Duel - Which series has the best duel?

[RevKoden]

Let's see here:
- Suikoden 1, has the most basic duel...it only "rock paper scissors" game...
- Suikoden 2, i like the final duel vs Jowy, it gives you like....thinking whether you want to kill Jowy or not...overall very emotional too...
- Suikoden 3, Introduce a gauge system...but unfortunately....if you reading a guide that gauge will be useless..as your attack will probably more powerful than you imagine cause the gauge will always stay at your side....
- Suikoden 4, i like how they now give scene of counterattacking....but it still feels lackluster and doesnt have strong animation....
- Suikoden 5, Obviously the best...has a good animation scene whether you win or lose...i also like how when you attack vs attack it gives a button mashing gameplay...it is the best...i even wonder if they make suikoden 6 with the same type duel as suikoden 5...i hope they introduce a 2 player mode, like between PLayer A vs PLayer B...but it will feel too much like Rock-paper-scissors...

SO what do you like?

[Sasarai10]

S1 and S2 duels were not "paper,rock,scissors".
If you remember attack succeed even if you performed a desperate attack.

S3 gauge system,wasn't useless. If it was by your side,if your opponet,performed a wild attack and you did a wild attack then his wild attack will fail


And yes,S5 had the best duels,and had some bad endings too,were Frey was killed by Miakis or Childerich,if you lost.

[Antimatzist]

I liked that in the first games, your equipment, level etc were important for the duels, too. Too bad that I knew from the very beginning that Pahn can survive, otherwise I would have gone crazy (I hate you spoilers )

I think III's were poorly executed. The gauge bar was unnecessary imo and I think it messed up too much of the original system - even if you chose falsely, you could still survive an attack.

I really liked that they animated the duels in IV, that was a major improvement, iirc there was an option to make a move extra strong, this felt unnecessary.

V was even better animnated and more "action orientated", i.e. you cannot think as long as in previous games. I liked that, but they should have kept the equipment/level/etc part from the first games.

I can't really say which duels I liked most. I think the duels from the first two games felt a bit more like I'd imagine a tactical fight - thinking a long time about your next move, standing in front of each other.. that's pretty cool imaginery. But maybe I'd go with 5.

[patapi]

No mention of the spin-off titles; namely Rhapsodia, Tierkreis and Tsumuji? Of course, their duels were really glorified solo battles, but they do deserve a mention for possibly being more difficult than your standard rock-scissors-paper affair.

Suikoden II was as much a basic rock-scissors-paper setup as the original game anyway.

[Antimatzist]

You think Rhapsodias duels were difficult? I only remember the fight against Rita andthe very last one. Rita wasn't really a fight and the last one was a joke, imo.

And weren't all duels in Tierkreis optional recruiting fights?

[Lemmy Claypool]

Rhapsodia includes a duel against Martin too.

[Raww Le Klueze]

No mention of the spin-off titles; namely Rhapsodia, Tierkreis and Tsumuji? Of course, their duels were really glorified solo battles, but they do deserve a mention for possibly being more difficult than your standard rock-scissors-paper affair.

Suikoden II was as much a basic rock-scissors-paper setup as the original game anyway.

If Tsumuji and Tierkreis counts, then having only the hero in the party when fighting a boss counts as a seperate duel system in all the other games as well.

[Nikisaur]

I liked 1&2. Mostly because they had a reason for dueling most of the time. Rather that like...oh we haven't had a duel in a while... Like the Prince fighting Chuck. I can't really remember any from 3 or 4, sorry.

[sticky-runes]

Suikoden 5's duels were awesome. The prince's techniques were actually adjusted to whatever weapon style his opponets were using. I love the part where you're fighting Chuck, you both use attack (or special?) and he punches the prince, but then the prince's weapon bashes him in the face as he falls back!

Suikoden 4 also had different animations for each opponent, but yeah, they weren't quite as dramatic as the duels in S5, and it was annoying when you both used attack and it just parried with nobody taking damage. It just made the duel drag on for longer. So it was a good idea for S5 to bring in the weapon lock/struggle system!

[Piisuke]

I preferred V as well. IV and V made the duels look like... you know... duels.
The system (whatever they call it) in V worked pretty good. You had limited to to select your response, so you had to think quick.

There's also points in the game where other characters duel, instead of just you. I remember near the end of the game, you can select out of 4 characters, iirc to do the duel. The animations are also pretty sweet.

[Hirathien]

I personally think Suikoden I and II had the best story duels, more feeling and atmosphere into them, ya know?

Suikoden IV had the attack+attack=parry/block thing, which was quite interesting and an attempt to bring something new into the mixing bowl.

Suikoden V had flashier animations, which is nice too. Didn't like the button mashing part of it, other than that, quite cool.

[sticky-runes]

I did like the duel between Sasarai and Hugo in Suikoden 3 - I found it very unusual to see a sorcerer taking part in a one-on-one match. Would be interesting to see more magic-based duels!

[Neclord X]

In general SV has the best duels. HOWEVER if we go to particular cases no duel is more epic than HeroVsLuca in Suikoden 2 and HeroVsJowy

[Aerolithe Lion]

I like how Melville, Thomas, Geddoe, Chris, and Hugo all can have duels in Suikoden III. But the unique duel animations Freyjadour has are just too impressive. Whether it's stepping on Lorelai's whip when she misses a special attack or feigning the killing blow depending on the circumstances.

Even though V's were the best, the stories around most of them were really poor. "I don't believe you're the prince! Beat me up to prove it!"

[sticky-runes]

Even though V's were the best, the stories around most of them were really poor. "I don't believe you're the prince! Beat me up to prove it!"

Good point! I think Roy's duel with Childerich is definitly one of the most meaningful duels in suikoden 5 (I liked Roy's basic brawler moves with the Numbchaku as well - just shows they put a lot of work into making sure the prince and thief come across as two completely different characters in how they do things)

But I think it was nice having duels as a recruiting requirement for other characters. Better than having to find an item for someone, or having them simply accept your request without any effort. And not every one-on-one battle has to be a deep, poignant moment in the storyline. Having a fight with Lorelai was better than just her walking around in a circle to make sure you're worthy of following!