Suikoden V

"One of the best RPGs on the PS2."

Suikoden has been going through some tough times these past years. Everyone can mutually agree that the first two games were classic, but III and IV? Not so much. They strayed too far from the classic formula and threw away some of the aspects that made the others so great. Especially with Suikoden IV, which was pretty much an abomination, and quite a disgrace to the series name. I'm pretty sure the poor quality of that game made this game game sell below standards, unfortunately.

What then, makes this game so great? What does it do to separate it from the near wasteland of role-playing games today?

One word: Originality

Now, I've actually read complaints about how the story and overall style of the game is cliche. That's a good one. In your usual RPG, how many characters are usually recruited? Oh...maybe 6-10. Not only that, they usually fail at being original or having an ounce of character. Know how many companions you can recruit here? 108.

See, they're not the usual band of kids you usually see. In the average RPG, you get a 16-19 year old, is quiet, and by the end of the adventure is somewhat assertive, though still very uninteresting. Or, on the other hand, the kid is an arrogant moron at the beginning, then turns into a softy and lacks any sense of logic(sounds like a game I was unsatisfied with a few months back...). And to accompany him? An absent-minded girl who day dreams about him and does whatever he likes, along with some huge guy. Wooo.

Luckily, the characters in this game are not what I described above(aside from a few unimportant ones). They're more realistic than normal, they have life, and they all communicate and interact with one another in a way that isn't completely cheesy(again, another pitfall RPGS can't seem to make across). The dialogue is also superb, and refrains from being mind-numbingly stupid and pointless. They don't repeat each other and ask needless questions.

It's quite impressive to see how many characters they actually managed to do with this. And there are...Oh, I don't know, maybe 50 other people you can recruit that aren't involved in the main plot whatsoever. Most of them require a side-quest or something of the sort, and give even them a background to claim as their own. Did I mention even the designs for everyone make them distinct? Simply mind-blowing.

As for the plot, it's excellently crafted, telling a tale of a prince...

Wait, let me say something real quick. You name the prince, and he's also a mute. And looks like a woman. Anyway...

...who is born into a noble family(obviously), and has a younger sister who's about to get married. A tournament his held between warriors to duel for the right to marry her, and things kinda go downhill. Unfortunately, the guy who ends up winning is the representative for the Godwin family, specifically a man named Gizel. Lymsleia(the princess), isn't too happy about this.

However, there is another problem. Arshtat, the queen of Falena and mother of our beloved prince, bears the Sun Rune. Why is this a problem? Well, it sometimes controls her, and makes her go insane from time to time. You actually start the game out in a town bearing a lake, but it's been completely sucked dry by Arshtat. Apparently, the townspeople were defying her, and she got angry and dried up the lake that the town basically lives off of. She keeps showing more and more signs of being affected of the Sun Rune, and then it happens.

After the tournament, when the feast is being held in celebration, the castle gets stormed and almost everyone in the castle is killed off. You manage to escape with a handful of people, but unfortunately, a majority of the people were either left behind or killed.

From there, the story is brilliant. You must gather up an army and make your own headquarters in hope of taking back the castle and cities/towns owned now owned by the Godwins. I can't go too much more into detail, obviously, seeing as how that would spoil some information...

Speaking of the castle, that's another wonderful thing about this game. Instead of simply travelling from town to town, you own a castle where all of your characters dwell. As you get more recruits, the castle gets built upon, making it pretty huge by the end of the game. You can stock up on items, change your characters, play mini-games, and learn about your strategy for the upcoming battles at your castle.

There are also three different battle systems, which is also awesome. The first, and most obvious, is the random encounter battles. You take six people into a fight, and they all have weapon ranges. Which is basically: short ranged can attack enemies in the front, medium range can attack ones in the front and back if placed in the front, but only ones if the front if placed in the back, and long ranged can attack anyone from anywhere. Pretty simple. As for the magic, your characters can equip up to three runes. Runes containing spells usually have four in a set, and can only be used a set number of times. There are also runes that give abilities that are automatically activated. It's a very nice magic system, though a tad simplistic.

Another type of battle is an RTS style game. There are land and sea units, both of which control pretty similar. There are three different types of land units, the same with water units. They all have weaknesses and strengths towards one another. You can also use runes to hit enemies from a distance, and use special abilities given to the specific characters.

The last, and probably my favorite, are the duels. These are one-on-one fights between the prince and another character. Three of the face buttons have different purposes: one attacks, one defends, and the other does a Special attack. These are also turn based, and the most important factor in doing the correct hit on the opponent is based on what they say before the attack. Is basically goes like this: Defend>Special attack>attack>defend. The battles get pretty intense, and the animations used for the attacks make it so much fun to do. There are about seven of them throughout the game, and they get better as the game progresses.

All of the music is impressive as well. The songs are catchy, and don't just use a keyboard and electronics like most video game music. Some folky instruments are used, and it creates a great atmosphere for the setting. Great stuff.

Arguably the weakest point of the game is the graphics, but they're still nice. None of the enviorments are terribly detailed, but there is a nice variety. As I said earlier, the character models are thoroughly detailed and are all very distinct. The frame rate never really slows down or anything, either.

Oh, I hear a lot of complaints regarding the load times...but I don't really know why. They're fine, they didn't bother me at all.

I do have one complaint about this game, actually. It's too easy. I only died maybe 3 times throughout the entire game. Almost every battle can be finished in a few turns, too, and there is almost never a point in leveling up, because you're almost always prepared for what's coming.

Despite the flaw, this game is excellent. For those of you who are open-minded and searching for something new, this is a great choice. I enjoyed nearly every second of this game, and I couldn't imagine it any other way.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/01/07, Updated 01/28/08

Game Release: Suikoden V (US, 03/21/06)