Suikoden 1 vs 2 vs 3!!

[tekknopirate]

This topic is to see how you think the suikodens stack against each other. I'm going to start by saying Suikoden 3 is to me the most addicting of the 3. I liked Suikooden 3 story and the whole FC thing. But just because I like suikoden 3 story doesn't mean it's the best. Suikoden 1 story surpasses 3 and is better in terms of story and combat to me. I actually got killed by the Zombie dragon in Toran castle!! And Suiko1 had a more diverse rune selection 3's was not that good. And I prefer Suiko1 Large scale battle better. You have hardly no control over suiko 3's army battles. And I don't have Suiko2 so people can give there input on how it is. And how it compares to the others. People say it's the best it probably is, but why?

[Marshmallow]

Suikoden 2 is the best installment in the series, no question. First the graphics are incredible, despite being 2D. Everything is crisp and clear. Second, the battle system is more refined than Suikoden, but not over-refined like Suikoden 3. The story is the most interesting because it involves a country destroying itself from the inside with political strife, and the struggle of a small group to unite the country, while simeltaneously trying to fend off highland. At the same time it involves the friendship of the two leaders of each side, and how, becuase of their runes, they are destined to fight. Also, at least for me, I've found something new and interesting every subsequent time I played the game. There is so much to do and see, for example, in the beginning of the game, when Pilika asks you to go to Muse, you can go to Matilda, which many know, but you can also go over to Greenhill and check the place out before the chaos begins. Characters also show new potential every time you play, and since there are so many characters to choose from, and so many of them are just better than those from Suikoden or GS3, you can utilize the skills of new characters every game. Finally, there are even more than the 70 or so characters in the 108 stars that are usable in battle. For example: the Krakens, Chuchara, The Squirrels, Kasumi or Valeria (I like how there's a choice here) and McDohl. The music, unfortunately, while very good, is not as great as Suikoden 1 however.

Suikoden 3's only really strong point in my opinion would be the 3D graphics, which I don't like anyway, since I believe suikoden should have stayed 2D for various reasons. Firstly, more towns; since 2D maps take up less room than 3D ones, more towns could be implemented. Suikoden 3 also did away with the World Map, something that I loved, and want back greatly. And, Budehuc castle did nothing throughout the entire game, not even a music change to a faster paced BGM (which really made me mad).

[Kobold]

Marshmellow pretty much says just about all i'd say, so i'll add in things he didn't say...

The one point about the plot of S2 that i founf intriguing is that ironically, the person to bring down Highland while uniting their enemy country is someone of their own citizen. Although Suikoden 1 bared a similar twist, their's wasn't as ironical because even though Tir Mcdohl's father served the imeperial court, and his son became a rebel leader, at least it was within the country.

But Riou actually abandoned his own country, and went over to the enemy country to bring down his own country. Where else in anyother game or real life history can something like that happen?

Music wise, i sort of actually prefer Suikoden 2's. Compared to the others, i think its the best... Probably some even better than its prodecessor.

And i liked how S2 had their towns more clearly defined that S1 in a way. To me, many towns in S1 are not special enough... Like Gouran and Kunan towns. For S3, there was a problem of lack of locations... I feel more of grasslands could be shown, like where the heck Safir clan is.

Finally, somehow, i can relate to S2's characters best.
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Kobolds are great!

[Yumi]

I like Suikoden 2 the best, for some of the same reasons already mentioned. I thought the story was the most well done of the three, as it really drew me in more. I agree with Kobold that the music in this game is the best in the series. In addition, I thought the major battles in Suikoden 2 were the best. The stratagy game approach made it have a much better feel as a large scale war than the "Rock Paper Scissors" style of Suikoden 1, or the Suikoden 3 battles.

Suikoden 3, I like the second best. Call me crazy, but I actually liked a lot of the changes that other fans tend to hate. While I do admit that the Buddy System was not very fun, I really liked the other new aspects to the battle, such as the characters actually moving during the battles, and having a charge time for spells. Both these things added another level of strategy to the battles that I enjoyed. I also liked the addition of having a "support" character, as it allowed you to drag the non-combat characters out in the field with you. Finally, while it probably could have been done better, I actually thought the Trinity Sight System was an excellent idea.

Finally, I like the original Suikoden the least of the three. But, don't get me wrong, I still love the game, just not quite as much as the other two. While it was still an excellently fun game, I just thought that Suikoden 2 was a vast improvement over it in many ways. And besides, I really hated the major battle system in the game.

