myherozero
BACKER
2023
The natural evolution of Golden Tee arrives in the barren wasteland of golf games like a lone cowboy on the horizon.
10+ years of people telling me Ghost Trick is very good:
Me, in 2023: Wow, why did no one tell me Ghost Trick was this good!?
Me, in 2023: Wow, why did no one tell me Ghost Trick was this good!?
2002
I don't expect my thoughts on this game are widely shared, but this is a special game to me and I want to at least put them into writing somewhere, for myself.
It makes me sad with some of the hate this game receives. "Where's the sprites" or "lol PS2 graphics". To me, the graphics capture the spirit of the original art and the vibe of Suikoden games. The work done on animating body language and facial expressions is wonderful. It has a lot of expressive depth and is just utterly charming. I honestly think it holds up even compared to recent games that use motion capture. I still think about this animation work constantly and I wish I could tell the people who worked on it how important and recognized their work is, even 20 years later. Simple moments like Lucia hugging Hugo, the Saint Loa Knights kids, or any of the Duck Clan animations are still completely amazing to me. I do think some of the animations in the game can be stiff and stilted, but a love and craft went into 3 that you can tell was missing from Suikoden 4. The vibrancy of colors and art style had such an impact on me that it feels like one of those things I have been trying to find again, to find another game to recapture some of the feelings of playing Suikoden 3 for the first time. Suikoden 3 feels like a rich, lively world.
The story of Suikoden 3 does not and could never stand up against the story of 2. Suikoden 2 is a masterpiece, it will stand the test of time. So I think people do Suikoden as a series a disservice for having those same lofty expectations of any other game in the series. Suikoden 3 uses its story to solve one of the biggest issues from 1 and 2. To recruit 108 characters but only have one main party feels frustrating. So Suikoden 3's Trinity system having three parties and using a Rashomon story telling style is a welcomed addition and what 3 does the best. It's fun and over the top but also emotional and serious. It does the story beats well.
The world building of Suikoden as a whole is why I think people love these games. There's weight to the story in one game that could tie into another. I think the Murayama trilogy of games are all must plays to really see this magic work. It fell apart when he left and 4 and 5 only loosely tie into the whole. Seeing characters age and have lives you do not see in between games really gives a weight to this being a living world and you are only seeing it through the lens of specific regional conflicts. I think within that truly lies the tragedy of these games. There's so many great characters and concepts and building to something even bigger that was abandoned after the 3rd game. We'll never know the names of all of the True Runes, we'll never get a game that really explores Harmonia, we'll never see minor characters we love return in a sequel. We'll never know the true size of this world and in a lot of ways, RPG story telling is worse off for it. Imagine a world where a Suikoden XVI just released instead of a Final Fantasy.
Is this game perfect? No. Though, it does seem troubling to me that when people discuss a theoretical remake that none of them understand this game. And if you don't understand a game, then you risk destroying what made it special. In the last two or three years, I've had remaster after remaster just be mind boggling with what they 'fix'. I see people say the art of Suikoden 3 sucks or the battle system is terrible and they would throw it all away.
The battle system is unique, it is difficult to adjust to coming from games that let you assign commands to all 6 characters. Instead you assign commands to 3 pairs of characters and that makes you think about team combinations and I think this works well with matching someone who is always attacking with a spell caster, or one of the few beast riding combinations. Just because something is different than what you want, does not mean it is bad. It would have been nice to see what another revamp of this system could have been. They tried something new and it's neat in a way that's just not a standard battle system.
To me, Suikoden 3 is special. It holds a special place in my heart. If FF7 was the game that really introduced me to RPGs as a genre, Suikoden 3 introduced me to the full potential of what RPGs could be. It has character and it has heart and as I grow older and I understand more of the behind the scenes of how my favorite games were made, it is heartbreaking too. I think Eiyuden Chronicles in a lot of ways feels like the team wants to take all of the lessons from Suikoden 3 and remake them, make something new from it all, free from the ills of working under Konami.
Thank you for indulging me if you made it this far, I don't typically write reviews this long, more quick hits of what I feel after finishing a game, but this one is different. I don't think I can ever fully encapsulate all of my thoughts or emotions on this game, but hopefully I got most of them out here. Not many games are this special to me in the same way as Suikoden 3. A game like this is why I play games, why I play RPGs. From the first day that I rented it and it blew my mind to playing it every year through college and the few years after, it feels like a comfort. It feels like home. I don't expect that most people will understand it, but in the very least, I could finally say this all for myself.
