The first "good" role-playing game for the PSX. Suikoden
may not have the flare of some of Square's more cinematic
efforts, but in many ways I prefer it to the later—post
SNES—games in the Final Fantasy series.
Featuring beautiful hand-drawn art, the best music I have
ever heard in a game, and three modes of combat (traditional
turn-based enemy combat with a party of six, large scale
battles with rock-paper-scissors style gameplay, and one-on-one
duels), Suikoden has an excellent story that appeals
to the older gamer.
The graphics mix 3-D backgrounds with 2-D character sprites
and the effect works well. The traditional battles are
especially fun, as the magic spells are nice (but not
too long) eye candy, and you can often mix and match many
of the other five spots in your party. With the right
members in your party you can perform various combination
attacks. The quest is a little short, but the quality
of the writing and excellent pacing make up for it. And
since you have 108 characters to find for your army, you'll
want to play it at least twice.
Highly recommended if you prefer story to graphics in
your RPGs, or if you've played Suikoden III and
want to see what the earlier games were like!
2008 ben langberg, all rights reserved.