is
a heated rivlary between the two, and the development of their relationship was
far better than anything seen in the previous installments.
In
keeping with tradition, various elements make use of a system of magical runes.
Runes enable characters to cast spells or perform other special abilities, and
they also play a key role in the plot: it's typical for the lead character to
get saddled with some particularly special rune. In IV, the hero has to
deal with the burden of the Rune of Punishment. This is a "true rune," of which
there are only twenty-seven, and from which all other runes originate. This sets
the stage for an epic struggle for not only dominance of the region, but also
for possession of this powerful true rune. As is also series tradition, the hero
will once again (or, since it's a prequel, once before?) gather 108 characters
known as the stars of destiny to defeat evil and bring peace to this region of
the world. Despite the large gap in time between the events here and those in
the first Suikoden, Konami manages to squeeze in a lot of familiar faces,
which I enjoyed.
Unfortunately, while I found the story engrossing, I
found the gameplay annoying. It's difficult to know where to begin, as there's
so much frustration to articulate. The world map, which was absent from Suikoden
III, has returned, but in the worst way possible, especially given how poorly
the new sailing feature was implemented. The game apparently strives to provide
a taste of realism by making the mighty vessel players operate clunky, slow, and
unresponsive. While this grants players the feeling that they are truly navigating
this massive ship across a tumultuous sea, it's not fun. To make things easier
(at least in theory), Konami implemented an auto-pilot feature which enables players
to select their island of choice on the map and then watch the ship slowly crawl
toward its destination. This slow, but appreciated, feature is then rendered a
tedious chore by the much-too-frequent enemy encounter rate, and is also somewhat
negated by the fact that ports are usually found only on one side of an island,
requiring the disengagement of autopilot in order to steer a course that would
avoid as many of the boring encounters as possible. Worse, players cannot circle
the island too closely, or imaginary walls will push their ship off in random
directions; I can only assume this is supposed to simulate the shallow waters
around the islands, but as it's already a pain to operate ships (not to mention
a fleet of ships) to begin with, this all just makes traveling on the world map
that much more irritating.
Thankfully, players eventually acquire a teleportation
device which allows them to travel to any area they have previously painstakingly
sailed to. However, even this gadget is riddled with bugs, as certain events will
not trigger if players teleport to the location instead of manually sailing to
the island.
Much like managing the world map, other aspects of play also
lack speed and grace. Load times are horrendous, and the time interval it takes
to enter and exit enemy encounters (which occur every few steps) make moving anywhere
a chore. Konami also added a much needed run feature for on-foot exploration,
but, again, it was rendered useless by the high enemy encounter rate, keeping
players from enjoying things as much as they ought to.
On the topic of
enemy encounters, the entire battle system has been overhauled, severing all resemblance
to its predecessors. I'm not so sure I'd call it an overhaul, though, as it's
more like a complete gutting of the system. Gone are the two row, six-member formations
of previous Suikodens in favor of a much more typical four-man, single
row formation. Reducing the number of characters is certainly a mistake, as it
was already difficult to choose only six, much less four, to form a party out
of the 108.
Gone also is the strategy of moving on the battlefield, which
was introduced in Suikoden III, and the pairing of members in the front
and back rows to obtain bonuses. Basically, the only remaining options are to
attack, defend, use runes, or do special combo attacks which only specific pairs
of characters are capable of performing. This does not sound bad initially, but
it is definitely a step backwards from the level of control in previous releases.
Making encounters even blander, many of the enemies encountered later on are just
palette-swaps of the ones fought earlier on. Worse, the battles seem pointless
because players can continue at the beginning of any encounter they've lost.
While there are quite a few more mechanical flaws, there are only a handful that
really stuck out. First, the seemingly random distribution of the 108 characters,
many of whom join up simply after a bit of conversation, means players have to
check each island several times during their adventure. To make things easier
the only thing required to recruit all 108 characters is time, but this removes
any challenge or sense of achievement in accomplishing this feat. Second, there
is a scarcity of money in Suikoden IV, which is important to buy new equipment
and upgrade weapons. Lastly, the long, uninspired corridors characteristic of
almost every dungeon in the game makes exploration a nightmare.
However,
the experience is not entirely without charm. For one, it is interesting talking
to and learning about the 108 characters once they are recruited, even if finding
them is easy and fairly boring. They often discuss their backgrounds and their
reasons for joining the hero's party, which serves to flesh out the story more.
Suikoden is also known for its three types of battles: random encounters
(mentioned above), wars, and one-on-one duels. These each return, and the wars
and duels are actually a treat, especially compared to the random encounters.