It makes me sad with some of the hate this game receives. "Where's the sprites" or "lol PS2 graphics". To me, the graphics capture the spirit of the original art and the vibe of Suikoden games. The work done on animating body language and facial expressions is wonderful. It has a lot of expressive depth and is just utterly charming. I honestly think it holds up even compared to recent games that use motion capture. I still think about this animation work constantly and I wish I could tell the people who worked on it how important and recognized their work is, even 20 years later. Simple moments like Lucia hugging Hugo, the Saint Loa Knights kids, or any of the Duck Clan animations are still completely amazing to me. I do think some of the animations in the game can be stiff and stilted, but a love and craft went into 3 that you can tell was missing from Suikoden 4. The vibrancy of colors and art style had such an impact on me that it feels like one of those things I have been trying to find again, to find another game to recapture some of the feelings of playing Suikoden 3 for the first time. Suikoden 3 feels like a rich, lively world.
The story of Suikoden 3 does not and could never stand up against the story of 2. Suikoden 2 is a masterpiece, it will stand the test of time. So I think people do Suikoden as a series a disservice for having those same lofty expectations of any other game in the series. Suikoden 3 uses its story to solve one of the biggest issues from 1 and 2. To recruit 108 characters but only have one main party feels frustrating. So Suikoden 3's Trinity system having three parties and using a Rashomon story telling style is a welcomed addition and what 3 does the best. It's fun and over the top but also emotional and serious. It does the story beats well.
The world building of Suikoden as a whole is why I think people love these games. There's weight to the story in one game that could tie into another. I think the Murayama trilogy of games are all must plays to really see this magic work. It fell apart when he left and 4 and 5 only loosely tie into the whole. Seeing characters age and have lives you do not see in between games really gives a weight to this being a living world and you are only seeing it through the lens of specific regional conflicts. I think within that truly lies the tragedy of these games. There's so many great characters and concepts and building to something even bigger that was abandoned after the 3rd game. We'll never know the names of all of the True Runes, we'll never get a game that really explores Harmonia, we'll never see minor characters we love return in a sequel. We'll never know the true size of this world and in a lot of ways, RPG story telling is worse off for it. Imagine a world where a Suikoden XVI just released instead of a Final Fantasy.
Is this game perfect? No. Though, it does seem troubling to me that when people discuss a theoretical remake that none of them understand this game. And if you don't understand a game, then you risk destroying what made it special. In the last two or three years, I've had remaster after remaster just be mind boggling with what they 'fix'. I see people say the art of Suikoden 3 sucks or the battle system is terrible and they would throw it all away.
The battle system is unique, it is difficult to adjust to coming from games that let you assign commands to all 6 characters. Instead you assign commands to 3 pairs of characters and that makes you think about team combinations and I think this works well with matching someone who is always attacking with a spell caster, or one of the few beast riding combinations. Just because something is different than what you want, does not mean it is bad. It would have been nice to see what another revamp of this system could have been. They tried something new and it's neat in a way that's just not a standard battle system.
To me, Suikoden 3 is special. It holds a special place in my heart. If FF7 was the game that really introduced me to RPGs as a genre, Suikoden 3 introduced me to the full potential of what RPGs could be. It has character and it has heart and as I grow older and I understand more of the behind the scenes of how my favorite games were made, it is heartbreaking too. I think Eiyuden Chronicles in a lot of ways feels like the team wants to take all of the lessons from Suikoden 3 and remake them, make something new from it all, free from the ills of working under Konami.
Thank you for indulging me if you made it this far, I don't typically write reviews this long, more quick hits of what I feel after finishing a game, but this one is different. I don't think I can ever fully encapsulate all of my thoughts or emotions on this game, but hopefully I got most of them out here. Not many games are this special to me in the same way as Suikoden 3. A game like this is why I play games, why I play RPGs. From the first day that I rented it and it blew my mind to playing it every year through college and the few years after, it feels like a comfort. It feels like home. I don't expect that most people will understand it, but in the very least, I could finally say this all for myself.
2023
This is one of those games where I find putting a star rating on it feels... inaccurate? Incomplete. Much like my time with the game I suppose.
I've taught myself not to just power through and finish a game as maybe I would have a decade or more ago. So when my interest started to wane and I looked up how many chapters were left, it didn't help to learn I was only half way through. I pushed ahead a little more but hitting a brick wall of a boss fight, I decided to cut my losses. The gameplay is good, the story is good, and the music is great. Honestly, it's a good game and the people who are good at it will love it. It just is long without justifying that length and odd difficulty spikes on the "intended" settings.
I've taught myself not to just power through and finish a game as maybe I would have a decade or more ago. So when my interest started to wane and I looked up how many chapters were left, it didn't help to learn I was only half way through. I pushed ahead a little more but hitting a brick wall of a boss fight, I decided to cut my losses. The gameplay is good, the story is good, and the music is great. Honestly, it's a good game and the people who are good at it will love it. It just is long without justifying that length and odd difficulty spikes on the "intended" settings.
