What do you think Suikoden IV did RIGHT?

[Sage]

Slash rune. I liked the idea of ridding yourself of the enemies without having to waste a couple minutes just bashing them in anyway. Made traveling by ship less mind-numbing in my opinion.

Combos. Learning and leveling combos was a good addition overall. A critique: It would have made sense for let's say, the pirate combo to be automatically known when you recruit them since they've obviously battled together for quite some time, as opposed to let's say Ted & Aldo's since they've never met before. The return of magic combos rocked. (except I never used a couple of elements)

Naval battles added a nice touch to the game, but I think they still could've been a little more difficult. I didn't like the fact you couldn't use Runes or Items during 'boarding' battles. But I did like the long range vs short range strategies and it was realistic to be more difficult to board a ship rather than blast it.

Voice acting was a big plus. However, there were a few times where I was thinking "I could've just read that" or "Voice acting would've been good here." I don't remember the places exactly right now though, so it must not have been too big a deal.

I liked recruiting Viki fairly early and having someone with a shop in your HQ right off was nice. But I still would've liked to be able to SELL something on board somewhere.

I like harder-to-get stars even though some of the vague clues frustrated me for hours. But that's part of the fun. However, there seemed to be quite a few 'useless' stars; not support, not fighters, maybe a unnecessary mini-game. (Oskar) On the other hand, there were a few cool stars (Ted).

I was a little skeptical about the 4 person group, but it turned out all right. I would've liked to have more when I was buying equipment and such so I didn't have to switch out people as often, but I'll live.
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[Sialeeds]

I liked the voice and the grafic

[VikiFanatic]

Wow... Where do i start? Umm... let's see... I know!!!

1. Being able to recruit Viki, VERY EARLY! She helped me a lot and i was glad to be able to use her as early as that! She should be available as early as possible!

2. Jeane is playable. Sure she may be a sami-succubus that annoys me, But her MGC is amazing! I really love her skills. only slight on how much i like her as a person.

3. Rita-pon is the best! I love Rita! And every other trickster. :D It should be in every game!

4. Voices count as well! I love Viki's, Jeane's, Rita's, Noah'd , Lilin's and Kika's voices! :D

That's all for now! D
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[ragerune]

Good things in suikoden 4? Let's see...

1. Jeane! She can now be played! :D And not only that, she has great magical skills! Oh, and she has a great voice too. :D

2. The Slash Rune! Oh yeah, this rune saved me a lot from useless battles.
This is better than Let Go or Release since slash gives you potch.

3. Training Room of um... what's his name? anyway, i like the training room in the ship. Really helped me a lot gaining a lot of levels. (i'm nearing 99) :D

4. Treasure Hunting - In the beginning, I was bored with it but it got me enjoyed later on.

5. Viki! She's cute! Oh, and she helped me in my travels. (I hate going in a ship)

6. A LOT of mini-games. One mini-game I enjoyed (and got frustrated too at some times) is Rita's game. I really had a hard time recruiting her, it almost took me an hour. :D

7. The environment. I like the environment. :D

8. Mushroom / Mint farming. I like the idea. I never grew a single decent mushroom or mint. hehe... :D

I think that's all. :D
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I WILL is better than IQ...

[Sierra Mikain]

[Ayreon]

1.-Slash Rune:equip one of your party memebers with a Prosperity Rune,and a Slash Rune,and you will become a Potch Machine. :D

2.-Jeane as a playable character ruled,and she became one of my favorite active members.

3.-Training room rocks,but i think it helps way too much in the game,and therefore,it becomes easier than previous Suikoden.

4.-Rita-pon: one of my favorite games in the Suikoden saga.Just pure fun.

5.-Voice Acting: Chiepoo's voice is just the funniest.!
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''Sail away to Avalon.......''

[John Layfield]

UberYuber, don't you remember eternally-giggly Jeane from Suikoden II? It seemed pretty clear to me which way her character and voice was leaning. Maybe she did a U-turn in Suikoden III that I missed, seeing as I haven't played it in depth, but from what I can tell, Jeane stays pretty much the same. After all, you can't even ASK to see her until you meet recruitment requirments in Suikoden IV.

Anyway, what Suikoden IV did right...

Story Framework

Complain about the story and how unfleshed out it was, but that only shows that the framework for it was solid and that we're disappointed that it wasn't fleshed out more, not that it was a bad story in general.

General Battle System

Four members was bad, rune spells looked weak but the speed and fluidity of the battle system in Suikoden IV cannot be denied. Hopefully, this will be added to in Suikoden V, with its flaws corrected, because as with the games story, the basic idea is good: Fast, smooth and good looking.

Voice Acting Quality

It may or may not have been solely responsible for a lack of dialouge in the game, making it the subject of much critisism, but, at least everyone sounded good while you were bemoaning the lack of in-depth dialouge.

