Suikoden Tactics is the first game from the Suikoden series that was introduce as a strategy rpg game as oppose to the usual tradition rpg game that gamers have come to know the series by. Suikoden Tactics also serves as a game where the story is told outside the timeline of the Suikoden 108 Stars of Destiny in the series. In a sense it's more of a side event game that takes place outside the main storyline of the Suikoden series. In this case, Suikoden Tactics takes place before and after Suikoden IV storyline and connects most of the characters within the Suikoden IV storyline into this game without directly involving the gathering of the 108 Stars of Destiny. Let's look at it this way, this rpg game serve more as an epilogue rpg game for Suikoden IV than anything else. From that point of view, we'll see just how good this game is.
STORY
Seek out the hero of Suikoden IV.
The fall of the Kooluk Empire.
This is a side story that takes place prior to the events of Suikoden IV and after the events of Suikoden IV. The story starts off 7 years before the war between the Island Nations and the Kooluk Empire where a group of individuals are tracking down the mysteries of the Rune Cannons and the force behind their power. This group of individuals is led by Walter and consisted of Walter's friends, Yohn, Andarc, Seneca, and his son, Kyril. Their investigation of Rune Cannons brought them to Pirate Island where they formed an alliance with the pirates there in hopes of stopping a renegade pirate named Steele who is in possession of a Rune Cannon and the Rune of Punishment. During the battle with Steele, Walter was a victim of a Rune Cannon that had turn out to be a living Evil Eye creature that can turn humans to fish like creatures. Kyril had also suffered wounds during the fight with Steele. The Rune of Punishment after the defeat of Steele was passed onto the pirate name Brandeau during the fight. This episode of event actually serves as a very good prologue to Suikoden IV storyline for those of you who are familiar with the pirate name Brandeau. It really provides a good closure on how Brandeau came into possession of the Rune of Punishment and how Kika became leader of the pirates for all of those that have played Suikoden IV. At any rate, after the initial battle with Steele and the passing of Walter, the story than moves toward the timeline after the events of Suikoden IV where the battle between the Kooluk Empire and the Island Nations have ended. So the story started out 7 years before Suikoden IV took place but immediately jumps to events taking place after Suikoden IV after the initial introductions of the main characters in Suikoden Tactics. When the story moves to after the war in Suikoden IV, we are now re-introduced to the main characters of Suikoden Tactics. This time around these characters have grown up, especially with Kyril who is now a young adult. Since the death of Walter and the war between the Kooluk and the Island Nations, the group had continued on with their investigation of Rune Cannons and their connection to the Evil Eyes. This investigation soon led them to the heart of the Kooluk Empire where it turns out that the empire had been building up a mass amount of Rune Cannons on their borders despite a truce with the Island Nations. With this latest development, the group enlisted the aid of the leader of the Island Nations, Lin En Kuldes. Under his advice and with help from some of the 108 Stars of Destiny from Suikoden IV, the group continued their investigation of Rune Cannons in the heart of the Kooluk Empire. Only Kyril and his friends can unveil the hidden secret of the Rune Cannons and their connection to the Evil Eyes, a story that you'll need to discover yourself by playing the game.
The thing about the story is that overall it's sort of boring. There are a few factors to this. The first factor is that the story is kind of short and poorly developed. Another factor is that the main characters themselves aren't too interesting which sort of made the story not too interesting. Add in the fact that most of the Suikoden IV characters in the game have no real role in the story at all. Then there's the fact that the whole plot about the Rune Cannons being living creatures called Evil Eyes that turn people into fish creature seem contrive, non-believable, and out of the blue. Where was this so called plot revelation that Rune Cannons are powered by living Evil Eye creatures from another world during the whole Suikoden IV story when Rune Cannons were used daily? No where. It's almost as if they made up this plot at the last minute just to give Suikoden Tactics a plot. The story plot of Suikoden Tactics is just not very believable and poorly played out. The good news about Suikoden Tactics story is that is does provide some closure on how Suikoden IV came about as well as what happened to some of the Stars of Destiny after the war. Not to mention giving us more insight on the Kooluk Empire, the main enemy featured in Suikoden IV. The way the story is set up, it's really told as more of a side event story than a main rpg story and you should take it as that.
Score 7/10
CHARACTERS
I suppose we're the heroes now.
The game borrows a lot of characters from Suikoden IV with addition to a few new characters introduced in this game, giving a cast of over 50 characters. However the story really only focuses on 4 main characters while the rest of the characters in the game have no effect on the storyline other than to be party members used in the game. Kyril, Andarc, Seneca, and Corselia are the 4 main characters. Since Kyril is the main character in the game, his development is done quite nicely as we watch him grow from a young teenager to a young adult. The other 3 main characters also share a decent spotlight in the game, however their character developments in terms of their background seemed not as develop as can be. Corselia is a little bit more develop than Andarc and Seneca as once the story reaches near the end, we get to know who Corselia really is and where she's from. Not much history was put into Andarc and Seneca other than what they are thinking and feeling emotionally. Looking at the main cast, they were developed pretty well in terms of how they are presented to us. The drawback is that even if their backgrounds were developed decently, there seem to be a lack of interest in them as their personalities seem a bit on the dull, but then again, whether or not their personalities are dull or not is a point of view from each gamer. The main thing is that the characters are developed quite well for a small cast.
