"yeah b*tch, I play SUIKODEN!" - Brad, 4pp
That's my first reaction when I saw the title of this game on the list. Since the suikoden series is one rpg franchise that I'd yet to get my hand on, I was kind of delighted when I found out the existence of this game.
You begin off with a [insert name here] character, which I just use the usual names, unlike my attempt with chrono trigger. You are a part of a village defence squad and take missions from other people (apparently). Though having said that, I am not sure if it's me playing too aggressively through the main storyline, I am yet to encounter a side quest.
DS function, you got the main screen on the bottom, which you can move your characters with either the d-pad or the stylus. I prefer d-pad since I got too annoyed with the stylus controls in the last few nds jrpg i'd played. on the top screen shows the status of the 4 combat characters (HP, SP, etc...)
Now on to visuals, the character design is quite good, though I am not comfortable with the 3D model you see on the screen. The monster design is quite sh^t actually, especially the boss, hope that they pick up in the latter stages of the game, coz they are awful.
sounds. When I play a rpg I love to turn the sounds on, since the background music is one of the features that creates immersion into the world, which is very important especially in rpg. The bgm is generally quite good. Though I would have to say that I totally hate the english voice overs. They are robotic, emotionless, and just purely embarrassing. And the worst thing is that you cannot turn them off......Which is a mark down in terms of personalising the playing environment. luckily that they don't talk often, and most of those times I only get to hear half of it as I would just speed read and skip them all. But still, they are just bad...
Dungeons, one major element of jrpg as usual. The maze in this game is quite short, just 4 maps per dungeon, which kind of surprised me. But on the bad side, the character moves like turtles........it's just so annoying when you go onto another route slowly just to find out that it's an useless dead end. Another mark down.
Combat, it's awesome, quick and crisp. There's even a option at the start if you just want all the characters to randomly normal attack the enemy, which is just awesome. There's even co-tech!!!Gosh I love the combat system, only if the dungeon can be better....
Side note, I am not sure if it's because of the slow movement in the dungeons, I find that leveling up is quite easy and quick, so I don't really have much trouble with the mines at the moment, which can be suck if I got stuck in a boss fight. Also you replenish all stats when you level up.
Save system, you can only save at certain locations. Can be a bit annoying when you tread like though miles in a dungeon with you slow speed and want to turn off the DS.
Shopping, gosh I hated this system. expensive weapons and armours, unable to see the effects directly on the characters, annoying selling system, slow interface. Godamnit can't I just have better weapons?!
so far, 6.5/10, 3 hours into it. However, since it's SUIKODEN, I'll try to finish it at least.
