So is Suikoden V a great throback to Suikoden II?

[Gino23]

Im planning on getting it today (Love the 39.99 Pricepoint). I really loved SuikoII. Does this game really remind you of the great characters, story, and general feel that Suikoden II had?

[Ninjar]

I will say that this game has far, far better character development than Suikoden II had. I also found the story to be even better.

And that is my 13 cents.

[Cohkka]

It's the best game since suikoden II. Actually, it's better than II in most ways. The biggest issues for me were the high encounter rate combined with load time, but the story is glorious.
_________________
Quickly, please, the world is about to end.

[Blazing Camp]

It's on par with Suikoden II has being the best in the series. The character development is far better than any installment and the hero has alot of choices and facial expressions. The story is also one of the best in the series.

only cons are loading times and camera-views.

[Danny]

The Camera Views were okay, I thought. Though, sometimes it can be frustrating. I'd love to see the characters with the hero's POV...
_________________

[Zamza]

Better than 2? That's quite a statement, Suikoden 2 is quite possibly the greatest game I've ever played.
Man I wish amazon.com wasn't sucking and making me wait til May 2 to get it.

[Danny]

The 2 was okay, thought, not perfect. Some characters lacked... humanity or "emotions"... The only stupid thing I hated in Suikoden 5 was *spoilers*Cornelio's Mediocrities thing and Mathias' creepy moto...... (kinda ..... lame if you want my opinion)*endofspoilers*
_________________

[fc_conn]

I would agree with the statement that Suikoden V is better than II. I feel it is the best in the series, even with the loading times (they really are not that bad, I stopped noticing after a while.) The story is indeed glorious, and is so emotional and vibrant.

I still love II (and the rest of the series) but to me, V is something *really* special.

[Gino23]

OMG Are you telling me though, that the HIgh Encounter rate is back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I couldn't stand the encounter rate in SuikoIV....

[Firefly]

I loved V, but I will always have a special place in my heart for II and III. I'd rank it somewhere in between.

The encounter rate is high, but it's not horrible. I kinda liked the battles with the formations, playing with skills, etc.

The story is great, but there is no big evil villain like Luca. I miss that. Instead the villains are much more convuluted.. more like Jowy or Luc than Luca, but they are still good villains in their own right.

Headquarters is OK... Nothing can match the godliness of II's headquaters in my mind. There was not a big enough population it seemed... in II, it actually seemed like your whole army lived there you know? V's is more empty.
_________________

[jjrrs]

I'd hold off on saying V is better than II if you are one like me that think II is just about the best game ever.

The graphics are better of course but not good enough to matter; I find the characters less identifiable than in suikoden and II. Even when you are in your own castle you'd have to take a second to make sure the character standing there is who you think it is.

Storyline is great but once again not as good as II if you really loved II, plus there seem to be much less going on. I'm about half way through the game according to the guide and there seems to be way less memorable events going on than at the same point in II, with only a handful of key moments.

Also, don't know if it's just I haven't played II in a while and forgot how hard it was or what, but I find the non story related character are quite a pain to recruit in V as you don't really get any information on how to do it at all with some of them, and what is up with when you trigger an event with a character on pure luck that gets you thinking you lucked into a new recruit, yet you can't recruit them and they are gone after a while to god knows where... I like the fact it is hard but you should at least get better clues.

And most of all, I find the foreshadowing in V really bad. About half way through, there are hints for hours before one of the key "unexpected" events happen so you are not as caught off guard in that great way as you did in II, yet it almost seems to me like even the most surprising events in V don't live up to all the hype leading up to it.

I know I was told the best is yet to come but I don't think V will make me forget how great II is.
_________________
SAVE A.D. - S.O.B.s
www.saveourbluths.org Note:website does not work
Narrator: Please tell your friends about this show.

[Sophita]

Gino23, I don't think the encounter rate is high. I'd guess it's about the same as Suikoden III or maybe even II. I was NOWHERE near as annoyed as I was with Suikoden IV's incredibly high encounter rate.

