Is Suikoden 4 a disappointment ?

[Sexan]

I'd like to hear your oppinions, please.


(if the topic exists, i'm sorry, i'm kinda new :o )

[Hugo]

I didn't think that Suikoden 4 was a disapointment. True that is didn't really make you care for the characters the way previous games did. And that it had lost some of its uniqueness as a Suikoden game by appearing more like a Final Fantasy. Also for the first time character voices were used, but alot of people didn't like the way the characters sounded.

But that all being said, the visuals were spectacular and it introduced alot of new ideas and questions to the Suikoden series and with Rhapsodia coming out, we may find out why Suikoden 4 ' s story was so vague. It was a step up from Suikoden 3 and the quality of the games will only continue to get better.

Konami like to build suspense and the fact that Suikoden 4 was not a revolutionary and a ground breaking blockbuster game on purpose means that the next Suikoden games could be if they use Suikoden 4 as a stepping stone. You only need to look at games like OZ to realize what Konami are capable of.

[Wolf Stew]

I think if you view Suikoden 4 as a stand-alone game, it holds up well, story-wise. The gameplay is little too easy though, especially recruiting the 108 characters.....there are only a handful of characters who are a challenge to recruit.

But if you hoped Suikoden 4 would shed more light on the Suikoden world and the mysteries of the previous 3 games, then S4 is definitely a disappointment. S4 pretends like the previous 3 games didn't exist, really.

[Fundertaker]

Well, time-wise in Suikoden, they didn't :D

As for my opinion, I was with very low perspectives about it (I've read really bad things about it), but it came out to be a very good game (OK, not the best, but an overall good game). I still play it, since I find Ritapon rather addictive...
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[Sexan]

I was a little disapointed by the characterization of the characters in the game. Personally, i think that this "stepping stone" didn't use all the potential it had, especially because they had a great story "skeleton", but they simply pooped that.

On the other hand, 4 characters in a battle is a new thing (4 me not a good thing, but...), voices are great (IMO), visually the game is... :shock: , and it bring a lot's of new thing in the serial.

A good game, but is it a good Suikoden?
Yes. IMO better than the third game.

IMO :D

[KFCrispy]

it was surely a disappointment to me. a few things are fun, but the rest is more frustrating. not only did it feel like they took steps backwards to a combination of Suikoden 1 and 2, but some things, like the menu system (no information on equipment, hard to navigate), characters & development, and plot and its attempted development were simply unacceptable to me. it feels that developers focused more on the mini-games than anything, which makes it as interesting to play as Minesweeper and Freecell. the fighting system has no depth and the story and characters don't provide any desire to actually continue a New Game+. moreover, the sailing system is horrible, enemy encounter rate is incredulous, material collecting is a huge waste of time (wasted so many hours trying to get Frog Skins and other materials and still never got nearly enough since you need so many to make one of each set).

gameplay-wise, the only things of challenge/interest were some mini-games (Ritapon, the card game 52 or something, fungus wars, confessions, and of course--treasure hunting!), Reinhold's arena (being able to face strong versions of your own allies), and beating the Gold Angel at the beginning of New Game+ to get the Golden Hammer immediately--unfortunately, making money early in the game is a bitch (mainly because of sailing) as well as having to constantly switch characters just to give them equipment and upgrades. it feels like the game only wants you to use like 10 characters total (like a.... Final Fantasy game!!!!!! i see through their conspiracy!!!) each time you play.

ON TOP OF EVERYTHING, the graphics feel like they brought Suikoden 1 to the 3-D world and didn't bother to take advantage of the fact that they were now polygons instead of rectangular sprites. Suikoden 3's characters were SO MUCH more detailed and animated and emotional than these guys in 4. you are literally a rectangle in this game; your legs don't move beyond your nose and butt, and your hands rarely get to do anything. and of course these rules make you run like a freak. okay. the super speed from "True Holy Rune" was good but it made things look freakier.
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[Aesa]

This is my quick 2-cents right here

>Suiko4 was a dissapointment to the Suikoden Series
>Suiko4 was an above average RPG though
>Had a good idea that will hopefully being continued in Rhapsodia
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[KFCrispy]

Rhapsodia seems promising because it seems to cover all the things i would have wanted in 4-- much more coverage of characters and their pasts, seemingly grander plot spanning several years, and a hardcore battle system that may even scare me--i probably spent 10 minutes on the first battle in FF Tactics, wasn't done yet, and never touched the game again. maybe i'm just that impatient.. but i'll try harder for Suikoden!
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[Jinners]

When i got Suikoden 4, i never previously played 3 2 or 1. So i really didnt know what to expect. My friend on MSN kept on ranting and raving about how good the series was, so i got it at the first chance. And well, the opening was very nice, however i dont care much for graphics, i focus for story. And this game....the background seemed washed out---everything seemed washed out, the runes looked a bit cheaply done. Though i overlooked that...

The characters themselves seemed like pieces of eye candy and many events were not necessary. And recruiting seemed like the biggest pain since trying to understand Unlimited Saga (which was a breakthrough to me) although the voice acting was very nicely done (Reinbach ahaha xD). The boat though...my *biggest* gripe about Suikoden 4 was the boat....i wished one of the waves or rocks could had sunk it i swear i spent more time cursing at my TV then i did picking favorites.

