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66-644: The game centers on the political struggles of the Scarlet Moon Empire. The player controls a Scarlet Moon Empire general's son, who is destined to seek out 108 warriors (referred to as the 108 Stars of Destiny ) in order to revolt against the corrupt sovereign state and bring peace to a war-torn land. The game is loosely based on the Chinese novel Water Margin , and features a vast array of characters both controllable and not, with over ninety characters usable in combat and many more able to help or hinder

132-632: A "magic" bar that limits their special abilities, although they are usually called something different, such as the Barbarian's "Fury" in Diablo 3 . In video games, MP can often be restored by consuming magic potions or it may regenerate over time. Status effects are temporary modification to a game character's original set of stats. A character may cast a spell that inflicts a positive or negative status effect on another character. In both tabletop role-playing games and role-playing video games , magic

198-461: A Century ( Genso Suikoden Tsumugareshi Hyakunen no Toki ). It came out in Japan for PSP on 12 February 2012 to generally lackluster reviews. According to an article published by The Nikkei in 2015, development on the series has been halted. In 2020, one of Suikoden' s development crew left Konami and named a new studio called Rabbit & Bear, founded by some of the key creative minds behind

264-429: A Suikoden follow-up game called Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes , slated to release worldwide in 2024. Essentially, each game follows the plot formula of a coup d'état by corrupt power holder(s) and the protagonist is an exile from his/her home. The plot also follows the disastrous misuse of the "True Runes" while the hero struggles, despite overwhelming odds, to bring peace to the land alongside his/her friends, and

330-524: A close race between the two games. During the inaugural Interactive Achievement Awards , the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated Suikoden for "Console Game of the Year" and " Console Role-Playing Game of the Year ". In a retrospective review, RPGamer stated that the game was original, breaking out from the typical "Mysterious stranger saves the world" story-line, and also pointed out that it

396-515: A gauge that empties itself as a character uses their abilities. The magic system in tabletop role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons is largely based on patterns established in the Dying Earth novels of author Jack Vance . In this system, the player character can only memorize a fixed number of spells from a list of spells. Once this spell is used once, the character forgets it and becomes unable to use it again. " Mana "

462-414: A great story line, sensational sounds, and a user-friendly interface." He elaborated that the many subplots "neatly tie up the final denouement", the soundtrack captures the feeling behind each situation and setting, and the clearly laid-out inventories eliminate any unnecessary effort in playing the game. He identified the graphics as his one point of criticism, citing the pixelization when the game zooms and

528-727: A host, as the Beast Rune did during the Highland-Jowston conflict, self-activating and then feeding of its own will. Origin of True Runes and the Creation of the Suikoden Universe The story of the creation of the Suikoden universe can be found in books discovered in most games. The story from "Old Book Vol.1" from Suikoden I reads: In the beginning...there was "Darkness". "Darkness" lived for eons in

594-415: A rift in time. Suffering in solitude for so long, "Darkness" finally dropped a "Tear". Two brothers were born of "Tear". "Sword" and "Shield". "Sword" said he could cut anything to pieces. "Shield" swore he could protect anything. And so, the two went to battle. The battle lasted seven days and seven nights. "Sword" cut apart "Shield", and "Shield" broke "Sword" into pieces. Fragments of "Sword" fell and became

660-504: A separate point system per skill. For example, in the Pokémon games , each skill of each fighting character has its own "Power Points" (PP). If the PP of only one of its skills are depleted, that specific Pokémon still has three other skills to choose from. In god games , the player's power is usually called mana and grows along with the number and prosperity of the player's worshipers. Here,

726-744: A threat throughout Suikoden V . Northeast of Falena also appears portion of a landmass of considerable size. West of the Northern and Southern Continents and the Island Nations is a landmass referred to as the Western Continent, of which few details are known. Scattered across the world are mysterious ruins attributed to the lost Sindar race, which is a recurring theme throughout the Suikoden series. The Suikoden games have generally been considered to have soundtracks very well liked by

