Suikoden III
Reviewed By: FlikOwnsYou

Way back before the Playstation had Final Fantasy VII there was an often overlooked RPG called Suikoden. While nowhere nearly as technologically advanced as FF7, Suikoden had some true great aspects. With a simple 2D layout, fast paced battles, large-scale army battles, and 108 recruitable characters, Suikoden captured the hearts of quite a few RPG fans, including myself. Of course, Suikoden didn't have the universal appeal that Square's hits had, it was still an excellent, though flawed, experience.

Next came Suikoden II, which was again overshadowed by Square's Final Fantasy VIII. Now with improved graphics and an epic story of friendship and loyalty, Suikoden II continued the tradition set with the first.

With the release of Suikoden III, Konami hoped to capture the hearts of the mainstream audience as they did before.

Gameplay
Suikoden III features your standard RPG gameplay: go here, get this, fight him, go back, do this. However, this game is far from linear. First of all, you have the Trinity Sight System (more on that later). In addition to progressing in the story, there are 108 characters to recruit. Granted, many of them join automatically during the storyline. but there still is alot of extra work to be done to get all of the characters.

The headquarters system returns from the previous Suikoden games. Generally, about 1/4 of the way through a Suikoden game you get a castle to raise your army. After acquiring the headquarters, you must seek out characters to join you. Different characters will join when certain requirements are met. Some characters will add places to your castle like an armory, blacksmith, rune sage, minigames, bath house, newspaper, etc) Collecting all of the recruits has always been an essential element of the Suikoden experience. Suikoden III didn't let us down: the formula holds. This time around though, you can't really miss anyone if you progress too far in the game, provided you have 104 before the last area. (Sigh of relief for Suikoden vets who accidently missed Leon Silverburg in Suiko1 or Humphrey and Futch in Suiko2).

Suikoden III also continues the next-gen RPG tradition of eliminating the world map. Now, you travel between located by click on a dot on a map. You will still have to walk through plains and forests and such. I welcomed the change, since the world maps in the previous games were just a waste of time and energy.

The trading posts of Suikoden II and returned! This time, they are must more accessible, and its easier to play the market since the game keeps track of the prices in different towns. Basically, you buy a product in one city, and take it to a different city and try to sell for a higher price. Although trading can be completely ignored, I had a lot of fun and gain a lot of extra cash y carefully watching the economics of Zexen and the Grasslands.

This game will take you quite some time to get through. My final time was about 70 hours. Its possible to get through in about 50 hours without getting all of the characters and playing the hidden POVs. But who would wanna do that?

The previous two Suikoden games featured fast paced battles, never making random battles a hindrance to exploration. Suikoden III continues this tradition by keeping battles moving quickly while adding more strategy.

The most notable addition to the battle system is the "buddy system." Most normal battles feature six characters with three in the front row and three in the back row. The characters who stand in front and the back of each other are considered "buddies." With previous Suikoden games, you could issue a single command to every character. With the buddy system, you can only issue one command to each set of buddies. For instance, if you set Hugo to cast a magic spell, Sgt. Joe will simply attack. The new addition adds a whole new element of strategy when forming your party. There are also special buddy sets, which allow for unite attacks and the ride-on feature. For instance, when paired with his dragon Futch can ride on him, creating an offensive tank.

The magic system has also been vastly improved. As with its predecessors, Suikoden III requires "runes" to be attached to characters in order for them to cast magic spells. Each rune has four spells, and the magic ability of the character determines how many spells can be casted before resting at an inn. Some spells will now only affect the caster's buddy, or will only harm enemies (and sometimes allies) in a certain area. This addition forces players to be careful when unloading powerful magic spells. No longer can you simply unleash you best spells and expect to win a battle.

The major army battles have been tweaked once again. You now can form units using all of your recruited characters. The battles play out like a simple game of Risk, where you move your units to different territories and fend off the enemy. Although it seems like a good idea, this doesn't work perfectly, since the major battles are very story-driven, meaning certain events are going to happen no matter what. There are some battles that you simply cannot win, and there are others that you will almost always win after a certain event. Despite the flaws, the battles are a big step up from the paper, rock, scissors battles from the first game.

The one-on-one duels have returned once again, and this time they are much more prevalent. The formula for the duels stays the same: attack, defend, or deathblow. If you defend a deathblow, you counterattack. If you defend a regular attack damage is halved. Players must guess what their opponent’s next attack will be based on what they say before the attack. The only new addition is the gauge at the bottom of the screen, which determines who has the advantage and awards bonuses according.

Overall, the new addtions to the battle system has improved Suikoden quite a bit. Some are critical of the buddy system, saying it limits how much you can do per round, but it looks to me like it makes preparing for battles require more strategy.

Graphics
Quite a number of Suikoden fans were worried when Konami announced that Suikoden III's world and characters would be rendered in 3D. It looks to me like the jump was successful. While no where near as lush as Final Fantasy X, Suikoden III's environments and towns get the job done. A few of the grass plains are a little bland, but the towns and dungeons are full of life.

