Customer Reviews

Suikoden IV

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I had very high hopes for Suikoden IV. Suikoden III was one of the first games I bought when I shifted to console games from the world of the PC. I liked it very much on the first play, when I didn't have much to judge it by, and in a recent replay, I found it still provided a rich experience, despite some problems that I now recognize as flaws.

Suikoden IV is a return to an earlier time than Suikoden III. To be honest, it is also a return to an older style of game. For all its graphics and animation, this latest effort plays like a lot like a PSOne game. One where they kept some of the flaws in Suikoden III and threw out some of the things, which gave that, game its special charm. The only really new feature in this game is that is mostly a sailing based RPG, with a ship-to-ship strategy conflict element as well.

Unfortunately, both sea and land experiences are slow-paced and battle-ridden. Until late in the game, your normal playing experience will be combat every 20 seconds. And until you are well into the game you not only walk or sail everywhere, but you go very slowly. There aren't a lot of opponent types in this game, so leveling up can become excruciatingly boring. Not hard, mind you, just tedious. If you've played other Suikoden games you will remember that you have to worry about not four, but 108 possible team members.

The story is straightforward. Two boys are raised and become knights together. One (the hero) excels at his tasks. The other, Snowe, has the benefit of rank and privilege, but falls short in skill and courage. The relationship becomes strained, there is a falling out, and a suspicious incident in battle results in you (of course you're the hero) and a few friend exiled from the knights and determined to prove your innocence.

The real culprit is the Kooluk Empire, which has decided to spread its power into the ocean kingdoms. Rune technology has reached the point of creating cannons capable of destroying whole cities, and the hero's only strength is the Rune of Punishment, which has great power, but inevitably destroys its wielder. The flow of the game is pure Suikoden - establish a headquarters, enlist supporters and fight, fight, and fight,

Other than the excessive and tedious fighting, the game's greatest weakness is poor character definition. Suikoden III, offered three different key players, all with strong personalities and stories. With little effort, you could make the game into something meaningful to you as a person. Suikoden IV is a fill in the dots story with an almost generic hero, one who is supposed to be you, but who never speaks aloud, never has a line longer than 5 words, and manages to develop no close ties with other characters. There are third person shooters with more compelling characters.

The game starts out shakily, gradually builds momentum, but never reaches the heights of its predecessors. For all that it covers an entire ocean, it really isn't a large game. Subquests and mini-games are lightweight - my favorite was the fishing game, which is an interesting way to spend some non-productive time. The game plays out shorter than Suikoden III and competitors like the Final Fantasy series. To be honest, I'm not sure if that is a bad thing or a good thing.

This is an acceptable game, but not one that will leave much of an afterglow. Since RPG's of any magnitude are rare, many of us will play it eventually. And as long as you don't expect something that sets the bar higher you will be passably entertained. However, I recommend you wait until the price comes down a bit.

Well, I just beat Suikoden 4 without getting all 108 characters and I thought I would write a review. I have all the other Suikodens and I enjoyed them (especially 2), but for some reason no one likes to read my reviews. Oh well.
So Suikoden 4 takes place about two centuries before Suikoden 1. If the gamer is expecting to see many returning faces, they will be disappointed. Needless to say, the game starts off rather slow. Give it about 2-3 hours, and you will be hooked. Unfortunately, there is never really any reason why there is a war like in the other three games. Instead, events seem to just happen and the characters react. The action is pretty one-sided for the most part. While you collect your 108 characters, the enemy doesn't seem to attack and the ball is always in your court. I will list a few pros for this game as well as a few cons.

Pros
1. The graphics look very nice. They are a step about Suikoden III.
2. The voices don't really kill the mood. For the most part, they are all well-acted for an rpg.
3. Magic is easier to cast in this game than in 3.
4. Some of the characters are great and will probably grow on you.
5. For the most part, the music is nice. Sure a few songs are crappy, but the soundtrack fits the game well. There are times when I would prefer to listen to Iron Maiden, but the music for this rpg will do.
6. There are many sidequests to look out for.


