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88-511: Suikoden II takes place 3 years after the events of the original Suikoden and centers on an invasion of the City-States of Jowston by the Kingdom of Highland. The player controls a silent protagonist who is the adopted son of Genkaku, a hero who saved the City-States of Jowston in a war against Highland years ago. The protagonist and his best friend, Jowy Atreides, each gain one half of

176-414: A shoot 'em up , citing his preference for arcade action titles such as Taito 's Metal Black . Committed from the start to make a franchise to rival series such as Enix 's Dragon Quest and Square 's Final Fantasy , Murayama wrote the scenario of the first Suikoden. With the success of the first game a sequel gained a green-light. After reading fan letters Murayama decided that the selling point of

264-401: A silent protagonist , advancing the plot by completing tasks and talking with other characters. The player can also recruit over 100 new characters to his cause, often involving a short sidequest to do so. In towns, the player can gather information, sharpen characters' weaponry, and buy equipment and runes; wilderness areas generally feature random encounters with monsters. Like other games of

352-461: 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

440-429: 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

528-526: 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

616-414: 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

704-727: 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

792-427: A reprinting of the game. Despite this, the game received "favorable" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic . Francesca Reyes of Next Generation called it "One of the best RPGs to hit PlayStation this year." Since the 2010s, reanalysis of the game is often met with critical praise, and many video game critics and players alike consider it to be one of the best Konami games as well as one of

880-415: 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

968-479: A ruined castle on the lake shore from the vampire Neclord, the group uses the castle as a new base to build their forces against Highland. Leknaat, the magician and True Rune bearer from the original Suikoden who oversees fate, appears and tells Riou that he has been chosen to gather the 108 Stars of Destiny to alter the fate the True Runes impose on the world. Riou and the recruited Stars of Destiny work to rally

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1056-485: A single use per battle. Updates from the original Suikoden include a grid and unit based tactical battle system, the addition of a three rune slot system which allows for three different runes to be equipped at once, a party inventory system, a "dash" button that allowed the player to move around the screen quicker, and vast graphical improvement. Also notable is the inclusion of a variety of mini-games including one quite reminiscent of Iron Chef . A transfer of data from

1144-744: 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

1232-589: 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

1320-411: 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

1408-509: Is detained as an enemy soldier of Highland. Jowy is rescued by keepers of a mysterious shrine in a nearby town and is nursed back to health. Learning of Riou's imprisonment, Jowy rescues Riou and they escape back to their hometown in Highland. After reuniting with Nanami, the two are captured, accused of espionage, and sentenced to death by the Highland army to cover up the truth of the youth brigade massacre. They are saved by Viktor and Flik, and

1496-417: 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

1584-414: 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

1672-531: 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

1760-512: 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

1848-872: 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

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1936-428: Is waiting for him. The two duel one final time, with Jowy, Nanami, and Riou's ultimate fate depending on the player's choices and whether the player had recruited all 108 Stars of Destiny. In the winter of 1993/1994, Konami newcomers Yoshitaka Murayama and Junko Kawano were tasked with creating an RPG for an internally developed video games console. This game was scrapped in the early stages of development and despite

2024-527: 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

2112-538: 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

2200-578: 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

2288-495: 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 the hero in a variety of ways. A compilation of the first two Suikoden games, Suikoden I & II ,

2376-540: The PlayStation in Japan. A North American release followed one year later, and a mainland European release came the following April. The game was also released for Windows and Sega Saturn in 1998, but only in Japan. 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

2464-641: 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

2552-415: 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

2640-722: The Beginning. Entering the shrine, they each receive half of the Rune—the Bright Shield Rune and the Black Sword Rune—and continue to flee to the capital city of Jowston, Muse. After arriving in Muse, Riou and Jowy are asked to participate in a spy mission to the Highland army camp, and while returning Jowy is captured by the enemy. Jowy is able to escape back to Muse but begins to act strangely after returning. Meanwhile, while trying to rally into battle against Highland,

2728-729: 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

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2816-661: 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

