After really enjoying Eiyuden Chronicles, I became invested in the idea of playing more games from the same creators. I found the dual pack of Suikoden one and two on sale and immediately purchased it. The story of the first game stars a protagonist you name who is suddenly labeled a traitor. In a quest to understand the nation that has abandoned him, he ends up as part of the rebellion that takes him on an adventure to recruit 107 characters to join in the fight.

The story here is surprisingly similar to Eiyuden Chronicles. There are some noticeable differences, but for the most part, you’re experiencing the same tale. I’ll admit there’s not a whole lot of story, as it’s one of those bare bones type tales that serve to provide goals that players can enjoy the gameplay with. There’s not much of an explanation behind the motives of a lot of the characters, nor do you have shocking plot twists. You do have a handful of emotional moments done well, but it’s clear the story is not the selling point of the game. It’s not bad, it’s simply a story designed as a catalyst for the actual selling points of the game, the gameplay, and the characters.

Moving on to the gameplay, it’s a lot of fun. As a remake, it is rather simplistic compared to modern RPGs, but I really like that. You play parties of up to six characters, three in the front row and three in the back. Player locations play a role in where you can attack and how, so it’s important to choose your formation carefully. Players can attack, defend, use items, or use runes, and even combo attacks. Runes are items you can equip that allow the use of magic or special attacks. For example, I added a healing orb to use healing runes on my fastest characters, so that if I needed to heal, it was always the first action. Character customization included leveling up your weapon (which can’t be changed) and equipping gear. This straightforward method works when you have up to 108 characters. While not all of them are playable, many of them are, so this customization method pairs well, as a complex and tedious one would be way too overbearing with all of the units.

Now, the gameplay does have some dated quality-of-life issues that are not a massive problem, but they are tedious. Lots of actions take more steps than needed. For example, once you get the ability to warp, it’s a multi-step process. You use one character to warp back to your base and another to warp to the location of your choice. This is the only way to warp, and you need to unlock two characters to do both steps. The same can be said for party selection. The act of removing a member and adding one are both separate steps. So, to change your party, it takes two steps. It’s not a game-breaking problem, but I wish things were faster.

The game features two other recurring game modes. One is a duel, and the other is a war-type game. Both play the same way and only differ in their aesthetics and some controls. You play by selecting one of three attacks in a rock, paper, scissors type game. If you select the item strong against the one your enemy/enemies selected, you deal massive damage, or take major damage if you fail. Be careful though, as in the war games, your characters can permanently die, and this game has multiple endings. The best one can only be obtained by recruiting everyone.

Moving on to the characters, I liked them a lot. With 108 recruitable characters, not all of them were memorable. However, I did end up finding quite a few that made a wonderful first impression, either by personality, design or both. I feel like that’s the charm of the game, as there are so many characters you can find your ideal party. It’s like Pokémon; every character can be someone’s favorite. Plus, it is a lot of fun to look around and find all of the characters. Most of my time playing the game was spent doing this, and it never got old, as it was fun when I finally found someone.

Overall, I really enjoyed this game. Not for the story, but for the simplistic gameplay and variety of characters. Because of the sheer roster of characters, the fact that elements like upgrading weapons and equipping gear are straightforward makes it easier to try out characters to find out the ones you like the best. Some of your actions are needlessly tedious, but playing it is addictive even in spite of that. Now on to Suikoden two.