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Very Disappointing

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: March 22, 2005
Author: Amazon User

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.

A waste of time and energy...

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 5 / 10
Date: January 21, 2005
Author: Amazon User

What happend!? Suikodan 3 was probably one of the most inventive RPGs I've ever played, but Suikodan 4 stinks.

The characters are boring, the story is dull and without any plot twists or inspiring hardships. The music is quiet, non-existent or boring. The gameplay lack challenges and the enemies constist of roughly 13 or so models in the whole game colored in different variations. Traveling from one island to another is slower than mud (literally hours if you want to explore the sea chart). Plus while getting most the 108 characters was optional in Suikoden 3. In Suikoden 4 it's practically required to continue the boring story. Basically it's: find people, watch a scene, find some more people, watch a scene.

I would rather watch pait dry, it's faster paced.

Not nearly as bad as you've heard

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: April 08, 2006
Author: Amazon User

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.

Not the best, but definately not Suikoden III

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: January 15, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I am a huge HUGE fan of the Suikoden series and I've been singing its praises from the beginning. Suikoden I and II were magnificent, but with the third installment bringing it into the new era of 3D rpg gaming, it suffered massive flaws. You can tell the developers felt the same way because the fighting system has been restored to it's original I/II style with some tweaking and the Duel system is thankfully back, which was always fun. The army battles from the first three are not included, but they changed drastically with every game anyway, so it's not to be missed considering a new style of war: Ship battles. Since the game is set at sea, ships do battle with rune cannons a la Sid Meier's Pirates! styled scenes where some strategy goes a long way, but it's more important you have fun in the battles. This game is not too hard at all. In fact, it's not hard, period, but it's fun. The music is nostalgic and sounds like a PS2 enhanced greatest hits soundtrack from the first two Suikoden games. Also, voice acting is now included, which is very new to the series. The story's not Xenogears and it is indeed geared towards younger audiences, but that's not to say this game isn't something worth following. The graphics might... not be up to par, but fans of Suikoden won't mind that. True, you might expect more, but you give it credit because it's still pretty. The eyes and hands look a tad creepy but, really, it doesn't matter too much. It looks like Suikoden III and plays kind of similarly but isn't nearly as slow as III. The gameplay is paced well and the story never bores. I find the game a lot of fun, but it's not the prettiest around. If you're into the look, get Star Ocean 'Til The End Of Time (also a very good game), and if you want your stories gritty and mature, you're probably looking for Shin Megami Tensei, but fans of this series will not want to pass this up. Especially if you loved I and II more than III.

WOW?!?! what happened?

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: January 14, 2006
Author: Amazon User

My favorite game of all time is Suikoden 2!!! I have never seen an RPG that not only put so much time into an actual fun and active+ creative story but involved original elements like your own castle/base which gets upgraded the more stars(characters) you meet, and recruit.

Suikoden 1 is good as well, hey everything starts somewhere. 3 was fun and had good graphics the story was really the only thing that kept it going. But you already saw the direction the series was taking when they down played one of the kewlest parts, the BASE!

Suikoden 4 just felt gimped. It promised and didnt deliver. I liked the initial direction of the game but when you compare it to what came before it, you cant help but look back and go, wait what just happened here? What made the whole series kewl was just sapped! Hell its on sale now for 12 something.... the game just came out like a year ago.... that says it all ppl!

If it aint broke dont fix it lol, do a search for suikoden 2 and if you like old school (although its not that old school) 2-d graphics I suggest you check it out. Last time I saw it was on sale for like 180+ dollars.... now thats quality!

Quit Hatin

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 6
Date: January 14, 2005
Author: Amazon User

People have been bashing this game. Just becuase someone gave it a bad review doesn't mean you have to go into the game looking for promblems. You'll set yourself up for disappointment. I chose to completely ignore the reviews and judge the game by my own standards. Let me start by saying that I own all the Suikodens and the IV plays like a Suikoden should. The game has its flaws {the main character looks and moves stupid} but it isn't to the degree that people make it out to be. Someone said the graphics suck. I take it that person didn't really pay attention to the first three. If he had, he'd of realized that these graphics {though not stunning} are better than any Suikoden's ever had. Not saying this is the best Suikoden, but if you truely consider yourself a fan, then you shouldn't be dissapointed. I've seen reviews as low as 1 star. ..... C'mon people, just cause it didn't knock your socks off doesn't mean you have to hate like that. Don't call the game BAD because it didn't meet YOUR expectations. I'm not far enough to say where this game fits in compared to the other three. But I am far enough to defend it against 1 star rating HATERS. If you call yourself a fan, you can get the game {which is $39 instead of $49} and judge it for yourself. You owe Konami that.

