Recently, one of the greatest games of all time hit the PlayStation Network. For $9.99, gamers can now get Suikoden II on their PS3s or PSVitas. If you haven’t done so, and if you’ve ever liked an RPG, I recommend this game. Upon reflection, I noticed some reasons that I love it so much, many of which are rooted in the current direction of the game industry as a whole.
And above all, dammit, it’s a turn-based JRPG. While these are still released occasionally, it seems like so often I see comments all over the place begging developers to return to this genre. Among a couple of others this year, Bravely Default‘s surprising sales (to its reluctant publisher) and critical acclaim proved that there’s still a place for these games on the market, yet we don’t see nearly as many as we used to. Well, if you missed Suikoden II when it was new and haven’t paid the three-digit price to jump in since then, I’d say this is worth a look.
Suikoden 2 Spanking
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No Bullshit
No DLC, no connection required during play, no microtransactions, no content cut out to make room for separate $5 updates, no season passes, none of that crap. This comment applies to most (all?) PSOne Classics, actually, so let's move on to...
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It Runs Smooth Like Butter
Remember when frame-rate drops were few and far between, instead of a feature hiding within all too many releases? They're not here. Again, that's an aspect shared by several PSOne Classics, but especially so in the cases of Suikoden and Suikoden II, because they were already "behind the times" when they were released. The lack of hardware tax means fast-paced, smooth battles and transitions.
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Laughs in the Face of Graphic Whoredom
Younger gamers might look at Suikoden II's graphics and sneer, but in Suikoden II, it's all about the gameplay and story, which are amazing. But it just doesn't prove this point about graphics not making the game today; it was already well behind the curve when it initially released, because it did so at a time when Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy VIII, Crash Bandicoot 3, Vigilante 8, Resident Evil 2, and all kinds of other shiny, 3D, more system-pushing games were already available. And yet... (continued in next slide)
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Graphics (continued)
...those character sprites have personality, pep, charm. While the game doesn't feature CG cinemas or a billion-dollar budget, it's still very pleasant to look at. Ironic as it might seem, looking at several other games of the era -- many of which were considered "better" looking than Suikoden II -- can be more disappointing. Suikoden II, in a sense, isn't graphically behind those games at all. I remember taking flack, back in the day, for commenting on the game and saying I actually loved the visuals. These 15 years later, I feel the same way.
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You Run a Castle!
A CASTLE. YOU RUN IT. IN AN RPG. Yeah yeah Minecraft blah blah Sim City whoopdeedoo, but few and far between are the RPGs that let you do something on this scale.
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Luca Blight
What a bastard. Suikoden II's villain, and how you go about fighting him, are among the best of all time. Seriously.
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Grind? We Don't Need No Stinking Grind
While random battles are present, Suikoden II doesn't waste your time on easy enemies. Fights are quick for previously mentioned reasons, as well as a simple auto-attack for enemies that you know don't even stand a chance. You hardly miss a beat during your journey.
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Second Battle System on the World Map
Years before Final Fantasy Type-0 would try and fail at this, Suikoden II was doing it right.
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Tremendous value
At $10, or I guess $16 if you also buy the first one, Suikoden II provides a deep, entertaining adventure that, unlike modern games, is complete. What's more, for the thrifty gamer, this price is a huge discount on the physical version, which can sell for $400 brand new and even fetch over $120 used. Gamers want a discount for digital purchases? Well there ya go!
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Great For Newcomers or Veterans
Suikoden II can be played and highly enjoyed by those who didn't play the original. But if you did? There's a rather big new quest and a few more characters you can get access to, when you import your save file. I don't know how this works on the PSN, because I first played the Suikoden games on the actual, gray original PlayStation, but I'm hoping and assuming that this has been preserved for the digital versions. (Continued in next slide)
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Good for new and old (continued)
I didn't find Suikoden nearly as interesting as part II, but at 15 hours, its length isn't much compared to other RPGs. And it's not like it was a bad game -- pretty good, actually. It just didn't light my fire like the sequel did. Taken in tandem with Suikoden II, however, an extra few bucks and few hours of good fun magnifies the superior experience of the sequel.
