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Post by Solana on Sept 16, 2022 16:20:32 GMT -5
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Post by Rune Lai on Sept 17, 2022 1:01:29 GMT -5
I think this is good for those who want to play II, but I already have access to it (my brother's copy, but we share games so not really a big deal) and I oddly wasn't that motivated to play it back in the day. I watched my brother play it and while there were parts I liked I just didn't like it as much as Suikoden I (which I also watched him play) so I never got around to it. Maybe I'll pick up the remaster if it's well reviewed. Square managed to botch the Chrono Cross port (frame rate stuttering on a PS1 port >.>) so I wouldn't put it past Konami to do the same, especially since they've largely exited the console gaming market and probably contracted this out to another team.
Some people were saying that the reason this remaster exists at all is probably because Konami noticed the success of Eiyuden Chronicle, which is one of the most successful game Kickstarters ever and a Suikoden spiritual successor by the original director and character designer. Konami probably saw all the attention and realized they could be sleeping on some real money. Which, if it leads to more remasters or more games, wouldn't necessarily be bad, but it'd be nicer if it didn't follow the success of some of the original creative team doing what Konami wouldn't.
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Post by Solana on Sept 17, 2022 16:24:13 GMT -5
Fair enough. I prefer Suikoden I for story and characters, especially since I've read the novel it was based off of. (Viktor and Gremio are hilarious together, especially when you first meet Viktor.) I prefer II for gameplay, especially taking down Luca Blight. III has some of my favorite (and least favorite) music in the series. (Chisha village and the main battle theme respectively.) But V is my favorite overall with all of the humor. I almost felt sorry for Alenia when Shula Valya mentioned how he'd enjoyed his 'vacation' and telling his men not to buy too many presents and drive up the prices of things.
I'd be happy to get a VI. Nagarea could be a fascinating dive, and more of Harmonia itself would be nice. (They might not do that with Nash's game, though.)
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Post by Rune Lai on Sept 17, 2022 20:13:32 GMT -5
I really enjoyed Suikoden I. Gremio is one of my favorite JRPG characters ever. I just like the idea of this soft, dedicated man who also hits people with an axe. I made sure to get all 108 stars just to make sure I could take him into the final battle with me, and if I play the remaster I'll do it again. (Thankfully Suikoden I is pretty short and I remember it clocking in under 20 hours.) I think part of the reason II didn't hit as hard for me is that I'd played Final Fantasy Tactics before it came out, and it also had the two friends who are close at the beginning of the game and then veer sharply away from each other, with one being the protagonist who goes out among the downtrodden and the other taking a position among the enemy where he can be the oppressor and make questionable moral decisions. So it felt like II was treading the same ground, but Jowy was no Delita, giving II a bit of a "been there done that" feel. I was interested in the returning characters and the cast is so huge it's impossible not to find someone to like (I thought Sierra teasing Klaus was cute), but the overarching story didn't grab me and also it was a much longer game. Since I rarely replay games anymore, I remember thinking that I wanted to do a perfect playthrough of Suikoden II, but also realized that it would require save scumming to do everything I wanted since Clive (?) had a quest or recruitment requirement or something that made it necessary for you to reach certain points in the story within a certain time limit and that would take away from my preferred method of taking my time and talking to everybody in town, and that was really discouraging. Someone suggested I play the game twice, but that really wasn't something I wanted to do so... that's kinda why Suikoden II never got played. Despite that, I do own III and IV and I think Tactics. My brother has V. But they're all just sitting unplayed because I have so many games. xD If VI come out I'll like pick it up for the hell of it.
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Post by Solana on Sept 17, 2022 20:38:45 GMT -5
Gremio was also my favorite in I, the reason I wrote 'Heart's Legacy' in the library. Soniere was tough- I even tried bringing Luc along since he could teleport us out of Leknaat's tower to the beach so WHY THE HELL COULDN'T HE GET US OUT OF THERE?! It was very, very hard sparing Milich even for the best ending. I loaned it to my friend who didn't realize you had to go fly with Futch right away and he left Gregminster and got taken out immediately. He also didn't realize you had to taste both soups to get Antonio.
In II. one of the biggest drags was Nanami. I found her very irritating and of course you're stuck with her many times for story purposes and for the Unite attack.
V is amazing. I love so many of the characters, they went back to the six member party but ironed out all of the problems introduced in III. The writing is much better and there is a lot of humor mixed in without it being condescending or cheap shots. There are also some pretty hard shots to the heart strings, especially the 'night of the party' and finding out the truth of the 'night of the party'. (Trying to avoid spoilers.) Sol-Falena is one of my favorite cities in the Suiko universe, and Lucretia is probably my favorite strategist. Aryn's Celestial Gift was directly inspired by the main runes of this game.
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Post by Solana on Oct 7, 2022 10:05:43 GMT -5
I've started watching an English patched version of the Suiko Gaiden games. Nash is handy in a fight, even when outclassed, but he's probably one of the worst spies I've ever seen. Honestly, man, watch an episode or two of 'Burn Notice'- Michael Westin could teach you a lot. He has a lot of bad stuff happen just due to being in the wrong place in the wrong time, or eating Nanami's cooking.
I do love that the music is remixed versions of the familiar tracks from Suikoden II. The second opening theme is an incredible remix of the Tinto theme, one of my favorite tracks in the game. Honestly, it would be fun to choreograph a dance to it while cosplaying as Rina. (I know, she's not a dancer, but I really don't like the 'harem girl' costume Karen sports and prefer skirts to harem pants while dancing.)
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Post by Rune Lai on Oct 11, 2022 18:18:46 GMT -5
I didn't realize the gaiden games had such nice animated openings! I thought they were visual novels and VNs usually use stills with some very limited animation rather than full-on anime for their openings. The music is definitely good.
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Post by Solana on Jan 7, 2023 10:08:29 GMT -5
Just ran across this on youtube this morning. It'll be a while before I pick it up, as my newest PlayStations are level 2s, but it's nice to see.
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Post by Rune Lai on Jan 7, 2023 18:14:19 GMT -5
March 9th is coming up soon. And if it's 40 euros it's probably going to be $40 for us in the US. Given how soon the date is, it's likely to be a digital-only release. If I pick it up, it'd be on Switch.
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