Favorite series of all time...trashed... yes?

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 4 / 10
Date: January 13, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Some people seem to think that Suikoden 4 is the best game ever, yet can't even write a decent review concerning it. Most people here seem to be too loyal to the original Suikodens to admit that this game is terrible. Suikoden 1 is my favorite game of all time so I actually know what im talking about.

The graphics are horrid. The towns don't get better. There are literally 2 dungeons in the whole game that are absolutely terrible. The character models are bland and disproportional. The main character has eyes the size of grapefruits while other have regular eyes. What's worst, the enemy badguys are so incredibly unoriginal and boring to look at. There's some grass with mist floating over it. Grass is one of your monsters... These monsters aren't interesting like those leaves seen in previous Suikodens. All the monsters look stupid.

The story has been done before. It deals with the Runes a little more, but doesn't really have much else to do with the previous Suikodens. Considering it takes place 300 years before the first, they can't put many original characters in(clive, flik, viktor). One of your first missions is to go to Middleport. When you arrive there, a man asks you to kill a monster in the sea. Apparently, it was just a black pot with the ability to call upon the water god. That was stupid and pointless.

The battles quickly become repetitive, as they are constant. Random battles occur way too often. Breath of Fire for the GBA had this problem, but those battles you could deal with. This game has way too many easy battles. Upgrade at a blacksmith and buy some armor and you'll be unstoppable. The water battles would be fun if they weren't so strategically easy. If your enemies have lightning boats, get an earth rune cannon and he's dead. It's as simple as that. The duels don't occur enough. When they do, they are so easy as you just listen to what the opponents say and you win.

The worst thing about this game are the little technical issues that Konami decided not to fix. For example, autopilot doesn't work ever. What they did for the islands was make large invisible barriers around them. When you first have to go to Middleport, cruise around the island it's on. You will realize that the collision size of the land is too big, and when you hit it, it will cause you to spin off into some weird direction. Another stupid thing is the way your character walks. He looks like he's sprinting but he doesn't move fast at all. Even worse, Konami made the characters swing their swords like idiots. When you hit an enemy, your character will walk up and lightly swing their sword. The sound of the sword hitting and the impact point are different. That sounds weird, but play it and you'll see what I mean.

So how are the characters exactly? They must be good, considering there are 108. Well, some of them are. However, you quickly learn that Konami didn't know what to do with most characters. Snowe is constantly changing personalities. At first he's a brave fighter, than he falls on his arm and breaks it apparently. He then complains about it and runs away. 5 minutes later you see him rowing a boat. He then gets out and complains about how he cant move his arm. The commander believes him. How was he rowing that boat just now if he couldn't move is arm? Why is Snowe all of a sudden scared of battle. About 20 minutes earlier you got attacked and he was fine. And why did those guards let that one dude raise his hand up and summon his rune? Why didn't they just kill him? Things like this make the characters seem stupid and uneven.

I would love to give this game a good review. I truly would. I loved the original Suikodens and Konami is better than this. One person said that the graphics were the best they have ever been in the series. No they aren't. They aren't the best in the series, and anyone can clearly tell you that. GMR reviewed the game and only gave it a 5 out of 10. This is a horrible score to recieve from them. The graphics are so bad to support the higher poly character models. Everything runs smooth, but it looks like crap. That leaves only one real question.

Why do you think Konami is only selling this game for 40 bucks. Why won't they just sell it for 50? Maybe they know that it isn't that great, considering the screenshots released a year ago look exactly like the game now.

Worth your time if you've got nothing else to play

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: August 03, 2005
Author: Amazon User

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.

great game and prequel

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: January 18, 2005
Author: Amazon User

the game was good and had some very good characters the only major problem i had with it is that the main character seem to be like the silent heros from the old days of rpgs meaning that he had no soul or character and didn't seem to have no character. i mean even hugo, chris, and geddoe have a character but other then the game was pretty good. the voices wasn't too bad either and the naval battle system was great.

Suikoden IV - Good and Bad

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: March 25, 2005
Author: Amazon User

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.

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