Mr Hyde
Member
Suikoden was my first JRPG. I remember buying it because I wanted to prep for Final Fantasy VII, which at the time, felt like a huge and complex game for me. I was always fascinated by the genre, and that was mainly due to Final Fantasy becoming a big thing in the gaming world, but since I didn´t have a SNES, and lived in Sweden, I didn´t get many opportunities to play one. Final Fantasy didn´t release outside of US until Final Fantasy VII.
Anyway, since the Playstation was brand new, Konami saw their chance to break into the market for japanese role playing games. I remember reading an interview with one of the producers of the first two games, and he said that the higher ups of Konami had held a meeting around 93-94 where they would discuss what new games they would produce for Sonys new console. When he arrived to the meeting, the suits had written three genres on a whiteboard.
- Racing
- Racing
- RPG
The producer picked the RPG, since racing was just too boring according to him. And so he gathered a team and about a year later, Suikoden was brought to the world. And it was a damn fine RPG. The story in particular stood out, and I was so impressed with the twists and turns that unfolded, and the strong character gallery. I had never played anything like that before, my preferences at the time was platforming and action-games. I was floored by the epic adventure I was embarking on, and it captivated me like no other game had before. Suikoden quickly became my favourite game.
So when the sequel dropped, I was in the 7th heaven. It was a direct sequel, building upon the first one. It was grander, bigger, lots of new fun characters, evolved battle system and an even more engaging and well written story. The tragic tale about Jowy Atreides and the hero protagonist (you name your character in the beginning) literally had me in tears by the end. It was so good. It was the best story I´ve encountered in a video game. It dealt with mature and complex themes, about friendship and betrayal, about sacrifices and redemption. Simply, it was a masterpiece.
Sadly enough, Suikoden has never been much of a top seller. Konami produced a couple of sequels, with 3D-graphics, revamped battle mechanics and some experimenting with the franchises original premise. The series ended with Suikoden V on Playstation 2. Konami has never bothered to revisit the series outside dropping the first two on PS Classic and PSP and some spin off-games such as Tierkris.
Today we live in a age of remasters and remakes. Nostalgia is currently a strong force in the industry, feeding off on our childhood memories with new editions and collections and bundles from the past. As we all know, Konami was a power house producer of video games back in the day, with some seriously gifted talent creating some seriously good IPs. Fast forward to the current timeline and Konami is a former shadow of itself, lost in the dark with no clue how to reach sunlight yet again.
Well, a step in the right direction towards redemption would be a release of the first two Suikoden-games on current consoles. I think a collection of those two would actually sell pretty well in the current climate of video games. Not to shit on the sequels by any means, but the first two games are the best representatives for the franchise, and they are also tied together so strongly that it would make the most sense to put only those two on a collection. They have also stood the test of time graphically with their wondrous 2D-graphics. Of course, if Konami would decide to bring all five games I wouldn´t complain.
It´s a piece of culture that I think deserves to be put in a new light to a new audience. It would also be a nice gesture towards us old school fans to relive these adventures again on modern consoles. I can´t possibly think that this would be a difficult or expensive task for Konami to do. A collection could also serve as a potential way to scan the market for interest in a possible sixth entry.
Do you want a Suikoden collection?
Anyway, since the Playstation was brand new, Konami saw their chance to break into the market for japanese role playing games. I remember reading an interview with one of the producers of the first two games, and he said that the higher ups of Konami had held a meeting around 93-94 where they would discuss what new games they would produce for Sonys new console. When he arrived to the meeting, the suits had written three genres on a whiteboard.
- Racing
- Racing
- RPG
The producer picked the RPG, since racing was just too boring according to him. And so he gathered a team and about a year later, Suikoden was brought to the world. And it was a damn fine RPG. The story in particular stood out, and I was so impressed with the twists and turns that unfolded, and the strong character gallery. I had never played anything like that before, my preferences at the time was platforming and action-games. I was floored by the epic adventure I was embarking on, and it captivated me like no other game had before. Suikoden quickly became my favourite game.
So when the sequel dropped, I was in the 7th heaven. It was a direct sequel, building upon the first one. It was grander, bigger, lots of new fun characters, evolved battle system and an even more engaging and well written story. The tragic tale about Jowy Atreides and the hero protagonist (you name your character in the beginning) literally had me in tears by the end. It was so good. It was the best story I´ve encountered in a video game. It dealt with mature and complex themes, about friendship and betrayal, about sacrifices and redemption. Simply, it was a masterpiece.
Sadly enough, Suikoden has never been much of a top seller. Konami produced a couple of sequels, with 3D-graphics, revamped battle mechanics and some experimenting with the franchises original premise. The series ended with Suikoden V on Playstation 2. Konami has never bothered to revisit the series outside dropping the first two on PS Classic and PSP and some spin off-games such as Tierkris.
Today we live in a age of remasters and remakes. Nostalgia is currently a strong force in the industry, feeding off on our childhood memories with new editions and collections and bundles from the past. As we all know, Konami was a power house producer of video games back in the day, with some seriously gifted talent creating some seriously good IPs. Fast forward to the current timeline and Konami is a former shadow of itself, lost in the dark with no clue how to reach sunlight yet again.
Well, a step in the right direction towards redemption would be a release of the first two Suikoden-games on current consoles. I think a collection of those two would actually sell pretty well in the current climate of video games. Not to shit on the sequels by any means, but the first two games are the best representatives for the franchise, and they are also tied together so strongly that it would make the most sense to put only those two on a collection. They have also stood the test of time graphically with their wondrous 2D-graphics. Of course, if Konami would decide to bring all five games I wouldn´t complain.
It´s a piece of culture that I think deserves to be put in a new light to a new audience. It would also be a nice gesture towards us old school fans to relive these adventures again on modern consoles. I can´t possibly think that this would be a difficult or expensive task for Konami to do. A collection could also serve as a potential way to scan the market for interest in a possible sixth entry.
Do you want a Suikoden collection?
