Suikoden (PS1) Playthrough [1 of 2]
149A playthrough of Konami's 1996 role-playing game for the Sony PlayStation, Suikoden.
This video is the first part of a two-part playthrough, showing from the beginning through the events at Milich's castle. Part 2 can be found at https://youtu.be/Uno5NkwwBHI
Suikoden is the first game in Konami's celebrated role-playing game series, and it kicked off a long line of titles that saw regular releases between 1995 and 2012. Released about ten months ahead of Final Fantasy VII in America (https://youtu.be/h0mqRkhOvtY), the first Suikoden
was part of the first wave of JRPGs to release in the west for the PlayStation.
Like Koei's Bandit Kings of Ancient China and Data East's Dark Legend (https://youtu.be/w2HxEOoUHAA), the game is loosely based on Water Margin (水滸伝), a famous Chinese novel. The name "Suikoden" is derived from the Japanese version of the novel's title.
In Suikoden, you play as Tir, a new recruit in the Scarlet Moon Empire's army that serves the great Emperor Barbarossa. Shortly before Tir is sent on his first mission, his father, the renowned General Teo McDohl, leaves on orders to lead the troops in a battle raging to the north of the capital.
Tir's mission is a success, but the way his commanding officer behaves at the rural village of Rockland leaves him questioning the practices of the empire. Then, upon his return home, his best friend Ted is nearly killed in a bid for power by the imperial court's top mage, and Tir begins to understand the extent to which corruption runs through the highest levels of government.
Suikoden's plot takes off from there as Tir and his friends set off to right the wrongs of the empire, kicking off a twenty hour campaign brimming with drama, personal tragedy, and political intrigue. It's gripping stuff, and the breakneck pacing of the game keeps things exciting to the very end.
The gameplay is similar to what you'd find in any typical JRPG, but with a few twists. The biggest of these is the fact that you can recruit up to 107 others - the Stars of Destiny - to your cause. Most can be swapped in and out of your active party at will, allowing for an unprecedented amount of customization in how you want to approach certain situations, and you'll have to get them all if you want to see the best ending.
Making things all the more engaging are Suikoden's three distinct battle systems. The first type involves standard menu-driven, random-encounter style battles that pit your party of six against enemy groups, and these feature an emphasis on tactical positioning and allow certain characters to unite their powers for big payoffs. Then there are the large-scale battles that take place between two armies, and in these, you use characters' special abilities to coordinate attacks to devastating effect on the enemy forces. The third and final battle style features one-on-one battles that force you to react based on what your opponent says. Remember the insult duels in The Secret of Monkey Island (https://youtu.be/v2wZtbQgYR4) ? They play out like that, but with weapons.
The graphics are decidedly old-school for a 32-bit game, but the detailed 2D pixel art looks fantastic - the style is similar to what we saw in Square's late-gen SNES games but scaled up for the more powerful PlayStation hardware - and the soundtrack is a top-notch show of talent from some of Konami's best composers.
Suikoden is a short and easy game, but it's so well made and engaging that I couldn't care less about its shortcomings. It's a thrilling rollercoaster ride of an RPG that strives for quality over quantity, and it's a game that you aren't likely to ever forget.
I can't wait for the remaster, how about you guys?
(A side note: in the first gambling scene, I made several bets and wrote down the results for each. Then, since the results don't change between attempts, I reloaded my saved game and replayed those same bets to win a nice chunk of cash. I edited out the initial note-taking rounds since they didn't add anything meaningful to the playthrough. Just wanted to be clear on what was going on there!)
(Other side note: If you're looking for Suikoden's equivalent to FF7's Aeris scene, you'll find it at 8:10:40.)
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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