie but actually pretty good. That's about all I can say.
Sound & Music
The sounds are basic RPG sounds. Like when opening up the menu it's like clicks and stuff. There is a character you can get that will allow you to change those sounds when you get certain items. The music is great! Of course, that's something that every great RPG has!
Final Comment's
Suikoden is one of my favorite RPG's for Playstation. With over 100 characters, over 50 magic spells, three ways to battle and about 20 hours to beat the game, you'll be entertained for many days!
Recommended:
Yes
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swanton00
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Member: Matt D.
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