Suikoden
Reviewed by CB007
Graphics
There are a few things that should probably be mentioned
before I start to describe the game's graphics. It was
released very early in the life of the PSX. And so, the
first thing you will probably think when seeing Suikoden is
that it seems a lot like a SNES game.
Graphics in towns, caves, and other areas are pretty good,
depending on how you look at it. They aren't realistic like
Final Fanasy 8, as you might imagine. But there is still a
pretty good amount of detail, and everything is clear and
easy to see. If compared to the graphics of most SNES RPG's,
this would probably be considered above-average. I think I
am kind of biased in this area though, because I prefer
traditional RPG graphics to modern/realistic RPG graphics.
Battle graphics are pretty good, too. There is a decent
amount of camera movement, like I described in my review for
this game's sequel. It's pretty effective, actually. The
spell effects, for the most part, aren't that impressive,
though. I wouldn't go as far as to say that they are awful,
but I'm sure that there are older games that have better
graphics in this area. Aside from that, your party members,
and the enemies themselves look pretty interesting during the fights.
The overworld looks more dated than any other aspect of the
game. The only party member you see when walking around this
overworld is the hero. Of course, he is so small on the
screen that it's difficult even tell who he is. Other than
that, there's not much worth mentioning about the overworld.
It's just... normal. It's got towns on it, and water that
you can cross using a Ship. Nothing unusual in this area.
Basically, if you like the style of older RPG's, you will
probably like the graphics in this game, as well.
Game Play
Well, in some areas, this game is a lot like almost every
other RPG out there. But in some other ways, it's also very different.
Like most games in the genre, there is a world open to you
to explore. There are towns, dungeons, and other interesting
areas. You can have a party of up to 6 people at one time.
The game's difficulty is slightly above average, but I
wouldn't really consider it a hard game, by any means. If
you've played a lot of RPG's in the past, there isn't much
that will come as a big surprise to you. The towns are
somewhat small, compared to other RPG's, but this doesn't
have as much of an impact on the game as you might expect.
This game only has one real disadvantage in terms of Game
Play. And it's a big disadvantage. The game is extremely
short. On my first time through, without any help from a
strategy guide, I beat the game in about 13 hours. I didn't
find all 108 characters, or unlock every secret, but this
gives you a fairly good idea of how short the game really
can be. If this is something that bothers you a lot, you
might want to simply not buy the game at all. But if
enjoyable gameplay matters more to you than length, read on.
As in the sequel, you can recruit up to 108 characters in
this game. Some characters you can use in battles, and some
only perform tasks in your castle. That's not as easy as it
sounds though, but it is not as challenging a task as in the
game's sequel. Even so, most gamers will probably not
attempt this on their first time through the game.
During this game, you will have 'Major Battles'. These are
battles that occur during important points in the game's
story. You control your own army, and must battle against
the enemy's army. Depending on how many characters you have
recruited, you will have a better chance at victory. During
every attack, both armies can have high casualties.
Obviously, your basic objective is to cause more damage than
the enemy and to take fewer casualties. If everyone in the
enemy army is killed you win. If all your soldiers die, you
lose. Simple as that. You have a lot of options for these
fights, but there aren't that many Major Battles, and most
are extremely easy.
The last thing to cover for this part of the review are the
One-on-One battles. These are duels between two characters.
During these, you have three choices open to you.
'Attack', 'Defend', and 'Desperation Attack'.
Depending on what your enemy does, your decision will be
successful or a failure. The only thing that makes these
battles somewhat strategic is that you are given hints about
what choice to make by comments that your enemy makes. There
are only a few of these battles during the game though, so
you really won't have to pay them too much attention.
With the exception of changing the characters in your party,
the game's loading times are minimal. Most of the time,
things seem just like a game on a cartridge system. If load
times bother you, I wouldn't worry much about what you'll
find in this game.
Story
As mentioned above, the game is very short. This has some
impact on the story, in that it feels a little unfinished.
As if there should have been a lot more to do, but the game
simply ended too soon. You play the role of the son of a
great Imperial General. However, as the game progresses, you
learn of the Empire's wrongdoings, and eventually become the
leader of the liberation army. It's a simply story that's
been tried before, but it's implemented well. There are also
a lot of fantasy elements that you usually see in classic
RPG's . A villiage of dwarves, for example. Anyway, the
game's story isn't a masterpeice, but it's pretty enjoyable.
As long as you aren't expecting anything remarkable, you
should be pretty happy with what the game has to offer in
this department.
Music
The game has really good music. It's not absolutely
incredible, but most of it is pretty enjoyable. There aren't
too many songs in the game that I would consider less then
decent. Sound effects aren't bad, either.
Final Thoughts
Suikoden has a lot of good points, and some bad points. The
most important 'Bad Point' would be the game's length, as
I already said. I, personally, thought that it was an
enjoyable game, and one that I will play again, soon. In
fact, most people will want to play it at least twice simply
so that they can find everyone and do everything. Since the
game isn't long, it's also not as difficult to find time to
replay it. That's one possible advantage to the game's
shortness. So, if you like classic RPG's, and you can deal
with the game's shortcomings, you might want to check this
one out. It shouldn't be too expensive, since it's been out
for a long while.
Overall: 8 out of 10
