70%PlayStation

When Sony's Playstation came to the market in the mid 90s, it was clear that the focus of both developers and players was on 3D games. The trend was already taking form in some later SNES/Genesis games, and a good deal of the launch titles for the PS1—such as Ridge Racer or Jumping Flash!—were carefully selected to benefit from that. As a result, many new games of the 5th generation that decided to forgo 3D, the medium's biggest trend, tended to be generalized as inferior games. It makes sense, in theory; once people see the latest and greatest, next biggest thing, it's hard to sell them on what they might consider yesterday's news. Such was seemingly the case for Suikoden, a Konami-developed JRPG, as it struggled to sell well in Japan and abroad. But other than laying the groundwork for a now-revered series, Suikoden's debut showed that, even with its supposedly underpowered graphics, looks can be deceiving.

Now, let's get one thing out of the way: Suikoden is not a bad-looking game by any stretch of the imagination. Pixel art had been highly refined by the mid-90s, and the 32-bit processing power of the Playstation certainly helped the game look very polished. And it's visual style is distinguished for a reason; the game is based off of Water Margin (also the meaning of the game's title), a historical Chinese novel, and one of the first written in vernacular Mandarin. Its basis alone makes Suikoden a unique affair, and remnants of its Chinese influence are found often in building architecture, town soundtracks, and costume design. It's also quite unique in its character approach and story design as well; especially at the time, the most popular types of RPGs involved characters appearing from nowhere and defeating an unspeakably evil wizard, or something of that nature. So while Suikoden's story is relatively simple, its overall themes of corruption in governments, rebellion, and revolution give it something that not a lot of other games at the time offered.

Suikoden's crown jewel, though, is its massive character roster. The main aim of this title is to rove the land, put a stop to the government's cruelty, and most importantly, convince fellow like-minded individuals to join your Liberation Army. In total, there are 107 characters that might be willing to lend support to your cause, and one of the best parts of Suikoden is recruiting them and watching your army grow. It really encourages exploration and talking to every character, and with each new recruit, your castle will gain a new feature, or your party a new potential fighter. (This is greatly benefited by your ability to teleport to-and-fro the castle, gained in the early stages of the game.) Your fighting party of 6 affords you a fair level of strategy, though it can be frustrating when certain members are temporarily locked in your party, and you often aren't given the true level of customization that a 100+ cast of characters supposedly affords.

Not that it matters strictly for combat applications, though, because this is definitely one of the more easygoing JRPGs in terms of difficulty. There's a "Free Will" option, which allows the computer to perform your character's actions, and it will likely serve you well for all but a handful of your encounters. It's a relatively brief game for an RPG, but even then, the number of enemies you'll encounter will likely wear on you, and abandoning battles will look more and more appealing over time. The game does try to introduce some variability into combat with its full-scale army battles and 1v1 duels, and they're fine enough, but mechanically no deeper than a game of rock-paper-scissors. It's probably for the best; Suikoden doesn't exactly have the QoL features to sustain high-integrity gameplay. Most item and magic descriptions are not well-defined enough to be properly understood, inventory management can become very frustrating, and a good number of recruits are obscure to find at best and borderline impossible at worst.

When people think about the Suikoden series, if they've heard of it at all, they're likely to first think of the 2nd entry in the series. Its commercial reception wasn't much more impressive than the series debut, but over time, it became known as a cult classic and one of the very best in the JRPG genre. Based on its reputation, it's natural that some players may skip right to the sequel. But much like the 3D-entranced players of the mid-90s, JPRG fans today would be unwise to skip over Suikoden's first title. Even as it takes on serious topics, it represents that cozy, comfortable, nostalgic type of game that was becoming all the rarer as the SNES ran down its lifespan. Even with an overly simplified combat system and some areas where the game refused to accommodate modern amenities, Suikoden represents a game that honors the past while still offering something unique. Which, for an RPG on the PS1, is pretty impressive by itself.

100%PlayStation

Suikoden is an absolute masterpiece of a game. With quick combat, and excellently paced narrative, and 108 recruitable characters, Suikoden is a fantastic PS1 game, and an absolute must play for RPG fans.

