I haven’t played Suikoden so perhaps my opinions are completely invalid and I am a casual. I just heard it felt like a classic so I wanted to play it. It does succeed with that feeling. I can’t say most of what it does is particularly standout, but it does most of it well at least. The card minigame is really fun, the others feel not so great. Beigoma in particular was the biggest roadblock when it came to recruiting everyone cause beating enough matches to have Reid join was really annoying. I do really appreciate the theatre, every character can play in every role, fully voiced. I do hope this gets a sequel that can improve on the systems.
Minor characters I like a lot shoutouts: Maureus, Paquia, Gigina, Foxiel, Ivy, Francesca, El Alicanto, Galladur, Carrie
Minor characters I like a lot shoutouts: Maureus, Paquia, Gigina, Foxiel, Ivy, Francesca, El Alicanto, Galladur, Carrie
It's exactly what was promised and kickstarted, a Suikoden successor. It is very much Suikoden with a lot of same great things and the same not so great things. I enjoyed it at the end of the day but hope a sequel can just improve on it.
+ Nice cast of characters
+ Sprite work is great
+ Camera work with the 2D/3D works really well in some areas.
+ Duels were great moments but wish there were more.
+ A lot more voice acting that I expected, almost everything is voiced.
+ Fun bosses
+ You can't really miss recruits due to timing like Suikoden just a point of no return near the end of the game to have collected everyone.
- Story is fine but I find myself saying Suikoden 2 did it better.
- Other than bosses combat is kind of w/e. There is combo attacks that are basically useless for their cost. Magic outside of party healing is not super useful, and single target healing is a static value which is weird.
- A couple of recruits are hard locked behind the Beyblade and cooking minigames. Both which are very long winded and not enjoyable due to poor balancing. Making getting these recruits pure chore.
- Technical problems, particular with shadow rendering leaving artifacts.
- The 3D colors/textures don't really mesh with the 2D sprites a lot of the time.
+ Nice cast of characters
+ Sprite work is great
+ Camera work with the 2D/3D works really well in some areas.
+ Duels were great moments but wish there were more.
+ A lot more voice acting that I expected, almost everything is voiced.
+ Fun bosses
+ You can't really miss recruits due to timing like Suikoden just a point of no return near the end of the game to have collected everyone.
- Story is fine but I find myself saying Suikoden 2 did it better.
- Other than bosses combat is kind of w/e. There is combo attacks that are basically useless for their cost. Magic outside of party healing is not super useful, and single target healing is a static value which is weird.
- A couple of recruits are hard locked behind the Beyblade and cooking minigames. Both which are very long winded and not enjoyable due to poor balancing. Making getting these recruits pure chore.
- Technical problems, particular with shadow rendering leaving artifacts.
- The 3D colors/textures don't really mesh with the 2D sprites a lot of the time.
I got stuck on the shifting room maze thing in the Proving Ground. I frequently found myself wondering "so what do I do, exactly?", and it was kinda just one too many times. I did like the game when I was able to follow along what I was expected to do to progress things.