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792-585: A traditional role-playing video game , with the player moving characters across a landscape, advancing the plot by completing tasks and talking with other characters. It has been compared to Beyond the Beyond and, more rarely, Final Fantasy VII . The Hero may recruit up to 107 new characters to his cause, although not all recruited characters are playable characters, and the battle system in Suikoden features six person parties in combat, with each character being individually controllable, with an option to allow

858-520: Is a word that comes from Polynesian languages with a complex meaning. Mostly, it loosely represents power, respect and dignity. The concept of mana was introduced in Europe by missionary Robert Henry Codrington in 1891 and was popularized by Mircea Eliade in the 1950s. It was first introduced as a magical fuel used to cast spells in the 1969 short story, "Not Long Before the End" , by Larry Niven , which

924-411: Is also a commonplace occurrence within towns. Wilderness areas such as the world map or dungeons generally feature random encounters with monsters that do not increase in difficulty as the player's party advances in level, and the amount of experience characters gain is based on their level (a low-level character will receive more experience than a high level character, even in the same battle). Runes are

990-585: Is done for balancing , so that each skill does not have an infinite casting ability with equal results every time. "Magic" may be substituted with psychic powers, spiritual power, advanced technology or other concepts that would allow a character to influence the world around them that is not available in real life. Magic is often restricted to a specific class of character , such as a "mage" or "spellcaster", while other character classes have to rely on melee combat or physical projectiles. Other character classes, such as those that rely on melee attacks, may also have

1056-417: Is given hints on the best course of action as the dueling opponent will often telegraph their intentions. In strategic war battles, the four major groups are charge attacks, bow attacks, magic attacks and others. Charge attacks beat bow attacks, bow attacks beat magic attacks and magic attacks beat charge attacks. The 'other' command acts as a free special command enabling the player to, for example, learn what

1122-399: Is most usually used to cast spells during battles. However magic has many uses outside of combat situations, such as using love spells on NPCs to gain information. Some games base the strength and amount of a character's magic on stats such as "wisdom" or "intelligence". These stats are used because they are easy to keep track of and develop in pen-and-paper RPGs. Some games introduce

1188-429: Is one of the selectable characters in this game. Tir appear as supportive character. Magic (gaming) Magic or mana is an attribute assigned to characters within a role-playing or video game that indicates their power to use special magical abilities or "spells". Magic is usually measured in magic points or mana points , shortened as MP . Different abilities will use up different amounts of MP. When

1254-414: Is optional; the player can lose and the plot continues on, albeit in a slightly different fashion. Two other types of battle systems exist: duel battles and war battles. Both duel battles and strategic war battles are analogous to Rock, Paper, Scissors . In one-on-one duels, there are three commands: attack, defend and special. Attack beats defend, defend beats special and special beats attack. The player

1320-423: Is part of and later popularized by his The Magic Goes Away setting. It has since become a common staple in both role-playing and video games. Because skills and abilities are not usually lost, a game designer might decide to limit the use of such an ability by linking its use to magic points. This way, after using an ability, the player is required to rest or use an item to replenish their character 's MP. This

1386-531: Is part of the ongoing rebellion determined to face the corrupt Empire. Taking a liking to The Hero, he enlists him into the organization with the approval of their leader, Odessa Silverberg and reluctance of other members, particularly warrior Flik. In his short time there, the hero is only convinced of the need to struggle against the Empire when the hideout is attacked and sacked by Imperial forces, who kill Odessa after she tries to protect an innocent child. Recruiting

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1452-512: Is set in a world with many countries. The political geography has changed over the series chronology; while the most recent game in the setting is Suikoden V , chronologically, Suikoden IV is the earliest game while Suikoden III occurs latest within the time span of the series. Suikoden , Suikoden II and Suikoden III are set on the Northern Continent, a land mass composed of several regions. Suikoden takes place in

1518-872: Is set in the Dunan region, north-west of the Toran Republic, and initially comprises the Highland Kingdom in the east and the Jowston City-States, a confederation of politically autonomous states, in the west. Significant locations in Jowston include the cities-states of South Window, Greenhill, Muse, and Two River, and the Knightdom of Matilda. Following the Dunan Unification War, the Highland Kingdom falls and it, along with