As a disclaimer, this is my third playthrough of this game; however, this was the first time in 10 years that I had revisited it. I played through and recruiting 95% of the Stars of Destiny without using a guide. I only used a guide as a refresher for a couple, and for the last two because I was too lazy to go back and explore every location to find them. So, with that being said, as long as you are thorough with exploration, it is very possible to recruit all 108 without a guide. I would actually highly suggest that if you are playing this game for the first time to not use a guide, and get whatever ending you may get. The game is phenomenal, and if you really enjoy it, you can do a second playthrough with a guide to get all of the Stars. The game is relatively short, as you can see from my playtime clocking in at just over 20 hours.

In Suikoden, you play as Tir McDohl (Tir is his canon name, but you can name him whatever you want). You are the son of one of the five great imperial generals, and as the story begins, you are with your father Teo at the palace to meet the King, as your father is being summoned to travel north to quell a rebellion. Throughout a series of events, you are labeled a traitor to the Empire and forced to fell your hometown of Gregminster. From here, you are on a quest to lead a rebellion of your own against the Empire, and recruit many people unhappy with the current state of the Empire to your cause.

The main meat and potatoes of Suikoden is classic JRPG fare. You adventure through several towns, the world map, and dungeons as the story progreses, completing plot points as well as looking out for recruits. Every recruitable individual in Suikoden has a portrait, so it is relatively easy to tell who needs to be recruited. The manual as well as a list of all 108 stars; however, some are labeled as '?' to avoid spoilers. This game heavily benefits from taking notes and re-visitng past locales after major story events.

Graphically, the game looks alright. It doesn't really make use of the 3D effects of the PS1, but the colors are nice and bright, the animations are fluid, and the game oozes charm. Battles look very nice, with each usable character having their own attack animations which really displays their character. You have a 6 person party, which is something you don't see relatively often in JRPGS, and battles run very quickly. An additional bonus is that there is 0 reason to level grind. New characters that are below your main characters levels will level up to an appropriate level within 3 or 4 battles, so it really incentivizes experimentation. Your main grind will be money, as equipment and weapon sharpening is very expensive, however, once your recruit a certain person that likes to gamble, money is essentially infinite.

The story is really where Suikoden shines, providing a narrative full of war, tragedy, betrayal, and everything in between. This game is just as much a story of rebellion as it is a coming of age story for the main character Tir, as he struggles with his choices and what his homeland has become. Saying anymore will really not do the story justice.

The music of Suikoden is fantastic, with a wonderful assortment of catchy tunes, especially the Castle music. My only real complaint about the music is that there isn't a unique final boss theme.

The only negative that I can really say about the game is the inventory system is awful. Each character has an inventory limit of 10, and it is very easy to fill it up. You have to move items between characters, and if their inventory is full, you have to work around that first. You do get a storage center later in the game; however with as much time as you spend in the inventory, it can get incredibly annoying very quickly.

All in all, Suikoden is a wonderful game and is an instant classic in my opinion to anybody that plays it. If you love JRPGS, do yourself a favor the play this game. You will not be disappointed.

60%PlayStation

I should replay it in a few years, but for now, I'm not convinced. Suikoden is a beautiful and interesting game, with an obvious and bold departure from the JRPG standards of its time, but it's too much of... well, everything. I felt exhausted in the end, and that's not the kind of feeling I'm looking for with this type of game.

100%PlayStation

You can get 108 stars in suikoden. It's like Romancing Saga.

100%Emulated

Não sei se consegui fazer tudo, porém consegui pegar todos os personagens por meio de FAQ.

80%PlayStation

The story and character collection are amazing. Being able to see your castle grow as you recruit more is cool. The duels and battling monsters are great. Back on release, I had to write down characters to come back to so I could get all 108 for a perfect ending. One thing I did not like about this game was the war battles. The bonus is you can transfer your saved data to Suikoden 2.

