June Retro Community Playthrough - Suikoden

[GrayGhost81]

I gotta say, and no offense to you guys who are big fans of this game, but the flaws are mounting and its really beginning to turn me off.  

That's fine dude! No offense taken at all. There are some really great discussions going on here, and dissenting opinions are welcome and encouraged.

As much as I love this game I totally agree about the duels and full scale battles. Both of them work on a rock/paper/scissor type system that is detailed in the game's manual. The duels can be beaten with a guide (what your opponent says will telegraph his attacks and you can respond accordingly).

Having to go through the entire dungeon and a boss before the Rwanda duel was absolutely a poor design decision.

[Disposed Hero]

I'm really enjoying this game also.  It's been so long since I've played it, but I feel like I'm enjoying it more now than I did back in the late '90s.  I love recruiting more characters and watching my castle grow.  The biggest problem I have right now is deciding on who to keep in my party.  I've looked into it a little bit already, but I'll probably check out a character faq or something to try and get an idea on who the top tier characters are and some good party combinations.  I probably have maybe 30 or so playable characters to choose from right now, and I already feel overwhelmed by the options.

I haven't gotten to the duels/battles yet, but I do have vague memories of them from a long time ago.  I remember them being pretty interesting, so I'm looking forward to finally getting to that point.

[h1ghw1nd]

I'm kinda getting ahead too. When I saw what week 2's checkpoint was I realized I've been getting to business haha. I'm a little ways past that part but I did spend a lot of time leveling up Pahn and buying equipment.

The castle is one of the best parts of the game! I love seeing all of the members meddling around and building new sections of the castle. Now how the hell did they build those towers and stretch those walkways? Haha! Since the game is making me take a lot of characters without choice I'm having to leave some of my favorites out of the party I'm making Sansuke my main party member but for now he'll have to sit out because he's a front row guy (like everyone it's making me take lol) Right now I'm building up the chef, somehow without a booster he passed Pahn's level lol.

What's everyone's highest level so far? Gremio is still my leader at 36, though Flik tried to challenge him with a level 35. The rest of my party right now is around level 30-31.

Such an awesome game in my opinion. I really can't wait to play II again as well since I've heard a lot of the tedious stuff is fixed. My infinite money ran out I keep having to bet on the dice game and just reset if I lose…I need the cup game back!

[Boshamp]

"Are you strong?" "No, you are about 11 levels short" Well, I guess I figured this recruitment out. ha ha

I also am finding I am forced to take many characters as the story goes, so it feels like my freedom of choice is limited, which I personally like better than having the complete freedom to choose 6 unique characters out of 60-70. Having 3-4 people involved in the story keeps the storyline somewhat involved, but being able to play with the others gives a little more to the gameplay element.

I agree that the castle is becoming more and more involved and more a part I am starting to like. I have evolved it twice from what I can tell. Does it evolve with the addition of specific characters? or a certain number of recruits?

[h1ghw1nd]

Some of the characters probably make it expand like the ones that sell stuff or set up their own areas for games or whatever. I know I'm past the checkpoint but I can't put it down. Time for some more!

[Boshamp]

Gosh...it took almost 500,000 bits to sharpen six characters from level 9 weapons to 12's on each...good thing money is easy to come by.

[SirPsycho]

Just keep rolling the dice. Gaspar's pockets are bottomless. He's da real MVP.

[Boshamp]

And yet, we cannot seem to ever come up with the cash when Camille bugs us for the money we owe her. Viktor must be VERY persuasive.

[singlebanana]

So.....guess who started last night?   I put in about 3 hours.

[singlebanana]

Oh yeah, I named my guy "WangChug".........damn this 8 letter name limitation.

[singlebanana]

Oh yeah, I named my guy "WangChug".........damn this 8 letter name limitation.

Err.... I told my co-worker my name. She pointed out the uh sort of "sordidness" of it that I didn't realize until just now. I was just trying to shorten Wang Chung. Luckily she's cool and we had a good laugh. Oh well, 3 hours in, not gonna change it.

[GrayGhost81]

I was going to have a nice sit down last night but I realized I'm at the end of the game. I'll probably will finish it tonight as my wife will be out of the house until late so I'll have enough time to finish or at least get to the final save point.

Having said that, my checkpoints for the game are legit. The game just really isn't that long. I spent way more time recruiting this time. I got pretty much everyone except some main characters whom I did not prevent from getting killed and one right at the end whom I thought was already on the team but then I saw in a guide you have to do one more thing to actually get her, which I didn't do. I am almost certainly going to finish under the 30 hour mark. So yeah, I'm not going to get the ultra special alien unicorn director dog ending, but that's why God invented youtube.

I might mess around with my party before I really go for it. I have a party right now that is better built for common enemies but struggles a little bit in boss battles. I don't have anyone with healing spells for example.

[Boshamp]

Oh yeah, I named my guy "WangChug".........damn this 8 letter name limitation.

So for S II, your name would be WCdohl.

Who would be a good endgame healer to choose? Even being pretty leveled, I also have trouble with bosses since I only take the time to heal when someone is unbalanced and can use an item instead of wasting a turn. It is getting hard to finish the job pounding attack after attack before the boss starts to do some serious damage.

[SirPsycho]

Healing mechanics are weird. Water and Earth runes have healing spells, but with the one slot limit its better to use high damage runes for high magic characters. I usually dedicate a weaker person in the party as a dedicated item healer, with a backup item healer planned if you take bigger damage.

Anyway, I'm in the middle of the Week 3 checkpoint. It seems based on levels that some of you are getting there if you haven't already. For those that haven't made it that far, avoid what's below.

Spoiler (hover to show)

RIP Gremio.

[img width=240 height=410]http://www.suikosource.com/images/chars/g/gremio01.gif[/img]

[GrayGhost81]

@Psycho I was going to pm you about a good endgame party but I think I know what I need to know. I think rather than worrying about healing magic I'm just going to go with mega medicines and sacrificial buddhas all around and focus on stronger attacks.