Suikoden II should have probably had a New Game Plus. Between the time-sensitive Clive quest, the branching endings, and the gruelling decisions over which monsters to recruit, there are a lot of reasons to replay the game. And, as it turns out, a replay-friendly feature might've actually been in the works.
It's unfortunate that Konami, a Japanese gambling company, owns the licence to Suikoden, one of the greatest video game series ever made. Still, fans haven't given up yet.
Last week the PlayStation Blog brought serendipitous news: the masterpiece Suikoden II took a top 10 slot not just on the best-selling list of PlayStation Classics for December, but for all of 2015.
Dayshot: Back in January, Kotaku reader and artist Benjamin Schwarz sent me this collage of Suikoden II characters that he made a few years ago. This feels like a good opportunity to share Schwarz's excellent work.
I've been playing Suikoden II for the first time, and in between the epic battles and the heartwarming flashbacks, it can be a pretty silly game.
64 hours. 23 hours. 42 hours. 28 hours. Somewhere on a grassy plain trying to figure out if I should spend my days hunting down one of many pending side quests. Somewhere deep in the ocean chasing mermaids. Somewhere making preparations for my next strategic battle. These are all the places I'm willing to leave behind — unexplored and unresolved — because I'm wondering if I give a damn about JRPGs anymore.
Suikoden II, a video game about being a sous chef, finally came to the PlayStation Network last month, and it totally flopped, proving that Konami was right and that nobody in the West wants Japanese role-playing games because they are garbage.
So you've just bought Suikoden II on the PlayStation Network. Finally, for the first time ever, you're going to play through one of the finest role-playing games ever made. Exciting, isn't it?
For a certain subset of gamers, today is big. Really big. Like, the biggest day in years. That's all thanks to Saturday's surprise reveal that Konami and Sony are teaming up to do something fans have been begging them to do for almost a decade now: today, Suikoden II is out on PSN.
Kotaku, we need to talk. You all KNOW that Suikoden II is my favourite game of all time, yet in the six months since Diablo III's Reaper of Souls expansion came out, not ONE of you has told me about this incredible Luca Blight reference.
Konami US has been depressingly quiet about the prospects of making Suikoden more accessible to modern gamers, but at least the company's UK branch is showing their best franchise some love. Today on the Konami UK blog there's a big post about Suikoden, written by the folks at the Suikoden Revival Movement. Progress!
How much do you think a copy of Suikoden II costs on Amazon? $US60? $US150? $US300? If you guessed $US699.99, congratulations: you win the prize for Ability To Guess Obscene Internet Price Gouging. The prize is sadness.
Really, every day should be Suikoden day, but this is the actual one. Allow me to explain: the wonderful Suikoden Revival Movement, a group dedicated to trying to revive Konami's equally-wonderful RPG series, has declared today "Suikoden Day" — a festive occasion created to celebrate all things Suikoden.
There are a lot of disgruntled gamers out there. For every video game series that has been abandoned or mistreated by its creators, there's a group of fans who want nothing more than to see their favourite titles restored to glory. Americans who love games like Mega Man Legends, Mother, and Valkyria Chronicles are angry. Dissatisfied. Upset at how they've been treated by the companies that claim to care about them.
From Suikoden II. Which I don't think I've ever actually played. Maybe I should, because this looks great.
Would you spend $US35,000 on a case full of video games? On one hand, this eBay seller is pawning off an impressive collection of games that includes rare gems like Suikoden II, Earthbound, Snatcher and a whole lot of other titles for Super Nintendo, Sega CD, Game Boy Advance and several other consoles.
Kickstarter is now officially a thing.
Not that it wasn't before. Since its launch in 2009, the crowdfunding website has evolved into an extremely effective financing tool for business ventures, creative projects, and auteurs of all kinds. It has facilitated the relationship between creators and their fans, both giving us access to the people who make things we love and allowing more people to make things we love.
