A dreary Suikoden is this Tierkreis

by Peter Fiorilla

Fun factor: Boring

Worth to: Avoid

All but devoted Suikoden fans should think of purchasing this inconsistent adventure riddled with clichés, horrible sound and unambitious gameplay.

Suikoden is a series of extreme ups and downs, and so it is fitting that Konami’s latest DS adventure shares a similar description. Sporting more artwork, characters and content than just about any other two DS RPG’s combined, Suikoden Tierkreis is a commendable effort at creating eye candy that will last gamers on the go a long time. If only Konami’s ambition was concentrated in creating a more unique and enjoyable experience.

Expect a heavily scripted plot

An “evil” imperialistic government has been extending its reach for years, using an ingenious method of propaganda to convince people that joining the organization “The Order of the One True Way” will be to their benefit. It is the belief of a predetermined future; by successfully predicting numerous natural disasters, this shady government has effectively convinced their people that submitting their lives to the will of the Order is the one path to fulfilling their destiny.



Of course, not everyone outside of this organization agrees that predestination is a reality, so they resist. In response, the Order takes up arms to expand their influence, claiming that the future can only be read if the entire world joins them. Taking countries by force, their power is nearly unrivaled in the known world.

Cue the protagonists, four 17-year olds who have grown up in a small, secluded village not officially part of any larger organization. Despite the rural area, the main characters have been raised to be warriors, but all of their training is useless after they touch a magical book. This so-called Chronicle mysteriously bestows upon them powers even a master warrior could only dream of. Soon afterwards the Order comes to absorb the village into their empire, expecting little resistance from a town full of superstitious farmers. The protagonists defeat them with the help of the Order’s rival, the Magedom kingdom.

Hence, the protagonists set out on two missions with the Magedom: to defeat the warmongering Order of the One True Way and to learn more about the book that gave them powers.

There needs to be an “Evil Empire” genre

With four paragraphs written above to merely summarize the first few hours of the game, it should come as no surprise that Suikoden Tierkreis is a text-heavy title -- it will seem as if more time is spent wading through text than not. It is also a complicated narrative full of interesting plot points, even if it is plagued with clichés.

“Enthusiastic do-gooder teenagers with magical powers” is hardly an intriguing design for a group of protagonists, and JRPG’s involving “fighting evil governments” should have their own subgenre by now. The main character’s juvenile personality does not fit the game’s dark plot, and because of his simple design (he is “good,” always ready to lend a helping hand), consistently acts predictably. He constantly churns out the dreaded catch phrase ‘we never know ‘till we try!’ To make matters worse, the only backstory the heroes have is that they are all orphans, and frankly, being an orphan is the default for JRPG heroes nowadays anyway.



Despite these annoyances, it is hard not to be interested in the game’s narrative. The concept of predestination is interesting and rarely used in video games, and while the game’s plot is a bit too black-and-white for my taste, bringing down evil governments never gets old (even if they do sprout like weeds in the world of JRPGs).

Where is the mute button?

Yet frustration often arises when characters drag out conversations or add unnecessary dialogue to an already longwinded script. Remember how people complained about Metal Gear Solid 4’s long cinematics? Yea, well if you were one of those people, avoid Suikoden Tierkreis at all costs. After initiating a conversation, it can take the better part of an hour before the game gives the player back the controls -- and it is full of truly awful voice acting. Leaving the volume OFF during conversations is highly recommended, as there is no option to silence the voice acting without muting the music as well.

Not that muting the music is a big deal; the score is nothing to write home about. It has a conventional style that, aside from one or two tracks, is un-noteworthy. It is certainly an insignificant production compared to what Konami did with the game’s visuals.

Who is this chubby impostor?

Blocky 3D engines are all the rage in DS RPG’s now (thanks Matrix), and while some developers can pull it off well despite the system’s weak hardware, Suikoden Tierkreis’ 3D work is inconsistent. Varied environments, spell animations and monsters look decent, and all weapons have their own visual representation on the battlefield (for what it is worth -- you can hardly see such subtleties, as the camera is zoomed out and characters are tiny).



Unfortunately, human characters -- the most commonly seen part of the game -- look more Mysims than Final Fantasy IV. This means that they look nothing like the anime portraits seen in menus or conversations; in other words, they fail to represent their characters well. A tall, muscular villain with personality in his well-drawn portrait is demoted to an unthreatening child with chubby cheeks on the battlefield.

