Suikoden III - Length?

[ReddMcKnight]

Hey all. Is Suikoden III a short or long game? I've been told that all Suikoden Games are short if you just charge right through them without recruiting all 108 Characters. Does this rule apply to Suikoden III as well?

[SirPsycho]

The first one is short, 20-30 hours depending on if you want all 108 Stars to get the best ending. Viki helps to limit backtracking while you're going to towns you've already visited. You don't have to march there, just instantly teleport with her, she is in every single main game and serves the exact same purpose. Some games she is recruited a bit later than others.

Suikoden II is a bit of a different beast, first time through you're probably seeing everything, talking to people (so many little details build this world, seemingly 'useless' NPC dialogue is often anything but), and can take 50+ hours. A Clive's Quest playthrough is meant for veterans, and means you beat the game in 20 hours or less by avoiding everybody and just speeding through the game (but you can still get all the Stars of Destiny in that time).

Suikoden III is longer. Its less flexible with time constraints with real time cutscenes and inability to blast through them by mashing the X button. The Trinity Sight System also lengthens the game, as you see events build through 3 main and 2 side viewpoints. There's a lot of backtracking until you get Viki, which is one the biggest weaknesses of the game. You can blast through it in about 50ish hours, and can probably shave off 10 by avoiding NPCs and still getting all 108 Stars. Still a great story and you see a war build from the perspective of representatives from all sides and even unlock the villain's viewpoint after taking down the final boss with all Stars recruited.

Suikoden IV is annoying. Viki is your best friend. Screw the sailing and its high encounter rate, just rush for all the islands as early as possible and just blink around with Viki, there's not many real locations in the game. Only sail if it involves recruiting some random Star in the middle of the ocean, like the mermaids. Can probably be done in 40 hours by avoiding all NPCs and still getting all Stars. Not too many voiced cutscenes, but they aren't skippable.

Suikoden Tactics gets its length mostly from gameplay, and its all tactical battles ala Tactics Ogre, Fire Emblem, and Final Fantasy Tactics. This builds on the mediocre story of IV and is just not too engaging all around. Combat mechanics work rather well, but there's not really a heart and soul to this game. Characters are bland and most of them are recycled from the weak roster of IV and join your group because no reasons.

Suikoden V is probably the hardest to speedrun as all the voiced cutscenes are unskippable and you can't cut off the voice overs. Even if you're playing as fast as possible the plot and character heavy introduction will probably take 8 hours. Total up all the delicious meat after that and the fact that there are plenty of places to explore and discover and you probably won't be seeing the end until the 50 hour mark even with speedrunning and frantic Viki blinking.

I just reviewed every main Suikoden game released in the USA in a very condensed nutshell.

[ReddMcKnight]

Got it. How about difficulty, as far as III is concerned? Is it a hard game? Also, after reading about II, is there a Time Limit to my quest here?

[SirPsycho]

They're all pretty easy games with II or Tactics being the most difficult. A quest with a time limit is only in the second game, so you can take your time if you wish or blast through it and avoid NPCs if you so desire. Their dialogue has been fuel for many fan theories throughout the series, so if you wish to immerse yourself in the world you might take the long road at first to see what conclusions you come to.

[ReddMcKnight]

Ah, alrighty...still, now I'm getting curious: Why the Time Limit? Is it a story thing? Is it instant game over/complete restart if you do not make it?

On another note: I've heard that if you carry data from I to II, the Tenkai Star's name in I will be messed up or something in II. Why? How?

On yet another note: What do you know about the DS entry?

[SirPsycho]

Clive's Quest is completely optional, if you take too long to get to any part of it you just miss out on the rest of it. It adds some character development between Clive and Elza as a sort of side story and gives insight into the Howling Voice Guild. They're basically Harmonian assassins and are the only characters with guns.

For the name mess up its some weird translation and programming stuff on Konami's part. In terms of canon the leader from I is named Tir McDohl. It takes all the capital letters you put in his name from the save data and puts them in his name for Suikoden II. Use the canon name and he comes up as TcDohl for example. If you want his name to truly carry over you need to use all caps and just name him MCDOHL or TIRMCDOHL. Using symbols like punctuation just messes it up even further.

Tierkreis for the DS has pretty much nothing to do with the main series. Its a complete spinoff and the only real links to the main series are these hints of 'dimensional gates' that are brought up in the first 3 games primarily as a part of the world's history and mythology. Its not bad on its own but wasn't the follow up any fan wanted at the time.

I know you do some emulating and if the story from the first two games hook you then you might be interested in the Suikogaidens. They add to the story of II and connect it more to III. They're short visual novels that can be beaten in a short amount of time. Both of them were translated last year so you can find the Japanese files and apply the patch to them to play them. If you want links I'll have to PM them.

Its bedtime for me, if you have any more questions I'll answer when I have some downtime at work.

[ReddMcKnight]

I think that's all the info I need. Thanks!

[GrayGhost81]

Thanks for taking the time Psycho. I've only played the first two and have wondered a lot about the rest of the series.