Sony Playstation 2
Entertainment System video game review
Suikoden IV (Role-Playing Game, 1 Player) |
Our story follows the exploits of a young knight-in-training and his fellow classmates. The most notable of his classmates is the young man called Snowe. Snowe, while not truly your rival, is very jealous of the praise heaped upon you. He's instrumental in your banishment from your home of Razril upon your receiving the rune of this game -- the Rune of Punishment -- from your dying commander. Blamed for your commander's death, you are set adrift at sea. It looks as if you're done for, until you realize the beauty of true friends that is the driving force behind the 108 Stars of Destiny. And that's where the most awesome island-hopping adventure begins.
As previously mentioned in the Suikoden III review, I hoped that Konami would take a page from the Pirates of the Caribbean game and improve upon it. I also hoped that they would go back to the original type of World Map, instead of the "point A to point B" interface. The game designers have done one better and did it their own way. Not only did they combine the free-roaming World Map of older games and the "point of interest" format from Suikoden III, they have cut out the micromanagement of the sailing system in Pirates of the Caribbean. While some have said that sailing is a pain in the ass, it's one of the most visually relaxing and constructive things I have had the experience to do. Why? Because the game has done something that I never thought they would do: the castle from all previous Suikoden games is now a large sailing vessel--almost like a cruise ship.
I had been really distracted with the creation of my second animated feature and I had completely lost track of when Suikoden IV was coming out. It took a reminder from my buddy Eggers to bring back into the fold of the 108 Stars of Destiny. When I heard it was finally out, I went right out and bought it. Needless to say, it's become one of my favorite games to relax with.
Upon watching the intro movie, I thought that the game would suck. I also thought that the sailing would be peripheral to the main gameplay. How wrong was I about this prequel to the first Suikoden? Plenty wrong, on both counts.
Above: The current wielder of the Rune of Punishment, a Rune that has an unfortunate side-effect of slowly killing its host. |
There are a lot of great things about Suikoden IV that easily overshadow the having to earn your team-up attacks. The minigames are totally awesome, and fun to play. They still have Chichinronin for the old-school gamblers and some new games to burn hard-earned cash on. You can make your own accessories and armor on your ship, and look around at everything and everyone with a first-person camera option. Most importantly, some of the characters you meet in your quest to gather the 108 Stars are references from the previous games. It's great to learn that rune mistress Jeane was always a hottie, Viki was always scatterbrained and the name "Scholtenheim Reinbach" is not just a name that Viktor made up in the first Suikoden to get past the guards.
With all that's available to you in the course of your career of "privateering"(licensed piracy in the name of the kingdom of Obel), this game is a grand addition to the Suikoden storyline. I anticipate Suikoden V, yet I have no idea where it could be headed. Perhaps the story will take a cue from the Final Fantasy series and sail into the far-flung future, bringing extraterrestrials and cyborgs from across galaxies into the fold of the 108 Stars of Destiny.
Suikoden IV gets a rating of 9.