View Profile: Wolf Kanno

I get that. Here's hoping they do end up remastering it after XC1. ANd hey, looks like they're adding a new scenario to that to link it further with XC2, so perhaps they can expand on XCX's story a bit as well. It was definitely in need of some closure.

I don’t think there’s a real chance XCX will come to Switch. There’s the issue of the Frontier Nav taking up the game pad is too big an aspect of the game and the Switch can’t do two screens at once. And then there’s the issue of this being kind of the black sheep of the franchise, with 1 and 2 being much safer sells. So idk, I do kinda wish they’d port it so more people could play, but chances are slim. I’ll tell you it’s definitely worth getting the Wii U for

True. We’ll both get there one day.

Man, I wish I could get RS3

Well we’ll just have to agree to disagree on that, I guess. What we can definitely agree upon, though, is that Suikoden 1 is underrated.

I mean, like I said, I still think it’s great, but even though you explained this all to me now, that doesn’t change the fact that, the way it was communicated within the game, Jowy’s decisions felt very contrived and at odds with his established character - at least, to me, as I feel whether or not something is contrived is entirely subjective. And it’s not like I wanted a downer ending for him or that I need things to be super cynical, but the tone shift between how the game tries to present Jowy as throughout the game and how he ends up being in the end is just a tiny bit too jarring for me. I’m all for advocating for more good will on the side of the heroes - and yes I absolutely believe Ramza would have welcomed Delita with open arms should the end have been different for them both and I love him for it. Perhaps it would’ve worked better if Riou hadn’t been a silent protagonist.

That's not necessarily true. Suikoden II is still definitely a cut above most JRPGs in terms of story and sheer originality. I loved how it tied into the previouis game, I loved the truly mature story, and I really enjoyed gathering all of the characters. They were a very fun roster and I really wish more games could pull something like this off. The world really is better for having a game like this exist.

However... I can't say that I wasn't disappointed. This was to be expected, however, since the game is being held to an impossible standard. I've heard so many people say it's the best story in gaming, perdiod when... I actually preferred 1's somehow? Sure, the second game is much more accessible on multiple levels, including the aesthetics, but while playing Suikoden 1 I was honestly surprised with how human the plot felt, and how the character motivations near the end turned out to be so incredibly relatable. It legit almost made me cry at the end.

With 2's story, yeah, Riou and Jowy having that kinda Ramza/Delita mechanic is cool on paper but... it's really not even fair to put them in the same boat, imo. For one, this conflict is automatically compromized by having Riou be mute. And then there's the fact that Jowy's actions feel much more contrived. With Delita, you could see exactly what he rose from and there are many years that pass, during which you can tell that the change that happens in him is a direct result of what he goes through and who he is. It feels natural and incredibly gripping. With Jowy, I really could not understand why he made the decisions he made - especially near the end, when the war is over, so his initial goal is achieved, and yet he still tries to go against Riou. Now, Pumpkin told me V later reveals that it's because the Sword and Shield runes are always mean to clash but... there are a number of problems I have with that. Namely that 1) that's a retcon and 2) that's adding a bulltrout supernatural explanation to a conflict that was to this point solely based on human acting on human virtues and flaws, which really cheapens the whole impact on the story. And don't even get me started on the golden ending, where Jowy, who has at this point killed his new wife's entire family except for himself in cold blood, and later left her alone with their adopted daughter, only to go on a trip with his childhood friends... was really not satisfying. He did not deserve that. And that's another way Delita handled this better - he gets to reap what he sowed by the end, achieveing what he thought he wanted, but losing his humanity in the process, in a metaphorical way.

So I guess... I probably would have enjoyed S2's story a lot more had I not heard so many good things and played FFT beforehand. Despite being much simpler, I still think S1's story just worked a lot better overall. That said, I still think they're both absolutely fantastic games that work the best as two halves of the same whole.

One thing that has been lacking throughout for me though is a character to latch on to emotionally. I dig the plot and the historical angle, but it’d be great if we could see it from a specific character’s lens, so that it means more on a personal level. I guess they’re kinda doing that with Ace, since he’s the one that’s fighting guilt over Izana, but we never focus on him too long. Meanwhile, Rem and Machina are clearly intended to be the emotional core but they fail so miserably at it. Machina is an absolute smurfing idiot with zero redeeming qualities and a stock shonen motive while Rem is just boring and is really mire of a plot device than a character. Part of the reason I like political stories so much - as in FFT, Tactics over or hell, even Song of Ice and Fire - is that the characters take center stage and seeing the incredible political drama unfold as a result of their actions that directly stem from their personalities is just immensely satisfying. Here, the story is undoubtedly cool, but I can feel myself getting detached from it at times. Which is why the focus on class zero escaping and breaking that initial status quo somewhat made such an impact, since I can finally see some characterization happen.

Speaking of war stories, I never told you my thoughts on Suikoden II, did I?

I’ve been writing a little bit, but I’ve started. Once I’m done with chapter one, I want to do one chapter weekly. I’m still sticking to that plan.

I like Type-0. Just had that major event happen in chapter 4. It honestly surprised me and I’m really glad it happened because Class Zero finally has the chance to show some character. Also, the moment you got into the magitek armor in the snow field I got literal chills

Agreed on all counts. Though in the case of Cater and Nine I feel these are good voice actors with poor direction. No idea what’s going on with Cinque though. Her voice is bewildering.