Suikoden 3

[Anastasia]

The previous Suikoden 3 review died in the searing flames of forums transfer. Therefore, I cast Mother Ocean on it, to again carry forward the Suiko story!

Ahem.

Vital Statistics

Game type: Classical RPG with strategy elements, as well as an unique trait based battle skill system.

Publisher: Konami Japan/Konami US.

System: Playstation 2+Memory Card. Each save takes around 100 KB, exact numbers not available offhand. It's not a huge amount, however, and shouldn't be crippling unless your card is jammed tighter than Luc at a Yaoi fan convention.

I'll assume that you're familiar with Suikoden 1 and 2's style for this and not insult your intelligence. It's another game, with 108 stars to recruit, a nation or three to save, and an evil empire to crush. Yay!

What is new is the Trinity System. With this, it introduces 3 main characters that you can choose from, each providing an unique perspective.  More on this in the below sections. Also, a new skill system is implemented, as well as a 'team' battle system. Further, the game takes the plunge from 2d to 3d.

Story

In the previous games, the merchant country of Zexen was mentioned to the north of the City States, as well as a vast Grasslands; where Lucia and her army spawned from. Finally, far to the east, is the massive fringes of the Harmonian Empire, home to the Circle True Rune and Lord Hisuaak.  This is the story of the former two, and the ambitions and betrayal of the third.

It begins with a ceasefire between the Grasslands and Zexen, the two nations long in a bloody border struggle. A new hero has emerged in the Zexen Knights, the Silver Maiden, Chris Lightfellow. During this time, the young son of Lucia, the clan chief of Karaya, comes of age. Finally, a sombre and silent mercenary leader comes from the east, leading his fell team of mercs on missions from the Empire of Harmonia. Geddoe is this mysterious leader.  

Those three are the heros whom you control as the story unwraps. Each gives a unique view of one of the countries, as well as a social and economical standing different from the others. Lady Lightfellow is a noblewoman and knight, a heroine whom leads a battilon of warriors and is revered in her country, while Hugo is the son of a clan chief whom must soon fend for himself; Geddoe being a mercenary whom lives and dies on his skill with a blade and magic.  Most players will find themselves attracted to one of the main PCs easily enough. This reviewer, for example, is partial to Chris and Geddoe, while finding Hugo to be an annoying runt.

Each character is also surrounded by a cast of PCs and NPCs, whom often will have cameos in the other views. Most are less developed than the lead PCs, but often provide robust and reasonably good support nonetheless.

Once you get into it, the plot unfolds. I won't spoil it too much, merely comment on it instead. (It's far more worth it to see it yourself than to read a dry dissection of it). It's somewhat of a mixed bag for the first three chapters. I found the storylines in Chris and Geddoe's chapters to be superb and motivating, especially Geddoe and Chris chapter 3, while Hugo's chapters and support were more rudimentary and unfulfilling. In particular, I found Hugo's main foil, Sgt Joe, to be extremely blah.  This is purely a matter of taste, and your milage on which chapters and characters you cotton to will likely vary. I've seen almost every PC liked or hated in fan circles, so there is plenty of room for your own view.

Once you reach the apex of the first three chapters and make your decision, the game settles mainly in on one PC of your choosing. From there, the story expands, for better and for worse as the shit hits the fan in a torrent. The issue is that the end of the game falls into a terrible chiche: Save the world from the madman(or angstman, in this case.)! This is a point that I feel badly hurt the series. Remember Suikoden 1 and 2, right? Even though it felt like the weight of the world was on your shoulders, it was the fate of two countries, not the entire planet. This crosses the line, and in it loses much of the special Suiko flavoring.

As an aside to the above, see the odds and ends section for a relevant note.  I won't go into it here, as it's partly rumor and conjecture mixed with confirmed facts.

Overall, however, the story was fine enough. Assissted by competent PCs and noteworthy villians, it had plenty of shine.

Graphics

Going into 3d, many gamers were understandably worried about the graphical prowess S3 would show. After all, the sprite based charm of the former two games were one of it's many allures. While not having that, the modeled graphics are rather nice on the whole. It uses polygon constructed PC models and backgrounds. This is acceptable and even pleasant in many places, as the era of poly pop is mostly a relic. Each PC shows emotion very well, faces well done and bodily gestures executed crisply. Each face has it's own feel to it, the image of Chris or Geddoe's far different from Queen's or Salome's. Frankly, the game wouldn't be nearly as good if it lacked the facework here, as so many scenes are made or broken by it. Just remember Chris's closed eye visage, conflicted, as she saw her father's coat of arms. Or Geddoe, head bowed, as he recalled; each is marked clearly in my mind along with the PC. Excellent work.

The character portraits are good as well. Nicely done and easy on the eyes. Can't really say much more there.

