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Malystrasza's Suikoden II (PS)
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| [February 9, 2007 07:15:25 PM]
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For my second session, I tried to progress with the story. I played about an hour and didn't get much done. Since I don't play Suikoden II as often as I'd like, I tend to forget what has been going on since the last time I played.
I started in my castle and had a meeting with the hero's advisors. I was told to go north to the Knightdom of Matilda and ask for their aid. Getting there took a few minutes, since I had to go through a forest path and had a lot of random encounters. Once I got there, the Lord of Matilda refused to aid me. After some more dialogue, the Highland army appears at the borders, attacking some refugees from the City State's capital, Muse. The knights mobolize and my hero was given the choice to take action. My options where, "I'll join." , "I'll be watching", and a third option that I don't remember. I chose, "I'll be watching".
I don't know if that changed the way the following events unfolded or not, but after I said that, I got to see a strategic battle between Highland's army and the refugees. The refugees were defeated and one of the knights was upset that Matilda did not aid them, so he rushes off to Muse. I was supposed to follow him there, but I was reaching my hour of playtime.
I got to explore the Knight's town and I found a few more characters that I need to recruit. I guess my only complaint about Suikoden II is the time spent in recruiting people. While its not necessary to get everyone, having more people in your army makes your battles easier against the Highland army and I heard you get a better ending. Sometimes, I'd spend my whole gaming session on just recruiting people, and these were maybe two or three hour sessions of play too. Some of the characters appear randomly in battle, so you have to fight them just to be able to recruit them. Finding them can be tedious and boring.
I really like the storyline of Suikoden II, since its more than just recruiting people for your army. Though there's lots of characters in the game, you'll care for the main characters and you'll be interested in their stories, which you either like or not. As long as it gets some emotion out of you, because there's RPGs out there with characters and storylines that you just don't care about. So, I just wish I was able to focus more on the story of the game because I really do want to find out what happens between the main hero and his friend Jowy, the City State and Highland, and with Luca Blight, the antagonist.
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| [February 9, 2007 05:53:32 PM]
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I've been playing Suikoden II for a while now. I started last quarter but I still haven't got around to completing the game, mainly due to other work and such. Though I don't play it as much as I'd like to, Suikoden II has become one of my favorite RPGs.
Like Suikoden I, this game is also about war, but in Suikoden II the story revolves more around the characters than just the war. In Suikoden I, you have to recruit people from around the world to join your army and set up a castle for them. There is a total of 108 characters that are destined to help the main character and you can recruit them for your army. You don't have to recruit them all to complete the game, but there is little strategic battles against the enemy army and it helps to have these characters, since they add numbers to your army.
In Suikoden II, the idea of having your own castle and your own army is back. There is also 108 characters again, some returning from Suikoden I. The castle in Suikoden II was improved greatly from its preceder and is more interactive. Before I go into my gameplay, I want to give a bit of the back story. If you plan to play this game skip the next paragraph.
The game starts off with the main hero and his friend, Jowy, as members of the youth brigade for the Highland army. They are stationed at the border of Highland and the City State and the two nations have just signed a peace treaty.
While at the border, the youth bridgade gets attacked by the Highland army. The hero and Jowy escape confused, but later return to their leader. They find out this was a plan to make it seem like the City State broke the treaty. Jowy and the main hero once more escape by jumping down a cliff into a river. The main hero is found by a mercenary army of the City State and is taken in. Later, Jowy comes to the mercenary fort to help you escape. They both return to their home village in Highland, but they are blamed for the tragedy at the border and are labeled traitors. They escape again, to the City State and join the mercenary army. At this point, the Highland has made its move to attack the City State. After the fall of the capital city of the City State, the main hero becomes the leader of the remaining forces and takes an old abandoned castle as his base.
The castle in Suikoden II is one of my favorite aspects of the game. When you first take the castle, its sort of in shambles. As you recruit people for your army the place begins to look nicer. When you return to your castle at various points in the game, you'll see its progress. Also, some characters you recruit will make changes to your castle. For example, if you recruit the guy who makes baths, next time you visit your castle, you'll have a large bath, which you can decorate with antiques that were aquired as rewards from battle. After not exploring my castle for a while, I returned today to see if anything changed. My castle has certainly grown livlier since the last time I visited.
In Suikoden II, theres civilians also living in your castle and when you talk to them they give you bits of information about the place. Also, as you walk around your castle you'll find your own characters going about doing their own business. For example, you might find some of your characters in the inn having a drink. The castle also provides various mini games, including a fishing game, gambling, a cooking competition, and a whack-a-mole game. I really enjoy all the features of the castle. The mini games are a good break from the other aspects of the game, for example, if you're tired of recruiting people or tired of grinding for experience or money.
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Malystrasza's Suikoden II (PS)
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Current Status: Playing
GameLog started on: Friday 22 September, 2006
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