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Suikoden: Tierkreis is Coming, But Is It Everything Fans Hope For?

Posted by John Constantine



Konami had a pleasant surprise at their NYC fall preview today in an early build of Suikoden: Tierkreis, the recently announced seventh game in the twelve year-old RPG franchise, and first original handheld entry in the series. Tiekreis, weird name aside, looks like a solid 3D role-playing game on the DS, easily the technical equal (and possibly even superior) to Matrix Software’s Final Fantasy III and IV remakes. While the brief demo on display couldn’t show if Tierkreis lives up to Suikoden’s grand tradition of great storytelling, it did make me wonder if the handheld entry isn’t something of a missed opportunity.



It’s well known that sprite-based 2D games have a better chance of success on handhelds, particularly Nintendo’s dual-screened juggernaut. Suikoden hasn’t sported sprite characters since its first sequel, and while its successors’ 3D character models and environments have been nothing to sneeze at, they were never as memorable as those found in the first two games. As you can see from these screens, Suikoden: Tierkreis is a looker, and the play looks just as good even though parties are limited to four characters and not the traditional six. But I can’t help but wonder if the game wouldn’t have been better served by returning to the series’ graphical roots.

What do you think, dear reader? I know you, 61 FPSers are JRPG hounds! Let me know in the comments section.

Related links:


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Final Fantasy IV DS: Love, Hope and Betrayal For the Busy Commuter


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Comments

jp said:

NITPICKING ASSHOLE ALERT: Actually, the first original portable Suikoden was a card battle game for GBA.

September 16, 2008 11:12 PM

epenthesis said:

I'm a little concerned about this game. It reminds me way too much of the weak fourth sequel, which also threw out the established gameplay mechanics and chose a setting that hadn't been well established in the exposition of previous games. It doesn't look like a Suikoden game so far, which is a big disappointment after how beautifully the fifth game captured the aesthetics of the original.

That said, after the horrible sales of the fourth and fifth games, a move to handheld was probably the only thing that could keep the series alive, so I'll wait and see.

Oh, and there were also two side games that were never translated, so technically Tierkreis will be the ninth game. Man.

September 16, 2008 11:31 PM

John Constantine said:

I was so confident in my Suikoden knowledge that I just went ahead and wrote this up without consulting the everlasting know-it-all called Wikipedia. I am way embarrassed. What are these untranslated side games, epenthesis? Aren't card battle games stricken from all game franchise records just for being card battle games, jp?

September 17, 2008 10:39 AM

epenthesis said:

Suikogaiden I and II, which take place during and immediately after Suikoden II and feature brief appearances by most of the notable characters from that game. They functioned as a bridge between the second and third main series games; the main character (Nash) came back in III, other characters (like Meg's daughter Belle) were introduced that would appear in III, and many themes and locations from the Gaidens were further explored in that game. A couple of events (like Viki's encounter with Lorelai and Killey) were referenced again in the series, thoroughly confusing most people.

The main reason they weren't translated is that they belong to the odd "visual novel" genre that's popular in Japan but not salable here for some reason. Gameplay consisted of choosing options from a dialogue tree, which doesn't exactly make for gripping play.

September 17, 2008 8:37 PM

Demaar said:

I wish to play the Suiko Gaiden games at some stage in my life. I don't know how, but I still wish it.

As for this game, I definitely think a return to 2D sprites would have been more suitable. May have even allowed them to keep a 6 character party.

September 18, 2008 2:57 AM

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John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

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