Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Suikogaiden (Playstation, 2000)

Today I'm looking at a very special game. It's an effort on my part to get my mind off of the disintegration of the Boston Celtics after trading their two best players to the Brooklyn Nets.

This is a DLC-like side-story / companion piece to Suikoden 2, one of the best RPGs on the original Playstation. It takes place during the timeframe of that game, showing you some of the things that happened off-camera. This game was never released in the United States, but it recently got a translation from intrepid ROM hackers. Let's take a look.




This game stars Nash (no relation to Big Kev), a swordsman of the northern land of Harmonia. He'd make a great protagonist for a regular Suikoden game, and in a way it's unfortunate that he's regulated to being the main character in this game alone. Would have liked to see him in place of, say, Geddoe in Suikoden 3.

Nanami and Riou. The intro to this game shows a multitude of scenes from Suikoden 2, set to some pretty insane music. But seriously, if you've never played Suikoden 2, and you like RPGs, look into it. If you aren't familiar with that game, this post may not make a whole lot of sense.

Jillia and Jowy, more characters from Suikoden 2.

At one point we see Nash locked in combat with Seed and Culgan, two of the "villains" from Suikoden 2. It's unfortunate that this game doesn't have any real action to speak of or battles in the traditional sense. The intro conveys a more action-packedness than the game can back up, but that's okay.

The game is divided into four chapters. Each one takes roughly 1 to 1.5 hours, so this is a really short game for the series. Took me five hours to get through the whole thing.

"...no relation to Big Kev", he clarifies.

The game begins with Nash carrying Sierra around for some reason. Sierra is a vampire, but she is evidently unfazed by daylight. She's a True Blood style "sexy vampire".

She's also 1000 years old, putting her at Eric Northman level. She basically abuses Nash in typical anime style until...

...this frightening scene goes by. The one thing I don't like about the Suikoden series: Beast-People. Kobolds, talking ducks, and so forth. I'd prefer to keep my sweeping, mature epics confined to the human arena. Once you bring in sentient, talking animals, it makes your story look like it's for babies whether it is or isn't.

Sierra with a SICK BURN as she soothes Nash's doubts that she might turn him when he isn't looking.

She also calls him lots of names. Going into this game, I was under the impression that Nash and Sierra were the two main characters. Well, Sierra is only in the first of the four chapters, and doesn't do much to endear herself here. Liked her more in Suikoden 2.

Then again, she IS pretty fetching. What is that, some kind of nightwear? This would be a good time to point out that the greatest thing about Suikogaiden is the imagery. It's nearly all stills, but those stills look SO GOOD. Also features remixed music from Suikoden 2.

Nash and Sierra end up staying in an inn. Moments after this picture was taken, Nash mentioned to the lady that she doesn't have to leave. 

Bao chicka wao wao. Chicka wao wao bao. Or to Suikoden-thusiasts, the Theme of Perversion.

An important note is that you can change the message speed. It defaults to slow, and fast makes the text a bit less tedious to go through if you read fast. There's also an option to turn vibration on, but I'm not sure when vibration comes into play since it isn't an action game. Actually, the previous scene probably would have had a fair amount of shaking and rumbling.

Sierra has the uncanny ability to sense danger approaching by levels of bloodlust. If the bad guys knew this, they could get the jump on her by thinking happy thoughts. Like the end of Ghostbusters 2 where the people of New York have to stop hating each other for a little while.

While most of the game is still shots and text, you sometimes get choices as to what actions to take. The effects of this range from major to minor. In a way, this game plays a lot like Radical Dreamers for the Super Famicom, another game we never officially got in the States. Like this game, Radical Dreamers was a short, DLC-style companion piece to another game (in that case, Chrono Cross). Kinda DLC before DLC existed.

This is some Walking Dead stuff going on here. Get the crossbow!

Luckily, Nash possesses magic. Or at least, items that can cast magic.

Fire time. Veterans of the other Suikoden games may notice that the symbol on the card represents the Fire Rune.

Nash, at one point, battles a Nefarious Attack Butler. At first he was a plain run-of-the-mill Butler, but then he turned evil and sprouted claws before beating out hero from pillar to post. I...I don't want to talk about it. 

A fair amount of the game is spent fleshing out the story of Suikoden 2 via flashbacks. Here we see the world's most emo Robin Hood. No relation to Cut Man from Mega Man.

Sierra is pretty noisy, apparently.

Back to True Blood, this guy reminds me of one of the villains in that show with their superiority complexes.

