Suikogaiden

[Marshmallow]

I'm seriously thinking about buying this as an import, partially for aesthetic value, but partially because I want to try it out, even if I cannot understand any dialogue. But first, I have a few questions about the game. I know there are certain ways Japanese games can be played on American playstations, but I am not sure if these ways actually work. I have a Gameshark, and I hear that if you use it, you can play Japanese games, but I've never had any to try it out. Also, how available is this game (either volume) as an import? Is it as rare as, say, Suikoden II in the US? Finally, is it even worth it, since I don't understand Japanese, I'd have to look for some kind of walkthrough or script, but I don't know if it's a wise decision to purchase the game.

[Axiose]

I have an imported US Playstation and wondered that myself.
There would be little point buying a walkthrough for the game as if any exist they will most likely be printed in Japanese.

Suikosource has a pretty comprehensive translation to Suikogaiden. There is little to do if you cannot read Japanese other than look at the pictures and make the occaisinal choice, but as you don't know what they are, it's random choices really.

I believe there is a scrapbook album on the game where you can fill it up with pictures of your travels? I'm not sure if that's true or not? But I've wondered about getting the games myself, just to say I have them really.
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[Axiose] [Fliktor]

[Saben]

I have the games, although at the moment I lack a Playstation on which to play them. One alternative for those adverse to modchipping would be to use a Playstation emulator. They are perfectly legal and if you don't mind playing console games on a computer screen then it is a good alternative to having to modchip. I'm not sure how much the games are going for on ebay and the like nowadays, but I have access to both games without much hassle so there is a potential I could aid with people wishing to obtain the games without having to pay extortionate amounts, I would require a moderate service fee, but I still imagine you'd be able to obtain the games for substantially cheaper than through any other service.

[jjrrs]

I bought Vol.1 on ebay about 8 month ago for about $25, at first I was pretty pissed that I had to buy more stuff and trick up my PSone just to play it since it didn't work on my roomate's PS2 with modchip(then again he never tested the modchip to be working in the first place) then one day I just tried running the PS1 gameshark first and then swap the disc and it worked for me. But let me tell you that you are not missing anything what so ever if you don't play it and just read the suikosource pictrues and discriptions, yeah there are stuff that they missed but it was just way too painful to try to read it if you don't understand the language; I can read about less than half of it, but if you already saw all the pictrues there is nothing fun left at all cause those are all the pictures there is, and when it comes to the choices you make you won't know the difference unless you play it over and over again. Oh and by the way, if you don't have a japanese version of a memory card you can't even do that cause the game won't save on a NA memory card. On top of all that, the imports you can buy now are remakes anyways so there have no value in the long run either. If I would have known all that I would have just been happy with all the pictrues I saved and the opening movies that I downloaded and kept my money.
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[Eggith Cyrene]

yeah but suikosource is basically just a summary. I would like to have a COMPLETE translation. then i would gladly buy suikogaiden and mod my ps2.
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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.

[jjrrs]

Yeah that's about the only reason I'll see myself ever playing my copy again, but even if that is the case it'd still be a pain in the ass to play it and read so much stuff at the same time, I'd rather just read it all by itself. I have a media player system that allows me to record directly off any A/V output and I recorded Vol. 1 Episode 1 entirely twice when played a bit differently, they are half an hour long avi files at about 450 mbs each. I always told myself I should push on with the other 3 episodes but I'm just to beaten down to do it.
_________________
SAVE A.D. - S.O.B.s
www.saveourbluths.org Note:website does not work
Narrator: Please tell your friends about this show.

[Gaius Abruscato]

I played suikogaiden 2, and am soon to play gaiden 1. I bought gaiden 2 in Japan for about $20 new, before I even owned a playstation. (I played Suikoden 2 for the first time on a friend's console. It took almost a year!) But Once I did buy a gameshark mod and a PSX to put it on, I had no trouble playing it.

I muddled my way through the gaiden with 2.5 years of Japanese behind me, though by chapter 4, I was really skimming the plot. I must say, I wish I had had a translation to go by too, even knowing japanese. It took me a while to figure out how to get to characters and scenes I knew had to be there, but the options weren't available... It was odd. I did figure it out though.
With no easy-to-follow english instructions, pages on pages of kanji-filled plot... It was a challenge. For anyone not fairly capable in Japanese, I do not reccommend these games. For those who can manage the Japanese, well, that's another story. Gaiden 2 was hillarious at times. I really liked most of the story. (though not all of it). And I had no trouble modding my PSX, so it was well worth the $20 bucks I spent!

I'm very much looking forward to finally playing the first gaiden... (I should get it in a month! Whee!)

[Tarik]

I did not understand even a japanese word the time I bought suikogaiden. But I was pleased with it! I should work on Japanese so then, I can know what happen throughout the game :mrgreen:

[Skye Dragon]

I've yet to play Suikogaiden. (I have it.)

Does anyone know a cheap way to play imports on a North American PS2?

[TheAngelicSin]

I'm just curious how the Suikogaiden games play. I know they're text-based games but I don't understand how the game flows. Do the characters MOVE or is it just kind of a "page-flipper" where they just switch to a new image once you've made your choice or a new scene comes up?
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[Tarik]

Suikogaiden is just scene-to-scene, words-to-words, no action more necessary thank making decision which option you like to choose. So it's kind of boring for players who really want to play, but not to enjoy the story-line and to read.