Review
Release Date: 1996
Platform:
PlayStationDeveloper:
Konami Co., Ltd.Publisher:
Konami of America, Inc.Reviewed by
Christian Kontul on 4.28.2003
| Review Rating: 7/10 | User Rating: 8.22/10 |
After the 8-bit and 16-bit generations, Konami was normally accepted as a developer capable of churning out classic action games on a whim. Even though they may have followed different paths since, series like Castlevania, Contra, and Metal Gear are still among the standard bearers on their respective consoles and they helped solidify Konami as one of the most respected and favored companies in the industry.
With the advent of Sony's Playstation came the announcement that Konami would be supporting the fledgling console with original content as well as new installments in its established franchises. One of the first games to come out of the newly formed alliance was 1997's Suikoden, a role-playing game that would attempt to combine "old-school" graphics with new age storytelling and play mechanics.
At the time, the revelation that Konami would be working on an RPG was mildly astonishing. Previously, Konami and RPGs went together as often as Square and sports games. And we all know how "well" the latter company's soccer, wrestling, and baseball games ended up turning out...
Why would anyone have expected Suikoden to be better?
In reality, there was no reason to think Konami's first entry into the RPG genre would be good, but the game had a few things working in its favor; first, the Playstation was absolutely devoid of quality role-playing games, with the poor Beyond the Beyond being the only true entry of its type on the console; second, the hype for Final Fantasy VII was beginning to kick into full gear, and folks may have been wondering what was so appealing about these "RPGs." With interest in the genre growing and an utter lack of quality software, gamers were willing to give the new title a shot. But was it deserving?
Suikoden is based around an ancient Chinese legend that speaks of "108 Stars of Destiny," a group of great warriors, who gather together to combat injustice. The game begins as the son of Teo McDohl (who, for the sake of convenience, will be called "Hero" McDohl from this point forward) is introduced to Emperor Barbarosa, the leader of the Scarlet Moon Empire. Teo McDohl is among the Emperor's most loyal subjects and one of the five great Imperial Generals. Hero, hoping to follow in the footsteps of his father, enlists in the army.
From the outset, Teo is sent to the empire's northern border to deal with threats from a foreign nation, the City-state of Jowston. Hero, with a group of faithful retainers, stays behind to take care of household business and carry out his first military assignments. However, the more he sees of the world outside of the imperial capital of Gregminster, the more the main character realizes that things aren't kosher in his country; corrupt official oppress poverty-stricken citizens, soldiers abuse their power, and general unrest is spreading faster than gonorrhea in a Baltimore brothel. Considering his status and his father's absence, there's not much Hero can do but turn a blind eye towards the problems. Believing there must be some sort of mistake, the hero and his friends (love the pun!) continue living as they were.
But when misdeeds strike within the McDohl household, it's impossible for the protagonist to ignore the situation any longer. Forced to leave his home on the run with his compatriots, Hero stumbles upon the Liberation Army, a band of fighters who intend to stand up to the Emperor's tyrannical rule. At this point in his journey, Hero has to make an important decision: should he suppress his feelings and remain a loyal subject with his father or should he follow his heart and fight for a better world?
Suikoden dictates a narrative that is both engaging and moving. While the plot isn't exceptionally original, and there are quite a few "surprises" that are too heavily foreshadowed or just plain predictable, it succeeds on so many levels beyond its cliches that any strikes against it will likely soon be forgotten.
Most impressive, perhaps, is the wonderful job the developers have done in creating a world that feels real. While the entire game takes place in the Scarlet Moon Empire, the player can't help but get the feeling that they are wandering around in a tiny part of a massive reality. Even though town and dungeon designs aren't great, each location has its own unique sense of self, and the many races, whether it be humans, elves, dwarves, or kobolds, seem to mesh perfectly with their respective homes, even though they may not cooperate with each other.
Speaking of the peoples of Suikoden, it's up to the player to gather an army of 108 allies to assist the main character in his trials. Not every person that's recruited fights, but, instead, some might supply weapons and items, or run an inn, as others cook food or host minigames for gambling. Obviously, not all of the characters play a major in the main storyline. Surprisingly, a good amount do get legitimate development and several of Suikoden's stars are some of the most likable in the genre's history. By no means do a large majority of the cast fall into this category, but it's nice to see that Konami did as much as was possible to provide a good group of troops.
Unfortunately, the same can't be said for the game's villains and it ends up hurting Suikoden. None of the main antagonists have memorable personalities. Instead they appear to be nothing more than generic characters. On top of that, the enemies never feel threatening and the battle against them doesn't inspire any sort of tension or panic. Beating the game becomes more about seeing what becomes of each good guy individually, not conquering your opponents and bringing about some sort of resolution; that's probably a good thing, since Suikoden's ending is anticlimactic.
