Did you know Suikoden and its even better sequel are
available to download on PlayStation 3 now? What
do you mean you’ve never heard of them? They’re
only two of the best JRPGs to have ever existed and
you can now pick both up for just over a tenner.
Like many, I class Final Fantasy VII as one of the best
games of all time. I think much of that fondness
comes from the fact it was my first proper JRPG and
it was the first video game story that resonated with
me. Although I still regard it highly, I believe Suikoden
II is a much better game.
Suikoden II has it all. There’s the huge world map,
cities full of shops, dungeons full of monsters, a story
that makes you care and an antagonist that you’ll
respect and hate at the same time. None of that is
what makes Suikoden II special, though. You play
as a young boy who, along with his best friend, gets
bestowed with an ancient power. This causes the two
boys to head off along opposite destinies, with your
character becoming the leader of a rebel army and
your friend a sworn enemy.
As the rebel leader, you have to build an army by
recruiting characters to join your castle – most
of which can also be taken into battle in the field.
Characters are recruited in a lot of fun and interesting
ways – like one guy who likes people who are
“toasty” like they’ve just come out of the bath. Many
of these characters add an expansion onto your
castle too, like a chef you can recruit and
face off against in a cook-off whenever
you want. There are loads of little
mini games and distractions like this.
There are 108 characters in
total. As well as pimping out your
crib, many of the characters become
generals in your army and act as extra
units in the turn-based strategy wars of the game.
There’s so many ideas here that hadn’t been done in
JRPGs before, with the original Suikoden laying the
groundwork, and many of the ideas still haven’t been
replicated since. As a result, both games still feel as
fresh as they did all those years ago on the original
PlayStation. Do yourself a favour and experience a
couple of often overlooked classics.
mygeekbox.co.uk @mygeekbox
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