Story - 8/10
Level Design - 8/10
Characters - 9/10
Gameplay - 8/10
Music - 8/10
Battle System - 8/10
Reply - 8/10

Rating - 8.1/10

65%PlayStation

The narrative itself and the fact that a good portion of the 108 recruit-able characters are actually at least somewhat interesting is incredible. Lots of low quality of life issues in the UI are the biggest detractor by far (lack of stat, item, rune, and attack descriptions, the requirement to constantly re-find things like recently used items and attacks, need to keep utility items held on characters themselves so it's easy to accidentally have to boat all the way back to your castle or not be able to run, etc.).

Some of the characters for the 108 completion have such nitpicky requirements for them to appear that you essentially need a guide to grab all of them, unless you want to waste hours upon hours of time going in and out of the same towns at different points of the game (and sometimes even multiple times after the same quest just for an NPC to be in the right spot!). After some emotional scenes, the reaction from your main character or party can sometimes be lackluster.

But it was fun. Overall the game is very solid, and has a number of heartfelt moments, and though I wouldn't play it again, I'll definitely remember it pretty fondly. 😄

100%PlayStation

Kuromimi fights too!!
You have a great power of vision!

75%Emulated

Based on the Chinese novel Shui Hu Zhuan, Suikoden is one of the most significant JRPG series of the 90s.

Within the realm of JRPGs, it was clear that Suikoden stood apart from the pack. The old concepts of magic, mythological races and castles remain, but the overall feeling is very different, boasting a plot that explores topics of rebellion, corruption, and most of all, war. In fact, the greatest accomplishment of the game is in its capacity to document the sacrifice, cruelty, and tactics of war in detail. Despite the abundance of narratively meaningless characters, Suikoden manages to craft and maintain a strong supporting cast, with an array of poignant character moments both tragic and introspective. In particular, Mathiu dominates the show with his calculating, frigid, almost cruel outlook towards wartime tactics

Gameplay-wise, Suikoden expands upon Breath of Fire II's base building mechanic and its recruitment system. The war base - a type of primary headquarters where recruits make their stay, is the most impressive aspect. The base's existence essentially turns the game into an metroidvania-like, where the player can backtrack across the world map searching for allies that benefit both combat (the unite attack system) and the base itself. Among those: opening shops, fast travel, and even miscellaneous cosmetic options basically finds a new meaning to 'base building'. The gradual progression of the headquarters and the several systems and mechanics involving it act as a major incentive for players to explore.

The one glaring fault of Suikoden lies in its combat. Although the potential for experimentation in its unite system is a neat idea, and the dynamic camera-work and animation flows well, combat is too painfully slow-paced to ignore, and doesn't offer much room for variety despite its runes system. Difficulty is also a non-factor, with bosses that are either forgettable or disappointingly easy.

30%PlayStation Vita

I don’t care for games that have dozens of characters. If I wanted to manage a large staff I’d buy a Dennys.

80%Emulated

the game was quite nice.
but definitely wish there was more QoL.
despite being a ps1 gen, it felt older than that.
the games that came around at the same time had better QoL for sure.
otherwise it was very fun and engaging.
the comedy time to time was very enjoyable.
the number of random encounter was frustrating.
in conclusion I definitely enjoyed the game.

90%PlayStation

Dated for sure but still has a lot of heart and is a fun ride all the way through. I would recommend it and its sequel any day.

80%Emulated

A simple yet compelling JRPG with decent customization and interesting story.

90%PlayStation Portable

WoW

80%PlayStation

While the story is fairly unremarkable, and most of the 108 stars are forgettable due to just having too many, I found that this game has remarkably well thought out mechanics. Every gripe I thought I would have had with the mechanics before I played, especially for a nearly 20 year old game, was wonderfully handled. Even many modern turn-based RPGs have a lot to learn from this game. I hope that the rest of the series continues to impress me, and have better stories.

80%PlayStation

Good start for a great series.

90%PlayStation

Ahead of its time. Plays better than half the modern RPGs out there. Story brought me to tears more than once. Full of twists and turns and the world was surprisingly amazing to explore. Lore was also really good for a typical JRPG.