This is a game about memories. About remembering the past that created you as the person you are now. So the fascination grows that this release is a remake of a game about memories. Almost like a story from your own life told and retold to the point where fact and fiction have blurred. I couldn't help thinking about Cing, the original developer of these games, as I played. I never played the originals, but Hotel Dusk holds a special place in my heart and Cing, despite their eventual bankruptcy, has an oversized presence in what they created in the DS/Wii era. A time slowly being forgotten.
I have been thinking about remakes a lot more lately. Most likely due to the obvious lower costs than to make something brand new and sell a known quantity, but regardless it is the current trend in gaming at the moment. I think Another Code falls into the territory of it plays like how you remember games of that era playing like. But it is a false memory. That's not how it was. This is not how it is.
For better or worse, we age. Our memories fade. They became less reliable. A ghost isn't going to help us solve puzzles and remember things perfectly. I don't know what that says about art or games. I don't know what that should say. Maybe calling games like this remakes does a disservice not just to the work Cing did or the newer work that Arc System Works did. And they did a great job. They make a game that is beautiful and plays well. It's a wonderful experience. Maybe there should be new ways to discuss these types of games.
In music, there are cover songs. An artist does their interpretation of another musician's song. Maybe they play it straight, maybe they make it their own. There are songs so old that no one even knows who originally made it. Memories being imperfect. History and record keeping being imperfect. But maybe there should be a concept of a "cover game". A developer making their version of another developer's game. Something to think about as this medium gets older and as we get older.
Did I overthink a game that is a simple walk around, listen to the story and solve simple puzzles game? Absolutely. But not many games make you think about bigger topics outside of it. The dichotomy of memories being a thing of our pasts but also the only thing we can ever leave behind. Much like the game did paraphrasing Hemingway, we die two deaths.
I have been thinking about remakes a lot more lately. Most likely due to the obvious lower costs than to make something brand new and sell a known quantity, but regardless it is the current trend in gaming at the moment. I think Another Code falls into the territory of it plays like how you remember games of that era playing like. But it is a false memory. That's not how it was. This is not how it is.
For better or worse, we age. Our memories fade. They became less reliable. A ghost isn't going to help us solve puzzles and remember things perfectly. I don't know what that says about art or games. I don't know what that should say. Maybe calling games like this remakes does a disservice not just to the work Cing did or the newer work that Arc System Works did. And they did a great job. They make a game that is beautiful and plays well. It's a wonderful experience. Maybe there should be new ways to discuss these types of games.
In music, there are cover songs. An artist does their interpretation of another musician's song. Maybe they play it straight, maybe they make it their own. There are songs so old that no one even knows who originally made it. Memories being imperfect. History and record keeping being imperfect. But maybe there should be a concept of a "cover game". A developer making their version of another developer's game. Something to think about as this medium gets older and as we get older.
Did I overthink a game that is a simple walk around, listen to the story and solve simple puzzles game? Absolutely. But not many games make you think about bigger topics outside of it. The dichotomy of memories being a thing of our pasts but also the only thing we can ever leave behind. Much like the game did paraphrasing Hemingway, we die two deaths.
"Boy, I wish anime high school Seven Samurai / Battlestar Galactica was real..."
2012
Final Fantasy 7 is a timeless classic. I think I always knew that but it wasn't until I decided that the time was finally here to replay it in full to truly understand that. It's a game that's truly bigger than itself, now more than ever being remade as a trilogy, but the cultural and industry impacts of FF7 are still as important now as it was when it was released. There are big landmark games that shape the types of games that get made but also have such profound impacts on what games we, as the hobbyists, choose to play. This is very often either someone my age's first RPG or the one that made the biggest case for the genre. I cannot remember many RPGs prior to FF7 but I know I started playing a ton of them after.
I think the best part of revisiting a game from my childhood is that I understood so much more of it this time. I think I knew the materia system was a great magic system, but I really 'got' it now. I think I knew the story was great, but it's so much better now. The themes of environmentalism and anti-corporatism feel more at place now in 2024 than 1997. The characters have such a richer depth through the lens of an adult. Cloud was always cast as this moody loner, but it comes through a lot clearer that his aloofness and 'coolness' is a cover for insecurity and a fear of disappointment. The dichotomy of Tifa and Aerith also stuck out to me more. Tifa being the monk/brawler character, typically brash and loud characters, struggles with being scared of her memories and of what is going on with Cloud and often cannot find her words. Meanwhile, her opposite, Aerith, the typical White Mage, whom are often fragile and meek, is bold and funny and confident. She often takes charge and why her absence is felt much more deeply. I have to mention that Cait Sith/Reeve stuck out a lot more as an adult with a career more than as a kid. I think a lot of people hate this character for being a spy, but there's this conflict of him being loyal to the company and his place in the party. It reminded me a lot of stories of people who worked at Enron who were not involved in the fraud. The conflict of needing to be employed vs clear villainy.