1584-527: The 108 Stars of Destiny ; wherein the fighter characters recruited from the bunch can be used as members for the battle party; every game in the series has their respective Stars of Destiny . The series practically makes use of running around towns on different islands and into dungeons filled with monsters or enemies. A base or headquarters will also be obtained by the player which is usually abandoned, monster-infested castles which turns into bustling communities when captured. The most typical form of battle in

1650-537: The Suikoden franchise, which includes video games, light novels , and manga . Its direct sequel was Suikoden II , which first released in 1998. Game designer Warren Spector listed Suikoden as his sixth favorite video game of all time. He credited it as an inspiration on his work, particularly the Deus Ex series as well as Epic Mickey . He said the limited choices in Suikoden inspired him to expand on

1716-578: The Suikogaiden games and Suikoden Tactics ), there are 108 notable characters, all of which are recruitable except for in Suikoden III, where several of the stars of destiny were the antagonist characters. While recruiting all of the Stars of Destiny is not a requirement to finishing the game, recruiting all of them gives certain bonuses that affect the story of the game. The Suikoden series

1782-641: The Suikoden World Guide and Suikoden Encyclopedia , exist for the Suikoden series, though the majority are only in Japanese. Suikoden and Suikoden II have light novel adaptations written by Shinjiro Hori released only in Japan. Suikoden III was adapted into a manga by Aki Shimizu , which was released in English markets by Tokyopop . The protagonist of Suikoden I is one of the characters in this game. The protagonist of Suikoden I

1848-415: The " 108 Stars of Destiny "—the 108 protagonists who are loosely interpreted from the source material. Although the events of the games are not chronological, the entire series (except for Tierkreis and Tsumugareshi Hyakunen no Toki ) takes place within the same world, among continuing and overlapping histories. In some cases, several characters appear in multiple installments. A spiritual successor to

1914-729: The First Fire Bringer War. Notably, the Scarlet Moon Empire originally formed after obtaining political autonomy from Harmonia and taking Harmonia's old capital as its own, renaming it Gregminister, resulting in Harmonia establishing a new capital at the Crystal Valley. Harmonia is also home to the Tower, a location reserved for training and housing members of the Howling Voice Guild. Other major areas on

1980-661: The Island Nations is the Southern Continent, a landmass composed primarily of three countries: the Queendom of Falena, and its neighbours, the theocracy of Nagarea in the southwest and the New Armes Kingdom in the southeast. As the setting for Suikoden V , Falena has a large network of rivers and lakes throughout the country and the Ashtwal Mountains in its northern region. Key locations include

2046-591: The Jowston City-States unite to form the Dunan Republic. The Tinto region lying in the west, separated from Dunan by mountains, chooses to remain politically independent and becomes the Tinto Republic. Sharing Dunan's western border and north of Tinto are the Grasslands, which stretch from the centre of the Northern Continent to a small portion of the continent's west coast. The area is composed of

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2112-467: The MP of a character reaches zero, the character will not be able to use special abilities until some of their MP is recovered. Much like health , magic might be displayed as a numeric value, such as "50/100". Here, the first number indicates the current amount of MP a character has whereas the second number indicates the character's maximum MP. In video games, magic can also be displayed visually, such as with

2178-584: The Northern Continent include the Kooluk region and Kanakan. The Kooluk region was originally the Kooluk Empire during the course of Suikoden IV and eventually dissolved in Suikoden Tactics to be left as a group of independent settlements. It takes up most of the southern edge of the Northern continent and directly borders the Toran Republic in the east and the Dunan Republic in the north. Off

2244-563: The RPG Frontier Gate, Konami developers revealed that the Suikoden development team has been disbanded with members scattered about teams within Konami and elsewhere. This led to speculation that the franchise had indeed been abandoned following disappointing sales of the latest entries in the series. Despite these rumours, Konami presented a trailer for a new Suikoden game on Tokyo Game Show 2011: Genso Suikoden: The Woven Web of

