NPC Dialogue

[wataru14]

I started a playthorugh a little ways back and spent it doing a dialogue safari. Alternate lines, what happens after different choice options, etc. One of the main things I was doing was cataloguing all the random NPC lines (townspeople, soldiers, maids, and the like). I've found some weirdness. Because of course I did.

- If a townsperson talks about general game hints ("Do you know what Runes/Appraisers do?") then they mostly only have that one line and say it throughout the entire game.
- If they talk about current events in their local area, they will change lines when that event is finished (with some exceptions). People in Rikon will talk about Liukan all the way to the end. Even if Liukan is in your party when you talk to them, I believe.
- The armorer in the Village of the Elves has different lines while you're in the shopping menu. It's pretty funny.
- Odessa's scene with Tir on the Sarady Inn porch is quite complex. There are several branches. It's the only one in the game where that happens.
- Some shopkeepers have different lines if you talk to them from the side as opposed to over the counter. Rockland and Rikon, specifically.
- Most people only have two lines, but others are very chatty. A lot of the soldiers in Gregminster Palace have three different lines that change after plot events. The soldier outside the Keyaki Inn in Lenankamp has at least four different lines.
- Two lines in Gregminster can only be seen between after Kanaan takes Ted away but before you go into Teo's mansion right afterwards. Milich's attendant who stands near the wardrobe closets will say Milich went west to quell the insurgency (Milich will not be upstairs). Also, one of the guards in the armor room in Gregminster palace will say how you're off to Rockland next. He won't say that until after all the events in Rockland have been completed. I think that line was supposed to come earlier, but the event flag that triggers it is wrong.
- Most people in Lenankamp and Rockland change their lines when you return to the area at the end of the game. I never bothered talking to any of them until this past playthrough and had no idea.

I was considering making a guide/dialogue dump, but with the remaster coming out it's probably all going to change. At least a little. So I'll probably wait until after that to do it.

[Raww Le Klueze]

People in Rockland say different things depending on if you have Kanaan with you or not, there are several full conversations where they make fun of him, mostly in the inn.

The translation is also whack if you go back there at the end game, the townspeople refer to you as Imperials even though the Japanese text says the Liberation Army, looks like the translator got confused and didn't realize that there are two versions of Rockland and tried to "correct" it.

[wataru14]

People in Rockland say different things depending on if you have Kanaan with you or not, there are several full conversations where they make fun of him, mostly in the inn.

The translation is also whack if you go back there at the end game, the townspeople refer to you as Imperials even though the Japanese text says the Liberation Army, looks like the translator got confused and didn't realize that there are two versions of Rockland and tried to "correct" it.

Yeah, I noticed the Rockland thing, too.

Also, the soldiers in Teien and Antei both disappear after Milich is defeated. I thought that was a nice touch.

[TheyCallMeStacy]

I love finding out dialogue secrets like this! It's always fun to find out more about the story and lore. Though sad that sometimes mistakes in translation can lead to errors. I do hope that the remasters fix any of those.

[Celes]

There really are some hidden comments that don't appear in a straight, optimal playhorugh.

Noteworthy are those characters that say something specific because the required castle level has not yet been reached. Sometimes you have to intentionally skip some recruitment in order to reach these characters with a castle level that is too low.

The shopkeepers in the elf village seem to be reacting to Kirkis being in the party. But there are no alternative comments for them. Because without Kirkis you can never enter the elf village during the normal course of the game.

I also noticed the incorrect speech from the residents in Rockland at the end of the game when translating the dialogue into German. We corrected it.

[wataru14]

In Elf Village, the alternate lines are in the shop menus, not true dialogue. When selling, for example, instead of saying "What are you selling?" the small text box says "What piece of junk are you selling?" He also says "Beat it," at the conclusion of the sale instead of "Thank you."

[TheyCallMeStacy]

The shopkeepers in the elf village seem to be reacting to Kirkis being in the party. But there are no alternative comments for them. Because without Kirkis you can never enter the elf village during the normal course of the game.

