It finally came out!! After four years of waiting!! :’D
As backer I got it some days before the early access which was great cause I had one hell of a week and this game helped me endure. Not gonna lie, the intro and the title music made me tear up big time. ;u; Especially considering this was Yoshitaka Murayama’s final work, rest in peace my hero…
It is no secret for anyone that Suikoden 2 is my favorite game ever and no one and nothing has ever topped that off for me over the years. Chrono Trigger is close by however! So no naturally hearing that so many years later the original team will be doing Eiyuden just made me slam my backer money instantly! But yes… four long years later it’s finally here! Show how is it?
It is a bit early to write review given how I’m still early or mid way through? I did play about 30 hours but I’m also slow and I enjoy poking every corner if I can. I’ve played enough suikodens to know if I don’t then I will miss someone on the way :D;;;; However, half way through and … the game is really really … timid? It feels very light. The high stakes don’t feel high at all and the bad guys just kind of exist there being intimidating but other than that nothing happened on scene. You hear they sacrificed some village but you don’t really see that. The village girl who got her parents killed seem fine, nothing like Pilika who cried her eyes off then became mute from the shock after in Suikoden 2 … u_u; Everything just feels like it’s meant to be a rated E or something. No one swears or when they do, it’s very cartoony. Which brings me to the other issue I’m having…
It is… a bit too cartoony. One thing I loved about Suikoden was the characters designs. You could tell which part of the world they belong to, or which nation and it felt like they all belong to the same world just different nations. That’s not really the case in Eiyuden. Sure, Seign’s crew you can tell are part of Galdean Empire with their uniforms but not much else. The characters are so colorful! Which makes them memorable but also … most look like they came out from different worlds (or animes!) I love when a character is a bit of an oddball and they stand out, but when everyone stands out… the more “normal” looking ones begin to stand out xD;; I start to find myself looking for the more normal looking ones to include into my party.
And I guess I have to talk about the localization… Which is a hot topic apparently and I’m really tired of reading about it. I don’t think it is as bad as people make it out to be. I’m sorry. I really don’t think it’s a reason to lash out and attack people over it. Do I like it? I find it okay, but like the characters and their cartoony quirks, I find the localization absolutely the same way – It is too cartoony and quirky. Does it bother me? No. Do I like it? Not really. I don’t enjoy the direct dry JP translations but I wish there was some middle ground. The game has very light tone and the cartoony localization fits which to me again boils down to – I wish the game had more serious tone. Not a grim dark tone but when the stakes are none, it’s a little hard to feel motivated about rising an army and opposing the big bad who is doing something bad somewhere at the other end of the world. Maybe the tone will shift a bit as I get pass the mid point but it’s veen 30+ hours and I miss when every victory felt like impossible odds were overcome like what was the case with previous Suikoden games.
Okaaay, I did list a lot of bads didn’t I? I am enjoying the game, mind you! But not in a way that I can’t wait to pick the switch and continue. I’m also waiting a bit to see if they patch the cooking mini game. My favorite game and it’s glitched T^T!!! I feel so sad… So I’ll wait a bit and maybe run around looking for more peoplt to recruit in the mean time. I’m enjoying the combat, I’m enjoying the music. There are some balancing issues and the limited inventory is driving me nuts …but I also know it was Murayama’s choice and he insisted on it. I just hope they don’t keep the system in the sequel ;u;
I listed so many bad things and not nearly enough good ones. After so many years of my favorite franchise being dead and buried by Konami it is refreshing to see Eiyuden bring together the Suikoden experience. If this is the first stepping stone to a new franchise which carries the Suikoden flame, then I will very very gladly continue to support and look forward to learn more of this new world. First games are always like a test ground anyway and the devs haven’t made anything for a while, it makes sense they are a bit rusty! So with that said… time to hit post and return to playing! :’D Maybe I will have something excited to share at the end!