Suikoden Tactics Official Announcement! -update!

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Shumphrey
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Suikoden Tactics Official Announcement! -update!

Post by Shumphrey »

Source: Gamespot
Suikoden Tactics Hands-On Impressions


At today's press event, Konami unveiled its next PS2 Suikoden title for the first time. The long-running role-playing series is turning to the realm of strategy for this installment, which has been dubbed Suikoden Tactics. The transition to a strategy RPG has been made smooth by remaining firmly seated in the series' already rich and detailed universe, as well as through some gameplay tweaks designed to assist tactical neophytes by replacing layers of menus with some slick and simple visual cues. We grabbed some time with the game and found it both very easy to play and very strongly Suikoden.

Suikoden Tactics is set some years before the events in Suikoden IV, in the same realm of the island nations. The war between the Kooluk Empire and the other kingdoms has not yet begun, though the frighteningly powerful rune cannon weapons have begun to emerge. The hero of the game is a young man named Kyril, who travels with a small band of fighters dedicated to unraveling the mystery behind the genesis of the weapons. The secret of the rune cannon is somehow tied to the fate of a race of strange fish-men, creatures that have been appearing throughout the islands and that seem to possess large amounts of runic power.

We were told that, as usual, plenty of familiar faces from previous Suikoden titles would make their way into this game. Right off the bat, in fact, we were taken to a flashback battle (in the town of Razril) starring the bandana-wearing main character of Suikoden IV and his perfectly coiffed friend, the haughty Snow. They're mere youngsters here, though, trying out Snow's new sword on an infestation of tribblelike furballs in the town's dark backstreets. Kyril and his friends soon make an appearance as well, and soon all are caught up in some good old-fashioned turn-based battle.

Like in many strategy games, action order is determined by the speed of the characters, both ally and enemy, and all move using a grid-based system. When it's your turn, though, the game makes use of a number of visual cues through bubbles over the heads of the sprites that give you information about your environment. For example, as you choose where to move your character, if you happen to stray within the range of a foe, a sword icon appears over that enemy's head. This quickly and easily lets you know if you're trying to park a character in a danger zone, without having to switch out and click on the enemy to see its action range. Once you're able to bring your fighter in attack range of an enemy (you'll be able to use both melee attacks, as well as magical rune attacks based on any runes you have equipped), some new informative bubbles pop up. Enemies that you can hit for critical or life-ending damage appear with a halo over their heads, allowing you to determine where to focus your attacks. As in many games, approaching a foe from the side or the back lets you do more devastating damage.

Bubbles appear over your own characters, too, giving you information about their status. One of the features of Suikoden Tactics is that certain areas of the battlefield are imbued with elemental runic power; these areas glow with the corresponding element color (green for the wind rune, brown for the earth rune, and so on). Each character has its own elemental affinity, so if you move it into a complementary zone, a smiling face will appear over its head to let you know. A character standing in a positive rune zone will do more damage, have increased defense, and will regain a bit of health each turn. Likewise, if a character moves into the zone of a rune that is opposed to theirs, a crying face will appear over its head. A character standing in a negative rune zone will take more damage, and will lose health over time as well, so you'll want to avoid it when possible. If people need healing, a first aid symbol will appear over their heads to let you know, as well.

Another element of the Suikoden series that's been retained is the combination attacks that let two or more characters join forces in a single blow. An icon will show up over a character's head if it can talk while in battle. The more characters converse, the greater their bond to each other, and if they're compatible, they'll be able to learn combo and assist attacks. Also, two bonded characters will look out for their friends. For example, if an enemy is striking at someone's unprotected back, a friend will move in to block the attack. It's a feature that's true to the spirit of the series, and it's something we're eager to be able to play with more.

The game is visually quite attractive, with a dreamy, watercolor-shaded opening sequence and cel-shaded character sprites that are intricate and well-animated. We were able to play the Razril opening battle, and the field environment itself was large and had lots of depth and detail. The character portrait art is as lovely as always, and the music sounds like it's coming along nicely. We heard a limited number of voice clips that sounded pretty solid.