Score: 7/10
GRAPHICS
I need to be drawn better.
We have to say that the graphical achievements in Suikoden Tactics aren't as spectacular as one would hope. The presentation of the graphics is done in a some what anime style 3-D cel shading artwork. The cel-shading of the character model designs are very poorly done as each character come off looking very blocky with lack of details in their faces, hands, and body. Even in close up images they still lack the details that we would like to see. The background environment is done in a rotating manner but not in a full 360 degree rotating matter that gamers expect. Visually speaking the background is fairly decent compare to other background graphics out there but it lacks anything that would visually hold gamers in awe. There's also a sense that the game graphical design overall is too simple and basic that it comes off looking like a 2-D cardboard cut out. This is due to the fact that there really isn't any good story cut scenes for gamers to see, nor is there any CG movies presented in the game. The game also lacks any good scenery that showcases the world of Suikoden Tactics to gamers. The so called world map is nothing more than an artwork map and each town is nothing more that an artwork in itself. You can clearly tell that the designers didn't want to put too much effort into the graphics of this game. Even magical rune spells come out looking pretty dull. The Suikoden games never had great graphical achievements but they didn't come out looking like it was done in a half ass way with little effort put into it. And that's what this game looks like, done with little effort and imagination put into it.
Score: 7/10
MUSIC
This calls for a sad musical theme.
The selection of musical scores in this game is very small. A contributing factor to such a small selection of music is the fact that the game itself is short with little world exploration and dungeon explorations like with the other Suikoden games. There are only 2 distinct battle tunes which are played at the beginning of the battle and during the battle. There is a main theme in the game but you really only hear it at the title screen of the game. Only 2 noticeable town musical scores that you'll be hearing over and over as you enter each different town. They are the main town score also known as the Caravan musical score and the Guild Quest musical score. For about 70% of the game you'll be pretty much hearing the same 4-6 musical score tunes over and over. As you approach the end of the game, the musical scores start to stand out a bit as the musical themes start to take on a more serious heavily dramatic note to them. Looking at the bright side, while the selections of musical scores are few, the tunes themselves are very good and rendered beautifully. It's just too bad that the selections of tunes are too few to make much difference in how the game might be better enjoyed with good music overall.
Score: 7/10
GAMEPLAY
We'll take em down together.
Die before the Rune of Punishment.
Game Information
Genre: Strategy Rpg
Publisher: Konami
Disc: 1 DVD Disc
Memory: 408 KB
Players: 1 Player Mode
Analog Control: Yes
Vibration Function: Yes
Progressive Scan: Yes
Rating: Teen
Release: November 2005
Suikoden Tactics marks the very first entry for the Suikoden series into the rpg strategy genre.
The rpg strategy genre isn't new by any stretch of the imagination but for the Suikoden series, it is new. The approach here is that since this is the first time that a Suikoden game is used in a strategy rpg element, than most of the regular Suikoden gamers may be new to the strategy rpg element too. As such, the gameplay is set up in a basic linear approach for fans where the learning curve of the game will be easy. The game is really set up like any other strategy rpg games but using the elements of the Suikoden series instead. You start of with the basic world map. As you are required to go to a new town or area, that new town or area will open up on the world map allowing you destination to there. Upon arriving at a new town or area, a story scene will play out or you will immediately be thrown into a battle map fight. Now in terms of how the battle is set up, it's basically done in the same way as any battle map fights. The game will give you placements on the battle map and you can chose which party members to place on the battle map for the fight. The number of party members that can take part in a battle varies with each battle however the maximum number of party members that you can have in a battle is 8. However the game does allow you to switch in different party members during the fight. But once you do switch a character in and a character out, the character that has been switch out can no longer be switch back in. Victory conditions for each battle vary but in most cases, it's just to defeat all enemies. Once a battle is over, you get the spoils of war which is money and skill points. The amount you get depends on the Rank you earn for completing the battle. Upon completing the battle, you can then enter the town for more story scenes or you get the ability to use your menus in the town. Each town carry different menu options but these menu options are pretty much the same across the board in terms of what functions they provide. Once you save up or stock up on supplies in a town, you then head out to your next destination which is base on what gets open up on the world map. Very linear and easy for beginners learning how strategy rpg games are done for the first time. The game pretty much follow that set up all the way to the end. Now let's take more of an in-depth look at some of the features that this game has.
Towns:You can't really explore towns but you can have access to various menus inside a town. Such menus are Outfitter, where you can buy and sell items, Blacksmith, where your weapons can be upgraded, Rune Master, a rune shop, and Gossip, where you can talk to some town folks. Caravan:This is the menu option in town where you can rest your party, assign skills to party members, check status of party members, equip party members, and lastly save or load a game. Quest Guild:This is the menu option in town that will allow you to pick up various side quests to earn extra money and skill points. The guild quests are divided by Ranks. Once you complete a bunch of guild quests for a particular rank, the higher rank guild quests will be unlock for you. Runes: The traditional feature of all Suikoden game is the use of rune orbs. These rune orbs will allow users to use special rune fighting skills or rune elemental magic. Only certain users can use certain runes. You'll need to visit a Rune Shop in town in order to purchase or attach a run to a user. Skills:Each character has a number of skills they can learn as they level up. In order to learn a skill, you'll need to allocate the appropriate number of skill points to the skill to unlock that skill. You can also raise the rank of a skill by allocating more skill points to rank up the skill.