Cons
1. While many characters are entertaining, some lack depth and are just there to fill in space. I didn't really feel any emotions towards many of them. Furthermore, the conflicts each main character has don't really make much sense and the audience is left wondering what the hell is going on.
2. The naval battles get old after a while. The last battle is a piece of cake if your fighters are at least at level 41 or so. I don't think Konami really thought this through.
3. Speaking of the sea, getting too close to islands will knock your ship off course. It gets annoying after a while.
4. There are too many random encounters in the game and the enemies don't really drop enough money. The equipment in this game is quite expensive and without money, it is definitely hard to stock up for your characters.
5. I will not spoil it (there is another one, though), but the ending is lacking. It leaves you wondering what this has to do with the 25-30 hours you put into this game. The other three Suikodens tied everything together at their ends, but this one does not.
6. Beginning=slow. Middle=drawn-out, one-sided, but interesting. Ending=disappointing.


Well, these comments are all I have to say about Suikoden 4. I did enjoy this game (even though it sounds like I hated it), but it certainly is lacking in depth compared to its predecessors. I would recommend picking it up because like the other games, it will soon be gone I imagine. On a completely awkward final note, Konami should hire me to write the script for Suikoden 5- I could probably do a better job making a story with awesome characters and gameplay.

Peace Out.

Okay so i've finished the game and let me tell you i'm pretty damn unimpressed with a few aspects of the game.

Most importantly and my major complaint is while the game had plenty of story potential it fell VERY flat at the end. About 22 hours into the game i had trouble fighting a boss so i grabbed up a copy of the strategy guide to get some pointers and guess what - that boss was the final boss? Yep you heard me - this game is incredibly and frustratingly short. After spending a couple more hours leveling up i beat the game with about 90 of the 108 stars of destiny.

While all the fundimentals i loved from the previous games were all there and i really loved my entire experience. (however short it was) The bad ending (it was almost as if the game was released unfinished) costs this latest chapter of Suikoden major points in my mind.

If you haven't played Suikoden III yet get a copy and ignore this one unless you're already a fan and can get over the fact that it is so short and unmeaningful plotwise.

Well, this is definitely a Suikoden game. Mechanically, it's got everything it's supposed to have, 108 stars, recruitment binges, battles, random fights, everything you've grown to expect from the franchise.

Problem is, it doesn't offer much we haven't already seen. Yes, you can make your own accessories, and having three battle groups at one time on your base is pretty darned nifty, but that's about it. There's just not much new going on here.

I won't go into too much more detail about the game's shortcomings, as they really aren't all that glaring. There's just not much going on in this game to set it apart from the others.

On the other hand, this is probably the most visually pleasing game in the series, and has something of a surprise ending, if you're paying attention.

I'd recommend it over S3, which I never finished playing.

Warts and all, it's a pretty decent little game. Emphasis on little.

I'm thinking whether to rate Suikoden IV through the eyes of a longtime fan of the series or through the eyes of a game critic. I guess as a fan, I would rate it slightly higher, given the fact that it did try to relive some of the Suikoden I and II glory. The freedom to control ALL your party members was better suited for this game than SIII's more tedious and more PC-like party customization. The bringing back of one perspective suited the story better than multiple, like in SIII. However, let's get some things straight: I also love the ingenuity of SIII. However, SIV's story was a simpler one, not as complex as SIII's. In the eyes of a fan, it was more like a traditional Suikoden story, with a more straightforward storyline and your run-of-the-mill silent Hero that represents the masses. Yet, there are aspects that I miss: the sense of emotional attachment that ALL previous Suikoden stories instilled in us (no matter how simple the plot), the gradually increasing complexity in character development that was the best part in Suikoden III, the lack of a good "villian" (sorry, the Kooluk were very bland for me and Cray felt like a sidequest rather than a main storyline), and the lack of background/relationship/friendships of the Hero (his friendship with Snowe was horribly undeveloped compared to Gremio and Tir's relationship and Riou and Jowy's friendship). Overall, as a fan, the game lacked it's original luster, it's inspiration of history, politics, and wonder that all previous Suikodens have inspired. The entire story would have made a good addition to the Suikoden timeline but the lack of development in the game makes the event seem so insignificant and...well, boring.

