Suikoden I Ranking: A
Originally, I wanted to review Suikoden and its sequel together, but my playthrough of Suikoden II just sort of petered out. I’m not really sure why, to be honest – Suikoden II isn’t a bad game by any means, but maybe I just lost the JRPG mood. If it ever comes back and I finish Suikoden II, I’ll review it then.
The first Suikoden derives inspiration from one of the Four Great Chinese Classics, Water Margin, similar to how Dragon Ball derives inspiration from Journey to the West. In Water Margin, 108 outlaws – the 108 Stars of Destiny – congregate and fight for justice. Similarly, Suikoden features 108 recruitable characters whom you can bring into your army, which is fighting a corrupt empire. Most of the characters are pretty forgettable, unfortunately, and getting all the characters in your army can be pretty difficult if you’re not consulting a guide. That said, it’s an interesting idea and I loved seeing my army and headquarters grow as the game went on.
By the way, my favorite character is Tengaar, if you’re wondering.
Suikoden also featured an interesting battle system with graphics harkening to Breath of Fire II’s and combo attacks harkening to Chrono Trigger’s. At key points you fight in alternate battle systems – one-on-one duels and army battles, both of which use basic rock-paper-scissors mechanics. Despite being basic, I still enjoyed those encounters and they added some flavor to the game, making me feel like I was leading a war effort with varied types of battles.
All-in-all, I enjoyed this underrated game and I’ve got no qualms recommending it.
Originally, I wanted to review Suikoden and its sequel together, but my playthrough of Suikoden II just sort of petered out. I’m not really sure why, to be honest – Suikoden II isn’t a bad game by any means, but maybe I just lost the JRPG mood. If it ever comes back and I finish Suikoden II, I’ll review it then.
The first Suikoden derives inspiration from one of the Four Great Chinese Classics, Water Margin, similar to how Dragon Ball derives inspiration from Journey to the West. In Water Margin, 108 outlaws – the 108 Stars of Destiny – congregate and fight for justice. Similarly, Suikoden features 108 recruitable characters whom you can bring into your army, which is fighting a corrupt empire. Most of the characters are pretty forgettable, unfortunately, and getting all the characters in your army can be pretty difficult if you’re not consulting a guide. That said, it’s an interesting idea and I loved seeing my army and headquarters grow as the game went on.
By the way, my favorite character is Tengaar, if you’re wondering.
Suikoden also featured an interesting battle system with graphics harkening to Breath of Fire II’s and combo attacks harkening to Chrono Trigger’s. At key points you fight in alternate battle systems – one-on-one duels and army battles, both of which use basic rock-paper-scissors mechanics. Despite being basic, I still enjoyed those encounters and they added some flavor to the game, making me feel like I was leading a war effort with varied types of battles.
All-in-all, I enjoyed this underrated game and I’ve got no qualms recommending it.