The war sequences, which are naval battles, are easy to master but enjoyable all
the same. They are basically an advanced rock-paper-scissors game: ships are equipped
with rune cannons of different elements, and each element defeats another. For
example, earth beats lightning, wind beats earth, fire beats wind, water beats
fire, etc. If opponents fire the same shell, they crash into one another and cancel
out, causing no damage. If players fire a superior shell (like shooting wind at
an opponent's earth), the wind shell will plow through the earth shell, destroying
it, and continuing on to hit the enemy ship. Ships can also be customized by designating
a four member crew from the 108 characters, each adding mobility, hit points,
or cannon range. The duels remain mostly unchanged from the previous installments
and follow a similar rock-paper-scissors formula: players can defend, attack,
or perform a special attack, each toping one of the others. A new addition, however,
gives players the option to perform a normal or powered-up mode of each one of
these commands. Opponents usually have tells, like taunts, that reveal what move
they'll be using next. It's a simplistic system, but I found it enjoyable.
Although it is possible to complete the game in about 30 hours, the wide variety
of side quests in can keep players busy for at least another 10-15 hours, should
they want to pursue them. These quests range from treasure hunting (which is similar
to treasure hunting in Final Fantasy IX), growing mushrooms and mints,
to finding outfits and treasure from the wreckage of ships buried beneath the
waves. Personally, I found most of the side quests to be too time-consuming and
frustrating. A much appreciated extra, however, is the newly added training room,
which allows players to take their party through a series of five rounds of progressively
harder bouts against randomized teammates. There is a prize for winning, and a
large amount of experience is obtained each time a player completes the training.
This makes it easier for die-hards to reach high levels.
The overall
appearance of Suikoden IV was handled by Junka Kawano, who was responsible
for the character design and production of the original. Her return after an eight
year hiatus was requested to resurrect the look and feel of the first game. Her
return paid off as Suikoden IV appears visually fantastic, save for the
boring monsters. I can compare the transition from III to IV to
the transition from Final Fantasy VII to Final Fantasy VIII. The
graphics are once again three dimensional, but literally everything looks more
realistic. Characters appear full height, textures are more vibrant and less grainy,
and the attention to detail in character outfitting and props littered across
the maps are much to be applauded. Another neat improvement in the look is found
in battle as weapons visibly change in appearance after they are upgraded by blacksmiths.
Although a few areas in are a bit drab (a couple towns appear either entirely
dirt-brown or stone-gray), the visuals do tend to be more fitting of the tropical
setting. The characters look great, and close-up anime-style photos of each can
be admired from the status menu. In battle, instead of characters simply leaping
forward to attack and leaping back into their original positions (typical of the
first two games), more fluid animations have been added to make their movements
more interesting and character-specific. Also, enemies limp or stagger as they
are weakened, and keel over onto the ground when they are defeated. These little
details reveal a level of care and commitment to the aesthetics that wasn't there
before, which is appreciated.
The melodies are also highly reminiscent
of the previous installments in the series. Masahiko Kimura and Michiru Yamane
(of Castlevania fame) team up once again to create some pleasant, but mostly uninspired
music. Due to the clunky navigation system, players will learn to hate the world
map music whether they initially like it or not. On a positive note, however,
a revamped "Name Entry" song is present, along with an arranged after-battle victory
tune, both heard in every installment of the series. As the story takes place
prior to the first game, and in a relatively similar setting, Konami's aim was
to create a similar atmosphere with the graphics and audio. However, despite a
few returning melodies, they were definitely off target, musically. The music
fits the sea theme and the tropical climate, but the style is too reminiscent
of part III, which took place in The Grasslands in the farthest future
that has been explored in the series. A lot of the sound effects are nice, and
several are very nostalgic: the series-standard jingle sound plays when members
are recruited to the party or when players browse their status and battle menus.
The voice acting is also spectacular. There are a handful of characters that have
intolerable voices, but, cutesy feline and kiddy voices aside, most of the characters
sound realistic and appropriate. The voice acting is most impressive when large
crowds are present, such as in battle events or during speeches that various characters
give to the crew, as I felt truly immersed in the crowd and I could hear individual
shouts that were suitable for the situation.
Overall:
6.5/10
If I had to break it down, I'd
say 90% of the appeal is story-driven. Where gameplay is concerned, Suikoden
IV leaves much to be desired. After two years of waiting, I expected more
than a game that is clunky, tedious, and downright infuriating. Fans of the series
should enjoy the nostalgic elements, as I did, but even those fail to elevate
the game to the level of its predecessors. My personal biases as a fan of the
series lead me to recommend the game, overall, but I can't see it being a worthwhile
purchase for anyone not taken with the previous three. Hopefully, Konami will
pick up the pieces and return the series to its former glory in the inevitable
sequel.
[
top ] |
