I have no nostalgia for Suikoden. I grew up hearing it was a good game (or, really, its sequel), so I was very intrigued at the idea of jumping into an HD remaster. The Suikoden games have quite the legacy behind them (even more so if you follow Aidan Moher on social media), but I never knew how much of that was rose-tinted nostalgia. 

So, I dug in. Steam Deck in hand and recruitment guide by my side, I set out to experience the mid-90s classic in all of its 108-star glory. Note that this review is exclusively about the first game in the series, not the entire HD package, which includes the sequel.

A TALE OF REBELLION

Suikoden is, at its heart, a tale of rebellion and revolution. Which feels pretty great to experience right now. Yeah, what if an underground resistance group gained steam and went against their corrupt government, gaining legions of followers along the way? What might it be like to roam the world, recruiting members to your cause, all in the name of justice against tyranny?

It’s great to experience, though feels quite bare-bones throughout. It’s a grandiose plot with some big moments, but they are few and far between. The “Event Viewer” screen of this HD remake, for instance, shows just four major cutscenes to view. The Suikoden II section, by contrast, has twelve. The in-between plot points are mostly getting the player from place to place, with more and more people to recruit. 

At the very least, Suikoden puts its emphasis more so on the movement and less on the main character saving the world. Yes, the player-character gets one of the 27 True Runes and ends up the de facto leader of the resistance, but it’s very clear from most major events that it is the resistance as a whole that is crucial to the success. 

108 STARS IN THE SKY, I CAN FLY TWICE AS HIGH

Building a resistance isn’t easy. Thankfully, guides exist online to ensure players end up with all 108 “stars,” or recruitable characters. Many people in the community suggested this to get the most out of the game, and I would agree. Many characters are recruited by simply walking up and talking to them, but there are a handful or two which require a series of events or prerequisites that are very unlikely to happen naturally. Some, by contrast, join your party almost without even being asked to. I guess they’re just super eager to join the resistance!

Not all 108 stars are created equal – some are great characters that players will be itching to put into their lineup, either because of their stats or their design. Others feel like complete duds or afterthoughts. Some characters are unable to join in battle, but often have a secondary use as a member of the resistance’s castle; some will act as town NPCs and sell/upgrade items, others offer services like changing the menus and sounds. Regardless, as the number grows, it feels great to walk around the recruitment castle and see everyone in their place, doing their thing.

Easily, Suikoden’s biggest fault comes from the design of allowing the player all these awesome characters to choose from and almost never giving the player the freedom to choose their party. Close to 90% of the combat scenarios in this game require at least one, occasionally up to four, required party members. I have almost 100 possible options, and I get to pick three? Or two? I can understand the protagonist being one of them, but I never felt like the party I took into battle was “mine.” I have a theoretical idea of what “my” party would look like, but it unfortunately never got to manifest as such.

TWO LINES OF BATTLE

Battles take place with six characters, three in the front lines and three in the back. Some characters thrive in either line, but most have their preferred location (mages in the back, tanks in the front, etc.). From there, it’s a typical JRPG turn-based standard of trading blows, though here the player gives their six commands first, and then the battle plays out according to unit speed. It’s great to see the fights play out and not be able to make changes after each move; it requires some planning and prediction, and knowledge of what the order will likely be. Many battles are rather simple and one-note — thankfully the HD remake has a speed-up button (and auto-battle!) to alleviate things.

When the plot calls for it, certain battles won’t follow the traditional ruleset established by random fights. Occasionally (very occasionally), there are duels that pit a member of the player’s resistance against an enemy one-on-one. These use a rock-paper-scissors system of attacking, defending, and “Special,” which is meant to counter the opponent’s special move. It’s both obtuse and simple, and mostly involves the player interpreting the enemy’s lines of dialogue and reacting. “You’re not ready for this one!” is probably going to lead to an enemy’s special attack, while “Huh, you’re pretty relentless, huh?” means they’ll likely defend, for example. 

It’s a bit of guess and check, which makes one duel in particular especially rough, because if the player loses, the character is dead forever. This also locks the player out of obtaining all 108 stars, which again leads me to believe that following a recruitment guide is absolutely the best way to approach Suikoden. Not only is that character dead, but since the player must use them for the duel, they could very easily be under-leveled if they weren’t a part of the party for much of the game leading up to it. It’s mostly bullshit, really, and I would be super pissed if I wasn’t made aware of it beforehand. 

The much easier, but still rock-paper-scissors, battle type comes in the form of full-scale war battles. Conceptually very cool (just like duels), they ultimately boil down to clicking the correct option to counter your opponent. This time, it’s with a charge of soldiers, archers, or mages. Thankfully, there are special units that make this easier – especially the thieves that can spy on the enemy and will straight up tell the player what is coming next; it’s easy to pick rock knowing the enemy will pick scissors. A bit uninteresting when these options are available, these battles make sense within the story and are still neat to see play out. 

THE FIRST STEP TO GREATNESS

With the exception of the high-stakes duel, Suikoden is quite easy. Now let me be clear here, as someone with a full-time job and a toddler at home, I really appreciated the difficulty level being on the lower side. It also allows for more experimentation when it comes to creating a party (when the game allows it). Even the “bad” characters can be added to the team and be fine. In fact, in that way, the player can sort of artificially raise the difficulty level of the game overall. Want a challenge? How about bringing the chef and the elevator operator into battle? Maybe a team entirely of blacksmiths? 

Suikoden does feel like a “groundwork” kind of game. As in, it does a great job of laying down the groundwork for its sequel. I’ve yet to fully dive into said sequel, but I did start it up and get a few hours in, and it already both feels and looks better. That said, what’s here is an experience worthy of the player’s time. This isn’t the must-play title that will transform negative opinions of the genre, but for those already invested in JRPGs and want to experience a foundational game in an iconic series, Suikoden fits in perfectly. 

6/10

This review was conducted using a digital Steam version of Suikoden I&II HD Remaster. It was paid for by the author.