So yes, I think the S3 graphics are worthy. While they aren't as smooth as more recent entries into the field such as SH2 or SO3, they are still excellent in their own right.

Sound

Suikoden 2 had a very well suited soundtrack. Many strong tunes played up scenes, being enjoyable and noteworthy while not intruding on the game experience. Suikoden 3 does this, basically, with less memorable music. None of it barring two of the boss tracks are worth listening to out of game, yet it's pleasant in game. I can't complain, but I can't say it's on the level of S2's, either.

I shrug. So it goes. If you download anything musical from this game, go for The Glittering Sword and The One on the Way.

Gameplay

Diving right on in:

The world map is gone now, in exchange for a point and click travel affair. You go between parts of the 'map' and go into dungeons, fields and towns. In theory, this will save you time with the world map, right?

*BZZZZT*

You see, it's done in segments. At the end of each segment, you have to go into an area to get to the next part of the map. Until the late game, you can't skip this, either. Any time you saved without a world map is lost twice over by this. Not to mention you'll go through certain locals at least two dozen times over the course of the game, which grates on a player quickly. Brass Castle is the worst offender of the lot, taking a good minute and a half to run through in complete boredom. I'm dissapointed doubly; I like world maps. If I don't get one, I at least want the substitute to be worthwhile.

This could have been solved by giving you your teleporter  PC much earlier, but alas, you don't. Further, they seal her off for parts of the end game. This is a black mark on the entire gaming experience, and one that deducts points.  

*Takes a breath* Okay, moving onto the battle system. It's still six PCs, though each much be paired up. The front and back row in a line are connected now. What does this mean? On the good side, healing items can be shared between 2 person teams, and certain old single target effects now hit both members of a squad. Kindness Drops alone gains a massive improvement thanks to that, as does Mega Medicines. Certain combonation attacks also rely on characters being in the proper teams, so bear this in mind as well.

On the bad side of it, they use it as a way to limit magic and command runes. Namely, only one member of a team can cast a spell or use a rune each round. The other member will default to a set command based on the PC, usually attack or defend. Obviously, this is meant to keep magic in control, as Suiko 2 was easy to spell cheese through. I undrestand and respect that, as magic is even stronger now. Yet...

Konami. Suiko development team. Listeners. If you want to balance something, don't do it in a way that grossly violates making sense. There is never any reason for why two teammates can't both cast spells, it just is. It's extremely frusterating, as some spell worth characters get shafted by this. Queen's the best example offhand with a Wind Rune - Geddoe, Joker and Aila are going to be casting magic in that party, trust me.  It's also wasted opporunity. Remember combined spells in Suikoden 2, like Blazing Camp or Thor?

Yeah, you see where my mind is going, combined magics could have been awesome. Damn.

On the better side of things, Suiko 3 brings in a skill system. With points you gain after every battle, you can purchase common traits, build up traits, and develop innate skills to each PC. Using a grade system from E to S, factors of the PC can be built up swiftly. Also, along with the innate skills each PC uniquely possesses, they have a level of maximum aptitude for each skill. Only a few PCs possess a desired S naturally in an ability, making party matching interesting. Yet, skills can be raised with rare equipment or titles, adding another wrinkle to things.

The main allure to this is that it adds a vastly needed dimension to each PC, an uniqueness that S2's massive cast lacked. Some of the more obscure PCs, such as Twaikan, can rock simply because of the skills he has, and the number he can expand to. Learning the full ins and outs of the system is a worthy addition to the game, and one I approve of fully.

Yet, moving onto the cast of characters - there is one problem. In a Suikoden game, with it's massive cast, there is one flaw that can spoil the pot - often locked parties. Suiko 1 and 2 had it's moments when many of your PCs were dictated, but S3 is far worse. While it's needed for the plot, many of your nifty recruits won't see much action until chapter 4 or 5.

Odds and ends

You know, I wish they had made an uber area boss just for fun. Say in the North Amur Plains in Chapter 5 or some backwater you'll never go to again.

Purely a opinionated matter, but I wish Chris had been able to switch into her chapter 3 gear as the Flame Champion. Or hell, even keep her hair down. She's so much more attractive that way, functionality be damned.

To the note to look here from above: The main Suiko writer and designer left near the end of the project. This altered things - Harmonia was supposed to be gotten into much more, Kokoru's bonus POV was supposed to be Sasarai's, the Chapter 4/5 story was likely considerably altered, etc. In defense of some of the game's weaker moments as it winds on , I don't think the first chapters were designed for quite that climax.

Hey, guys? If the True Lighting Rune ever appears in another Suiko game, balance it better, okay? The vaunted True Fire Rune shoudn't have pissed itself in envy since True Lighting so badly whupped it in combat.  Geddoe is a god in game whenever he has it due to that fact, more so if you tweak him up to an S in Lighting Magic.