Suikoden isn't hurt more because of a bad translation, thankfully, but, on the other hand, it doesn't benefit from an outstanding one, either. Instead, dialogue is average, with a few grammatical errors showing up from time to time. It looks like the scripters at Konami of America may have remained a little too faithful to the Japanese version, since some of the language is awkward. In addition, there are instances where the text onscreen doesn't match the accompanying character profile; it's a small problem, but it manages to throw off what flow a cutscene might have going.
Gameplay is much more polished than the localization, but it also suffers from a few troublesome quirks. The most frustrating problem can be chalked up to RPG inexperience on Konami's part. Suikoden's armor and item swapping system is as sloppy as they come. The player doesn't need to worry about purchasing new weapons because each character keeps the same one through the entire game; they're upgraded by having blacksmiths of varying ability temper them. Buying defensive equipment is an entirely different story. Instead of allowing the exchange of old armor for new stuff, Suikoden forces the player to buy everything, equip it, then return to the shop menu and sell it. The little extra work wouldn't be a problem if party members had unlimited holding space, but each character can only carry about eight items apiece. Having to drop or swap things among the party before buying the proper equipment just adds more frustration to the process. When you consider that a lot of new characters are constantly moving in and out of the party, the whole process of changing items from character to character or character to shop is just a mess.
Besides equipment problems, Suikoden doesn't feature an eight-way movement feature; what this means is, the main character, in dungeons and towns, can only move in four directions: up, down, left, and right. This is really just a pet peeve, but having to work over than up than over again during some paths is just ridiculous.
All gripes aside, Suikoden is actually a lot of fun to PLAY, which isn't something that can be said very often for RPGs. There are actually three separate modes of battle, each with unique play mechanics:
1) One-on-one battles that place a member of the player's party (normally Hero) against a powerful enemy. The fights take place in a turn-based format, with each character attacking at the same time. There are three choices for how to act during a turn: Attack, Desperate Attack, and Defend. Depending on the selection, different results occur; for instance, if the player chooses Desperate Attack and the opponent Defend, a normal amount of damage will be reduced from attacker; if the player picks to Defend while the computer attacks, the good guy will take a smaller amount of damage. It's possible to predict what the enemy will do based off of their comment before an exchange.
2) Army battles play out like a Rock-Scissors-Paper match. Besides a group of special moves that can predict an enemy's move, perform special attacks, or cause enemy troops to turn traitor, the player can select from Charge, Bow and Arrow, or Magical Attacks. Physical attacks beat the Bow and Arrow, Bows disrupt Magic, and Magical assaults break up a Charge. Unlike the One-on-one fights, there's no way to determine what the opposing army will do unless a Special attack is used, so it's mostly a guessing game. The army battles are lots of fun, and can get quite intense if the results are close.
3) Party battles are turn-based affairs for up to six party members. There are a few distinct features that separate Suikoden's battle system from other RPGs. Characters, depending on their weapons, have an attack range that determines whether they should be in the front row or the back row. Magic comes from the power of 27 different runes; some people join the army with special powers in tow, or it's possible to attach a variety of runes to those who don't. Figuring out which runes work with which people helps give the player a nice edge in some of the more difficult battles.
That doesn't mean Suikoden is a hard game. It's actually pretty easy, and it's one of the few RPGs that helps characters low in status gain levels quickly by giving them added experience after victories. Depending on how you wish to play Suikoden, it's possible to finish it after 16 to 25 hours; collecting all 108 characters, as well as lots of random hidden goodies, will pump up the playtime substantially. No matter how a person plays, Suikoden never gets boring. Regular battles are fast, and Konami has included an artificial intelligence option to make them even quicker. The other systems, though not as prevalent, are fantastic. The developers have created an RPG that is as enjoyable to play as it is to read.
The same can't be said for looking at the game. Even when it was released, Suikoden wasn't considered visually stunning. Everything is done in a 2D, handdrawn style, except party fights which have an isometric battlefield with sprites. Some nice colors are used, especially on characters, but animation isn't particularly awe-inspiring. General movement looks stiff, except for a few situation specific frames of animation are well done. Background visuals are just okay; the developers apparently had some affinity to brown and its various shades, though a lot of greens and blues show up, too. Suikoden just has a plain look about it; it doesn't take advantage of the PSone's power for graphical intensity.
The music, on the other hand, is outstanding. Konami's Kukeiha Club, the group responsible for Suikoden's score, used a lot of live instrumentation to create one of the finest soundtracks of the 32-bit generation. There are several themes that match different moods (like danger or anger), and they fit perfectly. There aren't any unique tunes for important events like the final battle, but it's easily forgiven when hearing some of the songs.
Even though Suikoden suffers from its share of problems, it's a great example of the adage, "greater than the sum of its parts." The finished product manages to outshine all its flaws to create a very playable game with fun gameplay, an intriguing storyline, and a well-designed world. However, it's obvious that this is one of Konami's first works in the role-playing genre, and as such suffers some hiccups that don't bury its positive aspects but provide annoying distractions. Any PSone owner that loves RPGs has to at least give Suikoden a shot.