From my perspective as a critic, i would say the game lacked what it needed to compete with the heavy-hit, cutthroat RPG genre of nowadays. Although Suikoden never bought new things to the table, but it had quality stories where it lacked in quantity of graphics and special effects. Instead of a fantasy-like good hero verses great forces of evil storyline that most RPG's base themselves off of, Suikoden has a more practical story to tell, one that, albeit magical runes, reflects more of the actual world. It is a world ridden with politics, gray rather tha black and white, and the age-old question of how much a mortal can play god. The villians are never purely evil, but always corrupted individuals or even individuals whose only flaw is their nationalism and duty to their own country (which just happens to be the enemy). It is a world where nothng is ever what it seems, both in political sense and in a supernatural sense. However, unlike other RPG's, Suikoden never blows their supernatural duel of order/chaos out of porportion. It always stems back to human will-power and how much freedom mortals really have over their fates and destinies. In that respect, this is where SIV deeply failed, to upgrade their graphics and effects (which were only B-rated compared to some other RPG's out there) and badly neglecting the story development which has always allowed the Suikoden games to hold its own ground.

Overall, the game is not horrible, but it is not great either. It is decent, and for long-time fans of the series, they will enjoy the little moments that bring back the pre-SIII nostalgia. However, fans and players just introduced to the series will both concur that the game just lacks what it takes to make it a great addition to the series and a great RPG.

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!

Well, after having preordered it waAAaAAaaayy back in December '04, I finally got around to playing the fourth installment of the Suikoden series. Worry not, for this review is spoiler-free.

One of the reasons I hadn't played it until just recently (September '05?)was because of the overall negativity of the reviews I'd read allll over the internet. I must say, reading some of 'em you'd swear you'd be inserting a steaming pile of $%*$# into your PS2. Happily, I've found the game isn't THAT bad. In fact, I actually enjoyed it. The graphics are quite nice, the voice acting is actually pretty good (nor as stilted as it does tend to sound in, say, Final Fantasy X) and the dialouge has some of the same... the same "pluckiness," for lack of a better word, of that of the rest of the series. I enjoyed very much, as usual, the fantasy world that the game designers had created for me to escape to. Character designs were generally pretty good. The armor creation system was an entertaining new addition. Some of the little mini-extras were amusing too, such as the Mushroom battle, fishing, training room and my personal favorite, the confession booth. And plus, who could complain about the fact that JEANE is back and now a fighting character?! Oh, yes yes yes- quite a treat, I must say. ;)

That being said, the game did not wow me in any areas.. The music overall is pretty bland, a huge dissapointment for me, considering the well-above average scores of the previous three titles. I got soooo tired of the ship-inside theme.. yawn!! The storytelling and characterization left much to be desired, as well. I never really found myself partcularly attached to any of the characters, which fans know is also a defining strength in Suikodens prior. The plot kinda has this whole "okay, this is what's s'posed to happen in a Suikoden game- let's see what we can think up to stay within the framework here!" thing going for it. So yeah.. It's tended to feel a bit forced at times. Yes... forced, and predictable. And not nearly as epic, emotional, or meaningful as I had come to expect.. I simply didn't find myself caring a great deal about the characters or what happened to them. The relationship between the main character and his ex-friend/rival is sorely under-developed (Snowe is lame... LAME, I say!!!), as is Grahm Cray, the game's main villain... And oohh, I am a fan of a good villain- they can make or break a story. Mr. Cray had potential, but again... It just sort of felt like he was stuck in there to fulfill the role. What else? Ahh, yes.. The Ship. Trying to get from point a to point b (the ship sailing the open ocean serves as the overworld) is pretty aggravating when just about every three seconds you find yourself drawn into battle. Combined with the fact that the ship controls're frustrating as Hell to manipulate, it makes for a rather annoying experience at times. Sailing the ocean also gets visually monotonous- just blue sea and blue sky for what seems an eternity, until your ship happens upon some land mass.. Too bad such large portions of the game require the player to be doing just this. I found spell animations to be pretty lacking, too. Lastly, the game was hardly what one would consider a challenge. I accidently forgot to update the equipment of some of my characters when I fought the final boss, and yet I STILL managed to win on my very first try. It was pretty much the same throughout the game- only a few of the major battles gave me any sense of the impending doom that makes eventual victory all-the-sweeter.

