Suikoden IV review:3 stars (Meh...) - Well well well. What can I say about Suikoden IV? First thing's first, I guess. This game was really quite good, yet... it was somehow lacking.

The Suikodens have always been some of the least known about yet hardest to find games. They were always great quality. Not to say that this one isn't, it's just bad compared to the others. It does have its good sides and its bad sides. Here's a nice little list for you.

The Good:
1. The graphics were stunning
2. VOICES FOR SUIKODEN! FINALLY!
3. Colorful characters from every spectrum
4. The voices fit the characters well and weren't annoying
5. The opening song, La Mer, was awesome
6. No more paired fighting, a la Suikoden III

The Bad:
1. The game was far too short
2. The storyline was confusing and it didn't end very well
3. Other than La Mer none of the music really stuck out to me
4. Though the Stars of Destiny were colorful, some of them didn't possess much personality so they weren't very memorable
5. The map was small, but the ship was slow
6. The duel system and ship battles were far too easy
7. The ship controls were very jerky

The Stuff That Can Be Either Depending On Your Preferances:
1. The main character didn't talk
2. Though there were several mini-games, the game was very linear
3. There were very few characters from the previous games
4. One of the few who did return was the seductive Jeane
5. Only four (4) people per party, but you can have up to three parties when on the deck of your ship
6. No default name for the hero other than Hero 4

Overall, this game had a good story, no matter how confusing it may have been. I liked this game because the gameplay reminded me a lot of a very watered down version of Skies of Arcadia. I do recommend this game if you don't have much time and want to play an RPG all the way through. Happy sailing!4 stars (Suikoden IV - Good and Bad) - To begin, I would call Suikoden IV a slight disappointment. However, that is only because of the enormously high standards that the series has set for itself, and when compared to other RPG's, Suikoden IV is an excellent game.

Moving away from the Trinity Site System of Suikoden III, the game again focuses on a single hero who becomes the possessor of a True Rune, in this case the Rune of Punishment. This time the setting is 150 years before the events of the first Suikoden, and the location is the "Island Nations," south of the Toran Republic and previously unvisited in the Suikoden series. General Suikoden rules apply, and the hero helps to gather and lead an army against a large opposition, united under the power of his True Rune.

Now, to look where the gameplay goes wrong, let's start with the renovated battle system. The number of usable characters in battle has been reduced from six to four, giving the player even less versatility when it comes to selecting his or her party out of dozens of recruitable characters. From what I understand in interviews, the battle system was changed in order to make it quicker, although in all honesty the first three Suikodens had some of the most fluent battle I have ever played, so I never really understood that decision. Spell animations have gone from the best I have ever seen in Suikoden III to very short and [in a word] unspectacular in Suikoden IV. One on one duels and major military battles remain, only this time the military fights are with ships (some have drawn comparisons to Skies of Arcadia in this regard). The duels and the major battles are both disappointingly easy, almost to the point where they become an obstruction to the plot rather than an enhancement. The random battle encounter rate, especially when at sea, can become quite frustrating at times.

Plotwise, the story was mediocre in my opinion, although that is something that is subjective. The most disappointing aspect of the game was how short it was, and how few towns were in it. For such a long wait, I was truly expecting a more populated world map with more than ten places to visit, and a lot more hours of gameplay (my first play through I ended up with a headquarters at like four hours in). From a grander perspective, the story does not really help to answer any of the many questions Suikoden fans have amassed over the first three games, although it does add its share to our lists.

Overall the game is enjoyable, and it certainly kept me playing through. But to be honest, this game just doesn't hold up to the first three Suikodens very well. Too many changes with the battle system and gameplay, combined with a story set 150 years in the past with practically no returning characters have left this game almost not feeling like a Suikoden. I would recommend this game, probably more to people who haven't played the other Suikodens more than I would to longtime fans of the series.
3 stars (Very Disappointing) - I had forgotten almost completely about the Suikoden series lately. Recently I've given up playing a lot of RPGs. I just don't have the time or drive to play an MMORPG. How anyone could spend hours and hours and hours to live a fake life is beyond me... I mean a long RPG is one thing but a timesuck has to have it's limits. Anyway...Suikoden IV was a pleasant surprise. It's been so long since the last installment and I hadn't followed any of it's development. The only part that stuck out in my memory was the game's setting on the ocean.

Playing Suikoden IV made me go and try to find any of the other titles. Suikoden I and III can be found if you put in some effort. If you want Suikoden II be prepared to spend big bucks at an auction. Going through Suikoden IV brought back good memories but the game ended so fast.

Usually Suikoden is a perfectionists dream. You have so many things to run. You've got dozens of fighters to equip/levelup/armor/etc. There are minigames/fullscale battles/duels to shake things up. That part of the game remained intact in IV. But you can tell there's something missing. There are almost no references to any countries in the Suikoden mythology except for Scarlet Moon and a little lip service to Harmonia. Oh, and you've got Jeane...big whoop. The main character is unimaginably bland with that lame bowl cut. With so many characters you can't expect many of them to be interesting, but so very few of them are worth bringing to your group. One of the few interesting characters disappears near the start and shows up a couple more times with no real consequences and just doesn't matter anymore at the end.

The graphics are just way too dreary. The sea is just mindnumbingly dull. It's nothing like the ocean in Wind Waker. There's very little to explore with almost no hidden secrets. Islands just pop out of nowhere once you're right in front of them. Nothing like how cool it was in Wind Waker when you could journey toward a mysterious far away island/castle. Character design is interesting in that they finally remove some of the anime influence (but there's a catgirl ugh), but it's still kind of dull.

The voice acting added nothing to the game. Some are decent and none make you want to stab yourself in the ear. But it's just pointless, it doesn't make the game any better. And the strategist's whole "Bleargh I'm drunk ungghhh I'm so dark and scarred" routine gets old. But at least it maintains Suikoden's good idea of having some adult characters instead of them all being teen-agers.

The story is the biggest disappointment. Troy is supposed to be a major character but turns out to be nothing but a footnote. They don't tie up ONE loose end about the main enemy's back story (if it's in Suikoden V I'll go ballistic). And the 'bonus' you get for collecting all 108 characters is super lame. Basically it's mostly that a "Big Meanieland" wants to take over rag-tag group of towns which need some uniting. Of course in Japanese tradition this can only be accomplished by a femmy preteen. Final bosses have never been the strong suit of this series but I never understood what the final boss had to do with ANYTHING.

I wasn't going to be so hard on Suikoden IV but after starting to play Suikoden III again you can see all the good things that were lost. No more optional bosses to get money/treasure (getting money in this game is ridiculously hard). No more skill system (the characters are just too alike in abilities). Battles are too simple and too frequent and lack strategy of any sort. A balance of III and IV would be nice.

Lots of people thought Konami dropped the ball with Suikoden III, but after playing it again I found it very easy to go back to. Suikoden IV just feels too much like 'work' even though there is less micromanaging to do. Konami better try harder next time around.
Suikoden IV Features:
Role Playing Games (rpg, rpgs)
Video Games
PS2 (PSX2)
Sony Playstation (Play station) 2
Playstation2 (Play station2)
Action
Adventure
PlayStation 2
RP (rating pending)
Action

Suikoden IV is the CD-ROM version. The full version can be purchased by clicking on the "CLICK HERE TO ORDER" button below for around 29.95USD.