Ok, so a while back, I posted a thread ignorantly asking why DS RPGs were so dumbed down and kid-friendly, using FFTA, and this game as primary reference points. I’ve since retracted that statement. I’ve been spending some time with Suikoden, and well… as far as I’m concerned it’s still a game that would give someone such an impression, especially after having played the regular games.
As far as pure gameplay goes, I like it. It’s the mind-shutting-off-killing-time-while-listening-to-music kind of gameplay I miss in old-school traditional RPGs like this. While that system largely puts me to sleep nowadays, once in a while I crave it, and this is one of those times, and I like it quite a bit. The graphics are pretty solid, and the anime cutscenes well rendered, and the character designs pleasing to the eye. The music also stands out (even if Im not listening to it most of the time).
So that’s about all the good things I can say about it.
I can’t say much about the story yet as I’m only a couple hours in, so I won’t. I can say it’s kind of strange to see the main character have dialogue. It’s awful to read what comes out of his mouth (when I talk about Saturday Morning cartoon dialogue this is exactly what I mean), and it’s downright grating to listen to him speak. I’m not big into silent protagonists, but it’s strange to suddenly see them involved in the story in such a way that I prefer they stay silent as it’s just part of the charm of the game. Anyway, going back to the VA, it’s pretty bad all around, though it ranges from tolerable, to crappy to… the main character.
Finally, the last thing that annoys me is…Marks of the Stars? Really?
Anyway, I’ve played worst games. As long as I don’t think of this as a Suikoden game I can soldier through it.
What the fuck would you soldier through an RPG for if it has a shitty protagonist? And as for Marks of the Stars: is it pretty much the character recruiting like in the others? If so, what are you complaining about.
Because like I said there’s just enough going for it to keep me playing. Marks of the Stars are what they call runes in this game. If someone can see a vision by touching a book (they should’ve called it Suikoden: Touch My Book), then they awaken as a Star of Destiny basically, and are able to use Runes, or Marks of the Stars.
Another thing that’s come to annoy me is how cut and dry the good guys and bad guys are. The good guys are good because they say and do good things and the bad guys are bad because they say and do bad things. That came up in a review I read and I can see that.
Well I’m about 36 hours in and have about 62 Stars - excuse, “Starbearers” recruited. The story actually does get pretty good as it goes on, and the main character’s voice gets better; at least he slows down. I’m enjoying it a lot more than I was at first. The good guy/bad guy roles are still pretty cut and dry, but I’m getting over that. I’ve run into one of the things that I always loved about the series - taking vastly underleveled characters into place late in the game and watching them shoot up 30 levels in one fight.
Anyway, I’m liking it quite a bit. I’ve certainly played worse. I really want to go back and try IV and V again now.
Slighty off-topic, but have you people seen the new cartoon, Hero 108? It’s based in the same legend of the 108 Chinese Heroes that Suikoden is… but is really, really trippy. Seriously, it’s like Power Rangers on acid! It makes The Fairly Oddparents look serious and logical by comparison. It’s a pity because here they had the chance to introduce this significant piece of Chinese culture to the children on this side of the world… and they turn it into another Spongebob Squarepants.
Never heard of it. Sounds 'tarded. Fairly Oddparents is serious and logical.
It’s produced by Cartoon Network so I don’t think the comparisons to Spongeboband FO are accurate. I’m thinking it’s like that one umm… that martial arts cartoon on CN with the panda and turtle and shit (Not kung fu panda, but clearly built off the popularity of it)
Well I’m more or less done with it. I’m about to fight the final boss. It really grew on me and now I like it quite a bit. It’s still a far cry from what made the Suikoden games so epic, but it’s still a nice little RPG. I grew to like the story a lot, and hunting for stars was less of a chore than in other games. I get to hate the main character less as it goes on, and towards the end, his VA is actually pretty decent. If I were to rank it along side other recent RPGs I’ve played in the last year, I would put it above Lost Odyssey, Blue Dragon and Infinite Undiscovery, but below Rogue Galaxy and Persona 3 and 4. A solid DS RPG, and it’s only increased my enjoyment of the system.
Haha you would put it above Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon? You’re a spaz, dude!
I just thought Tierkreis was too boring. Very average, very typical in every respect. It was fun at a certain point in the game where the the Magedom of Janam was threatening the hero and his company, too. I found that to be interesting, but they resolved that extremely quick to give way for the stupid boring villains again. I dunno, I’m just not into it.
LO was way too long in the tooth and took itself way too seriously. The cast never clicked wtih me. Blue dragon was too single minded. ST has the old school flair and proved to have a certain degree of charm that put it above them. My opinion on current gen RPGs is pretty low to begin with anyway.
I agree about Lost Odyssey, but I feel like my opinions on ST and BD are reversed. Whereas I think that Blue Dragon captured what was fun about old-school, childish narratives, Suikoden Tierkreis took itself outrageously seriously, and it epitomized every current gen JRPG that sucks.
Hmmm… it’s true that BD was relatively inoffensive and lighthearted, and I did like that about it, but like I said, it was too single minded. There was nothing to the story outside of going after the single bad guy in the game. I mean it’s true that ST was like that too, and it did beat you over the head with “THE ORDER IS BAD! THE ORDER IS EVIL,” it was still somewhat multi-layered, compared to BD. The only way I could see ST taking itself seriously was how they kept ramming the point home that the Order was bad. And putting it along side “every current gen JRPG that sucks” would mean putting alongside Enchanted Arms, Infinite Undiscovery, Last Remnant and (to a lesser extent) LO, which really isn’t fair.
Damn, I finished it in 3 weeks. I haven’t cleared a 60+ hour RPG that quick in a long long time.
I guess to clarify, I meant more that it’s riddled in the standard anime-esque story tropes. Country bumpkins get magical powers. They hear about a terrible group of people who do terrible things to people, and decide to form a ragtag group of adventurers to fight them, even though they have virtually no combat experience. Nevermind the terribly anime-esque dialogue. And then, beyond the story is the very uninventive combat system. Everything about this game is riddled in cliche, and that’s what makes it different from the other games you listed, which at least tried some shit out (except IU, which I don’t know anything about and I don’t want to either).