90%PlayStation

Such a fantastic game that is still good in 2021

70%PlayStation

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/801084242
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/817869042
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/817869359
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/817870106
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/817870549
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/817871146
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/817872184
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/817872831
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/817873294
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/817873870
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/817874690

90%PlayStation 3

Originally released in 1995 on the Playstation. Suikoden II appears on almost all top JRPG/RPG PS1 lists, so I played this first to make the way free for Suikoden II :slightly_smiling_face: It is a nice and very classic JRPG (classical in JRPG imho: father complex, hero complex, low-self esteem complex and of course grind, grind, grind). The story is actually pretty interesting with some nice twists, but not that unique. I've seen parts of the story in multiple RGPs before. What makes it interesting is a 108! character party where you can pick you fight party of 6 from. All of the characters even have (sometimes only tiny) backstories. This huge character set make the story around a rebellion actually more believable. The fighting system is not that great, most of the time you click Attack-Attack-Attack-Attack-Attack-Attack for your 6 characters and thats it. Some boss-fights require more strategy, but this is rare and you are obliqued to grind before a bossfight anyhow. The grind (I actually like grinding) is the right amount (not too much, not too less). Also interesting is that besides the party battles there are Army Battles and Duels. Both work like a rock-paper-scissor system (where you can "cheat" by introspecting the other parties move to gain a significant advantage in those battles). If you like JRPGs you could give it try. If you don't like JRGPs this is nothing for you. This is as much as an JRPG as it can get.

80%PlayStation

ok - easy to beat

80%PlayStation

https://mybrainongames.com/2020/09/09/suikoden-playstation-review/

100%PlayStation Vita

Story = 2/2
Gameplay = 2/2
Presentation = 1/1

Overall = 5/5

70%PlayStation

Getting myself a gamepad for the first time ever (yes, I know – what can I say, I play mainly PC games that require keyboard and mouse) I looked for some retro RPG to take on using the pad and PS1 emulator I finally got working. Suikoden was on my sights as one of those retro RPGs that need to be played. It is on a few "best RPGs" lists out there and I don't mind playing those once in a while.

I was not disappointed. Sure, it’s a 25 years old game, so I did not expect great graphic – but here was a game with depth and ideas that I did not see implemented in such old RPG’s before.

Story: It's kind of an old story – A boy who grows up to be a leader of the rebellion, beating the 5 army generals on the way – including his father. However, there is an interesting premise here as the boy has to recruit as many of the 108 heroes scattered among the land to increase his power and chance of successes.

Gameplay: Okay – it's an old JRPG, but for its time, incredibly solid and introducing wonderful mechanics. The random fights are still there, but the grinding was not awful, and with the teleportation system in place minimized to fights on the way to your objectives and not for any generic travel. The battle system is rather standard 6-man party fight but does allow for some basic strategy by attaching different runes to your weapons which allow you different "spells" during fights.

Recruiting heroes increases the size of the army and when attacking the other generals the game switches to mass armies fight with "rock/paper/scissors and others" elements. The strategy in this mass fights is quite basic but it is a nice change from time to time.

As you grow stronger your castle increases in size and new elements show up such as inn, shops and labs. It’s a nice touch that let you feel the progress you are making.

The one thing I did not like were the "forced dialogues" in which you are given a few options but forced to choose a specific one. It"s pointless and annoying.

Graphic: in perspective, the graphic is not unpleasant even today – which says a lot. It's 25 years old but looks nicer than some indie pixel game look today.

Sound: very good, atmospheric with underlying common elements. No complaints here.

To sum it out, this is a good RPG to play if you like to visit some of the JRPGS that shaped the genre history. It's just the right size, simple to master with only some challenging encounters that require rethinking a fight but not overthinking your whole approach. It has a pleasant story and presentation – for it's time it would have score 90%+. For our time, 70% to 75% for nostalgic value works well.

