Suikoden 2: My balanced Review
Written: Apr 27 '01 (Updated Apr 27 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Excellent Storyline
Well Implemented Gameplay
Excellent music tracks
Well implemented graphics
Cons: Above average sound effects
The Bottom Line: 2D-graphics, excellent storyline which will throw you off balance. Reasonable sound effects though not unique, and finally good mini-games in the series that you will find to be most enjoyable
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| pavalontech's Full Review: Suikoden II for PlayStation 1 |
I’m at a review frenzy today, I decided to review four games! Oh well, Suikoden 1 was one of them, now I do Suikoden 2. And also, another two, which I won’t say hehe!
Table of Contents
1. Comments of Storyline
2. Comments of Gameplay
3. Comments of Sound effects
4. Comments of Graphics
5. Final Comments of Conclusion
Comments of Storyline
Let’s talk! I spoke about Suikoden 1 on another review about it’s great storyline (y’know, the kid who grows up to be leader of a great group of soldiers), and I said that Suikoden 2’s storyline is even better. I didn’t lie. It is! This time, you’re also a kid who grows up to be leader of a great group of solders (alas, you are not the same kid from Suikoden 1, but you’ll find that a few people from Suikoden 1 would be in this game as well).
Okay, here’s the funny part of me, I attempted to decode Suikoden’s Chinese name (there’s a Japanese version of the name of course) as the following (and you may laugh): Imaginary Water Pollution Story.
Yes yes, I know the words that are used are wrong, but it’s only from listening to the chinese words “Wan Shang Shui Woo Juan”. Laugh all you want, and heck, it’s the purpose of putting this paragraph here. [grin]
The game’s storyline focuses a lot more on these themes: Betrayal, friendship, and romance.
Great storyline, and great game, I give it full points.
Comments of Gameplay
Alrighty, this game is fully RPG. It means you walk around, be encountered by a monster, you beat them, gain experience, you level up, and then you beat up monsters some more. A good feature from this game (and many others) are that your characters upgrade, but the animals surrounding the countryside do NOT upgrade with you. I had a description earlier on about something along these lines, I’d like to quote that again:
“…here we have it, we were used to battling furry monsters when I was young. And when I gain experience, I’d still like to go back to pound on those furry monsters just for fun. It’s just like myself attempting to stampede on a bunch of ants when I was young, and I’d still like to do it today. The thing is, those ants won’t suddenly have the ability to cast a fireball spell at me, or summon a bunch of venomous teeth at me. And there you have my opinion, I’ll continue on.”
You get my idea.
Also, like Suikoden 1, you control six characters, 3 in the front row, and 3 in the back row. Special combo attacks can be achieved by placing specific characters in the group (more about that later) and there is around 100 characters in which you can choose to fight alongside you.
Back to the previous point, you have combo attacks. This mean that, by having specific characters in the game in your battle group, you can achieve a special attack (powerful, or just totally unpowerful but useful), which can be the key to winning that particular battle.
The 100 or so characters? Well, you can choose from 108 characters (or at least, I think I’m wrong here, but you can correct me in the comments section if you wish, and I’ll change it for you). By attaining these characters, you need to confront them in the game and ask them to join you. Some of them may require you to complete a side-quest for them, other’s have got plentiful amounts of time and will just join you willingly. Some others may have joined your opposition, but worry not, they will join your cause if you trigger some event in the game (and hence, yet another betrayal storyline).
There is also a battle feature in this game. It’s also present in Suikoden 1, but I failed to mention it previously in the Suikoden 1 review because they simply don’t have enough of it. In Suikoden 2, it has placed great emphasis on this particular session. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it as much as I did (and as a comparison, it DOES look like “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” in the battle mode.) You’ll find more about it in the game, I won’t mention it here, I’m leaving it to you as a surprise.
That’s all about gameplay, full marks given to this section.
Comments of Sound Effects
Nothing special, the occasional “thud” when you hit a character, and it’s a decent thing.
Points given to this is 9/10. 1 mark off for lack of uniqueness (which you probably find you won’t need, since, you won’t want to fix something that’s not broken).
Comments of Graphic Effects
Warning, this game is COMPLETELY 2D. This means, FLAT images. This is, in fact, a good thing. I explained for Suikoden 1 that you don’t have to worry about textures that we might not even take notice of, and secondly, you’ll have much better transition between movements rather than glitchy jittery movement in polygonal characters running through their frames.
Professional critics might think this is a downside, but my job is to let you know what games have what features, and to lure you or to repel you from it. So, start smiling [grin].
Final Comments of Conclusion
Final conclusions? Final conclusions! What do I think and what might you think?
It is: 2D graphics, excellent storyline which will throw you off balance. Reasonable sound effects though not unique, and finally good mini-games in the series that you will find to be most enjoyable (as a break from the storyline).
Get this game too! Along with Suikoden 1
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
pavalontech
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Location: QLD, Australia
Reviews written: 13
Trusted by: 0 members
About Me:
I write reviews for a living, though, I haven't been paid a cent yet LOL!
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