Suikoden V

"Suikoden V is very good, but it's not "wreck your marriage" good. Of course, that may be preferable to the alternative."

Before I begin my review proper, allow me some words on scoring. As you may have noted, I gave Suikoden V a score of 8/10. But what's in a number? Video game review scores tend to suffer from concurrent inflation and deflation. This stems from a "sampling error" of sorts, by which I mean that, generally speaking, only those who care strongly about a game are likely to muster the time and energy necessary to write and submit a review. The result is what you see on most game review pages: a lot of 9s and 10s, and a few 3s and 4s. The relative over-representation of higher scores is likely the result of self-selection (i.e., gamers look for games they think they'll like), and by the same token, low scores are often the result of a gamer who feels betrayed by his or her favored franchise (spurned-lover syndrome, one could call it). Very often, when one sees a 5, 6, or 7, it is accompanied by a self-aggrandizing note regarding the reviewer's "fair-mindedness" and usually a disparaging remark or two about "fan-boys," and one wonders if the reviewer really thinks the game deserves a middling score, or if, rather, their assignation of a middling score is really tantamount to their covertly assigning themselves a "10" for "objectivity." What this boils down to is that the scores assigned in reviews are fundamentally meaningless. One reviewer's 7 is another's 10. A non-preferred Final Fantasy might get a 3 from a reviewer who would have given it an 8 if it had been non-franchise. It really is all relative.

What might be helpful, then, is some clarification with a score, some sort of reviewer disclosure if you will. This is actually rather difficult to do, as it requires not merely reporting on one's direct reactions to a game, but attempting to go the extra mile and offer potential readers some background about those reactions. In other words, a review should be a service, not a polemic. One has to be willing to say "my likes and dislikes, while of paramount importance to myself, are of only limited importance to others." This is, as I said, not always easy. The astute reader will likely here note that w/ this whole pre-review editorial on scoring, I'm falling into just the trap I'm suggesting people try to avoid: trying to use rhetoric to sell my own personal opinion in a forum that ought to be devoted to service. Guilty, I suppose -- I can only justify this by suggesting that perhaps the only justified solipsism is the kind that says: "Hey, everyone, quit being so solipsistic; it really gets on my nerves!" On the other hand, maybe I'm a hypocritical blow-hard.

Regardless, here is my own reviewer disclosure: I generally restrict my gaming to RPGs. This has to do with equal parts escapism, lack of small motor control, and love of good narrative. I have found a number of highly reviewed RPGs rather disappointing (Dark Cloud 2 (which I thought was too childish) and Kingdom Hearts (ditto) for instance (and by childish I don't mean "I don't like cartoony graphics," but rather that I felt that the plots didn't have an internal logic that, as an adult, I've grown accustomed to, and find the omission of rather disconcerting)). I do not consider myself a Suikoden "fan-boy." Nor do I look down on those gamers who, having greatly enjoyed or disliked a game, got off their respective butts and wrote reviews sharing their feelings. Further, I do not believe that my review has a greater portion of "objectivity" or "truth" than any other found on this site. All that said, I would simply like to point out that _my_ "8" means, roughly, "this game was very enjoyable -- enjoyable to the point that I do not at all regret the 60 hours I carved out of my busy schedule to play it. Indeed, it was more enjoyable than most PS2 RPGs (against which it makes sense to compare it). However, it was not all-consuming: Thoughts of it have not filled my every waking hour." For a bit of further perspective, the only game that has had such a consuming effect on me was Final Fantasy VI, and I'm fully willing to acknowledge that it's sway over me may have had more to do w/ it being the first game I ever played than w/ it's being the very best game ever (of course, it's being very, very good surely have played a part). In short, Suikoden V does not have some sort of unnatural hold over my senses, but I still quite liked it. I think people with similar tastes as mine will similarly enjoy it.

I apologize if you found the preceding overly pedantic and/or unhelpful, and will now attempt to dispense with the actual review posthaste.

