Is there anything really, really significant I can miss by not getting the best possible ending? The reality of the situation is that I don’t technically have time to play this through even once, let alone twice.
EDIT: The review has been posted earlier up on this page.
First or second? If first, sort of, but if you don’t care much about the characters, you can let it slide. The second has several possible outcomes, but only the best ending really ties up Riou’s own story.
Suikoden 2 is pretty difficult to get the best ending. You need to have all 108 stars by a very specific event that is not at the end of the game. Play it with a walkthrough to be safe. If the 108 stars things bugs you , it will make you even more angry in 2. Its symbolic of the series.
I used a walkthrough for a lot of the recruits in the first game, too.
Okay, so I pretty much need the best ending to resolve the main character’s story. Got it.
A warning on a certain battle in Suikoden 2: There’s a particular war battle where your objective is to save a unit by placing one of your own next to it before the enemy kills it. I’ve heard ancient legends of people pulling it off, but never actually spoke to anyone who did it. Alternatively, if you lose, you have three possible random outcomes:
-Character is captured
-Character is captured and wounded.
-Character is killed.
You want to reset the battle until you get #1 (I.E. no message of “[X] has been wounded/killed in battle”), otherwise you lose your shot at getting all 108 at worst, or lose a valuable war unit.
I actually prefer the second best ending; it’s less happy than the best ending, but I think that this fits the tone of the game much better. Just have fun with the second game, don’t plan ahead too much.
I think he still needs to get all 108 for him to unlock that, if you’re talking about the ending where you kill Jowy and form the Rune of Begginning.
Don’t kill Jowy, for the love of god. You monsters 
Well, damn, so what do I have to do to get THAT ending?
… …Man. Chrono Trigger really had the right idea, making sure that you were almost guaranteed to get the normal ending the first time you played it. There’s nothing quite like sweating over which ending you get, and it really does add a level of stress to playing the game that shouldn’t be there.
I have trouble thinking of a traitor character I have less sympathy for. Even Snowe from IV didn’t piss me off as much. I’m not even sure to this day WHY he does all that shit other than the hardon he had for Jillia. The only reason I consider that to be the best ending is because of Nanami and Pilika, and the fact that Riou had to bear enough crap already, but fuck Jowy. I wish the game gave you the option to ditch the asshole right there and go bone the hot gypsy chick instead.
Which brings me to realize that some way or another, every single Tenkai somehow manages to both have a hot girl after him, and be completely oblivious about it. Except for Frey, I guess, but he’s got half the females in the army after his dick so it’d be kinda hard not to notice.
Exact same thing, only you need to do something at the end to get the best ending. If you do the more logical, normal thing, you get what he was talking about.
Especially Cecile going after Thomas, right?
No, you’ll be fine. It’s the ending you’re most likely to get if you just play the game without spoiling it. I don’t even think you need all 108 stars for the second best ending.
As I understood it, he became convinced that Highland’s victory was inevitable, and that they were the more disciplined, superior power. He believed that there was not enough land for the two countries to live in peace, so they were doomed to fight until one of them conquered the other, and he thought that Highland’s society was better suited to be the victor than the constantly squabbling City-State.
[SPOILER]I don’t think he thought that much ahead. He did realize the two countries would be fighting until one swallowed the other, but he’s not very clear as to why he picks Highland. His family hated him and there’s really no indication that Highland was any better than Jowston with either the pathetic Agares or the psychopath Luca in charge. If he thought of taking over the government and pulling a Delita on everyone, it’d make more sense, but it still leaves to dobut why he’d chose the one side that puts him in charge of people he hates and against his best friend.
Moreover, he doesn’t really take any position of true power until after Dunan’s practically stomping all over them. By the time he takes the throne, he’s facing a fairly unified, effective and driven army. If anything, that would have been the moment to do some self-sabotage instead of letting Leon do his thing.[/SPOILER]
It seemed to me that he was disillusioned with the squabbling he saw among the City-State governments in that council about the defence of Muse. He hated Luca, but he was awed by Luca’s strength – I assumed that he thought that the strict order presented by Highland would be a more efficient and desirable way to manage the whole territory. However, he thought that this power required a truly “good” leader, unlike Luca, so he chose himself for the role. By the time it became clear that Highland was going to lose, it was already too late for him to quit.
I was never under the impression he wanted to win. His tactics in Greenhill were nonviolent, he teamed up with his biggest “enemy” to prevent Gorudo from killing him, he wiped out his own king when he was in a position to end the war for good… Really? You got traitor vibes from him? I didn’t like losing Buddy Attack any more than you did, but come on. I haven’t played the game in ages, but the guy was clearly pulling for you.
So, I’ve played the first little bit of Suikoden 2 today.
Overall, it feels kind of like the Suikoden team said “do overs!”, which is cool with me. The combat rolls quicker and is even a bit more fun than before. The game feels a million times more polished, and a lot of my biggest gripes (inventory woes, needing tons of money, etc.) seem to be gone. The only thing I haven’t enjoyed so far with the gameplay is that they still do the “tell you to go somewhere but don’t tell you how to get there” thing.
I like that all the aesthetic qualities of the game remain untouched, from the setting and graphical style to the music - I’m absolutely thrilled that they kept the same main musical theme from the first game, too.
As far as the story goes…I don’t know how to describe it. Up until now, I’ve felt that the story is kind of slow; it takes its time with pointless parts, and it rushes through parts that I deem important. Still, it hasn’t been bad.
However, what’s really good - even though they sure took their sweet time developing it - is the characterization and interaction between the main character (I named him Riou, out of respect for his name in the novelization of the game), Jowy, and Nanami is amazing. I’ve really enjoyed seeing them together. What finally hooked me is the part I just finished:
I finished going to the Highland camp on a recon mission, and Jowy stayed behind to stall them, promising he would return. So, there’s this scene where Riou and Nanami wait together outside the gates of Muse for him to come back. There were a few scenes that made me feel warm and gooey inside already, but the way this one was pulled off almost made me cry. And, when Jowy finally came back, I almost cried again, heh.
So, yes, my first impression is that I definitely like Suikoden 2.
SG… I think you’re really going to like Shu. He is all kinds of cool.
This is stretching what “Nonviolent” means. He used starvation tactics to make sure the prisoners he himself armed would try and wreck the place from inside, allowing the so far unsuccessful Highland army to finally go in. If anything, he prevented the death of his Highland soldiers that would need to die in a direct offensive, not Greenhill citizens.
I don’t remember anything like that. Agares was, if anything, an obstacle for the war’s advance, and putting Luca in charge of things just ensured that things would run more efficiently on their side, until he got killed and he could take his place… and still do nothing to end the war.
Overal, while I don’t fully agree, I think SK’s idea is a lot more plausible than him losing on prupose. I’m sure as hell not remembering any signs whatsoever of him doing anything even remotely like self-sabotage. You saw the crap he pulled at the “peace conference” following Leon’s advice, he would have had Riou right there if Shu hadn’t used Pilika to screw with his mind.
You’re going to like Suikoden 2 then. As I mentioned before 2>1. 1 is very generic. 2 stands on its own very well. If you loaded your save from 1 when you started 2, you’ll have bonuses about 2/3 through the game.
This thread makes me want to play Suikoden 2 again. 
I also played both 1 and 2 for the first time not too long ago and yes, as everyone else already mentioned, 2 is greater than 1. You already noticed it very early into the game and things only get better.