2310-690: The Scarlet Moon Empire, which is located on southeastern coast of the Northern Continent, and is composed primarily of the Toran region, with Lake Toran at its centre. Notable locations in this area include Gregminister, the empire's capital situated in Arlus, the Warrior's Village in the Lorimar region, and the Great Forest. At the end of Suikoden , the empire is replaced by the Toran Republic. Suikoden II

2376-434: The absence of full motion video . A reviewer for Next Generation called it "one of the most addictive RPGs to come along." He particularly praised the look of the combat engine, the strategic elements of the war battles, and the lack of a resurrection mechanic. He described the story as "stock RPG" but said it was enough to keep the player motivated. The four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly were enthusiastic about

2442-656: The aspect of nature the Rune governs, as well as immortality so long as they bear the Rune. Bearing a True Rune can also have negative consequences, as in the case of the bearer of the Moon Rune being transformed into a vampire. A True Rune can also take the shape of a physical object, as is the case with the Star Dragon Sword being a manifestation of the Night Rune. They can also incarnate themselves unattached from

2508-399: The back row, usually due to either their low hit point total, their low physical defence, or both. They also benefit from being able to attack either the enemy's front row or back row in combat. If all six characters lose all their hit points and are thus incapacitated, it is game over and the player must restart from a save point . Exceptions exist for certain plot battles in which winning

2574-428: The characters in this game also appear in later games in the Suikoden franchise. Suikoden took roughly two years to develop. The soundtrack was published by King Records and released in Japan on April 5, 1996. It was composed and arranged by Miki Higashino , Tappi Iwase (Tappy), Taniguchi Hirofumi, Mayuko Kageshita and Hiroshi Tamawari. The soundtrack contained 2 discs and a total of 48 tracks. The Saturn version

2640-532: The characters to fight automatically. Some characters can only be recruited if the party has reached a certain experience level or found a special item. Combat triggers through random encounters and is turn-based . Both the player-controlled party members and the computer-controlled enemy combatants select their actions before the turn commences. Characters carry out their actions in the order of their speed. A variety of statistics determine in-game combat ability, including optimum weapon range. Weapon range requires

2706-581: The cities of Stormfist and Doraat in the west; Rainwall, Estrise, and Sable, located on the Armes border, in the east; Lelcar, Lordlake, and Sauronix in the south; and the Falenan capital, Sol-Falena, and the holy land of Lunas, governed by the Oracle, in the north. Falena has been protected from the militant theocracy Nagarea since the mountain pass between the nations was destroyed, though Armes continues to remain

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2772-400: The classic PlayStation-era roleplaying series, including Yoshitaka Murayama, director and writer on the first two Suikoden games, and the creative team also includes Junko Kawano, the lead artist on Suikoden 1 and 4 ; Junichi Murakami, art director on Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow ; Suikoden Tactics director Osamu Komuta; and composers Motoi Sakuraba and Michiko Naruke. Murayama directed to

2838-499: The climactic showdown with the corrupted True Rune incarnation. The 27 True Runes are powerful sources of all magic and primal forces in the world of Suikoden. Wholly sentient and possessing their own will, the True Runes hold immeasurable power, and are the equivalents of gods in the Suikoden world. Many wars have been fought over them in the past, some instigated by the will of the runes themselves. True Runes are often sought by

2904-561: The continent, due north of the Grasslands and Zexen, is the Knightdom of Camaro and the surrounding Nameless Lands. The largest country in the north is the Holy Kingdom of Harmonia, located in the northeastern portion of the continent. Since its establishment, it has assimilated various neighbouring countries, such as Sanadia, as well as a portion of the Grasslands – the Kanaa clan of the Grasslands became Le Buque under Harmonian rule after

2970-450: The cost of a 50% reduction in defence. Most runes can only be used in a limited capacity. The Hero (nameable by the player, though known as "Tir" in official material) is the son of a Great General of the Scarlet Moon Empire, Teo McDohl. Teo is called away to fight a battle in the northlands, leaving his son alone under the guardianship of several family friends: long-time friend Ted and servants Cleo, Pahn and Gremio. Together, they accompany