That is not to say the game’s graphics looks bad; far from it. While the character models are of questionable quality, Suikoden Tierkreis’ hand-drawn art more than makes up for it. The upper screen showcases a beautiful bird’s eye view of whatever location the player is in at all times, and backgrounds outside of battle are almost as appealing. The wide variety of artwork is very impressive, and the quality of it is consistent throughout the game. Brief FMV’s are moderately frequent and look nice, and on the whole the game’s aesthetics should please anyone with an affinity for anime.

Uninspired overworld with frequent encounters

With that said, other DS RPG’s look better; more importantly, they play much better as well. To put it bluntly, Suikoden Tierkreis’ battle system is uninspired.

Anyone familiar with the classic Final Fantasy formula will instantly recognize it here. After text sequences are over, the player moves around town in third-person, buys weapons/items, and leaves to make their way to the next dungeon. There they proceed to conquer frequent random encounters until they make their way to a boss; after beating the boss, they enter another town and repeat the process.



There is nothing wrong with using a tired formula if the developer can execute it particularly well. The problem is, Konami did not do it particularly well, or even well at all.

Outside of battles the game is poorly designed. Dungeons are merely long paths that either lead to dead ends or the exit (there are a lot of dead ends, which can be annoying as the random encounter rate is frequent). There are no environmental puzzles or any sort of creative designs to be found.

And now, the battle system… *sigh*

The battle system fares worse. Your party can have up to four characters at a time in both a front and back row, with one character required to be in both at all times. Battles bring the player into a screen with a zoomed out camera to give the player a view of both sides of the fight (though it could have been much closer and have accomplished the same goal). Characters can attack, defend, and use magic/items/cooperative attacks to defeat the opposition. When one side is decimated, the battle ends.

It sounds inoffensive, because it is; the game never leaves the JRPG safety zone, sporting a very simple battle system with no flair or unique twists. Everything here has been done before, and for a number of reasons, been done much better.



The game has a very lenient difficulty curve. Merely completing mandatory quests gives the player enough money to buy the latest and greatest equipment, which pretty much ensures victory (not much strategy is actually required for the majority of the game). Random encounters are insultingly easy, as most non-boss fights are with monsters that only know how to attack and defend (or use spells that just deal damage).

There is virtually no real customization either; for each class/character, there is always a definitive weapon at each point in the game and character stats are predetermined, so the only choices left to the player are what spells to equip their characters with and what characters to use (there are 108 possibilities, which is impressive until you realize keeping your original party is fine).

Points off for not being “portable-friendly”

Another issue I had is that the battle camera often makes it hard to make out graphical details, animations or even an attack and its damage on a character. While at default the camera is zoomed out very far, nut with certain attacks it will swerve around the field and hide important data. It can be annoying, but fortunately, infrequent.

All of these problems combine to make Suikoden Tierkreis a rather subpar experience when compared to some of the DS’ better RPG’s, though not one that cannot be recommended to certain demographics. For example, the lenient difficulty level and basic battle system make it welcoming to newcomers of the genre. It is not a child-friendly title, however, as most younger players will be bored or confused by the text-heavy plot.



Nor is it a very portable game, as saving can only be done in specific locations. These locations can be found in dungeons and towns alike, but this is not much consolation; when the text-heavy narrative is progressing (which is very frequent), the next save point could be thirty minutes down the road. Likewise, there can be large gaps without a save point in dungeons (often entire levels will only have one save point). It would have been nice to have an Ace Attorney-esque save system, where saving can be done at any point in a conversation. As it is, a lost battle against the DS’ battery could mean half an hour of re-reading text (no option to skip dialogue).

Summary

Suikoden Tierkreis is not a bad game, though its blemishes are hard to ignore. It is a game that will inspire mixed feelings, and I am not quite sure it knows who its intended audience is. I am not sure it has an intended audience at all. At one point it is deep into a plot of political intrigue, imperialism and oppression; the next, happy-go-lucky kids are yelling something about the battle of good vs. evil while fighting disturbingly weak “bad guys.” Bogged down by clichés and a generic battle system, all but devoted Suikoden fans should put off purchasing this inconsistent adventure until a couple price cuts down the road.