Of course you'll need to equip skills in order for skills to be effective. Terrain Elements: The most interesting feature in this game is the introduction of using and changing terrain elements. The game uses the basic 5 elements of fire, thunder, earth, wind, and water. Each element has a strong and weak affiliation with another element. All party members or character in this game has an affiliation with one of the 5 elements. Now the concept of changing or applying an element to a terrain is to give an advantage or disadvantage to you or the enemy. Now if a character is standing on an elemental terrain that he or she is affiliated with, he or she will get a boost in strength and defense as well as HP restoration at the end of each round of fight. This is how you apply terrain element to your advantage. Now if a character is standing on a terrain element that he or she is weak to, then that character will lose stats in strength and defense as well as HP lost at the end of each round of fight. Understanding how to set up terrain elements to your advantage and disadvantage to the enemy is the key to winning all battles. Support Action: Certain party members have certain affiliation with one another in terms of friendship. This is sort of carried over from Cooperative Attack that was feature in Suikoden IV. If two characters that have a friendship affiliation with one another and are close together in battle, an option to talk to each other may pop up. When this occur, you can have those 2 characters talk to each other to boost their good will for one another. Having a good will can provide two things. One is that they can learn Cooperative Attack together and the second is they can learn support action. Support Action can be to protect a character or to assist a character during an attack. If a character is being attack and there's a character close by that has a good will for the character that is being attack, then that character will jump in front of the character that is being attack to protect that character thus giving the character that is being attack only half the damage that they will normally receive. In the case of assisting on an attack, a character that is attacking can have the character that he or she has good will to jump in and do an extra attack for more damage to the enemy. Overall support action isn't really used too much in the game. Cooperative Attack:This is actually carried over from Suikoden IV. Certain characters from Suikoden IV can learn cooperative attack together. Pretty much all of the characters that have cooperative attacks or can learn cooperative attacks from Suikoden IV can relearn them here. You'll have to re-establish good will or good friendship with party members once again for them to learn the same cooperative attack again.
With the exception of changing the elements of the terrain you are standing on, the rest of the gameplay is pretty much your basic turn base strategy rpg game. In fact it might be a bit too basic for the more hardcore rpg veterans out there. A good beginners strategy rpg game though.
As a veteran in the strategy rpg genre, I find the gameplay to be lacking and bit plain that sometimes it's hard to hold my interest in the game. I wouldn't say I was bored but I wouldn't say I had a lot of fun either. The fact that the story wasn't as interesting as well didn't help either. Near the end of the game, I was more interested in trying to finish it up as fast as possible just so I can finish it up so I can look forward to another rpg game. And when you do that, it's not a good sign that the rpg you are playing is very good. If you're not a Suikoden fan than I suggest you skip it. If you are a fan than you might want to pick it up but not for the gameplay but more for the fact that the story of Suikoden Tactics does provide some closure on events before and after Suikoden IV.
Score: 7/10
EXTRAS/REPLAY
Would you like to accept a quest?
Suikoden Tactics provide one section dedicated entirely to side quests and that is the Guild Quests. The concept of picking up guild quests is to get extra money, skill points, and possibly rare reward items. Each of these side quests varies on what is needed to complete each quests. Some will require you to get a particular item for the Guild while others require actual extra battle map fights. All guild quests are optional so you can actually complete the storyline gameplay without doing one guild quest. If you do decide to do the guild quests, you can actually spend as much time on them as you do with the actual storyline gameplay. So that's a pretty good amount of extra gameplay hours for you right there. But be aware that while the guild quests can net you a lot of extra gameplay hours, the quests themselves are kind of boring and uninteresting to do.
For replay value, the game does provide a New Game+ feature where you can start a new game again with all your equipment and runes being carried over to the new game, making the second game much easier to play. You can also recruit the last possible character that can be recruited on a second New Game+. Not what you would call really good strong incentive to play the game again but it's there for you if you chose to do so.
The extras and replay values are there for you to use and abuse however in all honesty they aren't very good features to the point where you really are interested in doing the extra side quests and wanting to replay the game again.
Score: 7/10
Suikoden Tactics really is a nice change of pace from the usual traditional rpg gameplay of the main 108 Stars of Destiny in the series. The game itself is fairly short and not meant to be a big main rpg game like the other games from the series. Let's face it, Suikoden Tactics is nothing more than a big side event game of the actual main Suikoden IV game. As a big side event game of a main rpg game, it serves its purpose and you won't be disappointed as long as you don't expect the game to be a big main rpg game. As a strategy rpg game… well it's nothing too special from all the other strategy rpg games out there.
