12) Suikoden (1996)

One of my favorite aspects of the RPG genre is having a variety of characters from which to choose to put in my party. It makes the journey to save the kingdom or world seem more realistic when you have more than just four or five people out there trying to do it, and it allows for replayability by virtue of giving you options and even challenges for your adventure. No franchise, outside of the monster collecting subgenre, does this better than Suikoden, which offers over 100 recruitable characters. But the question is, does bigger mean better?

The original Suikoden released for the Plasystation in Japan in 1995, seeing a western release the following year. It and its sequel were released for the PSP in Japan in 2006, while we in the west would have to wait until earlier this year to see the first two games remastered for modern consoles. For my part, I have always been interested in the series, though I always felt a little intimidated by it. As someone who likes to collect everything I can in a video game, the idea of so many missable characters, combined with the rarity and aftermarket price of Suikoden II, kept me at bay. However, the remaster gave me a great excuse to finally dive into the series.

We start by naming our mute hero who is the son of a renowned general of the Scarlet Moon Empire. As I am a very serious adult, I chose the name Spooge, which was great fun when characters would yell his name. Our father, Teo, is called away to serve the Empire, leaving Spooge in the care of servants Cleo, Pahn, and Gremio, and our long time friend Ted. They accompany Spooge as he begins his career in the Imperial Army, but as is often the case, we find that the Empire is corrupt and the people are unhappy. This comes to a head when our good buddy Ted is mortally wounded after using the power of a rune on his hand. Before he dies, he passes this rune to us, burdening us with one of the 27 True Runes that the Empire is searching for.

With the help of a shady stranger named Viktor, we escape the Empire and join up with a resistance group led by a woman named Odessa Silverburg. After some plot, Odessa is killed while protecting a child, and we must enlist the aid of her brother, master strategist Mathiu. From here, we secure an abandoned castle in which we will begin to form and grow our Liberation Army. It's here we gain a bit more freedom and things, while still linear, feel more open and up to the player. We get to name our castle, which I named Testêáu Castle, because Spooge is nothing if not fancy.

It's also here that we learn of the 108 Stars of Destiny, which is a concept borrowed from the Chinese novel "Shui Hu Zhuan", or "Outlaws of the Marsh", which is a story about 108 outlaws gathering to rebel against the government. The Suikoden series as a whole borrows this motif, as each game features 108 notable characters for you to find and recruit. That seems like a lot, but it's important to note that a number of them are plot related, and not all of them are playable. As you progress, you'll find recruitable characters that open up new features of your castle, such as shops, weaponsmiths, and even someone that lets you listen to songs from the game. This, along with various times your castle will expand, helps to give a sense of growth and really makes it feel as though you're raising an army, even if a few of the people you pick up are.... Less helpful than others.

Combat is divided into three distinct sections. You have your standard turn based combat which allows you to have a party of up to six characters which will make up the vast majority of combat. You also have duels and war battles, both of which utilize a rock, paper, scissors mechanic. The war battles, being more common, are usually fairly easy and feature some incredibly adorable pixel art to show the size and scale. The duels are a bit more frustrating. While the opponent telegraphs their intentions, they do so in a vague way that makes it feel more like trial and error, though these moments tend to look and feel pretty damn cool.

Each playable character has their own equipment and inventory, but have a weapon that is unique to them. With one notable exception, you don't get new weapons, you simply spend money to upgrade what they have. Overall, I like this mechanic quite a bit, though it does makes it feel as though certain characters are inherently better than others. The rune system, which is how magic and spells are handled, also adds to this as only certain characters can use certain runes. While I don't hate this, I feel it could have been handled a bit better.

You might be wondering how having so many characters, with so many of them being optional, affects the story. Sadly, for the most part, it doesn't. The optional characters are incredibly light on story and dialogue, while other characters, such as Flik and Victor, are given large roles in the plot, often forcing them to be in the party. This seems counter intuitive, as you're given so many options, then forced to have half of your party be certain characters. This is made worse, in my eyes, by forcing Flik and Victor to be in your party for the final battle. I didn't use them unless forced to, meaning they were vastly underleveled and equipped at the end. Luckily, they caught up quickly, but it still felt like a disservice to characters I actually liked.

Another aspect of combat that can influence your party composition is the inclusion of Unite attacks, which see two or more specific characters having the option to attack at the same time with a unique attack. While I love this concept, it mostly felt superfluous, as the Unite attacks are, for the most part, not much better than using your standard attacks, and sometimes worse. Still, it is a fun addition that encourages experimentation.

Ultimately, Suikoden is a slightly above average RPG which is bolstered by a handful of unique mechanics that make it stand out. It's a solid start to a franchise that succeeds more often than it fails. It's story lacks any major twists, outside of one of the most gruesome yet oddly humorous off screen deaths I've ever seen. Seriously, it's supposed to be a big, sad, dramatic moment, but it comes off like a joke I'd expect in a Mel Brooks movie. Overall, my biggest complaint is simply the lack of substantial plot relevance for a lot of characters, and recruiting them felt more like ticking off boxes than anything else. Still, I always applaud games that give you options, rewards exploration, and allows you to play in a suboptimal way, which Suikoden certainly does.