Suikoden II

"2D gaming at its best!!"

In the wake of the super-hyped Final Fantasy VIII, is it possible for any other RPG to even compare? How about one with (sarcastic shudder) 2D graphics? And one with virtually no publicity?

Well, I'm quite glad to say "yes." On two counts, as a matter of fact, but Thousand Arms is another story. For now, let's look at Suikoden II. The sequel to the cult-popular RPG Suikoden, famous for its insane number of playable characters ("The 108 Stars of Destiny"), is an old- school gem in a mountain of polygons and "revolutionary magic systems."

Graphics : 10 / 10

2D games are becoming harder and harder to find, but fortunately for us sprite-lovers, Konami handles them quite well. The graphics in Suikoden II are quite pleasing to the eye, if not stunning and super-realistic (I DON'T want another FF8, thank you very much), and the battle graphics are much improved over the first, with superior animation and variety. The spell effects are fantastic, and two of the spells even use CG graphics, with an absolutely seamless crossover. Furthermore, the opening intro is gorgeous, but best of all is the character art. In the original, the art wasn't too good, but in the sequel, it's great! (My personal faves are Tengaar and Vincent) Actual effort was put into the art for almost everybody!

Sound : 8 / 10

The original Suikoden had only average music with a few extremely good orchestrated tunes (most of which are superior to the music in Square's games, mind you). However, Suikoden II is a bit disappointing. The music is much more Japanese, which I think ruins it a bit (it is, after all, a "medieval European" style game). There's a large number of orchestrated tunes, many of which are arranged versions of the original's themes (but they're not quite as good, IMHO). For some of the events, like the military battles (battles conducted like an SLG, with armies and such), the orchestrated music is definitely up to par with Square!

Rant About the Music

AAARGH! Somehow, Konami let a *slight* bug pass for the US release of this game...the music for some of the military battles, the song that a particular character sings, the music for the dancing mini-game, and the closing song (!!) DOES NOT PLAY! Okay, enough of my rant.

Story : 10 / 10

The story of Suikoden II resembles the first game very much, but other than that, it's quite original. The hero (one of those silent types, aka Crono) is a young boy adopted and raised by his "grandfather," Genkaku, along with his adoptive sister, Nanami. He also grew up with his best friend, Jowy. The story mainly focuses on the relationship between these three. So as not to ruin anything, I won't go into more details, except that the hero eventually becomes the leader of an army bent on stopping the advances of another army bent on conquering the land. It sounds a bit overdone, but trust me, it's not. Along with this, we have the usual scoop of intrigue, betrayal, and big monsters.

Characters : 10 / 10

Many RPGs (*cough cough, FF8, cough cough*) are flawed in that they have very uninteresting characters. Fortunately, Suikoden II doesn't fall into this trap. In addition to having great design and about 125 or so characters (counting the villains), they are actually well-developed. Not all of them, of course, but most. Furthermore, one of the characters that joins you will dig up information on each character that you have, revealing little tidbits of info about their past and goals, or little quirks. The secret to success is in the details, and Konami certainly paid attention to detail there. Finally, as a treat to those who played the original, many characters return (Viktor, Flik, Apple, Sheena, Clive, Pesmerga, Leon Silverburg, Yuber, and a few more I won't mention) and even more are mentioned or make cameo appearances.

Gameplay : 10 / 10

Well, this is the important one. This game, like its predecessor, has the most important aspect of any game - it's fun to play. Some games aren't, or are only fun for a while, but not Suikoden II. It's just fun. The battles are complicated enough to keep your interest up, but simple enough not to drive you crazy (aka Legend of Legaia). Furthermore, there's enough variety in the characters (it's almost impossible to use them all) and countless combination attacks, so you're always finding new ones. There's even no small amount of minigames, many of which are addicting (darn Whack-a-Mole). And then there's the cookoffs...well, let me just say, 12 cookoffs isn't enough.

Overall : 9 / 10

It's got it's flaws, sure, but it's extremely fun and has a lot of replay value. If you want a light, aesthetically pleasing RPG, then Suikoden II is a must-buy.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 11/01/99