I’ve been thinking of playing Suikoden 2, but I’m wondering if I need to play Suikoden 1 first. Since I’ve heard that Suikoden 1 isn’t nearly as good as 2, I’m not sure if I want to play Suikoden 1 unless playing it first will make Suikoden 2’s story more enjoyable. How are Suikoden 1 and 2 connected? I heard the same characters are in both games.
It is a direct sequel in a sense, as there are recurring characters and references to the first one, and it takes place after the original, but it is for the most part a brand new story with new characters.
So no.
However, you can carry your save from the first one to the second one.
You should read Water Margin though ^^
The no bullshit answer is “No, but it makes things cooler.”
However it would also be pretty cool to get to know the characters first through #2 and THEN delve into their histories. Play both in any order and you can’t go wrong.
Playing the first gives you a better appreciation for the 2nd because of the characters that return, both heroes and villains, and because of you can get extra characters in your party. It helps you better understand the political setting everything is happening in.
The 1st game isn’t a bad game. It is old school without being hard and it played it safe with pretty much every convention. It is filled with typical fantasy RPG stereotypes and it is easily finished in between 15-20 hours and the combat is fast paced enough to avoid being tedious, particularly if you pack your party with the right people. Suikoden 2 built upon the battle system (though annoying removed the 1st game’s battle breaking unites), but differed from its predecessor by adding depth to both the protagonists and the antagonists.
The other 5 suikoden games in the series (3,4,5, Tierkris and Tactics) are less interesting than the first 2, imo.
Basically, everything Sin said. It’s not required to play it first, But it helps to give a better understanding of the world around you. Each of the successive games (the first three, at least, which are all I played) is built upon a different part of the world, often referenced in games that came before it. It’s kind of like watching a world grow around you. And seeing characters from the first story return in the second makes you feel a sense of joy… it’s kind of like knowing that what you did in the first game mattered and seeing what impact it actually had.
As much as I’m not a fan of the first game, it really does augment the second game.
What are you talking about?
In Suikoden 1, I paired Kirkis with Stallion and Kai with my main character to do 2 all-enemy unite attacks. It ended fights very quickly. Combat is slower in Suikoden 2 because you can’t end fights by doing several successive all-enemy unite attacks.
What is stopping you? I haven’t explored the odds and ends of all my characters yet, but I am pretty sure I can do more than one unite attack.
Pussy.
Fight your goddamn fights and don’t complain! >:(
Yea seriously, who willingly puts Kirkis in their party.
Now lets make this a thread about what level you were at the end of the game, and who is in your favourite party.
Yes, absolutely you need to play 1 before 2. Otherwise you’ll miss the introductions of half the relevant characters in S2, and you won’t appreciate it nearly as much. It shouldn’t take more than 30 hours tops to beat s1. Also, your save from S1 unlocks stuff in S2, also carries some names and such over to the second game.
I did the same thing Sin did. With those three in your party, you could one or two-hit kill the entire enemy party.
In regards to transfer date: you get a recipe for stew! Oh, and it unlocks one of the most powerful and pretty much broken characters in the entire game. But come on! STEW!
I actually used Kirkis and his girlfriend (Slyvia or something?) and Kai in the back with Tir, Vicor, and Flik in the front.
Stallion was usually a better choice, since he allowed you to run. Admittedly, you shouldn’t need a specific character in your party to be able to freaking run, but what can you do?
Sylvina works, but Stallion automatically had the True Holy Run to run around, as VE mentioned.
I played through the whole game without knowing you could run, everybody fuck off with that.
Thanks everyone for the advice! I think I’ll play Suikoden 1 first.