Suikoden V

"I enjoyed the game but it still lacking quite a bit..."

Suikoden V is one of my "guilty pleasure" games where I enjoyed it a lot but in reality, it's a average game. I'm not a fan of the series since this is the first Suikoden game that I played but I'm not a stranger to the name of the series since I have heard praises from various fans for the series.

The game could have been better.

The story is your basic political plot where you control the Prince of Falena. Betrayal, political motivation, truth, history, runes are themes and plot point to the story. You, the Prince of Falena, will take a important role of Falena's history
and will lead towards Falena's future along with the 108 Stars of Destiny.

The story might seems very slow in the beginning but when looking back, it did a good job of setting up the main point of the story. I think what's great about the game is the cast of characters that it has. Each of the characters seems to have some kind of personality no matter how vague it is and how much you dislike a character. I didn't enjoyed the story as much as I thought. Despite the fact that it started out interesting, the fetch quest, character's motivation and the point of the story seems rather vague and it needed more explanation. There are also times where the story felt rather clinched and generic at times. At the end, I wonder was it worth it to play just for the story.

Gameplay

I'm going to divide and review the gameplay into three parts:
Random Encounters/ Boss Battles
War Battles
One on One Duels

Random Encounters/Boss Battles: The random encounters and boss battle is where you lead your group of 6 into battle against monsters and etc. It's your typical turn based battle where your characters takes turn hitting your enemies. I think what's great about the battle system is that you are able to perform different formation which enable you to boost up your character's stats. Also, each formation also consist of a special abilities where it can even boost up stats or perform an attack. Depending on the characters you bring, sometimes they can perform co-op attacks which does a lot of damage on your enemies. You can also bring along extra characters where you can switch during battles or use the special abilities that certain characters has in the game.

I find these battle to be the most boring. It's not like I hate turned based battle but I hated Suikoden V's. Personally, it's almost felt like a waste of time. The high random encounters didn't even help but only to made it worst. Yes, you can customize your characters by giving them different armor, leveling up your weapons, equipping different runes, co-op attacks, etc. but at the end, you ending up defeating you enemies about 80 percent of the time. There are times where you're stuck but it won't be long until you're able to move on. I wouldn't be surprised if you realized that you would be using the same attacks over and over on your enemies. I might sound like a hypocrite but Suikoden V's system lacks a certain depth in the gameplay.

War Battles: This is where you lead your army into a major battle within the story. Within each battle, you would have to obtain a certain objective in order to win. Be careful, if your Hero dies, then it would be GAME OVER.

There are three basic types of infantry in you army whether it's a land battle or a navy battle. Each type has a weakness and is strong against another type. Before the start of the battle, you are able to customize your groups. The type of infantry depends on the type of character leading the group. Also, depending on the characters, the group is also able to executed different special abilities. This could be helpful when you're in a pinch.

The battles utilities a real time mechanics. Depending where you place the pointer is where your infantry will go. When opposite groups meets, you will see a short battle video and whoever wins, the other group makes a temporary retreat. This is where the problem with the war battle begins to show itself. Since the battles are in real time, the problems lies where you meet the enemies in a cluster formation. It ends up where one group meets and they battle with others and when that ends, all of the sudden another start right after the last one and you ending up seeing the same generic battle video. The problem is that in reality, you have very little control over your armies. You would have to time to just right in order where you can set your next course of action before another battle begins. I think a lot of it depends on your luck but it does depends on some strategy. Placement and customization is important but the war battle itself could have been better and more polished.

One on One Duels: Throughout the story, you would have to face many one on one duels. These one on one duels are based on a rock, paper, scissor formula. Judging from your opponent's taunts, you have to choose whether or not if your character attacks, defends or perform a special move. There is nothing strategic about these duels and is mostly based on luck. Despite that, I had fun on these duels probably because the way the duels are animated.

Odd Design Choices
Let me warn you. You will see loading screen is QUITE frequently. Whether or not if this is bothersome, it kind of depends. It is rather annoying but it depends how you would deal with it.

The characters and the designs are rather beautifully done. Each character is very unique and is very colorful. The world and the building itself lacks a certain appeal compared to the characters but it still hold enough interest. However the enemies definitely lacks some variety and you do end up fighting the same type of enemies over and over.

There are some design choices within the game where I find it odd and rather very outdated. For example, when traveling in dungeons and etc., you're only looking at an overhead view of the world. Not only that, it's rather on a very odd angle. Because of this odd angle, sometimes, there are chests where you can't find and miss. I find it rather disappointing where you are unable to change the camera angle and look around the world. Also, I don't see the point of having the ability of enabling me to have a close up of the characters where it doesn't even reveal anything. What a waste of a function.

The battle videos in the war battle are a waste of space. The graphics are some of the most worst within the game and sadly to say, it's basically the same video over and over but just replace it with a different type of infantry. Too bad, there isn't an option to skip the videos.

These are just two of the major problems in the game which I find it rather bothersome.

The music is very well done and contained different variety where it perfectly fit the mood and characteristic of the story.

Moving on...

I might sound like a hypocrite but I don't hate the game. I felt the game could have been better and could have use a lot of work.

Despite the flaws, I would still recommend the game because Suikoden V does provide something different towards the genre. However, if you're looking for something revolutionary, Suikoden V is not the game for it.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 06/14/06