The overall character designs stay true to the characters of the original games, and hte returning characters looks great in their new, 3D getup. Facial expressions are vibrant throughout the cutscenes and the in game characters are animated well. Expect for the anime intro, there was no FMV used in this game -- the in-game graphics work just fine. The battle animation is also well animated, although the magic effects are less-than stellar.

They certainly don't hold up to FFX, but Suikoden III's graphics definitly present the game quite well.

Music
There isn't whole lot to rave about in the music department. The soundtrack is nowhere near as good as Suikoden II's, but it still holds up. There are a few memorable songs, such as Duck Village, but I wouldn't run out and buy this one. Although not a terrible soundtrack, Suikoden III's music is average at best.

Storyline
I'm not going to sit here and tell you the whole story. Instead, I'm going to tell you how the story is played out.

Story-wise, Suikoden III ranks with the big boys. Fifteen years after Suikoden II the age old conflict between Zexen and the Grasslands continues (these countries are just west of Tinto, from Suikoden II). The main characters are Hugo, son of the chief of the Karayan Clan; Chris, captian of the Zexen Knights; and the mysterious Geddoe, captain of a border security force from Harmonia. If these places and countries don't mean anything to you, I suggest playing the previous games before tackling this one.

Suikoden III can be enjoyed by anyone, but to get the maximum effect, you must play the original games, since they all tie in closely. There are less returning characters than Suikoden II, but many of the most important characters in the game have had notable appearances in both PSX games. I highly reccommend the originals before playing this one, but don't let me stop you. (Suiko1&2 can be found on e-bay)

Even with such a huge cast, Suikoden III still manages to develop at least 40 of the 108 characters quite well. This is a step up from the originals, which only centered on the main characters and their closest friends.

Introducing the Trinity Sight System, Suikoden III allows you to play the game through three different perspectives. Each main character has three chapters. (Think about Final Fantasy VI spliting scenarios) This allows the game to played in a variety of ways. You can play all three of Hugo's chapters, then continue with Chris, and finally Geddoe. Or, you can play one chapter at a time. Depending on how you play, the effects of the story can be drastically different. If you start with Hugo, you may grow to hate Chris. But after playing Chris' chapters you'll begin to sympathize with her. This is the beauty of the Trinity Sight System.

There is also another point of view, which you can unlock, which focuses on character recruitment rather than fighting. The final hidden point of view is unlocked if you beat the game with all 108 characters, which is nessecary to get the full effect of the story. This is definitly a great incentive for getting all of the characters.

After completing all of the POVs, the storylines come together and you will have two more chapters to complete using all of the characters.

Suikoden III's story is epic. There really isn't anything for me to complain about. After waiting for this game for nearly two years, my hopes got up pretty high, and surprisingly, I wasn't let down. It seems to me like this is only the beginning of something much bigger. Like the previous games, Suikoden III leaves a lot of unanswered questions which will hopefully be answered in future installments.

Overall
Many people were worried if Suikoden III would keep the same feel as the originals. My answer: YES, it continues the traditions set and builds upon them. I was so hooked on this one that I would have to remind myself to eat, sleep, and urinate. (No joke)

If you like RPGs, get this game. If you like Suikoden, get this game. If you can, play the original games first. I guaruntee you will get a better experience.

Gameplay: 9.3
Music: 7.6
Graphics: 8.5
Storyline: 9.7

Overall (Average): 9.4 / 10

Review Legend
Note: For consistency reasons, the scores are arranged exponentially from 0 - 10, so that an average score lies closer to a 7 than a 5 (many review agencies do not take this into consideration, yet they award average games a 7 anyway).

0: Should not even be considered a videogame

1: Absolutely not worth a try in any way

2: Little better than garbage, and nothing near rental or purchase status

3: Horrible game - flawed fundamentally, and not worth a rental or purchase

4: Bad game, but not horrible - painful to play, and probably not worth a rental

5: Below Average - probably not worth a purchase, but if you are interested, possibly a rental - bothersome to play

6: Close to Average, but not quite - could be worth a purchase, but only is you're interested - very obvious flaws

7: Average - could have been a good game, but misses the mark in one or more important categories; noticeable flaws, but still worth a purchase if you can overlook its problems

8: Above Average - a good game, and most likely worth the purchase, provided that it piques your interests; detectable flaws that affect the overall level of enjoyment, but not enough to ruin the experience

9: Great - a wonderful game that deserves a look from almost everyone serious about gaming; very few flaws, but enough to hold it from Excellent status; worth a purchase from anyone even remotely interested

10: Excellent - very rarely does a game this good make an appearance; very few detectable flaws, and those that are discernable are too small to affect the experience; near-perfect execution in almost every category; deserves a look and most likely a purchase from anyone at all; even those who aren't sure whether they are interested should at least give it a rent