mgbfan

I've been wanting a good RPG for my PS2, but I truly hated FFX. I'm a casual video gamer, more of an old-schooler. I didn't like FFX because it was such a railroaded game. I hated watching cutscene after cutscene, with virtually no control over the direction of the game, where the movie-like story was much more important than the gameplay.

Is this game different, or is it just another incarnation of that sort of style? I want a game where I'm in control, not where I have to complete TASK A to reach LEVEL B to complete TASK C. Yeah, I know there's an element of that in any RPG, but the illusion of freedom is important to me. Like GTA, where you have tasks to accomplish, but you can enjoy the game without being on such a railraod track.

Opinions?

PixyJunket

Thumbs up for your excellent opinion on the FF series.

To answer your question, if Suikoden 3 is like the previous 2, then there will be lots of gameplay from what I recall. Actually I neve rplayed part 2! And part 1 was like.. nearly 5 or 6 years ago. I'd rent it first. The series is more strategy based, if you've ever played games like Shining Force or Ogre Battle. It's kind of like Warcraft except turn based. In that sense there SHOULD be lots of things to do, and lots of gameplay. But.. in this dark era of gaming, you never know..

If you get a chance to play it let me know what you thought.

Aghama

I haven't played my copy yet, but I know that the world map is similar to FFX, in that you just select where to go. However, I know there are several optional places to go that don't directly deal with the plot, as well as 108 characters total to recruit & train. It's a 6 character battle system, but from the manual I wouldn't say it's really all that strategy based, aside from the training.

The buzz on the SA board is that this game is really great and fairly challenging. The only major issue is some serious slowdown in the more populated cities. I'm looking forward to playing it...after Vice City.

JNielsen

If I remember right, thats how parts I and II were too.

trigun

Suikoden 1 has a world map similar to the older FF games. I'm playing it right now (so that I can transfer save game into 2 and then part 3). Really enjoying the game, hopefully 2 and 3 are great too.

PixyJunket

Almost ALL (if not all) games of this style are like that. The way the battles are, having a world map to explore would be mostly useless.. I think Shining Force had an world map you could walk around in (off of memory) but it was so small it was practically just go from point A to B.

Aghama

pixyboi - as I implied, I'm almost positive the battles in this game are not like Shining Force, they are traditional RPG fare. You don't move during battle.

mgbfan

Hmm ... still somewhat undecided. I've got a $46 credit at one of the local video game stores here and I'm torn between this game, GTA:VC (I haven't finioshed GTA yet, so I'm hesitant about that one), Tekken 4, and Burnout 2.

I'd really like something like the classic RPGs I used to enjoy, but FFX put me off so much that I'm almost leary of going with this one. Maybe I'll just be brave and go for it.

PixyJunket

Oh well..

Aghama

I also think you're misremembering, the FAQs on Suikoden seem to point to the battles being standard fare as well. I think there were a few large scale battles, but that was not the norm.

PixyJunket

Quite possible. A billion subpar video games will do that to you (and lots of beer). I swear I remember the first game being Shining Force-like and when you killed enemy soilders this rocket geyser of blood shot out of thier bodies.

fujishig

You're thinking about the excellent series Vagrant Story. It is a strategy RPG much like shining force, and the killing blow would always result in a geyser of blood.

For some odd reason, I always link the two RPGs together too (Suikoden and Vagrant Story). I don't know if they share developers, or if they were just released around the same time...

BTW, if you like that sort of Final Fantasy Tactics sort of game, Tactics Ogre is great for GBA... almost worth getting a GBA for by itself.

I ordered Suikoden III as part of my amazon set, but I don't know if I'll ever get around to playing it. Though I finished 1, I have no idea where the save is, and 2 is still shrinkwrapped. I'm wondering if I should play through 2 first before starting 3...

All that, and I still am only on Arc the Lad 1...

fujishig

I'm sorry, not Vagrant Story, which was an underappreciated squaresoft rpg with a completely different battle system.

I mean Vandal Hearts. That's the one with the geysers of blood. doh!

Aghama

fujishig: Ah, okay. They're both Konami, but I dunno if they're the same developer.

I've heard that there isn't as much of a tie in III and II. 15 years have passed, as opposed to 5 or so between the first two games. All having a save from II does it transfer the stats for some returning characters and the name of your castle. It's apparently very accessable to new players, which is good for me.

DVD Lamer

Suikoden isn't the Final Fantasy type RPG. It's what RPG games should be. For this year, it is the top RPG offering among the new six RPG titles available.

It offers a bit of nonlinearly by playing chapters of characters. You can choose the order of the chapters of the three main characters.

If your dying for a good RPG this year, Suikoden 3 is the best bet. Otherwise, choose another game for a different genre.

PixyJunket

VANDAL HEARTS!! That's it!!

Woo!! Woo!! Ok. I feel better now.

What the hell is Suikoden, then?

JNielsen

Jose Q

I'll say this: Suikoden III is worth picking up more than Kingdom Hearts.