‹ 1/10 Tenma ~ Wave ~ School Rumble Part 2 •
This game is the best RPG I’ve played so far! (I’ve played many RPGs ^^) this game successfully replaced Final Fantasy 6 (or 3 for US version) as my best RPG.
in-game screen (edited)
The graphic is very good (can’t compare with ps3 or x360 tho, but still good for ps2 level ^^), the voice acting is superb, and the most important thing is the story line, an epic story definitely!. This game won IGN’s 2006 award for best story (FF12 ranked 3rd) [source]. rpgfan.com gave this game 95% (story:98%, gameplay:98%, sound:94%, graphics:92%, control:92%) plus editor choice star.
Just like any other Suikoden game, there are 108 recruit-able characters (108 stars) through out the game. This game is based on Water Margin (Shuǐhǔ Zhuàn), which is a Chinese story about 108 bandits. Suikoden characters reflect the character from Water Margin. The main character, the prince, has the same star with Song Jiang, the protagonist from Water Margin.
You play as the prince of sol falena and recruits character through out the story line. Best thing is that each character has their own story and personality, some characters even have deep story and history attached to them. only around 50 characters joined by default from the storyline, the others, you just have to find them ^^.
Prince (main character)
Lyon (female protagonist)
This game has 3 battle modes. The first one is the normal RPG style fighting, when you encounter enemies, the screen will change to turn base fighting. You can only use 6 characters in your main party, and 5 backups/entourage (some characters are support characters, you can’t put them in the main party, but they will give support from the backup/entourage slot) . You can apply tactic to your formation, and each tactic has its own unique skill. also several characters can launch co-op attack with other party members, for example if you have Lyon in your party, the prince can launch co-op attack with her. The second one is the duel mode, one on one duel, this mode only activates via story line event. And the third one is war battles, in here you control units of soldiers, cavalry, infantry, archer, rune archer, ram, etc, and goes into war (similar like romance of the three kingdoms game’s war, but real time instead of turn based).
Here are some characters that you will find:
Lucretia, War Strategist (Zhuge Liang!!)
Miakis (<3 most favorit)
Lun
Vicky
Some of the ingame screens:
Normal screen
Event with Miakis <3
Duel
Lyon Character Status
Battle (The menu is hidden after you entered your command and end the turn)
There are several endings based on how many character you have, less than 60 characters will net you a bad ending, 61-107 will give you a normal ending (spoiler: which is a sad ending!) and with 108 you will have 2 ending choices which both are nice. I finished mine in 67 hours and got all 108 stars ^^b.
For Suikoden related resource (forums, faq, etc) you should visit SuikoSource.
Suikoden V figurines
Lyon made by Yujin, released Dec 2006
Miakis from Wonder Festival 2006 Summer
Game Info
Game cover
Title
Suikoden V
Maker/Producer
Konami
Language
English
Platform
Playstation 2
7 comments
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May 29, 2007 at 12:13 pm
Being a fan to
1. many Chinese historical novels such as Three Kingdom, Yue Fei, Liang Hongyu — and of course: Water Margin (in no relation to Suikoden haha !).
2. RPG games (FF6,7)
This game seems quite appealing: I kinda want to pull my PS2. It’s collecting dust big time atm. Will try to fit in some time to give the game a shot.
May 29, 2007 at 1:00 pm
I had to admit that the tactician’s tactics reminds me of those of Zhuge Liang’s of the Three Kingdoms.
And I meant not plagiarism, but its brilliance.
I agree with ron. This is the best RPG for PS2 in terms of story. The graphics is awesome too, but still below FF level. I played this game twice last year. First time without collecting all the characters, just tried to get as many characters as I could without reading any walkthrough, and second time, I read walkthrough to get all the characters.
Based on my experience while playing Suikoden 2, which I think is the best RPG for PS in terms of story (again), It is not good if you try to find all the characters the first time you play it, because you might lose interest or get bored trying to find all of them and lose the momentum of the story. Plus, you might accidentally read some spoilers if you read walkthrough.
There has been 5 Suikodens until now, but unfortunately, only Suikoden 1,2 and 5 are great games. Suikoden 3 and 4 don’t live up to Suikoden’s name.
May 29, 2007 at 2:47 pm
My friend is an avid RPG fan, and he also agrees with Sin’s opinion about Suikoden 1, 2 and 5 being the good out of the series.
I havn’t played any of the Suikoden series, but seeing Lyon a few months back sparked a lil interest.
May 29, 2007 at 5:22 pm
I just added 2 figurines to the post.. somehow there aren’t many figurines for this game
@Aya: you should play suikoden if you like RPG ^^
I still haven’t finished my FF12 (which I started at January).. still at 50 hours time, got bored with the story line ><
May 31, 2007 at 5:25 pm
One of my Japanese friends told me that in FF12, only the adventure is fun and interesting, but the story is boring. One comment that hits the spot, I think.
June 1, 2007 at 7:31 am
I bought Suikoden V way back when, but still haven’t got around to playing it. ;-(
I played Suikoden I, III, and IV. I missed II and now it goes for $100+ on ebay. do’h! Have you played IV ron? It was awful imho. I’m glad to hear V seems to have made up for it.
I agree with you about FF12 as well. 50 some hours in, I had the game picture-in-picture, fighting battles while I watched T.V. ^^;
Can I add you to my blog list ron? Also, If you like action r.p.g.s you have to play Odin Sphere.
June 1, 2007 at 9:28 am
I haven’t played suikoden 4, I was having console non-active period for around 3/4 years then coming back to console early this year, I blame MMORPGs (RO/WoW) for that!
I’m waiting for PAL version of Odin Sphere, I’m playing oblivion in my ps3 now.. I like jRPG more tho ^^
Sure, let’s exchange links