Suikoden II

"A journey to save the world...and your friends"

Having played Suikoden III and IV, I can still go back to this one and enjoy it more than the others. There have also been Suikoden Tactics and Suikoden V out for the Playstation 2, but, to me, they can't top this game no matter how hard they try.

When I first turned on the game, there were images of a fight. A blue and white banner, then flames. After the flames, a small plant growing in the ground. Then, the heroes show up. This was a perfect way to illustrate the game, I thought.

Story: 10/10
What an amazing story. The hero and his best friend are separated and then become leaders of countries who had been at war. Their resolve to see the war to its end breaks their bonds of friendship, and leaves both of them feeling somewhat empty inside, even though it's a duty they must perform as leaders. Quite possibly, Suikoden II might have the best storyline of any game for the Playstation 1.

Characterization: 10/10
You have an investigator to pry into people's personal lives if the various cutscenes and dialogue aren't enough. I was a little skeptical about a wolf being allowed in a private school, but the return of Viktor and Flik (whose absence has been sorely felt in the subsequent games) gives the game a lot of chances to be original. Along with Viktor, you have the return of Neclord, who is essentially a distraction from the war being fought, but who causes enough trouble to warrant a boss fight (which has the best song on the game).

You'll recognize Apple, and Leon Silverberg, who joined the side of good in the last game, is now on the bad side this time. A few other familiar faces from the first game show up, and if you've loaded the data from that game, at the end, the message saying what happened to them takes into account their history from the first game as well. There is also Luca Blight, on the enemy's side, who is shown as being a little tragic in the moment before his death. You even get to play the hero from the first Suikoden (provided that you've loaded the data). All in all, very well done.

Battle System: 9/10
The only thing I didn't like about the battle system was how often you have to fight while running through a forest. But, other than that, the system itself has enough flexibility to make a weak team pull off big victories if you're creative with the use of your runes. The boss fights, for the most part, are just there. They're not very hard, not really easy.

War System: 10/10
A definite improvement over the "this crowd attacks that crowd" mentality from the first Suikoden. You get turn-based strategic fights, and the key to victory lies in how many characters you've recruited- despite the fact that a few of them prove to be absolutely useless in war. Abilities like charge or defend activate randomly, so neither force has an advantage when it comes to that. I liked the war system of Suikoden III much better, but this one does the game justice.

Side Quests: 10/10
Okay, I'll admit it. I love the cooking competition. Seeing the protaganist shake salt like mad over a dish just struck me as hilarious. How does a guy who had joined his country's military at the start of the story know anything about cooking? I found it to be a hilarious adventure. You get to go fishing, and play some cards. For some reason, the two Kobolds who join with you like to dance a lot. Dancing dogs.....:P....There is also the return of the 108 stars of destiny. I got as far as 107, and couldn't find that one that was supposed to show up at some checkpoint...but, if you can find all four, that mysterious fourth spell on the hero's rune will be unlocked, and, as a result, if you meet Jowy at the end of the game, he doesn't die.

Music: 10/10
Great music all around. The theme for headquarters changes occassionally, and the game lets you recruit musicians, who play any music you want to hear. Some of the songs are quite good- even when it seems like they might be just filler. For big event music, this game has the majority of RPGs beat.

Graphics: 8/10
On the world map, the hero looks a little...sprite-ish? But, otherwise, the graphics are solid, employing the use of things like exclamation points or sweatdrops over character's heads to show what they're feeling. At least there's a teleportation system so you don't have to look at the hero rendered like something from a 1980's game.

Overall: 10/10
This game succeeds on so many levels, it's a wonder Playstation hasn't re-released it Or have they? By now, you might have trouble finding this title, but if you can get it from eBay, or through any other means, this is not one to miss. It's just too bad that they did so well with it. No other Suikoden game has lived up to this one.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 04/17/06