Thankfully now there is easy access to guides and this game's secrets have been spoiled multiple times over. As a kid, I never interacted with the chocobo breeding/racing aspect, so I had never got Knights of the Round. I decided to see new parts of this game and being able to ride around on a gold chocobo makes you see the world in a different way. It's actually pretty nice to be able to look at an old game, during a replay, with a new experience in the mix. There are still some things I am leaving incomplete however. Emerald and Ruby Weapon will maybe have to wait another 25+ years.
There's so much that is impressive with this game. I've been stunned at this perfect pacing where I previously thought it would have dragged. I have truly been impressed by the materia system. I am charmed by these characters in a new way. This story hits harder in the world we now inhabit. It's truly a game I think is worth playing at any time and it is always going to be this classic game.
I think the best part of revisiting a game from my childhood is that I understood so much more of it this time. I think I knew the materia system was a great magic system, but I really 'got' it now. I think I knew the story was great, but it's so much better now. The themes of environmentalism and anti-corporatism feel more at place now in 2024 than 1997. The characters have such a richer depth through the lens of an adult. Cloud was always cast as this moody loner, but it comes through a lot clearer that his aloofness and 'coolness' is a cover for insecurity and a fear of disappointment. The dichotomy of Tifa and Aerith also stuck out to me more. Tifa being the monk/brawler character, typically brash and loud characters, struggles with being scared of her memories and of what is going on with Cloud and often cannot find her words. Meanwhile, her opposite, Aerith, the typical White Mage, whom are often fragile and meek, is bold and funny and confident. She often takes charge and why her absence is felt much more deeply. I have to mention that Cait Sith/Reeve stuck out a lot more as an adult with a career more than as a kid. I think a lot of people hate this character for being a spy, but there's this conflict of him being loyal to the company and his place in the party. It reminded me a lot of stories of people who worked at Enron who were not involved in the fraud. The conflict of needing to be employed vs clear villainy.
Thankfully now there is easy access to guides and this game's secrets have been spoiled multiple times over. As a kid, I never interacted with the chocobo breeding/racing aspect, so I had never got Knights of the Round. I decided to see new parts of this game and being able to ride around on a gold chocobo makes you see the world in a different way. It's actually pretty nice to be able to look at an old game, during a replay, with a new experience in the mix. There are still some things I am leaving incomplete however. Emerald and Ruby Weapon will maybe have to wait another 25+ years.
There's so much that is impressive with this game. I've been stunned at this perfect pacing where I previously thought it would have dragged. I have truly been impressed by the materia system. I am charmed by these characters in a new way. This story hits harder in the world we now inhabit. It's truly a game I think is worth playing at any time and it is always going to be this classic game.
2009
The Saboteur is one of those games that blew me away when I played it back when it first released. It would take almost a decade for a game to come around that I think understood the open world genre better than this game (and more broadly, the way that Pandemic Studios understood it). Thankfully due to the recent re-release on Steam, I was able to revisit this gem.
I think firstly, I need to talk about if it has held up, as often is the question when revisiting nostalgia. Yes, with an asterisk the size of a boulder. The story is bare bones and frankly not great. The character motivation of revenge is a tried and true plot device and it is mostly the only thing that works here. I think Sean being a mechanic and racecar driver is great stuff, but there's no in game explanation why he is so good with explosives. Other than he is Irish I guess and oh god, did they only make him Irish because of the IRA? The other characters are all forgettable. The game is clunky at times from a gameplay perspective. Sean will often be confused about climbing over a wall and not just immediately grabbing the other side, or grabbing at all when you need him to, like trying to grab a wire. It's definitely a game made in the aughts with all of the bad movement and awful game and narrative design that statement entails.
So, why do I think it still holds up? This game oozes style. The noir black and white visuals with splashes of reds, yellows, or blues with full color in liberated areas is such a cool motif and still works so damn well to tell a story while also just being visually interesting. I think, though, while the story here is not great, Pandemic Studios' games only really use a vague story as a driver to make really interesting open world games. I think they really understood the genre and it wasn't until Breath of the Wild did another game really nail it in a way it felt The Saboteur did. The climbing in this game felt unreal in 2009 in comparison to its contemporaries. Lots of games were trying to figure out this freedom of movement and I think Pandemic Studios should be applauded for doing the best attempt at it. The market shifted on open world and freedom of movement took a big back seat until BOTW's climb anything, paraglide everywhere made the case with a massive exclamation point (though maybe telling that the only game since BOTW that understood this was Tears of the Kingdom). Now, I will take the rose-tinted glasses down a bit and say that the climbing has aged here. I think this argument probably seems silly if you first played this game now at least. It is a good reminder that this is a 15 year old game and give it a little grace. The open world design here is a map without a whole lot of different markers, which runs counter to the direction of Ubisoft open world games and heralds the noiseless maps of BOTW or Elden Ring. The free play elements of The Saboteur feed into the main game in a brilliant way. You can go in and clear out sniper towers and tanks and it'll make missions in those areas easier. And the free play stuff is definitely a good 'turn off your brain and listen to a podcast' gameplay loop. It can get repetitive and lacks variety after a while however. Fun to do in small doses when the mood strikes or when you know a mission is going to be in the area. These freeplay targets are also not critical to complete, they help to earn funds to buy upgrades or just as a fun distraction.
