Suikoden Review (Sony PlayStation, 1996)

The first Suikoden is a really interesting title. Konami, at the time, wasn’t really well known for their role playing games. To see them invest on one for the Sony PlayStation was unexpected to say the least. What’s more is that the game is primarily two dimensional. That’s not something you would expect during this generation. Suikoden released pretty early in the span of the generation and it did manage to make some waves. I missed out on it but later played the sequel, and eventually returned for the original adventure. I loved it so much that I decided to play through it again recently. So how does the original Suikoden hold up? Well, let’s take a look.

This sprawling RPG adventure throws you into a unique fantasy medieval world. The story is loosely based on the classic Chinese novel the Water Margin. Here you assume the role of a young man named Tir Mcdohl. He is the son of a famous general in the Scarlet Moon Empire. The adventure begins as Tir is left with his keepers one day while his father Teo heads out to battle. Not wanting to lead a quiet priveledged life Tir joins the kingdom’s army and on his first mission is sent to a nearby town to collect taxes. Through a turn of events involving a magical rune he is forsaken by his homeland and forced to join a resistance faction against it. Soon our hero rises to the rank of leader, and sets out to stop the Scarlet Moon Empire from it’s destructive ambitions.

While this sort of set up has become a trope in film and video game Suikoden pulls it off with a lot of finesse. The story builds at a gradual pace. I love the humble beginnings of this story, and how it gradually emanates into such a huge political war based struggle. Eventually you procure a base of operations wherein all of the characters you have recruited live. The big twist in Suikoden is that 108 total characters join your quest. These are called the stars of destiny. Most join through natural progression of the plot but many have specific requirements. These can be a little cryptic but that’s part of the fun. Finding and recruiting these characters is a huge part of the draw in Suikoden.

As far as gameplay goes Suikoden is pretty traditional by RPG standards. Outside of battle the game is entirely two dimensional and sprite based. You guide Tir through towns, dungeons, and a world map. Battles occur at random where you’re whisked to a separate 3D screen wherein your characters and the foes take turns inputting commands. These include things like attack, item, rune (magic), etc. Suikoden does take some notes from Chrono Trigger in that it includes unite attacks. These are skills combined between two specific characters often resulting in a more powerful attack. My only complaint about this is that it’s perhaps underutilized. There are only a handful of unite attacks in the game. When you compound that with the vast number of characters that join it’s a bit underwhelming.

My favorite aspect of the battle system is how functional it is. This came out in a time where 3D graphics took the genre in a more cinematic route. Battles would take forever to load and the dynamic camera slowed things down to a crawl. Suikoden on the other hand gives a quick flash and then you’re in it. The pace of battle is brisk to say the least. Characters and enemies don’t even wait until the current action has been carried out before jumping in with an attack. Sure, it can make the action a lot more hectic but given the turn based nature of the game it doesn’t demand fast reflexes or multitasking. I really appreciate the fact that the battle system is so quick and snappy. The only time the pace slows down is during spells. At the same time I can appreciate how flashy they are.

Suikoden may be a pretty traditional Japanese style RPG but it does have some unique aspects to it. The story is primarily one based on politics and military, and so Konami implemented what’s often referred to as ‘army battles’ here. These occur at specific points in the story and are much different than the small scale skirmishes. Here you see two enemy armies (represented by cute little guys running around on the field and a number indicating how many are still alive at the top of the screen). You and your foe choose generals to attack as well as commands for them to use. At the top of the screen you can see how many of your soldiers are still alive. The change of pace is really nice, and the immersive storytelling is neat too.

There are some quirks to this however. Basically it’s a glorified version of rock paper scissors. You have three basic troop types including soldiers, mages, and archers. They’re all weak against one while strong against the other. Which one you use is based on the command that you input with three basic ones; Charge, Bow, and Magic. Specific generals that have joined also have some unique commands that can be used once per battle. This lets you do things like predicting what the enemy’s next attack will be, temporarily increasing charge power, and a few others. The big problem I have with the army battles is the fact that if you suffer too many casualties members of the main cast (provided they aren’t significant to the story) can permanently perish. This is just about the most frustrating part of Suikoden.

But wait, there’s more. Suikoden has one more non-traditional battle type; duels. These are one-on-one deathmatches generally between the main character and one other foe. These are more simple in nature and generally kind of easy to be honest. They’re still a welcome addition however. Basically the enemy gives one line of dialogue before each turn. This serves as a clue to which action they are going to perform. There are three possible commands including attack, desperate attack, and defend. These are all good against one while being weak against the other. These are mostly used to add flair to the main story by making specific events more significant. They’re fairly common in the adventure and while not as entertaining as army battles I still enjoyed the duels.

While you can change your characters’ armor and given them items in this game the weapon upgrade mechanics are very original here. Instead of replacing weapons with something else you now sharpen them at blacksmiths. This not only increases their attack power but can also change their name completely. Don’t assume this service is cheaper than buying new equipment however. Maxing out the sharpness of a character’s weapon is the most expensive upgrades in Suikoden. I imagine that this weapon upgrade mechanic was a concession that the developers had to make given the cast of playable characters is so vast. Weapon management would have been an absolute nightmare without this.

Like the battle system I’m really impressed with how simple and functional the dungeon designs are. These are mostly short and very to the point. There are few branching paths which generally lead to a single treasure chest, but you can skip most of the exploration with very little sacrifice. Anyone who has played their share of RPGs knows how welcome this aspect is. Sometimes you just want to progress the story as fast as you can, and this is entirely possible in Suikoden. It’s a different story if you’re looking to find all 108 stars of destiny, or all of the best armor/items. Suikoden can be enjoyed just as much or little as a player wants and that’s truly why it’s not only one of the best PS1 RPGs, but also one of the best RPGs of all time overall.

If there’s one complaint I have with Suikoden it’s that the game is too short. Even going out of my way to collect all 108 stars of destiny I spent less than 30 hours with this title. For an RPG of this era that’s pretty short. I’m sure anyone just wanting to stick to the script will be able to topple the final boss in around 20-25. Unfortunately at the credits rolled this time I felt like I wasn’t done. I wanted to spend more time with Suikoden, the character Tir, and his fight against the Scarlet Moon Empire. It’s kind of a two faced complaint considering I’m only pointing out the game’s length because I enjoyed it so much I wish there was more of it. The game isn’t perfect, but it’s really enjoyable and charming.

Suikoden is also a pretty game that still holds up graphically even today. The 2D sprite based graphics do a lot of the heavy lifting for this. The characters are designed wonderfully, and they animate extremely well. Sure, they look a bit pixelated but honestly that’s part of the charm. The backgrounds and scenery are also really nice looking. Even the 3D elements such as the battlefields look great. My only complaint is that the character portraits are extremely low res. The use of color in them is also a little weird. It’s minor, but still something that pops out. The soundtrack is also pretty good, but I wouldn’t say it’s great. The music generally has a strong Asian motif going for it (based on the source material, no doubt) and it makes Suikoden unique in this regard. Unfortunately the battle themes are largely forgettable.