70%PlayStation

gameplay wise awesome game. the ending was too desapointing

90%PlayStation

Story 9/10
Level Design 8/10
Characters 9/10
Gameplay 9/10
Graphics 7/10
Music/Sound 10/10

Battle System 8/10

Difficulty EASY

Overall 93%

60%PlayStation

It's a clunky mess thanks to being an early PS1 title and the first one in the serie, but it has a fun combat system.

70%Emulated

Suikoden utilizes sprite based graphics and as a result, looks like a suped-up SNES title. For the most part, its visuals have aged very well, but the character portraits in particular are blurry and of low quality, with some not matching up well with the battle sprites. In the headquarters, many recruited characters respond with filler text that does not change, only having something remotely compelling to say when recruited or if they are involved in the main story. There are more than a few who act simply as a number on the roster or have an unnecessary purpose such as adjusting the menu window color. With such a large cast of characters, it should be no surprise that many of them are pretty shallow, but it is very rewarding seeing your headquarters grow from an abandoned, monster infested dungeon into a bustling, self sustaining fortress.

With 108 playable characters (known as the stars of destiny), almost any time available is dedicated to finding and recruiting somebody, a pattern that tends to get in the way of the overarching plot. Most characters are easy to recruit, simply finding them is good enough for them to join, but there are, of course, a number of recruits that require more. Some need a simple task to be completed, others require a certain number of recruits or level to be met, and the worst are based on pure luck, playing gambling mini games and asking for items only dropped by enemies, one of which took me an hour to farm. A stone tablet is found in your headquarters that keeps a listing of all of the stars of destiny. All of the star’s titles are listed by default, with the characters names added after they join the army. While this should help in figuring out who remains to be recruited, some titles are listed more than once, and characters often leave for story purposes, taking their name off the roster with them. This effects both recruiting efforts and the size of the headquarters—the largest castle size is obtained when the headquarters is entered after gaining a roster of 100 characters, but if some leave momentarily, the roster is less than 100, the headquarters is not upgraded, and the characters requiring the biggest castle to join will have to wait. Apparently, there is a perfect moment to visit the headquarters to avoid this hassle, and evidently, I missed it. There aren’t any true side quests aside from the recruiting missions, but this can easily pass by unnoticed.

While there isn’t anything that is incomprehensible, there are an annoying amount of translation errors in the menus, item descriptions, and dialogue, and pertaining to the latter, the worst tend to show at the least opportune times to spoil dramatic moments. To name just a few examples, 99% of the time, the option to escape from battle is listed as “let go,” while the remaining percent is correctly and appropriately named “run.” Potion shops are called “hardware stores,” the status screen is found under “strength,” and every floor of your headquarters is miss-named since the first floor is referred to as the basement.

Three battle systems are featured in Suikoden, the expected party focused combat, large scale army battles, and one-on-one duels. The party focused combat differs from typical turn based battle systems in that all actions are input and confirmed before carried out. This saves time from waiting for an action bar to charge, but it does warrant a lot of button presses with a full party of six. Characters fight from a front and back row, with weapon range usually being the deciding factor as to where someone is placed in the formation. Weapons cannot be unequipped or changed, but upgraded at a blacksmith and equipped with runes to add elemental damage. Large scale battles are fought throughout the story and use basic Rock Paper Scissors mechanics to determine to winning side of each attack. All recruited characters fall into teams that can carry out attacks or special abilities such as check the enemys’ plan of attack.

The item management systems also try to change up the formula by giving each character their own personal inventories, but with a max item number of 10 with equipped armor taking up space, this gets frustrating easily. Needlessly swapping equipment and items between characters is commonplace and a shared inventory, at least between the current party, could have made for a much more user friendly experience. One recruitable character runs a vault in the headquarters that allows access to everyone’s items, but this doesn’t exactly assess the issue.

While it should said that the soundtrack isn’t bad by any means, it can be generic and a little incohesive. There are some great town and city tracks with interesting elements derived from Western folk and East Asian music, but the battle music and world map theme are completely lacking in this sort of character, opting for what sounds safe for the genre.