I think the last point I want to make on 'yes this holds up' is that the shooting and blowing things up is still just fun! Tossing a grenade from a roof down to a group of nazis and watching them ragdoll away is hilarious. I think shooting in third person games is such a tricky thing to nail. Rockstar only started to get it right after acquiring Team Bondi and how good it felt in LA Noire has then followed with GTA V and Red Dead 2 having some of the best feeling shooting in gaming. Pandemic was great at this with far less resources than Rockstar. It would have been interesting to see how they could have improved their systems into the Mercenaries game they were working on.
But I think the bigger picture includes a discussion of Pandemic Studios as a whole and the death of the AA game space. The last three series they made games for (Mercenaries, Destroy All Humans, The Saboteur) show that they understood making an open world fun and doing interesting things in the space. Their games are clunky and the stories are forgettable, but they are fun. They are games that have stuck with me for being fascinating and introducing mechanics that not many developers were going for. I think we started to lose these mid-tier games around this time as the industry chased bigger budget games and every game jockeys to be a blockbuster. Unfortunately, we are seeing the cost of these decisions now, with wide spread layoffs even if a game does well because it was not enough. News of more and more layoffs at game studios weighs on me and breaks my heart with each one. Now more than ever, we need more games like The Saboteur. We need more developers to be able to take risks with style and mechanics. And most importantly, these corporations don't punish these developers with layoffs or studio closures. I would love to see more games like The Saboteur and more studios like Pandemic be able to thrive instead of suffering the same fate that Pandemic ultimately did and like so many other studios did and continue to do.
I think firstly, I need to talk about if it has held up, as often is the question when revisiting nostalgia. Yes, with an asterisk the size of a boulder. The story is bare bones and frankly not great. The character motivation of revenge is a tried and true plot device and it is mostly the only thing that works here. I think Sean being a mechanic and racecar driver is great stuff, but there's no in game explanation why he is so good with explosives. Other than he is Irish I guess and oh god, did they only make him Irish because of the IRA? The other characters are all forgettable. The game is clunky at times from a gameplay perspective. Sean will often be confused about climbing over a wall and not just immediately grabbing the other side, or grabbing at all when you need him to, like trying to grab a wire. It's definitely a game made in the aughts with all of the bad movement and awful game and narrative design that statement entails.
So, why do I think it still holds up? This game oozes style. The noir black and white visuals with splashes of reds, yellows, or blues with full color in liberated areas is such a cool motif and still works so damn well to tell a story while also just being visually interesting. I think, though, while the story here is not great, Pandemic Studios' games only really use a vague story as a driver to make really interesting open world games. I think they really understood the genre and it wasn't until Breath of the Wild did another game really nail it in a way it felt The Saboteur did. The climbing in this game felt unreal in 2009 in comparison to its contemporaries. Lots of games were trying to figure out this freedom of movement and I think Pandemic Studios should be applauded for doing the best attempt at it. The market shifted on open world and freedom of movement took a big back seat until BOTW's climb anything, paraglide everywhere made the case with a massive exclamation point (though maybe telling that the only game since BOTW that understood this was Tears of the Kingdom). Now, I will take the rose-tinted glasses down a bit and say that the climbing has aged here. I think this argument probably seems silly if you first played this game now at least. It is a good reminder that this is a 15 year old game and give it a little grace. The open world design here is a map without a whole lot of different markers, which runs counter to the direction of Ubisoft open world games and heralds the noiseless maps of BOTW or Elden Ring. The free play elements of The Saboteur feed into the main game in a brilliant way. You can go in and clear out sniper towers and tanks and it'll make missions in those areas easier. And the free play stuff is definitely a good 'turn off your brain and listen to a podcast' gameplay loop. It can get repetitive and lacks variety after a while however. Fun to do in small doses when the mood strikes or when you know a mission is going to be in the area. These freeplay targets are also not critical to complete, they help to earn funds to buy upgrades or just as a fun distraction.
I think the last point I want to make on 'yes this holds up' is that the shooting and blowing things up is still just fun! Tossing a grenade from a roof down to a group of nazis and watching them ragdoll away is hilarious. I think shooting in third person games is such a tricky thing to nail. Rockstar only started to get it right after acquiring Team Bondi and how good it felt in LA Noire has then followed with GTA V and Red Dead 2 having some of the best feeling shooting in gaming. Pandemic was great at this with far less resources than Rockstar. It would have been interesting to see how they could have improved their systems into the Mercenaries game they were working on.
