Liver&Onions

never mind...

PixyJunket

Part V, eh? I've never played a single one.

I've always wondered if it had something to set it apart from other J-RPGs.

Noonan

I can't wait for this game. Suikoden still remains as my favorite RPG series. 4 was a bit disappointing, but still a good game.

warswift

is suikoden 3 any good?

Noonan

It was amazing IMO. It didn't get the best reviews, and some people didn't like the changes from the standard Suikoden gameplay but the story was great. Very long game too. Took me about 70 to finish after I got all 108. Compared to IV which only took about 30.

Setzer

I'm in the same boat as you, I've never played any of the Suikoden games. I've heard good things about 1 &2 but trying to get copies of those games now is pretty spendy, especially when you're only option is ebay. I heard somewhere that they were going to release them on the PSP but I don't know if that's fact or purely speculation.

Anyways, those screen shots look pretty good. Question for those who have played this series, is it a continuing story or is it like Final Fantasy where each game has a different story?

Noonan

Suikoden 1&2 for PSP was confirmed for Japan. No news on a US release yet.

It is a continuing story, but in different times. 1 and 2 were pretty close together and contain some of the same characters, 3 was I think about 20 years in the future, and 4 was about 400 years before 1. I'm not quite sure where 5 fits in.

Chris_D

2 is awesome, my favourite console rpg. 3 had a very good feel to it, and I mostly liked the characters but the story didn't measure up to 2. Played 4 for about 2 hours so far and it seems like a dogs breakfast. Unfortunately I never played 1, I remember being at the store looking for an rpg for my poor old ps1 and chose alundra instead of suikoden 1. Whoooops!

Mano

Hey, no shame there Alundra was a great game, I thought at least. I've never played any of the Suikoden games, so really I have nothing to say other than to defend Alundra. Cheers!

hector031

I like Alundra a lot. I don't remember if I ever beat it though.

I keep hearing the Suikoden series was really good. I don't think I'll get to play Suikoden II though since it seems to sell for quite a lot of money... or at least more than I'm willing to spend on it.

Noonan

Suikoden II is really worth the money. It is the best RPG I've played. Both the story and gameplay were amazing. If you ever have a chance to play it, I highly recommend it.

Chris_D

While it was good I actually got frustrated by the difficulty and didn't get very far in. Always been meaning to get back to it but haven't yet. Anyway I guess Suikoden 1 is relatively expensive these days (for a 2nd hand ps1 game) so I wish I'd bought it back then new off the shelf .

Btw anyone who wants to play a traditional console rpg with great 2d graphics and art, awesome soundtrack, likeable characters, and enthralling story line should not pass up SII .

Outlaw

I missed out on Suikoden IV but they're not that bad as a game I believe they are loosely based on a Chinese novel. I guess the thing that sets them apart from most other games is that you can recruit a TON of people to use in your party (though you can only have 6 or 7 in battle at the same time). There are 108 characters to get in each of the games (the theme that the series follows is the 108 Stars of Destiny to reshape history) and while many of them are main characters, you'll find different ways to get other people to join your party which is kind of fun.

One thing I really liked about the battle system in this series is that multiple people can attack simultaneously. So if you make everyone attack and they're attacking different people, when you hit OK after selecting they'll all run out and attack at the same time instead of waiting for their turn. It speeds up battles immensely and looks pretty cool too.

Joe Molotov

I never played I or II, but what I liked about III was the story. Instead of just one main character, Suikoden III had 4 and their stories intermingled in certain places before all coming together at the end. It was really great, and even though there were alot of main and minor characters in the story, I thought the game did a good job of helping you connect with all of them. Plus there's the 108 recruitable characters, and it's fun to try to find and recruit as many of them as possible (although I'd say don't get too bogged down in trying to find every single one).

I'd put Suikoden III in my Top 3 RPGs of this generation.

hector031

Konami made an announcement that they were releasing 1 and 2 for the PSP in Japan. Here is their site for the release. It looks like it should be out on Feb. 23rd. Unfortunately, I've read on other sites that they aren't planning a US release for it. I would import it, but I can't read Japanese, so it would be a waste.

dgmayor

I loved the first one. Bought the second one, but I could never play it at the time because my PS1 was chipped and it wouldn't play on a chipped PS1. I have 3 for PS2 but never played it (still in the wrapping). I really need to sit down and play that sometime. I don't think I even knew there was a 4th one >

Noonan

This game is coming out next week. Anyone else excited? I'm going to have to find some time to pull myself away from Oblivion to play this.

fujishig

Part 4, and the ensuing Suikoden Tactics, were both subpar. Suikoden III had a broken battle system, but at least the four different stories that came together in the end was a fresh one. V is supposed to bring back the magic that 1 and 2 had, so we'll see. There have always been ties from game to game, but it's not mandatory to play each game to know what's going on. Besides, I think V is a prequel.

Isn't Kingdom Hearts 2 coming out soon as well? I expect Suikoden V, even at 10 bucks less, will get largely overshadowed by that release (and perhaps Oblivion as well).

toogood

Just finished up Grandia 3 and am getting ready for this one. Gamestop is giving a free art book and a cd with pre-orders if anybody is interested.

eau

Did anyone get the artbook + CD bonus gift when they preordered theirs at EB and Gamestop? Is it worth getting the game for it now rather than waiting for an eventual price drop on the game itself?

fujishig

There are pictures at CAG, but pretty much the artbook is a mini-artbook, meaning it's around the size of a DVD case, and someone said the CD is more of a sampler. Don't have it firsthand, though.

mh4268

This game is starting off slowly. I'm around 10 hours into this, and I am just now allowed to start recruiting characters. It does seem to be picking up nicely though, but those first few hours were brutal. Some of the towns are huge, and I had no clue what to do. The battle system is back to the 6 person teams and battles are quick paced which is nice. The duel system adds a timer to make your choices which really adds to those one on one battles. I have had only 1 war and am undecided on the real time fighting, leaning toward liking it.

Noonan

Now that I'm pretty much done with Oblivion I'll be starting this soon. I can't wait to dive into it. I'll post some impressions once I'm a few hours in. Does it allow you load a save from either 3 or 4 like the previous games have?

Noonan

So I guess not many people are playing this game...

I'm about 12 hours in now and the story is really starting to pick up. It did start off a bit slow. I'm finally able to start recruiting people. Even after only 12 hours, this game is much better than IV. I was one of the few people who really liked III so I'm going to wait till I'm done with V before making any comparisons to it.

fujishig

I picked this up for the artbook and CD, but like most RPGs I buy these days, it's on the backburner. I'm still working on DragonQuest VIII, for heaven's sake!

Any unlockables from completing Suikoden IV? I fear the completionist in me won't allow me to start V until I've tortured myself by finishing IV.