Suikoden 2: Does it live up to the hype!

[NeoCracker]

....And apparently I can't get the third ending because I didn't recruit everyone.

Why the smurf would you need to recruit everyone?

Edit: Okay, some final thoughts.

1) smurf Duals, I don't do RPG's to play Rock Paper Siscors. Thank god there are so few of them.

2) I liked the Massive battles, but they all ended up being so simple you could never really enjoy them, and there was virutallly no stratagy involved on your end. Ended up feeling like wasted time.

3)They did a really good job with the characters considering the smurfing massive size of the cast.

4) This game had a problem getting it's villains down. Luca Blight was barely an entity in terms of character. He was pretty much a massive asshole from the get go, and the game went out of it's way to telegraph it. Jowy had a lot of good motivation and was a great character, but he just didn't come across as threatening.

5) Shu, after the stupid intro arc with him, quickly became a favorite character. Dude got trout done, and wasn't afraid to turn everyone against him for the greater good. This guy was the games highlight for me, especially when he sends Victor in with Pilka to ensure your survival. More games need guys like this capable of preparing against the obvious traps hero's are required to fall in.

6) Story, while there were a few odd moments, was really well told and put together. The only real problem is I walk away feeling like you never really get much an explination. Who were the Sindar? Why were me and Jowy destined to fight? Whats up with this country to the north? Who the smurf is Lenkat? I'll porbably end up you tubing the last ending, cause I have no Idea how long it will be before I have the motivation to play this again.

In the end, while I don't think it comes close to living up to the hype, it's still a great game.

[Wolf Kanno]

....And apparently I can't get the third ending because I didn't recruit everyone.

Why the smurf would you need to recruit everyone?

Because you need the war going completely in your favor, it helps make one of the characters make a crucial decision, though if you don't do other things, you can still get screwed out of the third ending.

1) smurf Duals, I don't do RPG's to play Rock Paper Siscors. Thank god there are so few of them.

Your lost, I like how they broke up monotony and they really made some fights more epic than a standard boss fight. The later games also add a ton of cinematic flair.

2) I liked the Massive battles, but they all ended up being so simple you could never really enjoy them, and there was virutallly no stratagy involved on your end. Ended up feeling like wasted time.

To me the War Battles are Suikoden II's biggest weakness, the rest of the series do them better imo with Suikoden V doing the best since it plays out like a simplified RTS system.

3)They did a really good job with the characters considering the smurfing massive size of the cast.

I'm always surprised how well Suikoden does this. Though its hit or miss sometimes. Suikoden I and IV kind of like just throwing characters at you with little explanation compared to the other entries.

4) This game had a problem getting it's villains down. Luca Blight was barely an entity in terms of character. He was pretty much a massive asshole from the get go, and the game went out of it's way to telegraph it. Jowy had a lot of good motivation and was a great character, but he just didn't come across as threatening.

Not going to disagree with Luca Blight but I felt he made a great villain. Jowy wasn't really meant to be menacing, just someone caught under bad circumstances, the real threat with Jowy is more about dealing with Luca Blight's legacy of the True Beast Rune

5) Shu, after the stupid intro arc with him, quickly became a favorite character. Dude got trout done, and wasn't afraid to turn everyone against him for the greater good. This guy was the games highlight for me, especially when he sends Victor in with Pilka to ensure your survival. More games need guys like this capable of preparing against the obvious traps hero's are required to fall in.

The Strategist are always one of the best characters in these games and for me, Shu is easily one of the best.

6) Story, while there were a few odd moments, was really well told and put together. The only real problem is I walk away feeling like you never really get much an explination. Who were the Sindar? Why were me and Jowy destined to fight? Whats up with this country to the north? Who the smurf is Lenkat? I'll porbably end up you tubing the last ending, cause I have no Idea how long it will be before I have the motivation to play this again.

Most of this would have been cleared up if you hadn't skipped the first entry.

The Sindar/Cyndar is a civilization from before many of the modern countries, they are cursed to forever wander (some fans theorize their leader has some True Rune version of the Blinking Rune Viki uses) and they were highly advanced and knew quite a bit about the True Runes. They have several leftover locations in Falena and the northern countries of the main continent (Jowstown, Grasslands, Harmonia) This game introduces the civilization but they are one of the big mysteries that keeps popping up in the Suikoden series.

Because the True Runes are all basically cursed in one way or another. The True Runes are sentient and some of them seem to have the ability to alter fate to create misfortune (Run of Beginnings, Rune of Punishment, Soul Eater) for its bearer. Basicallly the True Rune of Beginnings forces two people to reenact the creation myth of the Suikoden universe and make the Rune complete. There are two ways to do this, by either killing the other bearer or showing mercy. The Soul Eater would have the people closest to the bearer die so it can consume their souls, the Rune of Punishment would alter fate to force the beaer to use its power which slowly killed the user, the elemental rune will warp the bearer's mind to weakne them mentally so the rune could activate itself, the Sun Rune will give its bearer a god-complex, the Beast Rune causes insanity, the Blue Moon rune transorms you into a Vampire, and well the list goes on. The point is, despite the benefits the True Runes give, you probably don't want them.

I'm guessing the country you are speaking of is Harmonia, well they are pretty much Suikoden's version of the Roman Empire and they cause a lot of problems in the series. Their leader is trying to collect all the True Runes for some purpose and is said to possess the True Circle Rune which governs balance and stagnation. Like the Sindar, they are a recurring element in the Suikoden series and each game expands on them. The Suikoden series is about the world itself and how all the countries relate to each other.

Leknaat was the Major Suikoden 1 spoilersformer Seer for the former Scarlet Moon Empire, she is a survivor of the Gate Rune Tribe whom Harmonia destroyed trying to get the True Rune the village protected. Leknaat and her sister Windy took the True Rune and split it in half which each kept. They have both been in hiding since but over time Windy, traumatized by the destruction of her home, vowed revenge on Harmonia and seeked out the Soul Eater (True Rune of Life and Death) to use its immense power to destroy Harmonia and thus she sets up most of the conflict of Suikoden 1. Leknaat on the other hand has been trying to guide the people chosen by the True Runes down a certain path that most fans speculate is going to be the confrontation with Harmonia, though we'll probably never know now.

As for the order of the series its:
Suikoden Tactics -> Suikoden IV -> Suikoden V -> Suikoden -> Suikoden II -> SuikoGaiden 1 -> SuikoGaiden 2 -> Suikoden III

Suikoden Tietries and the other for PSP are reboots and have little to do with the main series.