What is your favorite war system?

[Sai Fujiwara]

Well, again, you'll see me siding with the majority here. In all honesty no Suikoden game has really had a GREAT system for strategic battles. Someone else has said that Suikoden I's system is just a glorified rock, paper, scissors game, and that's pretty much the truth. The thing that impressed me with the original system is that it actually gave you a soldier count, so you could get a feel for how big the battle was.

This was left out in Suikoden II, and though it's the system of choice (for me), there is a complete random factor involved, and I find it rather irritating that I can't boost my ATK and DEF numbers past 17, (And that's one or the other) especially when one considers that you're actually supposed to BEAT Yuber in one of those battles. It's mostly the randomness of the battles that I find irritating, and lack of numbers to give us an idea of scale here. That's what was missing, and hence is why I favor a battle system similar to Dynasty Tactics 2, and Romance of the Three Kingdoms VII. (Koei, anyone?)

As for Suikoden III, it was basically a string of random encounters. Yipee. It wouldn't be so bad, if you could control the actions of EACH MEMBER, as opposed to giving out a general order. Come on, that was the absolute worst, because we all know how the computer's AI tends to be... *cough* RETARDED *cough*

And finally there was Suikoden IV. I'm still playing through this one, but the system is mostly fun, and there for entertainment purposes. Not easy to lose, but I suppose I like it that way. I'd just as soon crush my enemies, and that's the way I like it. Little to no challenge, just fun with a great story. :mrgreen:
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[Crono]

Suikoden II, no contest. I'm surprised no one has voted for S1 though. Sure it was just a basic rock, paper, scissors game, but it was the first game in the series and it's my second favorite after S2. I felt S4 has the worst war system, it is WAY too easy.
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"Into battle we ride
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We are strong, and not afraid to die
We have an urge to kill
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[Cedric]

Suikoden 3 and 4 took a step in the right direction. Your army's level and stats should determine the strength of the army itself. But the battles should be as challenging as Suikoden 2's.

With that said, I prefer Suikoden 2's battle system over the others. It's more engaging and it really does seem like the entire army is fighting.

But Konami never listens to us. I really hope they bring something like Suikoden 2's battle system back.
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[John Layfield]

[unknown]

suiko 2 was the greatest
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"The light in my eyes may have faded, but the light in my soul continues to shine."
~ Morgan, Suikoden 1

[Reideen]

None of them , to be true.
I can think of better Warsystems than those 4
They're not bad but...well...I wouldn't buy a suikoden-game because of the War-system ^^""
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[Weyoun]

I have played them all but Suikoden III's was the best.

Suikoden I: Suikoden I's was the base for the series, so the battle system would be the worst (i think). I's was ok but it wasnt that great. The worst part was i could never have someone from the Imperial Army join me becasue it was rare, no let me rephrase that: because it never happened. I liked it somewhat but it still was not that good.

Suikdoen II: Suikoden II's was the second best, i couldnt pass up a chance to say "come on Gilbo", "Gibo was wrong with you", and "i love you Gilbo". I know i get into it, and Gibo is Gilbert. Before i found out that the little person that represents the unit stoped shaking when it wasnt thier turn, i had a hard time figuring out who didnt go. Back then if i posted this then II's war system would be the worst. Also i just love the music.

Suikoden III: Ahhh Suikoden III, the best of them all. It was cool to see the characters just fight like a party battle. It made more sense just to have 3 or 4 people in a unit because there was no real army just the 108 Stars of destiny, a few Zexen knights and some Grasslanders. Another huge reason why i liked this one is because i really liked the music even more than Suikoden II.

Suikoden IV: Suikoden IV's was third on my list because it reminded my of battleship in Video game form. The only other reason is the music is good and you can play more battles by talking to Elenor.

So to summerize up: Suikoden III was first, Suikoden II was second, Suikoden IV was third and Suikoden I was fourth.
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[Wraith]

Suikoden 2's battle system was great.There was strategy in it while in S3(not being the story of a war like in S1 and S2 and S4)it seemed logical that they had the Fire Bringer's(108 SoD's and some soldiers).Still the S2 system felt like a real war.I liked the S4 Ship battles but they where far too easy,they should put somthing like S2 War system in the next game.
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[MMan9000]

Suikoden I's battle system was good, but not really as good as the others.

Suikoden II's battle system was better then S1's battle system. It had some strategy and more options.

Suikoden III's battle system is probabably the best. It has actual fighting in it, and you need to be halfway good with strategy to do good at it.

Suikoden IV's battle system was a good idea, but too easy in the long run. It could have been better done, and more epic and difficult.
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[Glen Cott]

Whoa, I'm definately in the minority here, I loathed Suikoden 2's battle system. I hate the way it never allows me to win when I want. Many of the battles I try to win as fast as possible and the experience is ruined when one crappy Highland unit manages to survive for 3 rounds by itself :@.
Also the fact that you could be winning 10 units to 1, and then Apple appears and says you must retreat, yeah that annoys me a lot.
Also the music is all choppy in the major battles in my game.

