Suikoden V
If you happen to have played Suikoden III or IV then you are no doubt familiar with some of the gameplay detours that have been taken recently. Fans of the original Suikoden games will want to pay attention though because the fifth installment of the series brings things closer to its roots. Gamers will appreciate being able to play with up to six characters again. This means that the 6x3 grid has returned and there are more combinations and finer strategic points that can be used than in the past couple of games.
The story actually takes place at a point in time before the first two games even began and features the Queendom of Falena in all of its "glory". You play as the young prince of Falena who finds himself in a pickle when his mother goes all crazy with her Sun Rune. The tale gets more interesting the further into it you get and there are plenty of twists and turns to keep you on the edge of your seat. The narrative here is certainly better than we saw with Suikoden III and IV, but trust me when I say it takes a while to get going. Once again though it's time to trek around the globe and look for the Stars of Destiny so that the world can be a better place.
Gameplay:
When it comes to RPGs there are a few staples that seem to carry over from franchise to franchise. These are really more cliches than anything else, but you know that old saying "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." That means you can expect to see random encounters and turn-based battles aplenty in Suikoden V. It's not necessarily a bad thing but I've played so many RPGs over the years that it feels a little too old hat. Fortunately though the six character party system breaks the tiresome mold a little bit and adds a much needed dynamic back into the series.
As you meet new characters and bring them into your employ you'll be pairing them up with others to see what combinations have the best results. The outcome of which will most likely determine whether or not you win most battles later on in the game. The options seem limitless and that has always been the beauty of the Suikoden franchise. A lot of interesting characters that are so well developed in every aspect that youâ're bound to find someone that you want to use. From that point attaching runes and tweaking skills allows you to customize your warriors to your heart's content and is really one of the greatest features from this series.
When it comes to battles though there is something of a flaw, but oddly enough it could be considered one of the strengths of Suikoden. The combat system is very easy to get into and simple to master; in fact maybe a little too much so. I understand that there is always the desire to appeal to newcomers of the series, but would it have killed the developers to add in a little more difficulty in the beginning? I swear I coasted through the first half of the game without coming close to dying. Sure things eventually get challenging, but I was starting to get bored out of my skull wading through fight after fight without breaking a sweat.
Fortunately there are a couple other styles of battles to break up the monotony of slogging through random encounters. Duels make their return to the game and feel much more refined than they had in the past. Well, maybe "refined" isn't the best word of choice. I think "dynamic" would be more appropriate. The inclusion of a time limit and options for Attack, Special, or Defend have made the duels a staple to Suikoden. These sequences are almost always fun to go through but some fights are better than others.
The War System is another involved form of combat that pits your forces against an opponent's. You'll be battling it out over water or land with battalions of different varieties. Being able to pick your commander to lead the charge helps bring some control over the situation, but otherwise this system boils down to a game of rock-paper-scissors. These bits, just like the duels, are part of the plot so don'™t think you'll be waging war the entire game instead of battling for experience.
In between all of this fighting you'll be traversing the world looking for the Stars of Destiny and visiting all manner of towns. The various cities are huge; in fact I'd say that they are too big for their own good at times. Without much direction it is possible to get lost very easily and the inability to control the camera really hampers things. Yeah you can zoom in and out but without being able to check out your surroundings things can get pretty irritating. Fortunately this is only a minor annoyance, but it's one that's hard to overlook. Another negative note that I have to toss in here involves incredibly frequent load times. There are literally load times for just about everything and it really gets bothersome after a while.
So the newest Suikoden game takes us back to some classic elements that made the series what it was. The nice thing is that because all of this takes place before the events of the first two games newcomers can actually get into it. Don't let the V at the end of the title keep you from trying this game out. It's much friendlier to newbies than III or IV and is a rock-solid adventure that will last you a while. The gameplay involves a lot of flaws, but there are enough good points to outweigh them by a landslide.
Graphics:
One thing that the Suikoden franchise hasn't compromised over the years is the unique art direction. It's a staple of the series and quite honestly makes the games stand out amidst the sea of "me too" game design. Character style and animation is decent enough though to be fair I think it looked slightly better in Suikoden IV than it does here. In contrast to the colorful and imaginative characters though is the drab world that they live in. Environments are ridiculously large scale with few details and dull color schemes. Sure there are a few that break the mold but the bad and good seem about 50/50 in that regard.
Audio:
Suikoden V features a slightly better than mixed bag of audio selections. As we've come to expect from prior outings, the soundtrack here absolutely rocks and features catchy tunes at the top of their class. The voice acting however is another story. At times it's phenomenal but at others it's embarrassingly rancid. I guess it really depends on what character is talking, but I just don't understand why picking the right voice actor for every character is such a difficult task. Sound effects are generally the same from previous installments of the franchise, but overall the range is fairly decent.
Conclusion:
While the past two installments of the Suikoden series have been considered mediocre among some fans and critics the fifth breaks the rut. This is the best Suikoden game that you'll find on the PlayStation 2 and is as close as it gets to the original games as far as gameplay concepts are concerned. The graphics and audio are decent, but not what I'd call "great", though I've always loved the soundtrack for this franchise. Suikoden V is welcome to newcomers and like a breath of fresh air for fans of the first two games.