I've started 1, have played it for a few hours and absolutely loving it so far. So glad I finally gave it a try.
I would start with 2,3, or 5.
1 is good, but the story and world just aren't as well drawn. It would be easy to get turned off the series starting here depending on your tolerance for old school by-the-numbers jRPG aesthetics. Also, it just doesn't have the surfeit of heart that makes the series truly shine.
I think 2, 3, and 5 are all GOAT tier. 5 has the best writing, 3 the best OST and most vibrant world, and 2 has the most pure charm. Can't go wrong with any of them. Then go back to 1 and possibly 4 if you really love the series.
2 has a far more complex castle, along with greater variety for runes by allowing for 3 instead of just 1 and army battle system.
I played S1 for the first time three or four months ago and I enjoyed it very much. I thought the world and and particularly the inter-character and familial relationships were quite fleshed out. There were some noticeably absent QoL features though, so I guess it depends on your tolerance of the more longwinded, old school type of game design.
I like 1 a lot too, but I just don't feel it has the depth of character and relationship that 2 and 5 manage (length may be an issue - 108 characters in 15-20 hours is a lot).
Play in order, play with Flik and Victor.
Unite!
They had no reason to be in The Grasslands, though. At least we got a tiny bit of closure to them with Edge inheriting Viktor's sword.I was so disappointed that they skipped Flik and Victor in Suikoden 3. They wouldn't have been too old!
I was so disappointed that they skipped Flik and Victor in Suikoden 3. They wouldn't have been too old!
They had no reason to be in The Grasslands, though. At least we got a tiny bit of closure to them with Edge inheriting Viktor's sword.
The absolute best two are 2 and 5, and the worst is 4.
But, if given a choice, I'd say play 1-3 and then 5. While 1 is simplistic and a little dated, it's really short and loading a 100 percent save into 2 has a GREAT bonus for that game.
This ^. Suikoden 2 is easily the best one (one of my favorite games ever) and there are some extra scenes if you load your Suikoden 1 save file, plus an extra character. It takes place only a few years after the first one, so there are many returning characters and its pretty neat to see them show up.
It's weird that no Suikoden game has the "best" everything, at least for me. The scripted army battles and easy difficulty in II were awful, III had the terrible partner system, and V had severe loading and encounter rate problems. For everything each game improves on it does something else worse.Suikoden 2 has the most memorable characters/scenario of the franchise, and generally did everything well.
I do like the skill system added in Suikoden 3 and refined in the sequels. If the battles were quicker/didn't have crazy loading, I think Suikoden 5 would definitely have the best general gameplay in the franchise. Suikoden V's RTS army battles were the bane of my existence. I liked the direction that Suikoden 3 went with those, but would have much preferred the old paper-scissor-rock stuff over mandatory RTS battles. I like RTS games too. Those were just shitty RTS battles.
When people say to import a 100% save from 1, do they mean just finish the story or complete all side quests etc too? I'm not very far into 1 but I don't want to miss anything important.
Original trilogy is the only installments you need to play. I love the way they're connected. People mentioned V is a must play but i never played it.
I think Suikoden 3 did this the best of all the games. That was the Suikoden game that really made the most of its large cast. The majority of the characters felt well realized and served a purpose. It is probably why I consider it to be the best game in the series.
Suikoden 2 is obviously a gem, though. It is, in my opinion, the best direct sequel ever made.
Also, people are downplaying Suikoden 4's horribleness. It did a few things well. Snow was an interesting, flawed character. However, it is still one of the worst, if not the worst, RPGs on the system.
Original trilogy is the only installments you need to play. I love the way they're connected. People mentioned V is a must play but i never played it.
It's weird that no Suikoden game has the "best" everything, at least for me. The scripted army battles and easy difficulty in II were awful, III had the terrible partner system, and V had severe loading and encounter rate problems. For everything each game improves on it does something else worse.
I agree 3 did a better job of giving more development to more characters (thanks Trinity system!). I just don't think the core relationships are quite as well drawn as in 2/5, though I still love them.
Suikoden 3's trinity system was an interesting concept, and it was sort of cool to see some moments from different viewpoints. However, it added a ton of bloat to the game. I also really disliked having my base building relegated to the two Thomas chapters and the final chapter when all the story threads converge. I think that I would have sacrificed the "experiencing both sides' novelty for a more cohesive core scenario that ran 20 hours shorter.
You missed out, some of my favourite characters in any jrpg. Music was great as well
Suikoden 3's trinity system was an interesting concept, and it was sort of cool to see some moments from different viewpoints. However, it added a ton of bloat to the game. I also really disliked having my base building relegated to the two Thomas chapters and the final chapter when all the story threads converge. I think that I would have sacrificed the "experiencing both sides' novelty for a more cohesive core scenario that ran 20 hours shorter.
play 1 and 2