3036-619: The eastern coast of Toran is the island of Kanakan. Lying directly south of the Northern Continent is the ocean and several islands, including Obel, Middleport, and Razril. At the end of Suikoden IV , most of these islands are unified to become the Island Nations Federation. The largest island in the area, the Dukedom of Gaien, remains independent. West of Gaien is the island nation of the Kingdom of Zelant. Due south of

3102-413: The end of Suikoden III' s development. Noritada Matsukawa took over as Senior Director of Suikoden III following Murayama's departure. Suikoden IV was directed by Matsukawa as well but was produced by Junko Kawano , who was the chief designer in Suikoden I . Suikoden V was directed by Takahiro Sakiyama, a relative newcomer to RPGs. In an interview conducted by Japanese website 4gamers.net regarding

3168-422: The enemy's next attack will be. Weapons are unique to each character and require sharpening in towns that have blacksmiths. There are no weapon shops in Suikoden and equipment shopping is limited to armour and items. However, because of the need to sharpen a minimum of six characters' weapons at any one time, this can be a more expensive process than in a typical RPG. Information gathering and character recruiting

3234-485: The gaming community, though they have only been released in Japan as of 2007. A series of arranged soundtracks were released from late 2001–2004. Despite the first being released slightly before Suikoden III and the last at around the same time as Suikoden IV , the music was always taken from music in Suikoden , Suikoden II , Suikoden III , and (rarely) the Suikogaiden side-stories. Many publications, such as

3300-572: The help of Odessa's brother, former imperial strategist Mathiu Silverberg, the Hero becomes the new Liberation Army leader. After securing an abandoned castle as its headquarters (nameable by the player), the army starts off as a small force working to unite rebel factions throughout Scarlet Moon, and eventually becomes a force large and powerful enough to bring down the Empire itself and evil lurking from inside it. Suikoden boasts over 108 allied characters and numerous enemies and neutral characters. Many of

3366-563: The hero in a variety of ways. A compilation of the first two Suikoden games, Suikoden I & II , was released for PlayStation Portable in Japan on February 23, 2006. A high-definition English localization version of the compilation under the title Suikoden I & II HD Remaster: Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars is scheduled for a worldwide release in March 6, 2025 for Nintendo Switch , PlayStation 4 , PlayStation 5 , Windows , Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S . Suikoden plays like

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3432-564: The hero to begin his career in the Imperial Army. He soon comes to realise through his missions and association with his leaders that the corruption within the Empire's top tier has led to a country whose populace is enslaved and unhappy. Through Ted, who is left hurt by a top servant of the king's, he comes into possession of the Rune of Life and Death (also known as the Soul Eater), one of 27 True Runes that govern various aspects of

3498-561: The idea with more meaningful choices, with the development of Deus Ex . 108 Stars of Destiny (Suikoden) Suikoden ( Japanese : 幻想水滸伝 , Hepburn : Gensō Suikoden , lit. "Fantasy Water Margin") is a series of role-playing video games created by Yoshitaka Murayama . The games are loosely based on the classical Chinese novel Water Margin , whose title is rendered as Suikoden ( 水滸伝 ) in Japanese. Each individual game centers on themes of politics, corruption, revolution, mystical crystals known as True Runes , and

3564-564: The lengthy storyline, massive lineup of playable characters, different combat systems, and soundtrack. They described it as the most ambitious PlayStation RPG to date, while noting that it was soon to be eclipsed by Final Fantasy VII . IGN claimed the game was "one of the best RPGs ever made", stating that although its story is simple, the background visuals and music are beautiful and fantastic, and it never becomes boring. Jeff Gerstmann stated in GameSpot that, although not ground-breaking, it

3630-399: The player takes control of a battle party having a maximum of six people (consisting of the protagonist and 5 other characters), Suikoden IV , however, reduces the party to four fighters and one support. The goal of the game is for the protagonist to defeat the opponents who are trying to oppose his/her team. This becomes possible as every game in the series revolves around the recruitment of