Above all, depsite my criticisms, I'm just glad I've given the poor game a chance. It's no Suikoden II (the BEST in my opinion) by any stretch, or even III, but definately not as abysmal as I'd been led to believe. If you're a fan of the series, I'd definately recommend that you pick this one up, if for no other reason than to expand upon your understanding of the world of Suikoden. As for newcomers, I'd say to look elsewhere if you're seeking an amazing RPG experience. Suikoden II or III, perhaps? Let's just hope the team learns from their mistakes for Suikoden V.

I finally got around to playing this game several months after its release. The game look great and is available in 480p progressive scan, it sounds great, the combat system is fluid, and the leveling system intelligently discourages "the grind" and assures that your characters will preety much be at the right level for optimal play. There's also a whole bunch of addicting mingames. The story is also pretty good too.

The game has one major, dealbreaking, flaw: it takes a long time to travel between areas by ship because the encounter rate is high. Fortunately, there is a character that allows you to teleport in between areas, and if you get this character at the earliest moment possible, in the early mid-game, then you will experience all of the great things winthin the game, without having to deal with the major flaw.

So, if you play this game with a walkthrough and get the ability to skip ship travel at the first moment its available, you'll experience a satisfying and great looking RPG.

To me, a disappointment in the Suikoden series. It seemed so promising, and though much of the game can be very entertaining, it is definitely a game that will need patience to beat. Here's my break down:

Gameplay: 6/10
The gameplay is probably what you would expect for most RPG's.... except for one small little detail. You spend most of your time traveling on a large ship out on the ocean. The problem with this... when you're moving, it gives you no "sense" of actually getting anywhere. That, along with the fact that the islands you're visiting are somewhat far apart, keeps this game at a snails pace. But its not all bad. If you add in the numerous playable characters, the classic RPG battle system, and the customization, you might be able to overlook the boredom of the sea.

Story 9/10
This is where Suikoden IV excels. The story is quite frankly captivating. You find yourself connected to the nameless hero. If you let yourself, you'll feel his pain, his joy, his excitement and the finality that is his story.

Graphics 8/10
Lets face it, this isn't the newest game on the block, and if you keep that in mind, you'll do just fine. When it was released, it was about the standard for this type of game. Nothing spectacular or horrendous about it.

So, if you can just keep in mind that patience is a virtue, this may very well be a game that you would appreciate.


-Brandon S. Johnson

And I mean that. Suikoden IV is a reasonably fun game, but compared to other RPGs - especially those in this most admirable of series - it's just not up to par. Think of it as your time killer while you wait for something better, like Xenosaga Episode III or Final Fantasy XII.

There are several things to like about this game. Collecting the 108 Stars of Destiny - for those uninitiated, they're the 107 quasi-important people you can recruit to fight with you and to perform various helpful tasks - is plenty of fun, especially if you're the obsessive-compulsive type of RPG gamer. Even more fun is the fact that you go about this task on a ship. Yes, a ship. In past Suikoden games you built a castle in which to house your hundred or so new friends, but here you take to the seas in a pleasantly mobile stronghold. People complain about the sailing system, but once you figure it out (which I'll admit did take me awhile) it's easy, "quick", and pretty un-glitchy.

My most favorite aspect of the game, surprisingly enough, involves one facet of the otherwise uninspiring plot - pirates. You meet them, you ally with them, and to some effect you can consider yourself one of them. The game didn't offer much in the way of pirate hijinks, but it was kind of exciting just to know that somewhere along the line swashbuckling and grog were involved.

The fun pretty much stops there. The battle system, though (in my opinion) improved from that of Suikoden III, gradually became tedious, and said tedium was all too easily remedied by the Retreat command, leaving you with basically nothing to do. Even less interesting was the half-baked plot. The idea of a Rune of Punishment that kills its holders is a good start, but I waited for all the game to be intrigued by its history or the will of the people who wished to wield it and was disappointed. The story is merely a foundation: something interesting upon which absolutely nothing is built. After about hour five, nothing even comes close to the captivating storytelling of III's Trinity Sight System.

After the brilliance that was Suikoden III I had high hopes for this prequel, but in the end it just failed to deliver. Not even pirates could save this sinking ship of a game. If you're desperate for an RPG fix... well, I'd say play through your old favorites again, and maybe again, before giving this one a look.