Review of the Suikoden Series

            Few people are very familiar with Konami’s role-playing series “Suikoden." However, as the fourth installment was recently released in January, the games are slowly gaining recognition among the gaming community.

            The series began on the Playstation in 1995 with “Suikoden" (also known as “Genso Suikoden"). The game singled itself out from other games in the genre with many distinct features, such as 108 characters to recruit (60-70 of them usable in combat), three different modes of combat including one on one duels and full-blown military combat, and a home base that is acquired during the game and grows as you add to your army.

These features are what helped Suikoden establish itself as an excellent RPG, however Suikoden II is when the series made the leap from great to incredible. Unlike many other RPG’s (namely Final Fantasy), the sequel to Suikoden took place in the same world, only a different region. This gives the player a familiarity with the world, while not having it be the same towns and cities. Not only is the game set in the same world, but since it takes place fairly near the first one, and only 2-3 years after the events of the first game, Suikoden II also features 20-30 returning characters. Not only do these characters return, but Suikoden II offers the ability to load your saved data from the first game in order to boost their stats and also acquire a secret character.

Suikoden III was the first installment on the Playstation 2, and the first game to be done in 3D. While it featured a different perspective by focusing on four heroes instead of one, and some minor tweaks were made to the game play, Suikoden III held its own and made its mark on the gaming world, even receiving recognition as www.ign.com’s 2002 RPG of the year.

In January 2005 Suikoden IV was released to Playstation 2, and while the game has not scored as high reviews as previous installments, it is still considered a success. Some gameplay alterations hurt a little (such as reducing the number of usable characters in battle from six to four), but as a whole Suikoden IV has successfully advanced the story of the Suikoden world further.

Overall, Suikoden’s intimacy with its characters and carefully written stories are what really make the series such a cult phenomenon. Returning characters, locations, and plot elements mixed with new characters, locations, and plot elements make for intriguing games that actually accomplish their task of storytelling while at the same time keeping everything fresh and astoundingly enjoyable. The music is memorable, the spell animations on Suikoden III were the best I have ever seen (in terms of aesthetic quality and length), the characters have emotions, the plot has twists, the battle system is quick and easy (and even features an “auto" command), and although most people dislike 2D graphics nowadays, the first two games on Playstation looked wonderful as well (and so do the third and fourth games on Playstation 2—the transition to 3D was very well done).

Unfortunately for new fans of the series, the games have become a rare commodity. The first two games cannot be found in stores anymore (without an extraordinary stroke of luck), and on auction sites such as www.ebay.com, the price of Suikoden I can range from $40-$80 while Suikoden II can exceed $120 for a copy in good condition. There is still hope that Konami will re-release the first two games, even in a limited amount, just to make them more available, but it’s already been ten years since the original Suikoden was released, so we as fans do not have much hope. Perhaps success of the newest Suikoden or release of the Playstation Portable (PSP) will provide ample opportunity for a re-release campaign.