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Ah, Suikoden. I first got into the game when I was stalking my then crush. She mentioned it on Friendster so I decided to give it a try. Needless to say... I WAS HOOKED. Suikoden and I go way back. I've gained friends from this fandom and even now, I remember my then best friend who doesn't talk to me anymore for reasons I'd rather not disclose thanks to this game. I had a dream last night about her and I being friends again and-- Where was I? Oh yeah. Review. Right. So. The first thing I have to say about this is that it's visually stunning for a DS game. As IGN and Gamespot have stated, the backgrounds are rendered in 3D while the character sprites are strangely... Chibi. Yes. They're Chibi. Of course, their portraits are in full. The intro sequence and certain key scenes are played out in 2D animated cutscenes and some other scenes are given the full voice over treatment. The battle system is turn based as always. You place your characters in either the front or back row and there is (as always) cooperative attacks-- get a bunch of characters with some sort of bond together in one party and you can activate a super attack which deals more damage than your usual physical wallop. In your usual Suikoden game (Minus III, of course), you play a nameless silent protagonist whose only method of communication is by hand gestures (I'm looking at you, Lazlo.) and it's up to you to collect the 108 stars of destiny, dump them in a castle and save the country usually by stopping a war or something like that. As usual, you play a nameless protagonist. But this guy is NOT silent. He's ANYTHING but silent. Hell, he won't shut up! XD I'm not kidding. He talks alot. It's a bit strange but oh well. When I started with the game, I was wondering where the runes were. My magic option was greyed out which means it wasn't selectable. Oh well. Guess they don't have runes equipped. Let's go buy some! ...there was no rune shop. There didn't seem to be runes ANYWHERE. HOW THE HELL WAS I GONNA CAST MAGIC?! Ok, maybe there are runes some other place. Then a certain key plot happened and I was able to use my magic. Wait a sec. These aren't runes. Marks of the Stars? ...WTF? I think I need to play more in order to unravel this mystery. o_o D: I have no runes and I have MP. *is sad* On the other hand, that's a good thing. I can cast as many times as I need... but... I HAVE NO RUNES! D< Other notable changes were... the world map. The world map opens to a bigger world map where you select your destination and travel there via a line of dots. You spend a few days in travel to get to your destination. Apparently, the seasons change too and this affects certain things. I'm not sure what yet though. Another strange thing. Monsters don't drop Potch anymore. They drop TRADE ITEMS. Yes, you hear me. TRADE ITEMS. The trade system is still there. You can buy materials, bring them to another town and hopefully make a profit but your main source of income comes from the trade items you sell to the trading post. I had 6k by the time I came back from my first mission. Oh yes! The mission system. The game assigns you missions in order for you to progress through the story. I suppose side-quests come in later too. o_oa There's an NPC (Another member of the 108, I suspect) who can give you missions and such. I think it should pay well. Shall experiment later. I do have one complaint though. The hero's voicer. He talks too damn fast. Wheneverheopenshismouthhesoundslikehesin He talks really really fast. :/ That... so far... is the only problem I have with this game... So! Last words! Suikoden Tierkries is a game that says it's Suikoden but... tastes like something else. Sure, it has the same flavor and feel of Suikoden but there's just something missing. Maybe it's because I just had my first bite. As I go along, I hope to regain that good old Suikoden flavor. It's definitely worth getting. The plot they kept flaunting during its early announcement, the thing about the 108 stars of destiny having fallen and only 4 remaining... it's all true. But I'm not quite sure where that fits in the whole story. Maybe I do... but this is a spoiler free review. I'm not discussing my theories here. :D EDIT a few hours later: I was right. Ala Final Fantasy Tactics, you can dispatch some of your allies in order to complete sidequests and you can cash in on whatever quests you've finished... AND BOY DO THEY PAY WELL! Some missions pay as much as 10k potch and one certain story quest (Yes, missions given in game can be cashed in on as well.) pays 30k. I'm gonna go back offline and play more Tierkreis. Will post reviews for Avalon Code and Enchanted Folk when I get back tonight. | ||||||||||
Chronicles:brave the wind     |
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