[Eggith Cyrene]

Suikoden 1 and 2 are just about tied in my book, but 1 has maaad nostalgia points for me so i think i like that better. 3 well is great and all (id say it is like the top 3 rpg's on ps2-not that theres been only a few but still) but i think the suiko series works better as 2D. And lets not forget that neither suiko 3's story or music were up to par with the previous games. and thomas should have been the flame champion damnit! but i digress. Suikoden 1 definitly takes first spot for being a kickass original game, bravo konami!
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"Hearing the CRY of VICTORY, He rests in Peace"



Suikoden 5 didnt make me less of a fan; it restored my faith after the abomination that was suikoden 4.

[ubertronmanguy]

Isn't there already a topic disscussing this very thing why not just post your thoughts there instead of making a new topic.
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Winne the Pooh>YOU

[Elc]

I felt Suikoden III was a good game (though I still haven't gone through with Geddoe or Chris as Flame Champion, but I'll get to that eventually), but the story for Suikoden II really pulled me in and made me feel more for the characters than III did, with the exception of the finale of Hugo's first chapter. I, too, was slaughtered by the zombie dragon at Toran castle on my first try. The only part of the first Suikoden I wasn't too thrilled with, was the "spin the wheel" mini-game in Lepant's mansion, drove me mad trying to time it right.

Suikoden II, while it mirrors quite a bit of the first game, remains my favourite of the series, and even though I began playing it just a few months after completing Suikoden I, the McDohl quest had me feeling nostalgic for the original game. I guess the creators really did their job with that one. Thankfully, the untranslated text in the game didn't affect any understanding the story, but it did result in one particular (unintentional?) humourous moment in South Window, where the guy spouts gibberish after making you pay to hear a tip.

So my opinion would be Suikoden II -> Suikoden I -> Suikoden III

They've all got their strong points, but there's something about Hix dragging Riou from place to place in Suikoden II, being completely oblivious that Tengaar is manipulating him while Riou is constantly pointing out the odd "coincidences." Truly a classic.

[Sualtam Lugh]

[Stampede]

I must be honest. I really, really, REALLY didn't like Suikoden II. I don't think I've ever hated a core cast more, with the exception of Final Fantasy VIII. At least Tir felt like he had some degree of importance in his army. I'm just disappointed S3 didn't have a play featuring Shu, so I could cast Mel as Shu and Branky as Riou. It's so symbolically accurate, ja? Riou and Nanami just... annoyed the crap outta me. I may be totally heartless saying this, but if my very best friend threatened to kill me if I didn't surrender, I would rapidly come to the conclusion that he probably DOESN'T want to be best friends anymore. Nanami and Riou really, really struggle with this concept.

Suikoden I is a great game, unfortunately hurt by the core mechanics of the game (Holy Rune instead of a "run" button, one rune slot for everyone, magic and MDEF being the same stat, and a clunky inventory interface). I liked the plot, and the core cast was a lot more tolerable than S2, but the interface is just a little... rough around the edges. It's the same reason I can't get in to playing EarthBound Zero or Final Fantasy... except that Suikoden I, being a PS game instead of an NES game, doesn't have the excuse of being short on buttons.

Suikoden III, I honestly enjoyed a lot more. For the first time in a Suikoden, I actually felt like MY character was the leader of the army. Except in Chris' chapters, of course. Chris:Salome::Riou:Shu, of course. Sure, Chris is technically in command, but everyone knows who actually makes every decision. And the addition of spell chant times and the skill system really made battle a lot more interesting, in my opinion. Quite a bit more challenging, too, if you don't munch out and use a party with Sharon, Cecile and Mua in the front, Hugo, Emily and Juan in the back. I liked the story a lot, too, and the TSS system is something that I found really benefits the "shades of gray" type conflicts that exist in Suikoden.

So, 3 barely beats 1, and they both annihilate 2.
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Continue to push until it has given, by the way.

[leena fighter]

I definitely agree with you on Riou and Nanami being ... lesser than great characters, but I think II made up for that on many, many other levels. I almost enjoy 3 most of all, for personal reasons, perhaps, but both 1 & 2 had a more enjoyable and deep storyline.

[Sun_Quan]

I feel honestly that all three Suikodens have their strengths and downfalls, but overall I did enjoy Suikoden 3 the best of them all. I felt that the intro song "Ai Yo Koate" pulled me right in, and made me not want to look back. And I felt that while the framerate had a ton of problems, the graphics still looked gorgeous in my books. The environments looked like the real thing in my eyes, and the Trinity Sight System worked fairly well, not perfect, but it was unique in my books.

