Suiko5 progress
SoD count: 53/108
Time: ~36 hours
Plot: Just got to Sable
I'm feeling better about the game as a whole. There are times when I even enjoy playing. It's still my least favorite of the series though. The plot is SO ACHINGLY SLOW. I feel like I haven't made any actual progress, plot-wise, since escaping Sol-Falena. The tedium is lessened somewhat by my having characters that I actually like in my battle party now. I really hate how you're forced to make room for mandatory characters in your entourage at times, but when those characters leave, the characters you kicked out to make room don't come back. Really obnoxious.
War battles are also a huge problem. There is no way to issue commands to all (or even several) units at once, which is extremely frustrating in battles where your troops are spread out and you have to scroll across an entire half of the damn map just to issue commands. Even using the select button trick doesn't fix this, as it still leaves about a second of time during which your forces are sitting ducks unless they're acting on a previous command.
In comparison to Suiko4, I really don't understand how so many people can hail this as the superior game in almost every regard. The time-consuming, tedious sailing and high encounter rate are constantly bitched about by Suiko4 haters, and yet this game has nearly identical problems, the annoyance factor being compounded by the ridiculous load times. 4 didn't have the best load times either, but they were nowhere near this bad. I suppose on the world map the encounter rate isn't so bad in 5, but in dungeons, good lord. It's at least equal to the encounter rate at sea in 4. I could overlook that though, as I did in 4, if it weren't for the load times. It makes an otherwise enjoyable battle system irritating.
I know it seems like I have only bad things to say about this game every time I talk about it, but I don't dislike it. I'm just now getting to a point where I can feel that Suikoden charm when I'm playing, I have a fondness for a good amount of the characters, I care at least minimally about the plot, etc. I'm just still waiting to be wowed, and I'm beginning to wonder if I ever will be.
SoD count: 53/108
Time: ~36 hours
Plot: Just got to Sable
I'm feeling better about the game as a whole. There are times when I even enjoy playing. It's still my least favorite of the series though. The plot is SO ACHINGLY SLOW. I feel like I haven't made any actual progress, plot-wise, since escaping Sol-Falena. The tedium is lessened somewhat by my having characters that I actually like in my battle party now. I really hate how you're forced to make room for mandatory characters in your entourage at times, but when those characters leave, the characters you kicked out to make room don't come back. Really obnoxious.
War battles are also a huge problem. There is no way to issue commands to all (or even several) units at once, which is extremely frustrating in battles where your troops are spread out and you have to scroll across an entire half of the damn map just to issue commands. Even using the select button trick doesn't fix this, as it still leaves about a second of time during which your forces are sitting ducks unless they're acting on a previous command.
In comparison to Suiko4, I really don't understand how so many people can hail this as the superior game in almost every regard. The time-consuming, tedious sailing and high encounter rate are constantly bitched about by Suiko4 haters, and yet this game has nearly identical problems, the annoyance factor being compounded by the ridiculous load times. 4 didn't have the best load times either, but they were nowhere near this bad. I suppose on the world map the encounter rate isn't so bad in 5, but in dungeons, good lord. It's at least equal to the encounter rate at sea in 4. I could overlook that though, as I did in 4, if it weren't for the load times. It makes an otherwise enjoyable battle system irritating.
I know it seems like I have only bad things to say about this game every time I talk about it, but I don't dislike it. I'm just now getting to a point where I can feel that Suikoden charm when I'm playing, I have a fondness for a good amount of the characters, I care at least minimally about the plot, etc. I'm just still waiting to be wowed, and I'm beginning to wonder if I ever will be.