"Come at me, bro" says Rean as he roofies Sierra. That's not cool, dude. He wore lipstick for this special occasion.

Right now, Nash wishes he had the Power. The power of the Power Glove. It's so bad.

Nash is an escape artist. Actually, this game shows Nash to be a total badass in general. It'd have been great to see him star in his own main-series game.

Sierra wakes up and IMPALES HIM WITH HER HAND. Don't mess with this lady.

Some hotness ensues. Not sure if her and Nash, you know, Did It, but it was implied. And then she disappears into the night, never to be seen again in this game.

Flik and Viktor are two of the greatest characters in the Suikoden-verse. They appear in the first two main series games and have a huge role in both. They're badass, heroic vagrants.

It's weird to hear two of the series' most respected characters be referred to as "drunkards", even if it's true. Well, 50% true, maybe.

Nash gets flirted with by another hottie. Actually, he gets flirted with by so many sexy women in this game that I think a porn version of Suikogaiden could easily take place.

....aaaand we go right from porn to Nash meeting the lovable Pilika.

Nanami, 33% of the main character of Suikoden 2, barrels onto the scene and knocks Nash out of the way. Girl's obnoxious! But if you know Nanami, you know that she manages to be a lovable character no matter what.

After nearly decapitating Nash with an accidental clothesline, she's kind enough to fix dinner for him. Little does he know, his troubles are just beginning. It's... special beef stew.

Toad: "THE DEVIL'S HANDS HAVE BEEN BUSY."

...and Nash was never seen again.

You see, Nanami is a very, very bad cook.

Rowd looks a lot less menacing than he does in Suikoden 2

Damn, Jillia

Okay, this is Jillia Blight, the sister of the main villain in Suikoden 2. She isn't a villain, though. She is essentially the queen from Braveheart.

Who's the villain? This guy. Luca Blight is one of the meanest, nastiest villains in RPG history. Suikoden 2 pulls no punches with how awful this guy is. He's a bloodthirsty sociopath with an army, never a good combination.

Nash goes undercover behind enemy lines, but he ends up having to play drink-pourer for a returning Luca. This scene reminds me of Arya Stark having to work for Tywin Lannister in Game of Thrones. Hopefully Luca doesn't realize his pourer isn't an ordinary goon, and hopefully Nash doesn't try anything stupid.

One of the most pivotal parts of Suikoden 2 is Jowy's capture by the bad guys. It happens off-camera in that game and we never got the details of what happened there. Well, this game covers it.

These three are the main characters of Suikoden 2, and the whole tale of Jowy turning to the dark side is expanded upon by this game.

Meanwhile, Nash gets found out, and has to do battle with Seed and Culgan (as seen in the intro). This is more or less the big battle of the game, but it's all text and story. Wouldn't have minded a couple of fighting game style battles thrown in at times like this just to capitalize on the opportunity.

Here we see the world's meanest lion, as the Beast Rune gets busy.

The final battle between Nash and Culgan/Seed is as epic as possible given the format. These pictures are just outstanding.

One of the swords Nash uses in the fight is segmented, which means it can also act as a whip. This guy... is extremely badass.

But wait! It seems he has a nemesis. Said nemesis is nefarious.

Oh, I haven't mentioned yet what those boxes on the side represent. As you progress, boxes turn red. They're points, in a way. You "spend" them on actions when you have a choice. Most actions don't use any points, but there are some actions that use several. Whatever branching paths the game has to offer are the result of saving up your points for the right actions at the right time.

Shin here is one of my favorite characters in Suikoden 2. If we're talking about badasses, he's got that on lockdown. Nash mentions in one of his monologues that it amazes him how many great swordsmen he's running into in rapid succession. It's like an episode of Highlander.

The final chapter of the game involves Nash leading a town in resistance against Luca Blight's army. This involves him lying a lot about his own stature. He makes reference here to the Queendom of Falena, which I believe ended up being the location of Suikoden 5... the last game in the series.

Jeane is the resident goddess of this series. No, seriously, I'm pretty sure she's supposed to be the physical manifestation of Aphrodite or something.

The siege goes on for a while, and Nash has to deal with egos and disloyalty in addition to the enemy assault.

Jeane flirts with him just like every other woman in the game. What is WITH this guy? ...and is there still time to make that X-rated version of Suikogaiden?

Teresa is saved from danger by Stallion. He's the fastest character in all the land...and has a sizable honker. Look at that thing!

What a dashing rogue!

"Or I'm not the world's luckiest horse!"

Wait, what?

Jowy makes another appearance, in full dark side mode as he works for the enemy. One of the more tragic characters in RPG history, right here.