But I think the bigger picture includes a discussion of Pandemic Studios as a whole and the death of the AA game space. The last three series they made games for (Mercenaries, Destroy All Humans, The Saboteur) show that they understood making an open world fun and doing interesting things in the space. Their games are clunky and the stories are forgettable, but they are fun. They are games that have stuck with me for being fascinating and introducing mechanics that not many developers were going for. I think we started to lose these mid-tier games around this time as the industry chased bigger budget games and every game jockeys to be a blockbuster. Unfortunately, we are seeing the cost of these decisions now, with wide spread layoffs even if a game does well because it was not enough. News of more and more layoffs at game studios weighs on me and breaks my heart with each one. Now more than ever, we need more games like The Saboteur. We need more developers to be able to take risks with style and mechanics. And most importantly, these corporations don't punish these developers with layoffs or studio closures. I would love to see more games like The Saboteur and more studios like Pandemic be able to thrive instead of suffering the same fate that Pandemic ultimately did and like so many other studios did and continue to do.
1996
I'm 10. I stand in video game section of Family Video. I get mesmerized by the sprites on the back of the box. I rent this game. I rent it again. And again. I never beat it but I fall in love. I end up with the gameboy version and play it endlessly.
I'm 22. I drive an hour and a half to used game shop. Going to mostly browse, but I secretly hope I find this game there. I don't.
I'm 37. Nintendo adds it to the Nintendo Switch Online catalog and I finally beat it. The sprite mesmerize me the same as they did when I was a kid. The OLED screen of the Switch feels perfect for these happy and colorful sprites.
The game itself is repetitive and lacks the depth that future farming sims will create in the wake of this game. But this game not only inspired a brand new genre and slow life games as a whole, but really has charmed me into what is going to be a lifetime appreciation of the beauty of its sprite work and the relaxing, calming simple gameplay loop.
I'm 22. I drive an hour and a half to used game shop. Going to mostly browse, but I secretly hope I find this game there. I don't.
I'm 37. Nintendo adds it to the Nintendo Switch Online catalog and I finally beat it. The sprite mesmerize me the same as they did when I was a kid. The OLED screen of the Switch feels perfect for these happy and colorful sprites.
The game itself is repetitive and lacks the depth that future farming sims will create in the wake of this game. But this game not only inspired a brand new genre and slow life games as a whole, but really has charmed me into what is going to be a lifetime appreciation of the beauty of its sprite work and the relaxing, calming simple gameplay loop.
I wanted to write something about this game without comparing it to Suikoden because I think it is a great game that can stand up on its own. However, it begs for the comparison at every turn. I don't think that's a bad thing for series fans who have favorite story ideas from Suikoden being given a second chance to have a complete narrative again. And series newcomers can share in that same joy fresh from the beginning. Because when it comes down to it, Suikoden was a series about the world being the main character and each character and each story was a smaller piece of the whole. My hope is to see Eiyuden be able to find the same momentum and become a new loved series.
The story in Eiyuden 1 (as I wishfully am going to think of it as) is basically Costco Luca Blight wants to weaponize Suikoden Materia so that anyone can use it as a means for greater conquest. Which it already seems like everyone has an innate ability to use rune-lens. If a kid who loves beyblades and a little girl who fights with herbs have been picked by runes, then it doesn't feel that unique and hard to find people who can use them already. It all feels like a clumsy way to re-use True Rune/Star of Destiny lore and explain why your companions are special enough to recruit. The story is definitely the weakest part of this game, but does manage some good beats. I think it shows Eiyuden is maybe similar to Suikoden 1, where it was a proof of concept game and a game used to build up the game systems/mechanics for the bigger vision. I will add, that while there are a lot of similarities of Suikoden and Eiyuden but I am bummed that the mysterious nature of the True Runes and making their holders immortal has seemingly not made the jump into Eiyuden. Tir's struggle with his neverending youth is a powerful gut-punch in Suikoden 2 and I don't think they ever got to explore it more in depth other than Ted's appearance in Suikoden 4. I think it's a good comparison to Suikoden 1 narratively because while there's serious things that happen, they ultimately don't have weight behind them or bear much reflection from the characters. Cities get attacked but you can still walk around them as if nothing happened. Nowa's hometown is burned down, but they rebuild it instantly. It's a war with no scars. I think it is designed this way so that nothing is really missable (a pain point in several Suikoden games), but the game design undercuts the narrative if there are no consequences.
