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Hated it

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: June 16, 2007
Author: Amazon User

The story was predicable and stupid. You also have the "forced to answer one answer when there's two available option" haunts this game.
One question is "Do you want to use the rune?"
You can choose yes or no.
If you choose no, the game pauses for a couple of seconds, then the question returns - with the exact same answers!
So you HAVE TO choose Yes.
Why even bother making you be able to choose if No has no effect?!

The battle system was awful.
A slooooow watery effect show up before every battle, it's between 10-20 seconds long. Disaster!
Also the characters misses the enemy A LOT.
In a fight, out of 50 blows they could hit 13.
A big reason not to play this game.

The english dubbing is the worst I have ever heard. It's a nightmare, only 2-3 could act, they rest couldn't act AT ALL!

the fourth one just plain sucked....

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: August 01, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Sorry Suikoden fans, but Konami really killed this series with the first 3 releases on the PS2, 3, 4 and Tactics. All 3 games are terrible, and it is hard to believe that the same company that released Suikoden 1 and 2 made these games. They pretty much destroyed a new fan base they could have created with these terrible games. Well, the fifth was a masterpiece, but for the average gamer, it was too little too late. What I didn't like about this game. Suikoden 1 and 2 had great soundtracks, Suikoden 3 was OK, a few memorable tunes but otherwise it failed. In the 4th, I recall one tune that I liked, the world map halfway through the game. All other music was terrible and I thanked god for the mute button. The characters.... Well, in Suikoden 1 we can remember characters like Sonya, Teo, Windy, Kraze, Milch, etc... In 2, we can remember characters like Flick, Victor, Luca Blight, Sasarai, Leon Silverberg etc... These are memorable characters. Suikoden 3 did have some memorable characters as well, but it wasn't enough to save the game. In the fourth one, the characters are totally forgetable. I played this game a couple of times a year ago. I do not remember any of the characters in a good light, in fact, most of them I have totally forgotten about. I played 1 a long long time ago yet I still remember all the characters. Any way, the story is pretty much non existant, the war seemed like a small border dispute, and the two main enemies are just pathetic. Why does this enemy nation even invade the islands, well, it is explained in ONE LINE in the game, an unknown governor explains that they want to give the Rune of Punishment to the King of Harmonia for help in conquering the island nations. If you have played Tactics, its hard to believe that the Kooluk empire could be so ambitious, considering it is ruled by a bunch of idiots who are incompetent and don't even know who their friends or enemies are. Well, as far as a legitimate reason to justify this war, there is none. Well, i have typed enough, the game sucked, it was a let down, no replay value, you get the point...

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.

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.

Disappointed!!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 12
Date: January 14, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I am a fan of Suikoden series I, II, and III but IV is a completely different game. Sure the name and the idea of 108 Stars of Destiny is there but the main character walks weird, the dialogue is too long, and is rather confusing going from room to room. Suikoden III was excellent but I'm sad to even writing a negative review to one of my favorite series of all times. Rent it first before forking over $40

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!

Too long, too limited, too slow and too boring!

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 11 / 28
Date: March 18, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Before I get into my review I want to make one thing clear: Suikoden IV or any game like it (Neverwinter Nights, Final Fantasy, Knights of the Old Republic, etc.) are not role playing games. The way I see it they are adventure games with limited character interactions. To me a role playing game involves sitting around a table with friends, dice and rule books while game master weaves his tale of adventure. A video game cannot hope to capture the detail, the immediacy, and possibilities that can and do occur in a well constructed, well balanced, rip-roaring epic spread across medieval fantasy nations or star-spanning empires. With that in mind, I still enjoy many games like the ones I listed, I just detach myself from any notion of actually playing a role and accepting that I will be following a carefully scripted series of events.

On that note I have to say that Suikoden IV is at best a mediocre outing from the video adventure game outing. The graphics are substandard, even for the aging Playstation 2 hardware; the music is entertaining with its cheesy synthesizer sound track, and the story and characters are weak. Suikoden IV divorces the player so much from even most other so-called role playing games- you have NO control over any of your character's stats, abilities, or weapons and only limited input on magic items or equipment, thanks to a limited number of equipment slots for items. Most damming, however, is the almost criminal lack of input when it comes to making decisions in conversations, asking questions, etc. The main character often simply stands and stares, complacent and bovine, yet always looking doleful.

You play the role of a Knight of Gaien on the eve of graduation and the adventure takes place in an archipelago, complete with ships and merry pirate crews. Arrr. Bad things happen to the Hero when it runs up against the pirate Brandeau and acquires the Rune of Punishment and is later accused of murder and forced into exile with a few of his close friends. You spend an utterly inordinate amount of time traveling between tiny islands on a relatively small map, which isn't so bad except you can barely travel a boat length before having an encounter with monsters. The first few times is interesting as you learn the best combos of magic items and runes, but when it turns into literally hundreds of encounters the battles get tedious very quickly. And combat is little more than selecting what you want your party to do then watch it happen then repeat as often as needed to kill the bad guys. At least travel time is cut done once you meet Viki, a wizard who teleports you where you want to go.

The only other bright spot in the game are the naval battles, but even they get dull fast because again your control and options are very minimal. You select which characters man the magical rune cannons then give your commands and watch it happen. There is very little pretense of strategy save for knowing which elemental rune beats the runes possessed by the other side. Also, the game provides you with no diaries, logs or screens that list completed, in progress or pending quests. Graphically, the game resembles first generation PS2 or any PC game circa 1996- textures are dull, low rez, and bland. Objects are low detail and clunky looking- you can't pick up or interact with the environment in any way. Map areas are small and load screens are often longer than it takes to move from one area to the next. You can't climb or jump and low curbs like sidewalks stop your guy cold. On the other hand the static character art (from menu screens, etc.) is first rate, which typical for the Suikoden series.

All in all, given the technology and capabilities provided by the current generation consoles, this is a very substandard outing. Even Xenosaga had more interesting characters and story lines. Suikoden IV seems like it continues through inertia rather than generating a real interest from the story and its people. It's a dull, lifeless spectacle. It doesn't reward cleverness or good ideas, though there is little reason to since you're basically on rails through out the whole adventure. And like a six hour lecture on the differences between pre and post Columbian pottery, you start wondering when it's going to end.

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.

Did You Ever Wonder Where the Wonder Went?

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 31 / 35
Date: January 23, 2005
Author: Amazon User

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.

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.

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