Suikoden IV: More of the same.

[Celisasu]

I've always enjoyed the Suikoden series.  It's a fun group of games that are rarely noted for difficulty, yet are interconnected with country level threats rather than world threatening ones.  Suikoden IV continues this trend although overall I'm dissapointed in it.  I'm going to go with my usual approach of one item at a time.


Graphics: The Suikoden series is starting to show it's age in graphics.  Come on Konami, don't you think it's time to update the graphics so they at least look better than a first generation PS2 game(or in the case of magic spells like a SNES game)?  I'm not someone who requires graphics to enjoy a game(Disgaea and La Pucelle are among my favorite games out of recent releases) but it looks like this was less of a desire for an older style look and more of a laziness thing.  The graphics in general are about the same quality as in Suikoden III and in a few areas actually seem to be slightly worse.  


Sound: Nothing memorable.  Although quite a few of the minor character voice actors were actually fairly decent.  Nothing great but better than what I've heard more recently in games like Xenosaga 2, Baten Kaitos, and Ys.  I'd look into having some of them try a major character role in future games.  As a side note, drop the silent hero bit.  It just doesn't work anymore.  


Music: Completely forgettable.  It's not terrible but it's not good either.  


Story and Character Development: Below average.  Admittedly with 108 characters, character development has never been big for Suikoden but this one is pretty bad even for it.  Sometimes you're not entirely sure why a character is doing what they're doing.  Personally I wish they'd have developed a few key characters.  As it is though, not even the main characters are really all that developed.  The main characters could die and I wouldn't care less.  The story is kind of forced as well.   A lot of it seems kind of disconnected really.  On a side note, I got the "good" ending and it doesn't really fix anything about the story problems.  


Battles: Way too frequent.  I'd rather have less frequent fights with more experience and gold being handed out.  Getting into a fight every 5 seconds or so is not fun.  Especially when the battle system is as simple as Suikoden's is.  The duels are easy and pointless, and the ship battles..well I wish there was more to them.  


Other Stuff: This is probably where Suikoden shines.  There's a bunch of characters, lots of minigames(Ritapon is enjoyable although you'll get bored of it fast), things to learn about all the characters whether via the comment box or the confessional, and a mix of things to find in the game.  Plus the ease of getting places thanks to Viki's mirror is another great bonus.  Especially as your ship(the main mode of transport until you get Viki's mirror and then just teleport where you want to go) sucks badly.  


Overall I enjoyed Suikoden IV although I felt it could've been far more than it was.  If Suikoden V doesn't start making some changes though I might start loosing interest.  Especially as Suikoden IV really feels as if it hasn't made any improvements since III which is really unacceptable.  


I'd say....6.5/10 for a final score.  7.5 if you're a fan of the series like I am.

[Dracos]

They lost their visionary.

Dracos
who voted no confidence from the start.

[Anastasia]

Finished this a week or two ago. Overall? It's Suikoden 1 with prettier graphics and pretending Suikoden 3 never happened. As someone who loved Suiko 3, BLEH.

There's more, but the game left me with a 'why care' feel at the end, and I'll go with it. It's sole points are for Ritapon, Mitsuba, and the laughs at Snowe's pirate outfit.