Suikoden IV

PS2 review by Anthony Karge, published on Tuesday 8th February 2005

One of the best things about the Suikoden series, aside from having 108 characters to recruit, is that each game takes place in the same world. There are familiar characters and locations, and also the knowledge obtained from the previous games makes for a richer experience. After three games (in addition to some less-than-mainstream titles) the RPG series jumps back in time. Taking place 150 years before the first game, Suikoden IV adds some new things while reverting some features to the way they were in the first two games. Does this blend of old and new work well for the series, or is it disappointing like the third installment was?

Taking place on a series of islands, Suikoden abandons solid ground in favor of plenty of seafaring and pirating (yarrgh). The main character is silent and must be named, much like in the first two games. Having just completed his training to be a Gaien knight along with his fellow trainees, the hero unwillingly embarks on a dark adventure after coming in contact with the Rune of Punishment. Think of the Rune of Punishment as the One Ring from Lord of the Rings. It grants the wearer great power at the expense of destroying the user. Of course, some evil enemies want to harness the power for themselves. The story moves along briskly with plenty of humor, darkness and even some political intrigue that helps gives Suikoden IV some flavor. There’s a particularly touching subplot echoing themes of Suikoden II, and there is one engaging event that made me want to play through the first game again. Saying anymore would spoil an otherwise magical moment for hardcore fans of the series.

One of the main features removed from the last game is the multiple viewpoints, dubbed the “Trinity Light System.” While this feature worked surprisingly well, having only one viewpoint again isn’t really a bad thing. It just makes the plot a bit more focused since there is only one central character.

Thankfully, one thing definitely changed for the better was the battle system. While it was undeniably awkward in the last game , things are now mostly back to their original form (there are now only four characters at a time instead of six). It’s pretty much the same uninspired turn-based combat seen in most other RPGs, but here the battles move much quicker. There’s still the extremely helpful auto-attack command, and all of the animations are refreshingly speedy, so don’t expect those unbearably long spells seen in another popular series (I won’t mention any names). The one-on-one duels are also back and they still provide a nice break from the simplistic action. They’re basically an impressive-looking version of rock-paper-scissors but you have to figure out what to do next by interpreting the trash talk the enemy dishes out. Even after four games in the series I still find this mode to be quite enjoyable, but the duels still occur far too infrequently.

The attempted throwback to the older games is even evident in the familiar loading screens, but there are still a couple fresh features that keep in tone with the open seas theme. One of the enjoyable additions is the naval combat segments. With one to four ships under you command you assign a captain and a crew and then prepare to fend off the enemy. It’s somewhat familiar to strategy games such as Final Fantasy Tactics, and for the most part it’s a swashbuckling good time. If only it was a bit more challenging.

Unfortunately, the failure of one of these new features is what makes a potentially great game an average one. Since Suikoden IV takes place on the ocean, there is A LOT of seafaring to be had. Simply put, piloting your ship from one location to another is awful. No matter what ship you pilot it takes far too long, but this isn’t entirely because the ships are too slow. The main problem is that there is a random battle at least once of every thirty seconds, but usually it feels like once every ten seconds. If you want to manually turn your ship around then expect to get in at least two battles. Thankfully you can turn your ship around automatically with the useful map, but you still have to deal with mindlessly holding one button for twenty minutes just to advance the plot. To add insult to injury, as soon as you approach a landmass at an incorrect angle, your ship automatically turns around and blasts the other way. It seemed like the sailing was made as annoying as possible just to pad out the relatively short length of 25-30 hours (and that’s pretty much the maximum it’ll take).

Fortunately, midway through the game you can obtain the ability to transport from island to island, but by then the damage is already done. The awful oceangoing makes the series’ strongest gimmick far less engaging than it should be. This classic gimmick is the ability to recruit 108 different characters and then have them add many different things to your fortress. Only roughly half of the characters can be used for battle, so the others usually add some interesting diversions. Some set up shop, one starts a newspaper, and many add enjoyable minigames to the mix. It’s usually a blast to recruit characters, but since you usually have to traverse painful distances to find them it becomes a bit of a drag.

Much like the new naval additions, the graphics are also very mixed. While the characters are more detailed than they ever have been and the varied environments look sharp, the running animation is one of the worst I’ve ever seen. Every time someone would walk into my room and watch me play they would end up laughing at how ridiculous and unnatural it is. At least there was an incredible improvement in the sound department. Not only is music sweeping and appropriate (unlike Suikoden III), but for the first time ever in the Suikoden there is spoken dialogue. Not only that, but it’s actually DECENT voice acting. There’s no shortage of voice actors, and a couple may be some of the best I ever heard in an RPG. With such a large cast, a few of the characters come off as annoying but most are at least somewhat believable.

Gameplay usually isn’t the most important feature in an RPG, but in Suikoden IV it just drags an otherwise “great” RPG into the realm of “slightly above average.” The many attempts to recreate the magic of the first two games are more than welcome, the storyline is one of the better ones I’ve experienced, and the production values are definitely there. It’s just the tedious ship navigation takes can test your patience at times. I guess a sailor’s life isn’t for me.