On the other hand, I think this has one of the best art designed cast of characters. Though a lot of the main cast are a rehash of characters. The trio of main characters echo the 3 from Suikoden 3. Seign and Nowa have their own riff on Jowy and Riou. Lian is hyper Nanami. Carrie is a more perfectionist and clear-headed version of Viki (I think I enjoy Carrie more though!). Melridge is a Mathiu Silverberg without the prestigious family lineage. The list could really go on! But they went some fun places with the side characters' designs and I think some of the backstories hinted at in the game lore are hopefully exciting things to come. I would love to visit Grimforge or the Fox Village, the University of Carles or the Eastern Reach in a future game. I am excited to see who they would bring forward from this game. One of the best mini-stories of Suikoden 1 - 3 is watching Futch getting older and I think it is stories like that which is the true magic of the series. The characters feel like real people in these games.
The level of work with the localization has been wild. Every line is fully voice acted and it's mostly very good! And that includes the theater mini game for every single character and even side characters that in Suikoden games would just stand there awkwardly in important scenes now have dialog that will pop in randomly. This caught me off guard every single time and is nothing short of magic. It is one of those special touches that will make using other characters on replays feel unique. Having Gigina (someone recruited in the beginning) jump in to say that Foxiel (someone recruited towards the end) is weird during that recruitment event is something they didn't have to do, but makes all of the characters feel more active in the story and world events than just background furniture after their own story has concluded.
The combat feels good! I think there's some balancing needed maybe going forward. Physical attack feels too powerful, Combo Attacks feel too weak for their requirements, Magic feels too limited in the early game. I think people new to the series are a little thrown by how easy the combat is; another carryover from Suikoden. The complexity of combat comes from boss battles and maybe there could be tweaks in there, but it's also nice to have an easier RPG that's a fun world to exist in. Not everything has to be a challenge. It's a difficult balance but probably one that would be less noticeable with a more engaging story. I absolutely love the new SP system for skill runes. Takes a little bit of Bravely Default and applies it to things like Suikoden's Falcon Rune. I wish the mechanics of it were better explained in the beginning but it soon made sense. The addition to including the action command order is such a great improvement and helps the strategy element of harder boss battles. Another great improvement I loved experimenting with was that "defense" was often a different move for various units. If the character was a mage, they might have Dodge or Return Magic. If they have a shield, they might have Cover Row & Counter. This is something I would love to see other RPGs pick up on!
The castle upgrading becoming a more active mechanic is great, but does need to be tweaked going forward. Would have been better to just have it be a list of upgrades like Hades' construction spirit than a zoomed in jumbled tree. And I was a bit frustrated at times when progress was locked behind a recruitment requirement that was a bit confusing. My issues with it aside, it really felt more like I as the player was more involved in creating the castle rather than just returning once a recruitment milestone was hit and seeing that there were some changes.
The mini games in this game are neat but they definitely overstay their welcome at times. It would be nice if they had less or no "mash A" to win games. My poor thumb hurts so much after grinding out two last recruits. The cooking mini game from Suikoden 2 is back and is like three times longer than it needs to be for getting a recruit. I think part of this length is due to being a Kickstarter reward. The Beyblade game feels like it could be better explained of what makes a good top and how to win. I just waited until I had end-game tops and then just trial and errored my way through Reid's recruitment quest. Eggfoot Racing is neat in theory but I frankly find them awful to look at. Fishing is very bare bones and I don't really get the inclusion here. Would be fun to see if it was more fleshed out. The card game seems good, at least on par with other Suikoden mini games, but is a Marvel Snap or card games like that. Also new in this game is the Proving Ground, a boss rush semi-roguelike (that also introduces a very fascinating and mysterious character). My favorite is the theater, which makes its return from Suikoden 3. It's great to play around with and make intentionally bad plays. It's also really good because it is fully voice acted, so it adds in a great depth and warmth.
Eiyuden Chronicle is not a perfect game, I think there is a lot of valid criticisms of the game. But when I first booted up the game, it was a rush of emotions that after 16 years, there was a new "Suikoden" game. This series means a lot to me and I think the series does tons of great work with world building and making memorable games and characters. Eiyuden feels in a lot of ways like a classic PS1 RPG with quality of life improvements. I hope this team is able to further tweak the improvements in any future games, but for right now, they made a really special game.
The story in Eiyuden 1 (as I wishfully am going to think of it as) is basically Costco Luca Blight wants to weaponize Suikoden Materia so that anyone can use it as a means for greater conquest. Which it already seems like everyone has an innate ability to use rune-lens. If a kid who loves beyblades and a little girl who fights with herbs have been picked by runes, then it doesn't feel that unique and hard to find people who can use them already. It all feels like a clumsy way to re-use True Rune/Star of Destiny lore and explain why your companions are special enough to recruit. The story is definitely the weakest part of this game, but does manage some good beats. I think it shows Eiyuden is maybe similar to Suikoden 1, where it was a proof of concept game and a game used to build up the game systems/mechanics for the bigger vision. I will add, that while there are a lot of similarities of Suikoden and Eiyuden but I am bummed that the mysterious nature of the True Runes and making their holders immortal has seemingly not made the jump into Eiyuden. Tir's struggle with his neverending youth is a powerful gut-punch in Suikoden 2 and I don't think they ever got to explore it more in depth other than Ted's appearance in Suikoden 4. I think it's a good comparison to Suikoden 1 narratively because while there's serious things that happen, they ultimately don't have weight behind them or bear much reflection from the characters. Cities get attacked but you can still walk around them as if nothing happened. Nowa's hometown is burned down, but they rebuild it instantly. It's a war with no scars. I think it is designed this way so that nothing is really missable (a pain point in several Suikoden games), but the game design undercuts the narrative if there are no consequences.