2904-591: 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

2992-546: The King of Highland. However, Jowy reveals to some trusted lieutenants within the Highland army that his support for Luca is a ruse, that he believes Luca's insanity and cruelty are a threat to both Highland and Jowston, and he intends to betray Luca after building his own base of support. After becoming King of Highland, Luca launches an attack against the New State Army. Jowy uses the pending attack to betray Luca by warning

3080-407: The New State Army and giving Riou information on Luca's whereabouts. Riou and the New State Army ambush Luca, killing him after a lengthy struggle. Jowy then becomes king of Highland through his marriage to Jillia. However, after the fall of Luca Blight, Jowy is still not willing to make peace with Jowston, as he is convinced that a new nation controlling both Highland and Jowston is needed to prevent

3168-584: 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

3256-563: 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

3344-557: The Rune of the Beginning, one of the 27 True Runes of the Suikoden setting, and become caught up in the intrigues of the invasion and the dark fate of those who bear the halves of that Rune. As with other Suikoden titles, the game also centers on the recruitment of the 108 Stars of Destiny , who together have the power to alter fate. The game was initially released to lackluster sales and somewhat tepid critical reception, with some criticism (and lack of widespread appeal) being directed at

3432-690: 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

3520-436: 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

3608-605: 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

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3696-400: 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

3784-478: The best console RPGs from outside of the Square-Enix canon, and the best of all Suikoden games. Suikoden (video game) Suikoden ( Japanese : 幻想水滸伝 , Hepburn : Gensō Suikoden , listen ) is a role-playing video game published by Konami . It is the first installment of the Suikoden series. Developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo , it was released initially in 1995 for

3872-430: 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

3960-533: 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

4048-581: 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

4136-400: 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

4224-440: 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

4312-515: 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 II is a role-playing video game with strategic elements, with multiple gameplay formats ranging from one-on-one combat to large scale confrontations between two armies. The player controls

4400-561: 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

4488-450: 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

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4576-403: The destinies of Riou and Jowy so they must fight each other until one is defeated and the two halves are reunited. Their fated conflict causes much pain for Nanami, who wishes for the three friends to run away and live a quiet and happy life together. The main conflict of the story centers on a war between the nations of Highland and the City-States of Jowston. The antagonist for the majority of

4664-564: 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

4752-413: 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

4840-423: 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

4928-548: The first game was its story, and thus it became the main focus of the second title. The story for Suikoden 2 was conceived after Suikoden 1 and was mostly written by Murayama himself. Suikoden II was made available for download on the PlayStation Network on December 9, 2014. Suikoden II was commercially successful in Japan. In the West, the game saw a limited print run, and the lackluster initial response prevented

5016-423: The game is Luca Blight, heir to the throne of Highland. Luca is a brutal and bloodthirsty madman who developed a strong hatred for Jowston at a young age after witnessing his mother's rape by City-State soldiers during an earlier war. As with all Suikoden games, the principal cast of the game is the 108 Stars of Destiny, who play important or minor roles in the plot of the game. Some prominent Stars of Destiny from

5104-485: The game's simpler and more retro 16-bit sprite visuals at a time when 3D graphics were heavily emphasized across the industry. Since, the game has become a cult classic , in retrospect being cited as a classic of the role-playing genre and one of the greatest video games of all time . 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

5192-485: 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

5280-572: 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

5368-564: 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

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5456-432: The horror of war. He urges Riou to surrender, but Riou also can't betray the trust of his followers, and the two are destined to continue fighting. After successfully freeing the occupied City-States from Highland control, the New State Army defeats the Highland army and invades the capital city, causing Jowy to flee. After entering the Highland royal castle, Riou learns that Jowy had been using his Black Sword Rune to suppress

5544-543: The idea with more meaningful choices, with the development of Deus Ex . 27 True Runes 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