However, all three of the games are amongst the upper echelon of RPGs for their fantastic storyline, the 108 Stars of Destiny which in itself is based off of a Chinese story, and the intrigue of "What if" for many of the characters of each game. That's how I feel, all three games are great in their own right, so why not enjoy them? Hopefully Suikoden IV will stack up as well.
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"Brother...father....for the glory of our family..." - Sun Quan

[Dark Viktor]

Suikoden2 is the best suikoden game why? cause its got the best characters[Viktor, Luca, Sasuke] and its got the most heart-racing boss ever [Luca Blight] best story and you finally get to kill that
S.O.B Neclord.Suikoden 3's TSS system blew chunks and it needed 1
main character not 3 so heres the scale
1-Suikoden 2
2-Suikoden-1
dead last-Suikoden 3

8) [img][/img]
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meow

[Pasius]

The ranking here is actually kind of simple in my eyes.
Suikoden II
Suikoden III
Suikoden I

Suikoden I really doesn't have all that much going for it beyond nostalgia factor. Don't get me wrong: I love the game to death, but the characters weren't very well played out, the a lot of the basics of the game (which have already been listed) were annoying, and I didn't feel like the eventual point of the game really had that much purpose.

Suikoden III was well rounded in a lot of respects. Individual characters were well panned out, and because of the TSS you got to get involved with a lot more characters. The 3D graphics is a necessary evil I think. The battle system added a lot of good things. Chant times, skills, actual positioning on the field. Not to mention the villians were straight up cool. :mrgreen: However, the game lost a lot of browning points too. The buddy system was really annoying. The fact that you really don't have any involvement with Harmonia, beyond the fact that they tell you the previous champion fought them off, kind of leaves me feeling like I might as well be fighting random monsters in the mass battles... oh wait I was fighting random monsters in the mass battles. On the topic of mass battles... it doesn't seem quite so "mass" when you are only fighting with say twenty some people. Also, I think you lose some affinity for the main character when you are forced to play through all 3 of them. The idea was original, I just didn't care for it much.

Suikoden II doesn't win out by much, but I honestly feel it was the better game. The characters in the game were likable, if only a little boring. The fact that the enemies are clearly defined during gameplay gives you a greater sense of purpose. The game, overall, flows better than the others. The mass battle system was simple, but actually required some tactics. I really like the fact that loading your data from 1 actually showed a reward for having played the previous game. (what did I get from that 2 data anways :? ) Repeat characters from the first game were enjoyable too. The biggest point though has to be the fact that I actually felt like I was at war. 1 just didnt cut it. You engage enemy here. Rock-Paper-Scissors time(with the occasional ninja cheat). 3 doesn't even get into the war aspect of the game until the very end. Unless you consider the intro skirmish with Chris, or fighting with a bunch of kids being at war. II actually makes you feel like you understand how you are fighting your enemy; even if it does break down to moving around like on a chess board. Jowy taking Greenhill, the out-flanking by using the water around your base, the Luca Blight attempt to raid your base. III and I really couldn't hold a flame to these aspects.

So yeah, I like two better, but I think the real point is that if we are all taking the time to write out these game comparisons, then they must all be damn good games. Sure there will be personal preferences here and there, but when it comes down to it, this is one of, if not THE, best video game series out there.

[Masaya]

Out of the so far triology. Suikoden 2, still was the most enjoyable compaired to the other two. For one, Suikoden 3's stars of destiny where sooo much easyer to obtain than the other two suikodens. Also suikoden indroduces characters that I thought seemed alot more devolped. Partly because most of them already were partly devolped from suikoden one, but still more indepth. I also belive the over all story line was alot better. Conflict between friends is always a great thing to see lol. Yes they did have alittle in suikoden 1, but not to the same degree. The battling system was ok, but really not that differn't from the other two. I didn't like the pair system however in suikoden 3. That annoyed me and I pray they don't cross it over to suikoden 4. I also had alot more fun durring the big army battles durring suikoden 2. By far they were more entertaining, and you were able to do more stuff than either of the suikoden main battles. Anyways, yes suikoden 3 had 3d graffics OooOOO pretty. And also suikoden 1 did have dragon knights, elves and drawfs. Suikoden 2 takes my cake with the odd castle games and awsome story. However dont' get me wrong I do love suikoden 1 and 3 more than most rpgs I've ever played.
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[Gwendal]

Hmm...it`s hard to rank them, but I`ll probably say S2-S3-S1. S2 had the best story, but I didn`t like its setting or characters nearly as much as those in 1. S3 had a good story(although not as good as S2), and I love the battle system. It`s pretty unique, and looks much more like a real battle than the other 2. I`ve always like the Suikoden battles where three people leap forward to beat up the enemies simultaneously, and S3 took that to a whole new dimension. I also liked the 3D graphics, and the characters appealed more to me than those in S2. But I missed the world map, and I wasn`t very fond of the Trinity system, though it was a nice experiment. I also disliked the "castle", and the fact that you get it so late in the game.
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