New Suikoden as Downloadable Title?

[thcrock]

With the [url=
"http://suikosource.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=11216"]recent news about Vandal Hearts[/url] (Konami's other RPG series), I wonder what people think of the possibility that Konami would go this route with Suikoden.

The new Vandal Hearts game will likely be somewhat small, as downloadable titles are. Would this work for Suikoden?

I don't have a strong opinion one way or another, at least not yet.

Possible reasons this would be a good idea:

• Lower development cost. Depending on how Konami views the franchise's profitability, the choice for them could be either this, or no new Suikoden title at all
• Can try out new ideas on a smaller scale. The VH title is a prequel. Konami could try things out that might not warrant a full game, one centered on the Succession War, First Fire Bringer War, or a new event entirely

Possible reasons this would not be a good idea:

• Would this work for story-based RPGs? Most downloadable titles don't tell an epic story due to size constraints. Its yet to be seen if the format works out for Vandal Hearts
• Would we ever see a full disc-based Suikoden title if this took off?

[Belcoot4]

I think this is an overall good idea but it would really water down the series. Most Suikoden fans are looking foward to a drawn out epic story. To be honest I'd rather see that they don't make another new one than make a cheap diluted game. I'm not totaly against this I just don't want to see the story continue on a download. If they wanted to make a short story to fill in some of the gaps, which there arent that many now, on the timeline I'd be all for it. For instance, if they showed either The First Fire Bringer War or the war in Falena before SV that would be a great idea, but again as for something new like S6 I give it an absolute negative.

[LanceHeart]

Judging by how simplistic and very dull the gameplay of Suikoden Tierkreis was, 2D HD Suikoden games distributed over PSN/XBLA/WiiWare could definitely be a way to go.

Just because a game is on a downloadable service doesn't mean it has to be short or simple. Remakes with as much production quality as disc-based games have already come out on all three services, so why not RPGs? Games as large as Wipeout HD are available on PSN (I forget how big it is, but it beats out a couple of gigs in size) and they're there for a $15 purchase. Vandal Hearts could end up being very large for a downloadable title, depending on how much effort and money Konami wants to throw at it.

[patapi]

It'd be disheartening if Suikoden VI went this route, that's for sure.

I can see Suikogaiden titles being distributed in this manner though.

[thcrock]

Just because a game is on a downloadable service doesn't mean it has to be short or simple. Remakes with as much production quality as disc-based games have already come out on all three services, so why not RPGs? Games as large as Wipeout HD are available on PSN (I forget how big it is, but it beats out a couple of gigs in size) and they're there for a $15 purchase. Vandal Hearts could end up being very large for a downloadable title, depending on how much effort and money Konami wants to throw at it.

PSN doesn't have any size limitations, but XBLA does (currently 350 MB, I think), and developers complain about it. They have made a few exceptions, but I don't know if Vandal Hearts pulls that kind of weight with Microsoft.

[Iesous]

I would love to see some side stories published online. I don't even have a Wii, PS3 or Xbox, but my family members do, and I'd find a way to play. It would be really fun to play some small adventures as characters like Georg (Ivory knight of the grasslands), any Howling Voice Guild member, any First Fire Bringer member, Armes invasion. With some of the conflicts, you could play either side. I agree with others who wouldn't want a 108-Star/True Rune centered political war, but side stories would be fun. Plus, they might get new people hooked on the story and maybe re-hook fans who left after S4.

[LanceHeart]

PSN doesn't have any size limitations, but XBLA does (currently 350 MB, I think), and developers complain about it. They have made a few exceptions, but I don't know if Vandal Hearts pulls that kind of weight with Microsoft.

They could definitely pull a WiiWare and release VH in episodes. Even PSN has such a game (Siren: Blood Curse was released in 12 eps), so splitting a game up isn't that bad. I could definitely see Konami going that route if they're stuck with that small limit.

[Ancient Cheesecake]

Wasn't Siren Blood Curse really bad?

The only truly successful episodic online games I know of are the Telltale adventure games. And the style in which those are made would not suit a main Suikoden game at all. Like others have said, a downloadable game that was a side story or something smaller would be cool, but the main series and the 108 stars of destiny is always about major conflicts, and it just wouldn't work if you had it all broken up into a bunch of separate games. Or even worse, one really small game.

[thcrock]

Siren Blood Curse: 78 on Metacritic isn't bad at all. Any problems reviewers had were not related to the episodic presentation.

An episodic Suikoden may or may not work - one way to do it would be to have specific campaigns in a war be separate episodes. This would break up the narrative in a way that might be annoying. A full story with the graphics of something like Suikoden II would probably be more palatable to fans.

[Raww Le Klueze]

Well, it's not like Suikoden is completely alien to the approach. Suikoden III is divided into chapters, if they made another game like that they'd just have to sell it by chapter or character if they did a Trinity Sight thing.

[Ancient Cheesecake]

A single game having chapters dividing up the story isn't anything like a bunch of individual games that tell a single story.

[LanceHeart]

Really? Because I could have sworn that Final Fantasy IV: The After Years does exactly that...

[Belcoot4]

I think SV had about 30+ hours of just story content alone and thats not even counting side quests, leveling characters, and just natural roaming that most players do while playing. If they want SVI to be even half as good as SV they'll make it on disc and not a downloadable game. Also if they did want the game to be anywhere as good as SV and to be a downloadable I'm sure it would take over 7gb which is ridiculous.

[Ancient Cheesecake]

Really? Because I could have sworn that Final Fantasy IV: The After Years does exactly that...

Does just what? All I've heard about that game is that it's terrible.

[LanceHeart]

Really? Because I could have sworn that Final Fantasy IV: The After Years does exactly that...

Does just what? All I've heard about that game is that it's terrible.

It's basically FFIV with a new story and broken into parts. Whether or not it's terrible is in the eye of the beholder, because I'm having fun with the new storyline.

If you think outside of the very small box of RPG innovation, you can do some pretty interesting things.