Positives
- colorful sprites, that boast detailed expressions and animations
- towns are pleasing design-wise and feel populated
- good soundtrack; with Before the Decisive Battle being a personal favorite
- solid voice acting from the entire Japanese cast
- sizeable amount of likeable and charming characters
- the headquarters is well designed, as it includes easily accessible services and entertaining distractions with meaningful rewards
- attendant slots prevent forced story characters from interfering with the player's preferred main party
- defensive commands are an interesting addition, that significantly increases the functionality of some playable characters
- experience system ensures that low-level characters can quickly catch up within a couple of battles
Negatives
- occasional bugs and UI glitches
- mostly uninteresting and predictable main story
- duels involve trial and error, while simultaneously requiring near-perfect performance to succeed
- gimmicks normally have very little impact on boss battles and are seemingly abandoned during the later stages of the game
- prohibiting characters from equipping specific types and rarities of rune lenses, prevents a large number of them from becoming strong or even viable
- numerous offensive magic spells and hero combos are too expensive and lacking in damage output compared to regular physical attacks
- late bloomer stat growth ensures certain playable characters are incredibly weak for a substantial portion of the game
- random battles during movement-based puzzle segments are frustrating
- default movement speed is slow and cannot be improved without sacrificing an accessory or support slot
- inventory management is too restrictive, compounded by restorative items with extremely low stack size limits
- important information, such as elemental affinities and shield damage reduction, is completely hidden
- some mini-games are more frustrating than fun, either due to confusing mechanics or a broken control scheme
- colorful sprites, that boast detailed expressions and animations
- towns are pleasing design-wise and feel populated
- good soundtrack; with Before the Decisive Battle being a personal favorite
- solid voice acting from the entire Japanese cast
- sizeable amount of likeable and charming characters
- the headquarters is well designed, as it includes easily accessible services and entertaining distractions with meaningful rewards
- attendant slots prevent forced story characters from interfering with the player's preferred main party
- defensive commands are an interesting addition, that significantly increases the functionality of some playable characters
- experience system ensures that low-level characters can quickly catch up within a couple of battles
Negatives
- occasional bugs and UI glitches
- mostly uninteresting and predictable main story
- duels involve trial and error, while simultaneously requiring near-perfect performance to succeed
- gimmicks normally have very little impact on boss battles and are seemingly abandoned during the later stages of the game
- prohibiting characters from equipping specific types and rarities of rune lenses, prevents a large number of them from becoming strong or even viable
- numerous offensive magic spells and hero combos are too expensive and lacking in damage output compared to regular physical attacks
- late bloomer stat growth ensures certain playable characters are incredibly weak for a substantial portion of the game
- random battles during movement-based puzzle segments are frustrating
- default movement speed is slow and cannot be improved without sacrificing an accessory or support slot
- inventory management is too restrictive, compounded by restorative items with extremely low stack size limits
- important information, such as elemental affinities and shield damage reduction, is completely hidden
- some mini-games are more frustrating than fun, either due to confusing mechanics or a broken control scheme
Clearly, people have had wildly different experiences with this game. Obviously having played Suikoden to understand what this game is trying to do helps, but even if you're intimately familiar with the Suikoden series, you may come away from this game disappointed. It suffers from an extremely noticeable lack of polish. Bugs aplenty, many cases of written dialogue not matching up with the voice acting, and many elements of the game seem suspiciously unfinished as if they ran up against time or budget constraints. There are a lot to very reasonable critiques to be made of this game.
But fuck everything I just said because this game is a masterpiece. The amount of heart you can feel in every aspect of the design makes this a very successful attempt at a love letter to the Suikoden series. The game is mostly very polished in the areas that really matter. The combat is flashy and fun with excellent art and animations. Recruiting characters is almost always a joy as each newcomer adds something new to the experience. Town development drags towards the end of the game but it's very easy to unlock the important quality of life features and important side content, with the rest being mostly for fun.
Overall, if you like the Suikoden series, you owe it to yourself to play this game. Full stop. You may not love it, but the amount of passion on display here should be enough to convince anyone that this is a genuine effort to revive one of the most beloved (and almost entirely forgotten) RPG series of all time.
But fuck everything I just said because this game is a masterpiece. The amount of heart you can feel in every aspect of the design makes this a very successful attempt at a love letter to the Suikoden series. The game is mostly very polished in the areas that really matter. The combat is flashy and fun with excellent art and animations. Recruiting characters is almost always a joy as each newcomer adds something new to the experience. Town development drags towards the end of the game but it's very easy to unlock the important quality of life features and important side content, with the rest being mostly for fun.
Overall, if you like the Suikoden series, you owe it to yourself to play this game. Full stop. You may not love it, but the amount of passion on display here should be enough to convince anyone that this is a genuine effort to revive one of the most beloved (and almost entirely forgotten) RPG series of all time.