Editorial: Why You Need to Participate in the Summer of Suikoden

I am writing this post in an effort to make Lusipurr shut up. Thank you, please enjoy!

Why the Suikoden Games are Better Than Other Games: An Unbalanced and Unfair Retrospective by Virginia “Taters” Herrell.

I shall preface this by stating that I really enjoy the Suikoden series. So much so that I intend to devote some of my vacation time this year to them. Considering how seldom I actually purchase and play games these days, this is actually a big old deal. I really like these games, they are like crack to me. In fact I suspect there is some sort of neuro-linguistic programming in the music or something, willing me to love these games no matter what.

Admittedly, the games are not perfect. At times the dialogue is clunky, and there are developers and localization teams that do far superior work. They also suffer from Chrono Cross syndrome, wherein there are too damn many characters to choose from or give a damn about. But there is just something about them. Something legen … wait for it … dary.

What distinguishes this series is the epic, grand, legandary scope and feel of the games. The world is huge, even in games where you are relegated to one small corner of it. Most Suikoden games will see the player build a rag-tag army of misfits and go to war against some evil empire or other appropriate baddy. The games make you feel like you realy are under siege, really are at war, and you hold the lives of all of your men in your hands, juggling them about with each decision made. Yet at the same time, the story can also be narrowed down to the story of a father and son, or two best friends, siblings, or war buddies. So many small but deeply moving stories that come together to form the whole.

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