Amidst remakes of the hugely popular Final Fantasy series comes Suikoden: Tierkreis, an original JRPG with all new characters, settings and story lines.
While not as well known as some other RPG series, Suikoden can hold its own amongst the best. Every installment (dating back to Suikoden I on the PS1), featured 108 - yes one hundred and eight - characters, rich environments and innovative gameplay that is always tweaked and reinvented a little in each game. Suikoden: Tierkreis came out in March, closely following its Japanese release in December. And as much as I love Final Fantasy, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on a DS RPG that was brand spankin’ new.
WHAT YOU’LL LIKE:
Classic RPG Gameplay
If you’ve been playing RPGs for more than couple years, you’ll appreciate the classic feel of the gameplay inSuikoden: Tierkreis. It is classic, turn-based RPG action at its finest. You can dictate each party member’s actions - attacking, defending, using items, etc. - or hit auto-turn and let your little sprites go at it. The gameplay doesn’t try to innovate or dazzle - and that’s actually one of the strong points of the game. Perhaps I’m sounding a bit too nostalgic here, but sometimes all I want is to play an RPG that is striped down and simple. It’s like Tetris. Changing the music might be easier on the ears, but there’s nothing quite like playing classic Tetris with that familiar old song on loop.
Classic, turn-based action
That’s not to say this is a clone of previous Suikoden games; quite the opposite in fact. The gameplay, and story for that matter, aren’t nearly as mature as older Suikoden’s and there aren’t any familiar faces to be seen among the 108 Stars of Destiny.
Characters and Animations
RPG fans will probably also enjoy the array of characters at their disposal. I mentioned this before, but it’s worth repeating: there are 108 characters squeezed into this game. 108. And all of them are designed beautifully. I had to fight my Cosplay Editor urges while playing through the game, because I saw at least a dozen designs that I would love to bring to life.
The cut scenes are another big draw. True, some are long and dull. But there are several anime-style cut scenes, complete with voice overs, sprinkled throughout the game at key moments. They look great, even on a DS screen, and are likely to please JRPG fans.
Must... resist.. urge to cosplay
WHAT YOU WON’T LIKE:
Voice Talent
Speaking of the cut scenes - the voices are terrible. Not just bad: terrible. That would be fine except that the main character’s voice is the worst offender. He speaks so quickly he sounds like a chipmunk and consistently delivers lines with strange or just plain wrong emphasis and emotion. The other characters aren’t much better. It almost sounds like computer-simulated voices talking to each other rather than voice actors delivering the lines.
The voice overs made me feel like maybe this game was a little rushed; it came out only a few months after it appeared in Japan after all. And in addition to the voices, there is also the problem of the on-screen text. There was one character in particular who was never actually saying the dialogue that appeared on screen. It got to the point where I had to turn the sound all the way down so I could just read the text. Having her voice say one thing and the screen say another was just confusing. There were also some characters whose names were written differently than they were spoken. And if you successfully escape from a battle you’ll be rewarded with “It escaped safely.” I wouldn’t have noticed if it weren’t for other errors in the script.
Storyline
The storyline, however it is translated or voiced, is just plain cheesy. The unnamed main character’s quest is ill-defined. He starts off as just a clueless country bumpkin. But as he travels, he comes to hate “The Order.” The justifications for his fight against this Order start off flimsy at the very best. In the beginning, he simply disagrees with their ideals, which seems like a very petty reason to dedicate your life to fighting them. Only much later is it revealed that the Order not only has some questionable views on life, but they’re also not such nice guys.
RECOMMENDATION:
If you like classic RPGs, Suikoden is worth getting. It might cost you as less (used) than a Final Fantasy remake and its classic RPG gameplay alone makes it worth playing through. Just be sure to turn the sound off.
Suikoden: Tierkreis
System: DS
Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Find: Amazon, Goozex
All reviews are based on final retail code unless otherwise noted.
Want to know more about the game? Just ask! We love to hear ourselves type, and might even say something vaguely resembling an answer to your question(s)…
June 18th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
Playing without the sound on? I see your point, but that automatically makes any game dull. I think I’ll pass.
Oh, wait, no DS for me. *sob*
June 18th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
That trailer was epic, and apparently I haven’t been close to pronouncing the name of the franchise right for some time. You learn something new every day! I don’t know if I would enjoy 108 characters, but it’s a neat idea. I like a handful of really well developed characters more than a slew of passing ones. I haven’t played a title on my DS for a bit. Might be worth looking into!
Great review!