Suikoden 3 coming to PSN Classics!

[NeoCracker]

http://nichegamer.com/2015/06/suikod...sic-this-week/

Guess I'll be able to play this one now!

[Wolf Kanno]

[Raistlin]

As any RPG fan should. Some of the mechanics of the game haven't aged well, but it remains an epic storyline with great characters. It has a good mix of challenges throughout the game, along with the best major battle system in the series.

Plus, there's something satisfying about watching a mounted Hugo with Fury runes just destroy everything.

[Ffamran mied Bunansa]

It's perfect timing, I just finished the first two games for the first time.

[Pete for President]

I'm still working on 2 :0

[Shauna]

US only?

US only.

[Bright Shield]

Awesome.

I like the multiple view points a lot.

[Pumpkin]

I already have a hard copy, but still awesome! The plays

THE PLAYS

And yes, the opening is awesome

[sharkythesharkdogg]

Favorite Suikoden is still favorite Suikoden.

I think after they nailed for classic RPG formula with #2, they did a lot of effective, refreshing changes with the story telling of 3.

[Vyk]

This all makes me really interested. I've had the first two and never played them. I got a generic fantasy vibe from the first couple of games. But watching that opening, and seeing a little tribal influence mixed in, makes me a lot more interested. Maybe I'll start with this one, and if I enjoy it, then I'll use that enjoyment to make my potential enjoyment of the previous two kinda more-so than it otherwise would have been, or something

[Formalhaut]

I've heard of the Suikoden games, but I've never played them before. What's their general premise and why should I start playing them?

[Wolf Kanno]

I've heard of the Suikoden games, but I've never played them before. What's their general premise and why should I start playing them?

Suikoden is a political drama that revolves around the history of various kingdoms and more importantly the 27 True Runes, which are magical sentient artifacts that control the very elements of existence. These runes are often the cause or focal point of the various wars that plague the world due to having tremendous power and granting their user eternal youth and living forever (they can still be killed though) which many people seek. What makes the series so appealing is the global feel of the games. Each title is a separate story but the ramifications of the conflicts tend to be felt in the later titles and slowly the series has expanded a really beautiful world, also characters from one entry tend to pop up in another or at least their descendents/ancestor does. In each game the player gets to control an army and has to recruit 108 special characters to their side to help give them aid in battles or to build up their fortresses. The game is also unique for having three different battle systems with normal RPG turn based battles, one-on-one Rock./paper/scissor style duels and expansive war battles that change gameplay-wise in each installment.

The first game deals with Tir McDohl, the only son of the Scarlet Moon Empire's infamous Six Great Generals. He finally joins the imperial army and slowly comes to find out that it has become corrupt and many places outside the capital are suffering from evil bureaucrats or the machinations of the Emperor's favorite Court Magician Windy, who is using the fact she looks like his dead wife to rule the empire from behind the throne. Through certain circumstances, Tir becomes the bearer of the Soul Eater, a cursed True Rune which feeds on the sould of those close to it. Windy seeks the rune from him and he escapes into the hands of the Rebel army which he eventually becomes the leader of and strikes back against the corrupt empire.

The second title involves two childhood friends named Riou and Jowy who are members of the Highland Kingdoms child soldier brigade. On their last night, the camp is attacked and gets slaughtered by Highland soldiers disguised as Jowstown City-States soldiers, and uncover that their own Prince Luca Blight had planned the attack because his insane thirst for revenge wanted him to keep the war going. The two escape but become fugitives since they know too much. They flee to the City-States where they join a mercenary band and both find the True Rune of Beginnings which splits in half and gives each a power. They try to get the City-States to band together to stop Luca Blight but years of infighting and indifference leave the City-States easy targets for the Highland Army. At this point Riou and Jowy part ways as they both find their own different means of ending the war, with Riou choosing to unite the City-States under himself while Jowy takes a more... Delita Herial way of things.