Anyone know if it is possible to use cheats/hacks to remove Kirkis from party, then try to talk to them? It's a shame that some of the war battle quotes are unavailable in normal gameplay, since they flesh out the characters more.

[Raww Le Klueze]

Like he said, the script has no alternative lines, the game doesn't actually check if Kirkis is in the party or not. They will always say the same thing because they knew you'd never be there without him. You can warp there without him and nothing changes.

[TheyCallMeStacy]

Oh yeah not to get off topic, but before battle with Sonya, there's a scene where Tengaar tells Hix the moon is beautiful, and she gets mad at his response. From reading about Japanese language and localization, I know in Japanese saying the moon is beautiful is supposed to be a poetic way of saying "I love you," and Tengaar's angry response is likely due to him not responding in a way she wants him to, given his timid personality. Tengaar declaring her love for Hix also makes sense given that it happens alongside other emotional conversations characters have, set to the classic "Theme of a Moonlit Night."


Sadly given the poor translation of Suikoden I and II ,the translation team didn't really try to adapt this conversation to one an English language audience would understand. Thus it seems like Tengaar got angry at Hix for no reason. I really hope there is a serious effort to address conversations like these, rather than just focusing on more grammatically correct translations. The above example really gives depth to Hix and Tengaar that was lost in the English language version.

[wataru14]

Not an NPC line, but I found something else interesting while doing my crashthrough to get a dead Gremio and Pahn file to upload so I can get the Ellie lines for Suikoden 2.

If Pahn is killed, Cleo has a few alternate lines throughout. When joining you for Lorimar, for example, she mentions Pahn has died instead of saying she can't let him upstage her. Mathiu also has a different line when he leaves Tir's room after his visit before Northern Checkpoint. But something else I noticed, is in the series of scenes before Shasarazade.

If Pahn is alive, he and Cleo will have a scene about how they miss Tir. If he is dead, I always remember her saying "Protect me... Pahn" by herself. But in this playthrough, she said "Pahn. It will be a huge battle tomorrow. Please protect me." A minor difference, but one I don't remember seeing before. Is that what she always says or am I Mandela Affecting this? For the life of me, I cannot find a Youtube Video with the shorter line I remember, but I have seen one with "huge battle..." Finding a video where Pahn died is hard enough as it is, so I don't think I'll be pursuing that any further.

[TheyCallMeStacy]

Was the Mathiu line much different? If you can remember it or wrote it down, I'm curious to what he said.

And not sure, though I think the longer line is what is standard? Maybe the shorter line was just like a mental note you made to yourself, and by nature we sort of condense knowledge to help remember? Haha idk.

And while I know you will get Ellie if Gremio is dead, I heard Pahn will always be alive for the McDohl event, even if you let him die. Haha guess they didn't want to cause major plot holes for Suikoden 3 if you let Luc die in Suikoden 1.

[Raww Le Klueze]

Mathiu: Commander Tir,
do you hate me?
Do you blame me for the loss
to Teo McDohl, and for
leaving Pahn behind?
You must think I am a callous
man. But I am prepared to
sacrifice anything to win
this fight.
Even if you cannot forgive me,
please remember that this is
war.

[TheyCallMeStacy]

Mathiu: Commander Tir,
do you hate me?
Do you blame me for the loss
to Teo McDohl, and for
leaving Pahn behind?
You must think I am a callous
man. But I am prepared to
sacrifice anything to win
this fight.
Even if you cannot forgive me,
please remember that this is
war.

Thanks! I like this dialogue. I feel it does better foreshadow Mathiu's actions for how you will defeat Kasim, as well as goes well with his Sega Saturn dialogue you posted on the other topic. It is also very consistent with Mathiu's characterization - perhaps he shied away so much from joining Odessa's cause because he knew if he did, he's be willing to do, as he said, anything to win, which would both bring him personal distress. It also poses a nice "what if" - would Odessa, being very principled, be okay with him taking such actions if he did join?