Probably the most surprising thing about the announcement was the release date--Konami says to expect Suikoden Tactics for the PlayStation 2 in November of this year. Be sure to stay tuned to this gamespace for more news on the game as it's made available, as we'll be sure to keep our eye on this venerable RPG-turned-strategy as time goes on.
This was my original post:
Source: 1up.com
Suikoden fans, I know you're out there. And you'll be very happy to hear that today Konami announced Suikoden Tactics exclusively for the PS2. The game will incorporate RPG elements with good ol' turn-based tactics strategy. The game tries to appeal to novice players by streamlining the way information is displayed, but will still reward the hardcore with a deep, complex game.

The storyline of the game is set just before Suikoden 4, and true Suikoden-heads will delight n seeing scenes that explain origin stories of their favorite characters.

Suikoden Tactics will be available for PS2 in Spring 2006.
Last edited by Shumphrey on Wed Aug 17, 2005 7:51 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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son_michael
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Post by son_michael »

ign says its coming out in november....

so it is and plus all the game stores have it set for november so thats good enough for me

dont you dare say its coming out in 2006! :x
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Post by Shumphrey »

It seems my trusted 1up.com may have been mistaken. I edited my post with a bulletin from gamespot.com
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Fudce
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Post by Fudce »

it also seems that Konami of Europe has made a similar announcement

From Eurogamer:
(important lines in bold)
Konami release dates

As well as talking up the Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence's online modes, Konami also spoke today in Leipzig of its plans for the rest of the year and early stages of 2006 - giving us a broad outline of release dates for various titles.

Castlevania fans, first and foremost, will have to wait until February 2006 to play the next instalment, Curse of Darkness, on PS2 and Xbox. The first DS version, Dawn of Sorrow, is expected to appear in September - although Konami hasn't confirmed that.

Speaking of which, DS RPG Lost in Blue is due out this November. It's the tale of a young hero who finds himself washed up on the beach of a seemingly uninhabited island. Unrelated to the TV series Lost, of course, despite the similarly plain name. (Plain, not plane - that was just a coincidence of speedy typing.)
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Those of you buying PSPs next month will be able to pick up Rengoku: The Tower of Purgatory in, er, October. It's a free-roaming sci-fi adventure for those who haven't followed it.

When you're bored of roaming-roaming-roaming, the month after that you can do some rolling in Crime Life on PS2, Xbox and PC. We knew that was out in November anyway, but we didn't know Konami had recruited new rappers for the hip-hop soundtrack, including Big Dame, PHEAR, T-Baby, and some German hip-hoppers. They have.

At around the same time in November there'll be a chance to play Dancing Stage Max on PS2.

Another Konami releases planned before the end of the year include S.L.A.I (Steel Lancer Arena International - PS2 title, due in September), and Shaman King games on GBA (September) and PS2 (Christmas).

Moving in to 2006, the first few months will see the launch of a pair of fantasy PS2 titles - The Sword of Etheria (working title) in February, which concerns three warriors charged with repelling an invasion by a race of evil Gods ("concern" being the operative), and Suikoden Tactics, a tactical (never!) spin-off from the RPG series of the same name.

There's also news of Konami's first Xbox 360 release. Sadly it's not Pro Evolution Soccer, which is expected later in 2006, but rather it's Rumble Roses XX - announced at the Japanese Xbox Summit recently - which will be with us in "early 2006".
Anamanaguchi

Post by Anamanaguchi »

This game is going to flop just like 4 did. Suikoden is dead to me now. I'm still going to buy it just like I bought the rest, but I know I will be dissapointed, unless it's battle system somehow makes a miracle comeback.
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Post by Crowley's_Apprentice »

They absolutely need to make Suikoden five have the battle system that suikoden 1 and 2 had. these new three and four people parties just aren't cutting it...
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Post by daoster »

Anamanaguchi wrote:This game is going to flop just like 4 did. Suikoden is dead to me now. I'm still going to buy it just like I bought the rest, but I know I will be dissapointed, unless it's battle system somehow makes a miracle comeback.
I'm glad to see that you have the most positive of attitudes.
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Occam Arkitect
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Post by Occam Arkitect »