The battle goes on...and on...and on, and Nash starts to despair. Personally, I think this game goes on about a half hour too long here with this siege, but hey.

Teresa is one of the better characters from Suikoden 2. She's an inspiring leader, struggling against insurmountable odds.

Nash and Shin do a Marvel Team-Up at the end of the game. This is good stuff. I wish these guys had gotten their own game. The series has so many interesting characters and so much untapped potential, and I wish we would have gotten more sequels.

Nash and his nemesis made amends in my game, and they both left each other in peace. I understand there's a bad ending to the game, but I didn't get it.

We get a lens flare that would make JJ Abrams proud, as Nash walks off towards Suikoden 3. Yep, he's in that game, and you can actually put him in your combat party. He doesn't get the main character status that I've been wishing for, but it's something.

Roll credits. So, what did I think about this game? For what it is, it's really good. The visuals are remarkable and the remixed soundtrack is amazing. I do wish it were a regular RPG, but as a "multimedia novel" it works. It goes well with Suikoden 2 if treated as DLC (and played at a discount), but I can't see this game succeeding on any level when sold as a full-priced game. Which is probably why it wasn't released here.

The series would go on to spawn several more games, ending with 2006's Suikoden 5. Unfortunately, Konami didn't continue this great series after that, and eventually their RPG design team all got traded to the Brooklyn Nets. Even if the franchise eventually gets resurrected, it won't be by the same design team... and that team was lightning in a bottle. The right people teaming up at the right time. It's a shame that it's over. Suikoden 2 is, to this day, one of the best console RPGs ever made, and the others range from good to great themselves (with one main series exception). Given further expansion upon that world, we might have ended up with a series that easily supplanted Final Fantasy as the premiere RPG series out there in the minds of gamers.

3 comments:

  1. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Slcoy-tcylw/Udke9ECPCII/AAAAAAAAjkA/VNZ-R1-R-MM/s1600/Suikogaiden+40.jpg

    OH GOD NO

    It's incredible that this exists and you played it.

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  2. Jowy looks like way more of a man than usual in that dancing shot. Broad shoulders!
    Great to see these lovely images of characters I already know and love.
    Sierra really is pale.

    "Once you bring in sentient, talking animals, it makes your story look like it's for babies whether it is or isn't."
    Come to think of it, it's interesting how Star Trek and the original Star Wars trilogy work their way around this rule.
    They could have also covered the racism issue by having people of different "races"...but no, the idea of making so much out of such small differences would be too absurd to the people of a better world. The "white people complex" of Japanese RPGs is a different story.

    " It's weird to hear two of the series' most respected characters be referred to as "drunkards", even if it's true. Well, 50% true, maybe."

    Great dramatic irony.

    "You see, Nanami is a very, very bad cook."

    I like how Nash put it: "If someone could make a soup that smells this good taste bad, then they would have to be some kind of genius."

    "One of the most pivotal parts of Suikoden 2 is Jowy's capture by the bad guys. It happens off-camera in that game and we never got the details of what happened there. Well, this game covers it."

    Ah-ha! Good!

    " One of the swords Nash uses in the fight is segmented, which means it can also act as a whip. This guy... is extremely badass."

    I've never seen something like that before! Seems they really should have given him S-3 though he's older than the typical Suikohero.

    "As you progress, boxes turn red. They're points, in a way."

    Thanks for finally explaining this, and it's an interesting system.

    "I'm pretty sure she's supposed to be the physical manifestation of Aphrodite or something."

    That's a good explanation.

    "Teresa is one of the better characters from Suikoden 2. She's an inspiring leader, struggling against insurmountable odds."

    Ah, I got it, so this is where we are and have been. Cool. Teresa shows more anger in her expression here than in her typical profile picture.

    "We get a lens flare that would make JJ Abrams proud"

    I LOL'd at the lens flare from the first Star Trek reboot.

    "Given further expansion upon that world, we might have ended up with a series that easily supplanted Final Fantasy as the premiere RPG series out there in the minds of gamers."

    Very interesting observation. Hard to believe so many games came in such a short time and then just stopped. Cool that you referenced the Celtics-Nets trade in both the beginning of the piece and the end. The contrast to Final Fantasy is interesting, too, because instead of making a whole new world over and over, these games kept building on the same world, which naturally makes players excited about what comes next for the characters they love.

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  3. Please!
    FOR GOD'S SAKE
    Where didi you get this game translated?
    I've been searching for it for a very long time...
    please tell me.

    ReplyDelete