Graphics

Not very important, sure, but at least Suikoden IV looked nice. I especially found Na-Nal to be a very nice place. More towns need to be made out like those in Suikoden IV. As in, realisticaly.

Graham Cray

Garham Cray rules. That's all I have to say on him.
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One day, I shall come back. Yes, we shall all come back. Until then, there must be no regrets, no tears, no anxieties. Just go forward in all your beliefs and prove to me that I am not mistaken in mine.

[Sierra Mikain]

[Elc]

I may be mistaken, but I thought this topic was about what Suikoden IV did right, not what disappointed them.
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"You make me smash the clock and feel, I'd rather die behind the wheel.
Time was never on my side, So on I wait my whole lifetime."

[Sierra Mikain]

[Punisher of Souls]

The Rush command came useful to me whenever the hero was low on HP. But I'd like them to make the next game having any party member use it.

There's not much to say about the party. I actually want them to get the six-character party back. This factor made the game look like Final Fantasy with a lot more characters.

I want this new spell "animation" out and the old ones back in, even if it means hurting your party members as in III.
About the healing spells: try getting into a fight. Would your enemy allow you time to heal yourself? No. don't think so. Suikoden III had the most believable battle system in all the games.

The unlimited inventory was a good addition, even if it's really impossible in real life. I don't like using any vaults in the game.

I liked the unite system. Especially if it took time to develop. I don't believe any characters would actually learn how to unite their strengths from the first time they battle, so they should keep that.

The voice acting was BAD. I hated it so much. As long as that improves I'll be happy. :mrgreen:

I want the characters to have a much larger background story. They deserve to have history!

A powerful rune, just like the Soul Eater. I practically wanted to destroy my television when I saw the Rune of Punishment's power. It was good story-wise, but battle-wise it sucked badly.

Restoring HP when levelling up helped a lot. That they should keep.

No Training Halls! It was too easy to level up my characters.

New Game+ was incredible. I want them to keep it, but at least make the character levels/weapons transfer. i don't want to waste my money on all that over and over and over again.

One-on-one battles were great this time round, especially the animation. Keep that and the next Suikoden will be a blast.

I hated the mini-games. I didn't play them, unless I was running out of money. Screw those things, maybe let one or two get away with it, and I'll be alright.

Changing weapons as they levelled up, although I would like them to change even with rune affinities. Let's say Hero weapons with wind make it appear more... wind-like. Changing as levels go up was too little.

Something personal: variable stars: you recruit him or not. He dies, someone takes his place. All that would be nice. Just like Ridley in Suikoden II.

[Alicia Longfellow]

Well, I was hoping for a voice closer to the Japanese voice I heard in the trailer, but hey, you can't get everything. Jeane's ability to be playable more than makes up for that, IMO.

Anyway, what did I like about SIV?

1. They brought back the Falcon rune! I played SIII first, so when I finally played I and II I thought, "Why wasn't this awesome rune in the third game?" Kika never left my party once I got her--now if Konami would give us a bishounen with a Falcon rune, I'd die happy. :D

2. Not having to use a warehouse. I really loved that part. Huzzah for unlimited items!

3. Ted. I was so ecstatic at having him in my party. Like Kika, once I got him, he never left. Getting his backstory was probably the thing I loved most about this game. Backstory on my favourite characters is good. Perhaps Geddoe will be next?

4. The music. When I saw the first trailers, I loved the music right away. The opening theme was as good as SII's.

5. Enemies like Troy. He has got to be my favourite "villain" so far. I was so disappointed that he wasn't playable. It felt like he was a mixture of Seed, Culgan and Squall Leonhart. Absolutely awesome.

6. Getting Viki early. Never have I loved Viki as much as I did in this game. Having her there earlier made my sea-crossing life so much easier.

7. Continuation of the awesome Chiki/Chimou star partnership. Grenseal/Alen, Camus/Miklotov, Percival/Borus, and now Sigurd/Hervey. All great characters, let's hope Konami continues their great legacy.

8. Playable Jeane. I want Konami to keep her that way. My main party was always Hero/Ted/Jeane/Kika. I wish they'd also bring her back as a portable rune shop like they did in SIII.

9. Standby parties. I loved that you could replace your battle party with a different one. It made leveling up a lot less tedious.

10. We finally found out who the heck Reinbach was! An ingenious move by Konami, I tell you! :P

[Aesa]

[fuji]

Ted's sidequest was done superbly. I thoroughly enjoyed that little part of the game but I wonder what people who've never played Suikoden 1 think of it...

Duels were done great. Added a bit more drama to an otherwise dull paper/rock/scissors game.

The Slash rune. Definitely a great addition to the Suikoden series and I hope it becomes a mainstay in the series.

Schottenhiem Rienbach III -- finally the man of legends is revealed.
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______ "We're still flying"

___ "That's not much"

"It's enough"

[Aesa]