90%PlayStation

I think this is a really great game. The controls are very simple with a clean menu design. The only fault i see with this game is how weird the difficulty is. It's not that hard a game to playthrough however there are occasions were the difficulty spikes at a ridiculous rate and then it goes back to being not that difficult. There was only one part right at the end that was tedious because the game forces you to fight about 10 to 15 battles in a row, granted with chances to heal in between, padding out the final stretch to the already long final battle. The music and sound effects are wonderful and the sprite work and animations were really good. This quickly became one of my favorite JRPGs I would highly recommend it.

90%PlayStation

This was a great game. I really enjoyed the story of a boy who has no choice but to rebel against an empire that has begun to oppress its people. The moral struggle being that this also means going against his father whom he loved dearly. You recruit 101 different people all across the world to join your cause and nearly every one of them is available to fight along side you as well, making for a unique experience every time you play. You'll see your castle grow as you gain more followers and even take on entire armies in a Rock/Paper/Scissors type of battle. Just like any JRPG though the random encounters do become a bit tiring after a while.

90%PlayStation 3

Perfect length and outstanding story.

100%PlayStation Portable

This is one of my favorite game series. I played the second game first and loved it so much I bought this one for PSX. It is obviously a little less polished than its sequels. For example, less in game items, rougher translation and even easier character recruitment--most characters will simply ask to join your cause instead of say, making you fetch quest for them.
The story is good and easy to follow. The main enemies are a little obscure in that you don't see them all too often, but it's obvious that they are pulling the strings. All the main and side characters have their own back stories and are interesting and different. I found myself always using the same party members out of habit, when probably I would have had just as much fun using the others. It gets tedious to level everyone up, however, and I kind of wish all the characters would level simultaneously (simply because there are about 70 or 80 playable). It also gets extremely expensive to sharpen everyone's weapons, which is probably another reason why I used only about 10 or 15 characters to fight with. I found myself teleporting around a LOT towards the end, so I am very thankful for the Blinking Mirror!
Overall, solid game, story, music and combat system. It only gets better from here!

80%PlayStation

A nice solid rpg that doesn't overstay its welcome. Gameplay consist of three types of battles. There are the random battles where each member of the party attacks the enemies. Then there are the army battles, where the army attacks the other army using rock, paper, scissors. Last is the one on one battles against the leader. The music was decent .The only drawback is that there are just too many characters to control.

60%PlayStation

Flawed like every old JRPG (annoying random battles, obscure secrets, underused and underdeveloped army battle mode, useless companions, forgettable cast, etc.), but a good one nevertheless.

80%PlayStation 3

Good story and main characters. Majority of the 108 stars are as shallow as a piece of trading card with flavor text and won't stay in your memory for long after you finish the game, but they were distinctive and fun while the game lasted. rn2D visual ages relatively well, but some gameplay elements and technical aspects are dated, had I played it when it was first released it would not have been an issue. Some bad translations and errors too.

90%PlayStation Vita

Suikoden is one of those JRPGs that just seems to fall through the cracks.
Not only is it overshadowed by its successor but it is a rare game in its own right.
However recently it was added to the PS store.
So I decided to give it a go.
To give this game the recognition it deserves I played a 100% run.

Story 83%
The story of suikoden is fairly simple yet extremely enjoyable.
I found myself getting absorbed into the world and getting attached to the characters in a very personal way.
The story focuses around building a rebel army to overthrow the corrupt government.
The main part of this game's story is the 108 stars of destiny.
These are unlockable characters that you find either through the story or by searching through towns and cities.
At first I was skeptical about this mechanic as it seemed pointless like it was there just to add extra time on the playthrough.
However after a while I became addicted to finding and recruiting every character as soon as I could.
Each character has some kind of side quest with a story you must complete in order to recruit them and each of them serves a unique purpose from fighting alongside you to changing the design of the dialogue box.
And the ending might have made me shed a manly tear