Suikoden III take's place in the Grassland which fought a bloody war with the Harmonian Kingdom (think fantasy Roman Empire) 50 years ago and won thanks to the Flame Champion and his Fire Bringers. In that time the Zexen Federation had opened up on the coastlines and finds itself in almost constant conflict with the Grassland tribes. The story revolves around multiple perspectives who are on different sides of the conflict. Hugo is the son of Chief Lucia of the Karaya Clan, who is tasked with taking a peace agreement to the Zexen Capital and instead watches as the war re-erupts anew when the Zexen Knights lay seige on his home. Chris is the young captain of the Zexen Knights, who is still trying to adjust to her new position. She wants answers about her missing father, deals with the greedy Zexen Council, and tries to come to terms with the brutality of the war. Geddoe is a mercenary in the employ of the Harmonian Empire who gets a mission to track down the Flame Champion and his True Fire Rune. Geddoe has mysterious connections to the Grasslands but stays impartial to the most recent conflict. Thomas is the bastard son of a council member of the Zexen Federation, seeking out his father after his mother death, his father tries to get him out of his hair by making him Lord of a castle in the north, on the border of the Grasslands and Zexen Federation. The castle is in terrible disrepair and Thomas must come up with a way to get revenue back into the castle before the whole place gets abandoned from neglect.

Suikoden IV takes place 150 years before the first game and deals with the birth of the Island Nations to the south of the Scarlet Moon Empire. Lazlo is an orphan raised by the wealthy Vingerhut family of Razril and has joined the young lord Snowe in becoming a knight for the Gaian Dukedom. One day while hunting pirates, Lazlo confront a fearsome pirate who possesses the True Rune of Punishment and Forgiveness, a rune which tends to end the lives of it's bearer rather quickly. Lazlo is involved in a misunderstanding that gives him the rune but also has him exiled from the island. He eventually winds up on the island of Obel which is preparing for an invasion by the Kooluk Empire to the north which is trying to expand it's territories due to losing border battles with the Scarlet Moon Empire. Unable to unite the islands in time, the Kooluk start taking them over one-by-one, unaware that the invasion is a front for the true objective of getting the Rune of Punishment. Lalzo must unite the isalnd nations to stop the Kooluk Empire while also resisting the urge to use his Rune in the fear it may kill him.

Suikoden V takes place a few years before the first game on the southern continent in the Queendom of Falena. The young Prince Freyjadour is ambassador for the palace along with his Aunt Sialeeds who bear terrible witness to the consequences of the Lordlake Uprising from three years prior when the Prince's mother used the True Sun Rune to scorch the town and turn it into a desert overnight. The rune is slowly driving her mad but no one can do anything without fear of her losing her temper and killing them. The palace tries to get her mind off the troubles of her Queendom by preparing for the Sacred Games, a gladiatorial contest that decides who will marry the future Queen. The Queendom finds itself being torn apart by the Noble Families who try to undermine each other for more political control of the Queendom and whom both hope to win the Sacred Games to gain more sway on the palace. The Barows family uses their money and influence to gain favor and want to start trade with the Queendom's long standing enemy of Armes to better their pockets. The Godwins want a more militaristic Queendom that would expand it's borders and be more pro-military. One thing leads to another and one of the families wins the Sacred Games under dubious cirumstances and then takes over the Palace trying to gain the power of the Sun Rune. The Prince now finds himself having to build an army to fight against the legitimacy of his sister's betrothal and the Queendom becomes embroiled in a Civil War.

Most of these are really paraphrases of the plots. I mean Suikoden II and V have much more involved and complex plots that are difficult to sum up so bear with.

There are also three side games and two "reboot" entries. The Suikogaiden Games are Visual Novels that take place during and after the events of Suikoden II and involve Nash, a member of the Holwing Voice Guild ( Harmonia's Assassin Guild) as he watches the events unfold in Suikoden II.

Suikoden Tactics (Rhapsodia in Japan) takes place before and after the events of Suikoden IV and fills in a few dangling plot threads from the game while creating new ones... It deals with Kyril, a spy from the Scarlet Moon Kingdom who is investigating the Island Nations Rune Cannon technology and finds themselves embroiled with a runaway Princess and the internal politics of the Kooluk Empire. The game is a Tactical RPG simialr to FFTactics or Tactics Ogre with some elements borrowed from Disgaea and Fire Emblem.

The two "reboots" keep the whole "collect 108 Stars" deal but take place in completely different worlds with no connection to one another. The PSP entry is actually a time travel story and the DS one is just... odd.

I can answer more questions if need be.

[Scotty_ffgamer]

I just found this game and bought a hard copy. I should have waited another couple of weeks!

I hope the other games show up on PSN since they are a bit on the pricey side.

[Shauna]

Just an FYI, Formy, as a lowly EU person, we can only get our hands on 1, 2, 4, 5 and the spinoff game, Tactics. Also Tierkeis if you really want.

You can get the first two fairly cheap on the PSN store, so if you are curious, it isn't too much hassle to get a hold of them.

[Mirage]

Aaand bought it.