I ended up grabbing golden sun and playing it while holding down the forward button and R1 (or whatever makes it go faster) and not payin attention.
The story--was there a story through the game? It was pretty weak...

A few weeks later i got ahold of a copy of Suikoden 3---and got far more immerssed in that (although Chris and the zexens bored me to tears) so..when compared to 3 it was a disappointment. (I cant vouch for suikoden 1 or 2 on account of not being lucky enough to touch it)

The graphics were pretty...plain. Over all i would have rated it a 7/10. It Was a disappointment---if you compare it. As a stand alone it is an above average rpg. At least it didnt have huge load up times like in shining tears (i want to stab that game, i really do)

[Jossef]

Yes. I found Suikoden IV to be a complete disappointment.

I played the games in order, and from I to III, and for me, I felt as if the storylines have become more involving and deep, the number of characters I wanted to know more about and use in my party grew more and the gameplay kept advancing even to the point it had a style of it's own in III, one unlike any other game and one that was quite intilligently done.
And then came IV.
In playing it right now, it has been so dull. I like about three characters, the storyline has been boring me senseless and the boat battles, number of random battles and the speed of the damn boat has been stomping a mudhole into my willpower to finish the game. It also has my singlemost hated character in any game EVER, Snowe.

And these are the reasons why.
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[Filipe]

I would most definately not go so far as to say that, the game was a dissappointment, merely that those dissappointed in the game set unrealistic expectations for it. Frankly, as a Suikoden game it was a great game, but people were so transfixed on getting another game like Suikoden 2 they found it lacking. People found Suikoden 3 to be a dissappointment for the exact same reason which is rediculous. If people wanted to play a game that was a mirror to the play style of Suikoden 2 then go and play Suikoden 2. Dont go complaining about other games in the series, just because you want them to be mirror images of Suikoden 2. It's the same for those that insist on wanting every single rpg out there to be like Final Fantasy 7. Thats why Final Fantasy 8 was such a miserable, fan failure because everyone insisted on comparing it to Final Fantasy 7.

A I saying that Suikoden 4 was an awesome game? Of course not, like any other game including Suikoden 2 have their own problems. What people need to realize is, with time company employees come, and go so you cant expect the same people literally to make one game to the next. This goes for everything from storyline, to characters, to graphics for that matter. Now can anyone honestly say that the game was a dissappointment when you completely ignore the fact that it's a Suikoden game. I dont think so, and frankly I dont think many others will either.
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[Jhones]

I found the game to be rather fun.

Not a dissapointment, but also, not really a Great game either. (I reserve that for games that really draw me in, like the Atlus games)

Over all, it was above average like all the other Suikodens. Calling it a dissapointment was because you were setting your sights too damn high and expecting a carbon copy of a game that's over eight years old.
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[Starslasher]

Suikoden IV, to me, was a disappointment in several ways. One, in comparison to Suikoden III (hoping to play I and II soon). and Two, in not living up to the expectations i had of it. Three, the lack of character development.

The storyline was alright. It did have the Suikoden elements. But it didn't go into enough details. Perhaps Rhapsodia will fill in the holes.

The best thing baout IV would have to be the graphics. I felt that they were pretty good for 3D, and much better than in III, where people waddled quickly, instead of ran. :roll:

I really didn't get to see enough of the characters. You definietely got more personality with the previous Suikoden's characters, including the recruitables. I felt that there wasn't enough in IV.

On it's own, it was good. It had its good moments.

Overall, my opinion of Suikoden IV is pretty much the same as Wolf Stew's, up there.
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[Axiose]

I liked it. In place I found it quite lacking in attention. For example, sailing around the Islands could've been done better instead of that invisible-arc that happened when you neared an Island. I would've liked to have seen random NPC boats sailing around that were traveling merchants and such.

But really, my only quabbles are small gameplay changes, but so far, no Suikoden has been free of gameplay annoyances for me.

I must be one of the only people to actually like the character development in Suikoden IV. It was more subtle than anything else, but I still think it was there and Rhapsodia should fill in further detail about the characters.

The plot was just what I had hoped. Contained True Runes, Harmonia, betrayal and hope. We had two pronged endings depending on your recruitment of the 108 Stars of Destiny as well.

I have to agree with KFCrispy in that it felt the developers focused more on the minigames than the gameplay. The minigames weren't that great to be honest, and I only played them to get items. After that, I would't bother.
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[Axiose] [Fliktor]

[Beecham]

Suikoden 4 was a disappointment at first play, indeed. But after playing is a second time, I realised this was better than Suikoden 3.

Ok, so it lacked character development. But truth is, all the Suikoden games lacked character development one way or another. 4 is being WAY too underrated in my perspective people...

To make up for this lack of character development, they made Rhapsodia. Of course one can argue that it is to milk the series of it worth, but I see it differently. Rhapsodia is there to answer the questions left unanswered by 4. This will make it interesting, as it may answer some questions about the game, and how it joins up with one. If so, it will quash all the claims of it just being a marketing gimmick...

I must agree with Filktor and KFCrispy that the minigames went overboard, but I also agree Fundertaker that Ritapon was well developed... Even if it was a pirated version of Mahjong...

But regardless, 4 way overly undaerrated, and my two cent? 3 was overrated guys...