AJ's backlog challenge - choose a game for me to beat!

[BoneSnapDeez]

I say Suikoden. I've never played it. Looks cool.

[alienjesus]

You guys really want me to play Suikoden!

Any game that gets suggested even once will go on the list and be played, doubling up on a game doesn't raise it's priority! I'm playing Suikoden for sure, so feel free to suggest something else too!

[Exhuminator]

I say Suikoden. I've never played it. Looks cool.

Dude, I think you would enjoy Suikoden a lot. Quick pacing, super fast battle system, great plot, nice 2D graphics, takes less than 20 hours to beat. It's a JRPG that doesn't waste your time and is consistently rewarding.

[Sarge]

I will definitely agree with everyone that Suikoden is a fine choice. It's blisteringly fast and doesn't waste much of your time. It's more like a great SNES RPG than the more bloated entries we started seeing on PSX. I would recommend perhaps keeping a guide on-hand just to make sure you get all 108 Stars, though. I think a few are missable.

[pierrot]

I would recommend perhaps keeping a guide on-hand just to make sure you get all 108 Stars, though. I think a few are missable.

Technically, most of them can be missed if not recruited by a certain point in the game, but I would almost recommend not using a guide for them. That's one of the main replayability factors for Suikoden. When Suikoden III was released, I was livid that I was able to recruit all the characters on one pass through the game. That one thing negatively affected my opinion of Suikoden III, tremendously, for years. It's actually the best game in the series though. I just didn't realize it until replaying the series around 2008-09.

Since when are there so many Suikoden fans on the boards, though?

[BoneSnapDeez]

I would recommend perhaps keeping a guide on-hand just to make sure you get all 108 Stars, though. I think a few are missable.

This is actually why I haven't played the game. Once I start reading about "collectibles" and "missables" my interest plummets. A big issue I have with tri-Ace games, too.

[Sarge]

I would prefer not to replay most games, personally. I've got enough in the backlog that it's rare that I come back to a game unless it's either an absolute classic (Chrono Trigger, Symphony of the Night) or short enough that it doesn't require a lot of commitment (much of the NES fare I play).

I guess there is an argument for playing blind; I do that a lot more these days and let the chips fall where they may. And with YouTube, you can always go back and see what you missed. When I get around to Atelier Rorona Plus, that's my plan.

That being said, Suikoden is short enough and good enough to merit a repeat play. I think the first two are the best of the series. The third game had waaaaay too much backtracking and a slower pace to make it as interesting as it should have been (the story hooks were good). It was actually the first PS2 game I bought, and it took me quite a few years before I actually finished it. I actually liked the fourth game, which is a pretty unpopular opinion, but there ya go. I think the fifth returned to form at least a little bit, but it did feel like it was trying to crib too much from Suikoden II, but didn't have as snappy a pace and also sported much more involved recruitment scenarios. I don't remember the hours I put into it, but it was long. Both it and the third game overstayed their welcome for me.

Bone, I wouldn't skip it just because of the missable recruits. You get more than enough characters to use in battle. You can miss characters in stuff like Shining Force as well, but that has zero impact on the ending. So in the end, I guess I'm agreeing with pierrot here. If you have to get everything, then use the guide. But your experience won't be forever marred if you don't, and a blind playthrough tends to be more fun to some degree anyway.

[Exhuminator]

When I played through Suikoden, I didn't care that I missed however many recruits I did. I'm sure I was nowhere near close to all of them. I just played the game and had fun. Going militant OCD in JRPGs and trying not to miss anything sounds like a bad time to me.

[noiseredux]

When I played through Suikoden, I didn't care that I missed however many recruits I did. I'm sure I was nowhere near close to all of them. I just played the game and had fun. Going militant OCD in JRPGs and trying not to miss anything sounds like a bad time to me.

agree 100%. I've never cared about getting a "good" ending or a "bad" ending in a game. I'd rather just get "my" ending - the one that happens because of how I myself played the game.

[Exhuminator]

I'd rather just get "my" ending - the one that happens because of how I myself played the game.

Well said. That is exactly how I feel about it. To expand a little though; if I care to see other endings, I'll just hit up Youtube and watch them there. I also don't get worried about missing optional super gear or hidden powerful characters, that kind of stuff tends to make these easy JRPGs even easier.