Online Journey

SUIKODEN V

Suikoden games having coming out left and right, but a lot of fans of the series have been miffed that their cool factor’s been dropping lately.

Apart from some cut scenes, you could mistake this for a PS1 title. The Camera is fixed at a third-person angle that looks down on the characters. This would fine, except there’s no way to rotate it, creating a lot of “blind spots”. Some rune effects and co-op attacks look great, but you know they could’ve done a lot better.

The story line has more twists and turns than a rollercoaster! The battle system is the same as in the first two games in the series, but with the new twist: formations. The key to winning fight is to find the right set of people to fight together , using form skills well, and changing formations depending on the situation. the real time duel and war battles add some spice to the mix. Each of the 108 stars of destiny has also been fleshed out as well, making each one interesting.

The character voices in this game are tops! The music, a tribute to Suikoden 1’s theme, is kay at first but hearing the same loop being repeated over and over again could get pretty tiresome.

Recruiting all 108 characters could be pretty tough the first play through, so the game has a new game+ function that allows you to keep items, money and skills from your final save. Playing the game again can be pretty boring, though, since there’s no way to skip cutscenes.

One of the deepest and immersive RPGs we’ve seen in a long time. If it weren’t for the humdrum graphics and the slow loading timeduring battles, this game would have gotten a perfect dcore. Even with its drawbacks, though, this game should be played be anyone and evryone who loves a good RPG.