Well....almost nobody was pessimistic before S4 as released, and then it happened...so maybe they lost their faith. But still, everyone will still buy this one.
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Post by KFCrispy »

Suikoden 4 had pessimism going around before the release date in Japan. 4-man parties were announced, but people felt hope because it was supposed to be similar to and relate to Suikoden 1. on release date, people who started playing it (like SARSadmin) were utterly annoyed by the sailing system.

this game will reach out to a new type of audience and still retain much of the old. i believe fans of Suikoden III will be attracted to this game, and Suikoden III was actually quite successful compared to the other games.


based on the information from the gamespot article, it seems that some of the useless skills in S3 might prove to be extremely necessary in this game, such as "MOV" if they have it, and speed will actually be pretty important as well. now your weak but quick ninja-types may become much more valuable, since they get to move/attack more frequently than anyone (if moves are really based on SPD).
Anamanaguchi

Post by Anamanaguchi »

I'm glad to see that you have the most positive of attitudes.
Being positive won't change how good or bad the game will be, and I thought we believed in difference of opinion in this messege board?
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Post by demon eye »

I guess it's just cinfusing for you to come to a Suikoden message board and talk about how Suikoden is dead for you. If you had no more interest in the games I wouldn't think that you would come to a message board dedicated to it. But, everyone is entitled to their own opinion.
Anamanaguchi

Post by Anamanaguchi »

I didn't mean Suikoden as whole, I meant as in any future releases, this is the Rhapsodia section by the way. I just wish they would stop releasing crap and let it die already, or at least release something good for a change, not something that we don't care for that takes place in the past and just left us hanging at the end of III. Super lame.
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Post by son_michael »

stop saying "we" you dont speak for all the fans of suikoden

suikoden 4 was a good game and if konami gave up on it then we would be deprived of great games in the future

things happen, people leave, storylines change and games dont live up to the greatness of the former games, but to just drop a franchise because "daddy murayama" left is completley pathetic, fans want suikoden and its all about pleasing the fans otherwise no one would buy the games, they can make each game better and bring the suikoden story to a close the right way


I dont know about you but I dont wanna play suikoden 1 2 and 3 for the rest of my life and I dont wanna play 4 either, I wanna play rhapsodia, I wanna play 5 and 6 and 7 and 8 and any sequels or prequels, I wanna play suikoden until all the true runes are revealed and until the story is finished, if murayama isnt involved then its a shame but so be it, because I love suikoden and if you loved it you wouldnt want to kill it

rhapsodia is gonna make everyone like suikoden 4s characters alot more just like 2 made everyone like suikoden 1s characters and then after that we will have NEW characters and NEW story and the games will just keep getting better

as For me Ill be playing suikoden


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Anamanaguchi

Post by Anamanaguchi »

First of all, I'm not going to "Stop" anything. I was speaking for some of those who really didn't like Suikoden IV and shared a similar opinion. Second, why are you putting words in my mouth? As if I am going to play the first three Suikodens over and over. I'm not one of the people of this site who plays the damn games all the time just to figure out small insignificant bugs and problems of the other newbie players, or try to get the most damage on a 6 year old game.
What I was trying to say is, if it's over, it's over. It had great games while it lasted. I would rather have them kill it off, then continue it with crap. It's my opinion, big deal. :P
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Post by Fu Su Lu »

Mmm I guess it is just a matter of opinion. I personally prefer to see something before taking a decision -it surely takes many troubles away- but if this guy has already made his mind, is to be respected too.I think the problem was in the ''we", which can be taken for something like : I´m talking for all the fans. that was not your intention of course but it really looked like it. Also, so much pessimism could be for some people disgusting -not for me, you know, I take other peple opinions like the thing they are:other opinions, as good as bas as mine-.
The good thing is that if all of us thought the same this would be boring.dont you agree?

Mmm I ended this and saw a new Anamanaguchis post. You talk like a little boy not used to be answered.sorry for you.
Last edited by Fu Su Lu on Sun Aug 21, 2005 4:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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