On the other hand, I think this has one of the best art designed cast of characters. Though a lot of the main cast are a rehash of characters. The trio of main characters echo the 3 from Suikoden 3. Seign and Nowa have their own riff on Jowy and Riou. Lian is hyper Nanami. Carrie is a more perfectionist and clear-headed version of Viki (I think I enjoy Carrie more though!). Melridge is a Mathiu Silverberg without the prestigious family lineage. The list could really go on! But they went some fun places with the side characters' designs and I think some of the backstories hinted at in the game lore are hopefully exciting things to come. I would love to visit Grimforge or the Fox Village, the University of Carles or the Eastern Reach in a future game. I am excited to see who they would bring forward from this game. One of the best mini-stories of Suikoden 1 - 3 is watching Futch getting older and I think it is stories like that which is the true magic of the series. The characters feel like real people in these games.
The level of work with the localization has been wild. Every line is fully voice acted and it's mostly very good! And that includes the theater mini game for every single character and even side characters that in Suikoden games would just stand there awkwardly in important scenes now have dialog that will pop in randomly. This caught me off guard every single time and is nothing short of magic. It is one of those special touches that will make using other characters on replays feel unique. Having Gigina (someone recruited in the beginning) jump in to say that Foxiel (someone recruited towards the end) is weird during that recruitment event is something they didn't have to do, but makes all of the characters feel more active in the story and world events than just background furniture after their own story has concluded.
The combat feels good! I think there's some balancing needed maybe going forward. Physical attack feels too powerful, Combo Attacks feel too weak for their requirements, Magic feels too limited in the early game. I think people new to the series are a little thrown by how easy the combat is; another carryover from Suikoden. The complexity of combat comes from boss battles and maybe there could be tweaks in there, but it's also nice to have an easier RPG that's a fun world to exist in. Not everything has to be a challenge. It's a difficult balance but probably one that would be less noticeable with a more engaging story. I absolutely love the new SP system for skill runes. Takes a little bit of Bravely Default and applies it to things like Suikoden's Falcon Rune. I wish the mechanics of it were better explained in the beginning but it soon made sense. The addition to including the action command order is such a great improvement and helps the strategy element of harder boss battles. Another great improvement I loved experimenting with was that "defense" was often a different move for various units. If the character was a mage, they might have Dodge or Return Magic. If they have a shield, they might have Cover Row & Counter. This is something I would love to see other RPGs pick up on!
The castle upgrading becoming a more active mechanic is great, but does need to be tweaked going forward. Would have been better to just have it be a list of upgrades like Hades' construction spirit than a zoomed in jumbled tree. And I was a bit frustrated at times when progress was locked behind a recruitment requirement that was a bit confusing. My issues with it aside, it really felt more like I as the player was more involved in creating the castle rather than just returning once a recruitment milestone was hit and seeing that there were some changes.
The mini games in this game are neat but they definitely overstay their welcome at times. It would be nice if they had less or no "mash A" to win games. My poor thumb hurts so much after grinding out two last recruits. The cooking mini game from Suikoden 2 is back and is like three times longer than it needs to be for getting a recruit. I think part of this length is due to being a Kickstarter reward. The Beyblade game feels like it could be better explained of what makes a good top and how to win. I just waited until I had end-game tops and then just trial and errored my way through Reid's recruitment quest. Eggfoot Racing is neat in theory but I frankly find them awful to look at. Fishing is very bare bones and I don't really get the inclusion here. Would be fun to see if it was more fleshed out. The card game seems good, at least on par with other Suikoden mini games, but is a Marvel Snap or card games like that. Also new in this game is the Proving Ground, a boss rush semi-roguelike (that also introduces a very fascinating and mysterious character). My favorite is the theater, which makes its return from Suikoden 3. It's great to play around with and make intentionally bad plays. It's also really good because it is fully voice acted, so it adds in a great depth and warmth.
Eiyuden Chronicle is not a perfect game, I think there is a lot of valid criticisms of the game. But when I first booted up the game, it was a rush of emotions that after 16 years, there was a new "Suikoden" game. This series means a lot to me and I think the series does tons of great work with world building and making memorable games and characters. Eiyuden feels in a lot of ways like a classic PS1 RPG with quality of life improvements. I hope this team is able to further tweak the improvements in any future games, but for right now, they made a really special game.