For what it's worth, I would place it as my favorite and easily the very best of the series so far. It manages to give remarkable character development to most of the 108 and very few are "Oh! You've got a headquarters? I must see!" (Recruitment is harder as a consequence of this, though, if that bothers you.) It's incredibly easy to get emotionally attached to these characters, and that really helps, IMO - this is the first silent hero I really felt anything for. The plot is pretty good, but I can't comment on it much without spoiling a lot for you - just - don't spoil yourself, and don't mind the slow opening, it'll really get going fairly quickly. It has good pacing, something that none of the previous Suikodens have managed to do well. The translation is fairly good! (No What!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.............. or Joei or such)

There's a lot of fanservice of the non-T&A kind (just about everything you heard about the setting (and a couple more things) from previous Suikodens (and Suikogaidens) is revisited; whether you enjoy that or not depends on who you are, but I think it helps connect the history.

If you enjoyed S2, though, I'm willing to bet you will enjoy SV.

The main drawback is the strange camera, which harkens back to Suikoden I and II's style, but looks very weird (to me) in 3D. However, once getting used to that, it's great, IMO.

I did not find loading times severe - 4~5 seconds at most. What makes it bad, I think, is that they put up a loading graphic each time, making you think it's longer than it is.
_________________

SCII month continues! DueFiumi.com

John Layfield wrote:

But bubbles... children love bubbles! XD

[Fudozukushi]

Suikoden V has become the fourth entry into my favorite RPG of all time battle, which includes Final Fantasy II/IV, Chron Trigger, and Suikoden II.

The Story is absolutely amazing, filled with so much plot and intrigue.

The Gameplay is also solid, with more customization in battles, and my now favorite War Type.

The Controls fit perfectly.

The Graphics aren't like the powerhouse companies, but it fits the Suikoden series fine.

And as for the Music, well let's say there are only 3 games I actually have the sound on, this is one of them.

And as for gripes, Loading Times aren't that bad. In fact KHII Loading Times are longer. And to me the encounter rate wasn't high enough, so I had to farm for Great Firefly pieces, and even then it still feels a bit low.
_________________
Pizza Hut supports the rebellion!

[Hawk Thanatos]

I'd rate Suikoden V equal to Suikoden II. I prefer Suikoden II's story and the whole friendship part but Suikoden V gains points for the character development, SII's music is better than SV and the graphics are equally done well in both games. Suikoden V has slightly better gameplay though.

So they come out even.

[Parallax]

Hmm...well, I haven't completed Suikoden V yet, so I can't comment with perfect certainty that the game is better than Suikoden II, but I like it better so far, if only just a bit. This is a big statement coming from me, as Suikoden II was tied in a tenuous top-spot for my favourite RPG up to the point of Suikoden V's release. There are a couple of things I would say I still prefer about Suikoden II over V, but they are few and far between.

The main things that I'm very delighted to have back from previous Suikoden titles are:
A) The six-man party system. Reducing the party to four characters in Suikoden IV was terrible. I hated that aspect of the game more than the total lack of character development, the insanely high encounter rate, or the boring nature of Hero IV.
B) The skill system. I realize that it was back in Suikoden Tactics, but it was absent from Suikoden IV. This latest evolution of the Skill system is my favourite incarnation so far. The greater degree of customization available due to skills makes this system preferable over Suikoden II's, so I'd mark that as a significant gameplay improvement.
C) The world map. In Suikoden III, there was a point-by-point map, which I'm alright with for Tactical RPGs, because of the way the combat system works, but I hate it for conventional RPGs. The line and dot map didn't give me nearly as good a sense of Grasslands and Zexen as I have of Dunan, Toran, or Falena. The world map in Suikoden IV was just as bad, with tremendous amounts of empty space interspersed between a couple of islands, and a ridiculous encounter rate the whole way on your slow-moving and horrible ship. Ugh.
D) The war system. I find Suikoden V's war system to be by far, unquestionably, the best one yet. Suikoden I's was a bit bland and a bit too simplistic, II's was cool-looking and fun to play around with, but ultimately required no strategy at all. Suikoden III's had the same point-by-point problem as its world map, and Yuber's unit was frustrating to fight. Suikoden IV...well, honestly now.

I probably don't even need to post anything more, because Sophita has got most of the points I would want to make about the game covered already, but I suppose I might as well put in my opinion.