Suikoden V - PS2
Posted: October 17th, 2006, 21:38
Suikoden V - PS2
Introduction
Suikoden V is a Japanese-style loosely-tactical RPG very much in the vein of the Final Fantasy series. You recruit up to 108 characters as you strengthen your army and search for a mysterious rune.
Gameplay
There are a few game modes, which will be recognisable to fans of the genre:
- Walking around towns with an on-rails (but not too annoying) camera, talking to the inhabitants and finding chests of goodies. Cut scenes give you various dialogue options.
- Random and set battles with a very typical view of the backs of your characters facing the enemies. Up to six characters (with 3 extra that can be switched in) in up to 20 formations battle with upgradeable weapons, teachable skills, collectable runes and the odd coop-attack in a familiar turn-based style.
- Occasional 1-on-1 duels, which are a cinematic rock-paper-scissors affair based on the enemies dialogue, and a time limit in which to select an option.
- Land and sea army battles. These are real time, have a top-down view and a rock-paper-scissors element to the troop types. As your army grows various spell-casters can be attached to squads and ships to help you out with their special abilities.
- A few mini games, card and tile-based.
All of these contribute to your ability to recruit various "Stars of Destiny" who will either fight directly for you, enhance your abilities or set up shops in your base. Some require quite a few hoops be jumped through in order to attain, and as well as dialogue choices will affect the eventual outcome of the game, as well as your options for future recruitments.
Sights and Sounds
My main criticism of the previous release was the clumsy animation of the main character and lack of polish in the cinemtic sequences. This has been fixed big-time - while it hasn't got quite the number of scenes and doesn't go for the "realistic" look of something like Final Fantasy X it performs admirably in producing a vibrant-looking world with emotive, memorable cell-shaded characters. The general walking-around view is also sufficiently pleasant while not being particularly ground-breaking.
Sound-wise the music's not half bad, fitting enjoyably and sometimes comically with the location, and the voice acting is...well voice acting is never especially fanatastic, but it's not annoying. Largely, though you'll just get a couple of lines of text from people, although these have produced some genuine LOL moments.
Stuff that sucks
The army battles are a bit annoyingly-executed. While initial troop deployment is reasonably straighforward, once you meet the enemy it all becomes a bit hectic, and the view and cursor infuriatingly snap back to each encounter. However, you've usually either acheived or failed your objective by this point.
The duel battles aren't much fun, really. They are the only time (thankfully) you have to "Press This Button Now Or Get Hurt", but they are either a dull or frustrating affair depending on whether or not you've figured out the enemy's set lines.
Some areas have a very high random encounter rate. While I tend to view these as good experience-building exercises and almost never flee from fights in these types of games, you can find yourself unexpectedly low on restorative items when your intention was a simple bit of exploration.
The set save points, which are in the main well-placed are sometimes inaccessible after difficult sections due to cut-scenes taking over - usually you can back out of continuing the story, but it can make you a bit panicky when you're desperate to save.
Conclusion
If you like the Final Fantasy games, the original Phantasy Star outings or the Shining horse series, chances are this'll be a favourite. It has probably more depth and tactics to the battles than most of the genre, and certainly more characters.
Score :
9.5/10
Introduction
Suikoden V is a Japanese-style loosely-tactical RPG very much in the vein of the Final Fantasy series. You recruit up to 108 characters as you strengthen your army and search for a mysterious rune.
Gameplay
There are a few game modes, which will be recognisable to fans of the genre:
- Walking around towns with an on-rails (but not too annoying) camera, talking to the inhabitants and finding chests of goodies. Cut scenes give you various dialogue options.
- Random and set battles with a very typical view of the backs of your characters facing the enemies. Up to six characters (with 3 extra that can be switched in) in up to 20 formations battle with upgradeable weapons, teachable skills, collectable runes and the odd coop-attack in a familiar turn-based style.
- Occasional 1-on-1 duels, which are a cinematic rock-paper-scissors affair based on the enemies dialogue, and a time limit in which to select an option.
- Land and sea army battles. These are real time, have a top-down view and a rock-paper-scissors element to the troop types. As your army grows various spell-casters can be attached to squads and ships to help you out with their special abilities.
- A few mini games, card and tile-based.
All of these contribute to your ability to recruit various "Stars of Destiny" who will either fight directly for you, enhance your abilities or set up shops in your base. Some require quite a few hoops be jumped through in order to attain, and as well as dialogue choices will affect the eventual outcome of the game, as well as your options for future recruitments.
Sights and Sounds
My main criticism of the previous release was the clumsy animation of the main character and lack of polish in the cinemtic sequences. This has been fixed big-time - while it hasn't got quite the number of scenes and doesn't go for the "realistic" look of something like Final Fantasy X it performs admirably in producing a vibrant-looking world with emotive, memorable cell-shaded characters. The general walking-around view is also sufficiently pleasant while not being particularly ground-breaking.
Sound-wise the music's not half bad, fitting enjoyably and sometimes comically with the location, and the voice acting is...well voice acting is never especially fanatastic, but it's not annoying. Largely, though you'll just get a couple of lines of text from people, although these have produced some genuine LOL moments.
Stuff that sucks
The army battles are a bit annoyingly-executed. While initial troop deployment is reasonably straighforward, once you meet the enemy it all becomes a bit hectic, and the view and cursor infuriatingly snap back to each encounter. However, you've usually either acheived or failed your objective by this point.
The duel battles aren't much fun, really. They are the only time (thankfully) you have to "Press This Button Now Or Get Hurt", but they are either a dull or frustrating affair depending on whether or not you've figured out the enemy's set lines.
Some areas have a very high random encounter rate. While I tend to view these as good experience-building exercises and almost never flee from fights in these types of games, you can find yourself unexpectedly low on restorative items when your intention was a simple bit of exploration.
The set save points, which are in the main well-placed are sometimes inaccessible after difficult sections due to cut-scenes taking over - usually you can back out of continuing the story, but it can make you a bit panicky when you're desperate to save.
Conclusion
If you like the Final Fantasy games, the original Phantasy Star outings or the Shining horse series, chances are this'll be a favourite. It has probably more depth and tactics to the battles than most of the genre, and certainly more characters.
Score :
9.5/10