I dislike Suikoden 3's major battles because it never fells like you are leading an army, something I have always though as crucial to a Suikoden game.

That leaves Suikoden 1 and 4...

I liked Suikoden 4's battle system for about 5 minutes, until I was boarded and lost the Dauntless. Unlike other Suikoden game, I didn't really care to improve, that game drains my spirit or something :S.

And that's why I'm the only person to have voted Suikoden 1 so far :D.
Although the battles are far too easy at the end, that's only after you get 3 ninjas, and even then I love the simplicity of it :D.

[Felipe]

I liked the S2 war,the customization thing and the movement remember me the old FFTactics long days,and the guys screaming when fight sure os like children playing,its really funny.
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[Azn Shado99]

Suikoden III's system is my favorite, the moving spaces idea was pretty nice...

[Njord]

Call me old, call me traditional, but I still love and prefer the first war system over the others because it gave more meaning and role to the 108 stars, everyone had a part in the war game and everyone is needed to power their regiment, it gave another meaning to gather all the stars.

Suikoden II's war system was fun and might have added a little bit of strategy to the wars, but it was still simple, maybe more realistic for not having the unplayable characters, but still, it would make more sense for the other unplayable Stars of Destiny to do a simple thing as supporting the others in battle, and yes, some might say that they do support in the castle by for example making the food, singing to raise their morals, or even washing the clothes, but the kind of support I'm talking about is using the same abilities inside the battle, for example like returning some of their health in battle, raising their powers or maybe giving more defense power by the power of song (Jongleur Rune maybe, yeah I know they don't have any in Suikoden II, but still, let them use some of their own powers for once) or making them toasty and more cleaner than their enemies (secret power, won't tell it's affects ;p), things similar to that, things that makes everyone useful in real war.

Now, Suikdeon III, in my opinion, more engaging with the war in a way, but not having control on your characters action's is a downfall (talking about each characters action in here), nonetheless, I loved seeing my characters fighting so closely, even though it looked more like a gang fight rather than two armies at war.

Suikoden IV, well, what can I say about it, fighting on water is fun, but just like Suikdeon II, this war system is simple and easy, maybe less strategy in here, even though I liked how almost everyone has a role in here, but still, it didn't feel complete to me.

For some reason, I thought that Suikoden IV had war battles on land, I don't know what gave me the idea, but I remember seeing in one of the old trailers something like two tiny red armies fighting each other (similar to Suikoden II's war battles where the two armies run at each other when engaged), but since I can't find it then I might have been dreaming or something.
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[Shrew]

Eh... I'd have to say that none of Suikoden's war systems are excellent. However it is still great to have them because they add that epic feel to the game.

Suikoden 1- Short, sweet, and simple. It's not complex at all and isn't realistic. It's also damn easy. Still it's great because of the humor and fun of it. Plus it does a good job of showing a lot of troops on the field.

Suikoden II- It's great to have the ability to choose lieutenants, and the basic strategy is great. But the stupid random damage! ARGH! So frustrating! That is the fall of humanity right there. Bleh. I remember how Max, Oulan, and someother dope took down half the Highland army in the final battle. What the hell?

Suikoden III- Suikoden III hit one thing right on the head: character balance. The combination of 4 independent groups and this battle system meant that you had to use many different characters- not just a few characters you love and a couple story required characters. The auto system was annoying, but I learned to live with it. My biggest problem is the lack of war feel. It really was just a small group fighting another small group. It made the war feel so ragtag and small.

Suikoden IV- Nice idea, combining II and III, but rune cannons were awful. Maybe if the enemy didn't have idiotic rune setups, this would have been good. Troy was the only challenge in the whole game, and that was just one battle. Yuck.
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Fear our Vagueness.

[Falcon Critical]

Suikoden II definately.

Suiko 1 didn't take much thought since the ninja were so cheap, and it seemed like all we saw was sieges.

Suiko 2 - it incorporated REAL strategies - flanking enemies, reinforcements, and you saw the actual battleground on a grand scale. Archers fire from a distance and the unit special abilities were great. The people that didn't like this system IMO didn't take the time to learn it. Unit customisation was great and battles took a long time like they should.

Suiko 3 - similar to 2 I guess, strategy was coming into play here however since the battles were 4 man parties it felt like skirmishes rather than war. I seemed to lose some characters from active service ( piccolo was great in thomas' story yet I couldn't use him once flame champ came ) - characters used useless runes and abilities in a limited time battle.

Suiko 4 - the ship battles were interesting, but with a strong party you could just pack them onto a fast boat and ram all your enemies for an easy win. Never fought more than 4 enemy units ( or less ) and therefore it again felt like pirates fighting pirates rather than a military fleet. They should have done the RoP use like Luc's True Wind in GS2 - show 15 ships against your 2 then after a few rounds RoP and take it down to 3 or something.


SO IN SUMMARY - Suiko 2 was the only one that really felt like armies battling, and had great strategies. Reinstating this battle system can only do good things if they ever restore an old battle style.
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