3696-467: The player to think about character placement in the standard battle formation. There are three ranges from which a character can have the ability to attack: Short, Medium and Long. Short range characters are typically swordsmen who have to be placed at the front row of the six party formation, while Medium range attacks can fight from either the front or the back row, meanwhile Long range attackers can attack from both ranges but benefit more so from fighting in

3762-460: The powerful and influential due to their shared property of granting immortality to those who will bear them. All bearers of True Runes stop aging and become immune to disease and all other natural causes of death, though they can still die from physical trauma such as accidents or murder. The True Runes often attach themselves to living beings. Doing so gives the True Rune holder great power over

3828-433: The series is the turn-based battle wherein the 6-man team faces the opponents. However, it is not the sole form of battle featured in the games. There are 3 different types of battle present which recurs and have been accustomed to every game. They are: 'Basic Battle', 'One-on-one Duel' and 'Strategic War Battle'. The Suikoden series was created, written, produced, and overseen by Yoshitaka Murayama, who left Konami near

3894-419: The series titled Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes was released on 23 April 2024. A high-definition remaster of the first two games under the title Suikoden I & II HD Remaster: Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars is set for release on 6 March 2025. Japan North America PAL region Japan North America PAL region Japan North America PAL region In the Suikoden series,

3960-733: The six clans: the Lizard, Duck, Karaya, Chisha, Safir, and the Alma Kinan. Directly west of the Grasslands and bordered in the east by Tinto is the Zexen Confederacy, located on the west coast of the Northern Continent and historically an offshoot of the Grasslands. Important locations include the Zexen capital Vinay del Zexay and Budehuc Castle, which lies close to the Grasslands border in northwest Zexen. The primary conflict of Suikoden III occurs in these areas. The northwestern portion of

4026-471: The sky. Fragments of "Shield" fell and became the earth. Sparks from the battle became the stars. The 27 jewels that adorned "Sword" and "Shield" became the "27 True Runes," and the World went into motion. Known True Runes A concept borrowed from the Chinese novel Shui Hu Zhuan , each Suikoden game has featured 108 characters who band together to ward off a threat. In each main Suikoden game (excluding

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4092-401: The source of all magic in the world of Suikoden . Characters have a certain number of spell usages per "spell level;" governed generally by their magic statistic. For instance, a character with four level 1 spell slots and a Water Rune could cast "Kindness Drops" (the level 1 Water Rune spell) four times. Other runes offer different benefits such as allowing a character to deal double damage at

4158-438: The world. Because the Rune is ruthlessly hunted for by corrupt officials within the Empire and their manipulators, the Hero and his companions are forced to flee the capital city of Gregminster with the help of Viktor, a suspicious character with unknown intentions. Unable to move properly, Ted stays behind to delay the enemy. Pahn, unsure of where his loyalty lies, decided to side with the Empire. After escaping, Viktor reveals he

4224-404: Was a good game, if short and easy. He considered the game as a "warm-up" for upcoming RPGs such as Wild Arms or Final Fantasy VII . Game Revolution gave the game an A−, quoting in particular its astonishing musical scores. Electronic Gaming Monthly named Suikoden a runner-up for Role-Playing Game of the Year. Though the award went to Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain , they noted it had been

4290-480: Was a relatively simple game suited generally for "novices" and for "die-hard fans" of the series who hadn't played it yet and rated it a 7. Peter Tieryas of Kotaku described the narrative as telling "a sweeping tale about justice, corruption, and humanity in a way few games have." Game Informer ranked it the 82nd best game ever made in its 100th issue in 2001. They felt that its originality made up for lower-than-average graphics and standard gameplay. Suikoden began

4356-500: Was released nearly three years after the PlayStation original. It is an enhanced port including new locations, new enemies, enhanced colors, and a new opening full motion video . At the time of its release, Suikoden received mostly positive reviews. It has averaged a score of 82% on GameRankings culled from 14 reviews. Art Angel of GamePro deemed it "a superlative RPG experience. What separates Suikoden from other RPGs are

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