Story 9
The only RPGs for the PS2 that I have found similarly enjoyable to Suikoden V (and I've played most PS2 RPGs) are: Final Fantasy X, Suikoden 3, and Arc the Lad TOTS. The common thread in all of these experiences was a good story (although I thought both S3 and AtL TOTS fell off rather hard near their respective ends). Suikoden V's story is excellent. It reminds me pleasantly of the Song of Ice and Fire series (which is hardly the end-all and be-all of fantasy literature (which, in turn, I'm quite willing to acknowledge is far from the end-all and be-all of literature in general), but is pretty good company for a video game). I hate spoilers, so will just say that there is a great deal of political intrigue, and the royal family at the heart of much of it (the prince of this family is your main character) was, to my taste, very appealing. You care what happens to them. Allowing you to play as the elite members of the royal bodyguard is a brilliant stroke as well. A further note: SV is quite well written. The voicing is consistent, the characters are distinct, and one never finds oneself scratching one's head and wondering "where in god's name did _that_ come from?" Also, I very much enjoyed that, despite being a "silent hero," you get to make upward of a hundred decisions for the Prince -- often, different decisions lead to different outcomes, and the best (read "most ethical," the game designers seem rather obsessed w/ weighing personal and global concerns, and the Prince has many opportunities to do just that) course of action is not always clear Many reviews lament SV's slow beginning -- I didn't find it slow at all. The story is complex and takes time to fully develop. In addition, there are 108 characters to introduce.

Gameplay 8
The main conceit of Suikoden has always been the ponderously titled "108 Stars of Destiny." I suppose, this being at the heart of the series, it can't really be changed, and I know that SOD collection is something a great many people enjoy immensely, but I would frankly prefer 40 or so SOD. SV does, by far, the best job of any of the series at bringing as many SODs as possible into the plot, but it's too much. I can't care about all 108, and I feel, strangely, guilty about neglecting the 60 or so characters I choose to ignore. Collecting them all feels like a chore, but one feels one ought (and, of course, the number recruited affects the ending). Still, kudos to SV for making so many of the stars fully-fleshed characters with background and motivation.

As for battles: 6-person battles are back (and w/out III's clunky team setup). They're quick, and, especially once you start powering up your favorite characters, quite enjoyable. The game makes good use of different formations and character types to mix things up -- near the end I often found myself frequently switching between formations depending on the type of enemy I was facing.

Duels are back too, and are pretty similar to IV except w/ a timer and better animations. They're a little too easy though....

The war sequences are fun, and doing them real-time was a good idea. However, control is a little awkward for these. They're all incredibly easy once you realize you can pretty much lure and isolate the enemy units one by one (you might be tempted to just send your troops in all at once, but when non-story characters in battle can die for good, it makes sense to take the safe approach).

As for mini-games, nothing too exceptional. My personal favorite is still the theater in III.

Visuals 7
Suikoden V looks crisp, and, as oft-noted, the character models are quite good. However, the crow's-eye view does sometimes leave one feeling a bit removed from it all. And with all the time spent designing costumes, it was a shame that the full-length character portraits from IV weren't brought back. Spell effects are good, and battle animations have a nice variance. One aside here -- does anyone else feel that the unite attacks aren't given the time and thought in development that they deserve? They're almost all composed of 2 or more characters taking turns hitting the enemies, and seldom do much more damage than your characters can do by attacking regularly. I'd like to see more creativity and flair in these in the future. It's all pretty underwhelming compared to some of the flashier franchises, but in no way an impediment to enjoying the game.

Sound 7
Sound effects are fine (nothing too impressive), and the music is quite good. I haven't been that impressed by a sound-track since the 32-bit days, but I did on occasion find myself humming some of these to myself. Still, I'm not quite sure why anyone would want to actually _buy_ the soundtrack....

Other concerns
Loading, as anyone who has read a review of SV knows, is a bit of an annoyance in this game. Personally, once I'd been playing for a few hours I got used to it, and just sort of phased out during the frequent load times. However, this could conceivably be a problem for some players. How patient are you?

Overall 8
Suikoden V is a good game, and this is very heartening, coming out as it has among the recent crop of (to-me) disappointing RPGs (here's looking at you Shadow Hearts FTNW). It's got an engaging, sprawling, relatively mature storyline and very likable core characters. It really is, in the opinion of this somewhat old-time gamer, one of the best RPGs for the PS2

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/11/06