Long time no see.....

Agh it's been days since i blogged - a partial mixture of blame lays with having to attend court, having to work to eat and living in a backward house that doesn't provide internet access. In the good old days it was the done thing that we robbed broadband off the the Aquarium below us but someone with a vague knowledge of computers started working there and they've since locked us out of their connection. I had a few stabs at the WEP key but guessing a massive multi digit number is something that they can only do on Hollywood blockbusters.

Regardless of the reasons for my absence i'm now back and with an added gusto. Due to the fact that i haven't been at home for long periods i've been playing alot of handhelds which leads nicely on to this blog and the next.

Suikoden Tierkreis:DS

Imagine how chuffed i was when i discovered that Konami (that bastion of random gaming) had decided in their infinite wisdom to release a new Suikoden game for the DS? Go on, imagine it. You can't can you. Needless to say i was almost as excited when i discovered that with a bit of tinkering i could furnish myself with a copy of Suikoden 1+2 from the US PSN. Essentially i was over the moon because the Suikoden series is one of my favourite of my gaming life.

So what's it about i hear you cry from your gaping mouths. If you hold on then i'll tell you.
Suikoden games have always worked around the premise of war - usually the games protaganist is a young boy who gets inadvertently embroilled in a conflict that is out of his hands. Along the way he enlists a rag tag band of warriors to help him, usually they span different races and factions but ultimately they overlook their differences and unite in the face of a common adversary.
Sound dull and generic? I suppose it could be percieved that way but to fans (such as myself) it's quite the opposite.


The original cover art for Suikoden - they obviously couldn't cram 108 characters into such a small space but i think they could've tried a little harder.

Always revolving around the same basic story, the character (that's you) travels the world recruiting members to your growing army and gradually building an impressive HQ in which to hatch plans for battles and to cook things and other random skills that all your recruits possess as well as being able to fight. The real pull to this game is a Pokemon-esque urge to collect 'em all - with 108 "stars of destiny" (thats characters to you and I) it's often up to you to win battles, look in obscure places and meet certain criteria before certain characters will join you.
Once they do, however, they bolster your ranks and make battles all that much more easier - battles are turn based, obviously, as the majority of older RPG's always were.


A typically tense battle against some mosquitos - animals are far more dangerous in RPG's than they are in real life. Often you get attacked by raccoons, squirrels, fish - you name it.

Missing from this version (again because of the handheld limitations) is the seperate battles that your army could engage in. Playing out like a sortie of sorts (ha), the previous versions of the game allowed you to take your characters onto a battlefield and actually fight pitched battles againt your foe using magic users, archers and infantry in a vague nod to rock, paper, scissors. I, for one, used to really enjoy these parts and feel that the game has suffered slightly with their omission.

Suikoden Tierkries was obviously scaled down slightly due to the development restrictions and as a result is still an incredible game but probably my least favourite in the series. Konami have done away with the 2D look of the originals and made the game 3D which, while obviously a natural progression, doesn't work as well as i'd like it to. Often it reminded me of a slightly grainier Final Fantasy 7 - no bad thing and necessary because of the handheld format but i'm firmly entrenched in the old school camp and would rather they made a flashier 2D version.


The new version - your friend Jale is the one in the beret, lucky he's hard as nails as well.

To be fair to Konami i can hardly complain about any new addition of Suikoden that they choose to bring out - yeah ok the graphics aren't exactly my cup of tea and they've removed a few of the better nuances of the originals but considering that they had a few cut backs to make it could've been so much worse. As it stands they've given us another solid addition to the franchise which fans will warm to after a few slight adjustments. In this case the few cons are far outweighed by the many pros and all come together to make a charming story and an innovative cast of characters.
Note to anyone playing this: If you want to collect all 108 stars you will need a guide, i find it impossible to believe that anyone could find them all without one as many characters only join under the most specific of circumstances!!

My verdict: 8.5/10