5632-407: The individual leaders of the City-States collapse into petty bickering and infighting. As the Highland army approaches to attack Muse, however, Jowy murders the leader of Muse, Anabelle, and opens the city gates to let the Highland army in. Riou and Nanami, distraught over Jowy's betrayal, flee with the surviving members of Viktor's mercenary group south across Lake Dunan to regroup. After liberating

5720-566: 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

5808-459: The original Suikoden appear in Suikoden II and play key roles in the game, including Viktor and Flik. If the player loads save data from the original Suikoden at the beginning of the game, the protagonist of the previous game can be recruited. The game begins with Riou and Jowy as members of the youth brigade of the Highland army. The bloodthirsty, maniacal Prince Luca Blight orchestrates

5896-399: 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

5984-467: 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

6072-418: The player), his childhood best friend Jowy Atreides, and his adopted sister Nanami. The story revolves around Riou and Jowy each acquiring one half of the Rune of the Beginning, one of the 27 True Runes that each govern an aspect of the Suikoden universe and are the source of all magical powers. The Rune, whose name references the creation myth of the Suikoden universe, governs conflict and war, and steers

6160-426: The popular belief was not the basis for the script of Suikoden. Murayama, Kawano and ten other employees were instead assigned with developing Konami's first games for Sony 's upcoming console, the PlayStation . With the pick of making a baseball game, a racing game or an RPG, Murayama and Kawano decided to reopen their RPG project, although Murayama has stated that given the opportunity, he would have preferred to make

6248-409: The power of the Beast Rune, another of the 27 True Runes kept in the castle that governs animalistic rage, passion, and blood sacrifice. Luca's bloodthirsty ruthlessness was thought to be aided by the Rune, and Luca had been sacrificing the lives of citizens of Jowston to awaken the Rune's power. After defeating the activated Beast Rune, Riou returns to the cliff from the beginning of the game, where Jowy

6336-460: 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

6424-407: The prior game in the series enables returning characters to enter the fray with higher levels and improved weapons. References to the original Suikoden are also adapted accordingly for a greater feel in continuity . Following the original Suikoden , Suikoden II contains three different types of combat: The story of Suikoden II centers around the protagonist , Riou (any name can be chosen by

6512-449: The remaining City-States under the banner of the New State Army. During this time, it is learned that Jowy had made a deal with Luca Blight while captured to be allowed to assist Highland in defeating the City-States, in exchange for helping Luca achieve his personal ambitions. Jowy rises through the ranks of the Highland army after capturing Greenhill without even a battle, marries Luca's sister Princess Jillia, and plots with Luca to murder

6600-433: 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

6688-419: 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,

6776-433: The series, Suikoden II employs a unique character leveling system from most RPGs. There is a fixed amount of experience points needed to gain each level, and experience gained after battles is determined by the difference in levels between the party members and enemies. This allows for low-level characters to catch up to the levels of enemies at later points in the game quickly, reducing the need for level grinding . Runes,

6864-733: 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

6952-471: 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

7040-426: The slaughter of the youth brigade under the false flag of the neighboring City-States of Jowston, giving the prince an excuse to justify an invasion. After promising to return to that spot if they are separated, Riou and Jowy escape the slaughter by jumping from a cliff into a river. Riou is rescued from the river by a group of mercenaries working for Jowston, led by Viktor and Flik from the first Suikoden game, but

7128-401: 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

7216-406: The source of all magic in the world of Suikoden II , are handled the same as the original Suikoden . Characters have a certain number of spell usages per "spell level"; for instance, a character with four level 1 spell slots and a Fire Rune could cast "Flaming Arrows" (the level 1 Fire Rune spell) four times. Some specialized runes or skill-based runes have different rules, such as unlimited use or

7304-399: The three return to Jowston to fight against the invading Highland army. No match for Blight and the Highland army, they are forced to flee, and the Highland army razes the towns and villages in the region. Fleeing from the advancing Highland army, Riou and Jowy return to the now-destroyed town where Jowy was rescued, and are drawn to the mysterious shrine that is the resting place of the Rune of

7392-438: 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

7480-406: 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

7568-483: 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

7656-408: 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

7744-502: 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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