About 30 minutes from finishing Suikoden IV

[freshmetal]

I've gotta agree that a lot of Suikoden IV was sloppy story telling. The game was really short, and the story felt rushed (especially if you consider the fact that it spans 5 YEARS). I love the series, including IV, but I feel that if IV was a better game, the series wouldn't be dead today. Suikoden V was a vast improvement, but by the time it came out, the damage was done.

[sticky-runes]

Na Nal has a proud jerk of a chief and a proud jerk of a chief's son. I don't feel either of them would have submitted to Obel so suddenly or willingly.

The chief admitted he was wrong to trust Kooluk, and he wanted Axel to join the rebels and learn from them. We find out in Tactics that Axel has been working to make peace with the elves, which his father never did. So their attitudes towards Obel do change drastically after the incident.

Middleport would not have submitted. They were very careful to keep their public independence during this fiasco so as not to hurt their trade. Submitting to the new Island Federation would make them auto-enemies of Kooluk.

Kooluk have had their naval forces destroyed for trying to invade the islands. So that means no more peaceful trading with them. I think Lord Reinbach wanted to remain neutral until somebody won the war. If the rebels had lost, he probably would have carried on dealing with Kooluk. But since the rebellion won, he ended up agreeing to their terms. that's how I see it, anyway.

Razril I can see joining, though I don't necessarily see it as likely. They have a formidable navy of their own and their own knights and history. I think they would sooner declare independence than get into another agreement with another country that might not even care enough to defend them. Luckily, Razril's government was pretty much gone, and all that seems left is the four characters from the beginning. Unforunately, they all seem to be hardcore Razril patriots, a trait that doesn't go well in this kind of situation.

Katarina becomes commander of the knights. And the academy was in a sh!t state at the beginning of the game, and the people of Razril now need to rebuild. It may be that Lino provided some funding for them.

[Antimatzist]

I've gotta agree that a lot of Suikoden IV was sloppy story telling. The game was really short, and the story felt rushed (especially if you consider the fact that it spans 5 YEARS). I love the series, including IV, but I feel that if IV was a better game, the series wouldn't be dead today. Suikoden V was a vast improvement, but by the time it came out, the damage was done.

Yep, I agree. Even though I bring up a lot of points against IV, I still like it and it's fun to play it.

I think the death of the Suikoden franchise was no III in EU and then a mediocre IV. It's a combination of a lot of factors...

[sticky-runes]

I thought S3 was brilliant, and I kind of wish they had stuck with a similar format for the rest of the series.

But let's not forget that S3 never had a European release. Perhaps if it did, they would have sold more copies and been able to make a better Suikoden 4. and those two Suikogaiden games, which were only released in Japan - I loved Suikoden 1 and 2, so why did I have to go without them?
At least I was able to buy my own legit copy of Suikoden 4. And Tactics and S5. Then after S5, Konami ended up taking Suikoden in an even more obscure direction any way with those DS and PSP titles, so what good did that do? Releasing a game with the same name that doesn't relate to the original series, it hardly seems likely to win over new or old fans.

Just about any video game franchise has its weak titles, yet carries on going strong. But I don't think Suikoden was that popular even during its heyday, so I don't see the point in looking for a scapegoat.

[Piisuke]

I've gotta agree that a lot of Suikoden IV was sloppy story telling. The game was really short, and the story felt rushed (especially if you consider the fact that it spans 5 YEARS). I love the series, including IV, but I feel that if IV was a better game, the series wouldn't be dead today. Suikoden V was a vast improvement, but by the time it came out, the damage was done.

Yep, I agree. Even though I bring up a lot of points against IV, I still like it and it's fun to play it.

I think the death of the Suikoden franchise was no III in EU and then a mediocre IV. It's a combination of a lot of factors...

I think the biggest contributor was Konami and their awesome promoting their own games. Suikoden II was released around the time of Final Fantasy VIII, V was released two weeks prior to Kingdom Hearts 2, III, for unknown reasons not at all in Europe and Konami hardly pitched their games. A few promos and trailers and that's about it!

[Angra]

I also want to throw in one point that (slightly) drives me crazy whenever I play the game: I think IV has by far the worst menu sounds of the whole series. :/ I don't know what it is, but they just sound terrible imo.

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That's funny because i really enjoyed the menu sounds in IV hahaha it brings back good memories. In fact I may just try to add the sounds to my computer haha.

As for the comments that said it was too short. Maybe compared to the other Suikoden games it seemed short but I felt that the pacing was really great for a RPG in general not too long not too short. May not make the best "Suikoden game" but it sure as hell makes a great RPG.

[Antimatzist]

Mhh can't say I agree about the pacing. I think the game, from time to time, is too fast paced (like when you're in Obel, 30 minutes later, you're already out of Obel again more or less). I think it wouldn't be a problem if there were more places to visit. I think they should have included a small bit of Gaien that you could travel by foot (similar to Tactics' approach with Kooluk) and tell them to help you, then they say gtfo and that's it. It would have added some more story at least.

btw, when I think of IV, I also remember the menu sounds - but that's exactly why I think they're horrible. HQ music and menu sounds...

[Piisuke]

For me it was a combination of things:

1. The pacing
2. The lack of exploration
3. The size of the places you could visit
4. The encounter rate
5. The size of the map in comparison to the island that could be visited
6. Last but not least - the story

I did like the artwork and the full body images. I did like some of the characters, i.e. Chiepoo and there were some decent moments in the game and the OST had some nice songs as well.

[gildedtalon]

Don't forget you can change the on-screen character on new game plus. Totally awesome, everyone wants to put Jeane there

[Punkaiser]

Not for me, Mizuki always take the lead in my party.

[sticky-runes]

I think the HQ music is one of the things that Suikoden 4 got right. It was BACKGROUND music. It wasn't blaring at us like the upgraded castle themes in 1, 2 and 5, where I turned the volume down to give my ears a rest. I don't want all that fanfare while I'm just shopping for equipment and runes and having weapons sharpened.

And there were some nice seafaring tunes.

And Lino was always my front man. Those tight jorts.

[Angra]

Different opinions, its all good!

One thing i do agree with all of you guys was the encounter rate. It got pretty frustrating sailing around running into enemies ever 3 to 5 seconds then having a good 30 second break.

And agreed Jean always frontlady and in my party hahaha

[Antimatzist]

Haha, mine too.

Yeah, the HQ music was relaxing, but a bit too relaxing imo. I liked II's better, but I agree that V's was worse.

[Piisuke]

I think I had Kika as my front lady if I recall correct.

Wasn't it party members only?

[sticky-runes]

At least there were no poxy scripted battles in this game. The sea battles were overly simplified, but in each one you fought until your enemies were all defeated. No battles ending prematurely because of a storyline interruption.