Gameplay 92%
The gameplay of suikoden is your typical turn based JRPG combat with several unique mechanics to make it interesting.
Rune attacks require a certain rune to be equipped to each character each rune allows the character to use various spells.
Every rune only has a limited number if uses that can be refilled by resting at an inn.
This is an interesting feature as anyone can use any spell and you need to organise the spells and pace there uses which adds another layer of depth to the strategy of the gameplay.
The unite attacks can only be performed when certain characters are in your party.
These attacks take up multiple characters turns and can cause some to skip a turn however in return they deal insane damage.
Planning when to use these despite their risk is another welcome addition to the combat.
My favourite part about these attacks is that they can only be used by certain character combinations.
This really adds to the depth of the characters as it creates a sense of camaraderie among them and it gives you an insight into some of the characters relationships.
Another interesting feature is the lack of changeable weapons.
Every character only has their starter weapon.
However these weapons can be upgraded in return for large amounts of money.
You can upgrade weapons at a smiths.
And of course you can recruit the smiths.
Each smith can be recruited and brought to your base to work for you.
Personally I prefer this over the traditional system of buying new weapons as it feels a lot more satisfying than trading in something you worked so hard to get for something new.
But the most unique mechanic is the range system.
Each character and their weapon has a range of S,M,L
And each party can have up to 6 characters at one time three in the front row and three in the back row.
S or short range fighters can only attack the front row of the enemies party and can only attack when placed at the front row of your party yet they are usually the strongest.
M or medium range fighters can only attack the front row of the enemies party yet can attack from either row of yours.
L or long range fighters can attack either row of the enemies party from any row of your party they are generally the weakest.
This is yet another unique feature that makes the combat in suikoden some of the best I have ever played.
However that is not all.
There is a completely separate combat system.
"Army combat" is essentially a glorified game of rock paper scissors.
However despite that it still retains a high quality and while it couldn't make a full game on its own it is still great for mixing up the gameplay.

Graphics 91%
Suikoden actually chose to use traditional 2d sprites rather than 3d models.
So unlike the other games of the era its graphics have aged incredibly well.
The environments look great and all the characters have well drawn profiles.
But what really shines is the combat.
The sprites are fluid and moving and they jump around and perform stunning attacks.

Sound 93%
Each track fits the mood perfectly and no two are similar enough to be mistaken.
They are fitting and enjoyable.
What more is there to say?

Overall 90%
+Great characters and an enjoyable story
+Amazing sound and graphics
+Some of the best combat I have ever experienced

-Some annoying backtracking
-The story has a few low points.

70%PC

Fine old school JRPG. If I had played this between 11-15 years old I would have loved it. Liked the huge number of characters. The writing was bad though, and I was never that interested in the story. You literally kill your own father and never revisit any feelings about it. May have just been made too long ago. Like the way combat is made easy compared to other JRPGs from the same time period.

100%PlayStation

This game is amazing. I love how it's set up so that your experience is based on the places that you fight. All of the characters have personalities. The story has great pacing with high points and low points and you actually feel yourself going from a lowly noob to a powerful leader. The game progressively gets harder, obviously, but the best part is that, unlike the majority of RPGs that came out around the time, grinding is unnecessary, unless you really want an advantage. I highly recommend this game.

50%PlayStation

+battle systemrn-storyrn-characters

90%PlayStation

The second best RPG ever, second only to Suikoden II.

100%PlayStation

Final party: MC, Flik, Viktor, Sylvina, Cleo, and Tengaar.

90%PlayStation Vita

A classic JRPG from Konami. A must play of the PS1 era.

70%PlayStation

Exelent but shows it age. You play it for the story and the characters.

80%PlayStation

A great start to my personal favorite series, and sets up Suikoden II(my personal favorite game of all time) exceptionally well. If anything, I knock it for not having features introduced in II, as I played that before getting this.

80%PlayStation

Love this game. It does not have very well developed characters like some FF's but the story is so rich and enjoyable. The variety of characters should suit anybody for whatever combo they want to go for, and the whole pace of the game seems just right. My main flaw, which comes with almost all RPG's except LOD is where they make you use certain characters for parts of the story also in battle. Legend of Dragoon lets you use the same team for all battles so you dont have to worry about grinding to bring a level up for some weak character. Besides that, great game and a good starter RPG.