YOU KNEW THIS WAS COMING.
I just beat Suikoden V. And damn it if it didn't win me over.
I'll just cut to the chase: I like this game, I don't love it. I don't feel the same kind of attachment for it like I do with 1, 3, 4, and Tactics. But I do like it. Near the end (and I mean very near) it started to win me over a little more. The end and beginning of the game were by far the best parts. It's just everything in the middle that was a little... off-putting? I'm not sure how to phrase it.
First, the negatives. I know I've harped on this constantly, but it's my main complaint: camera. WHY IS THE CAMERA ZOOMED SO FAR OUT? I can see they TRIED to compensate for it by giving 2 levels of zoom, but the zoom always seems to be at an awkward angle so you can't really tell where you're going. The fact that it switches back during cutscenes makes zooming almost pointless. The only reason I can come up with for why it's programmed that way is because they were trying to mask the fact that they didn't bother to animate the characters during cutscenes most of the time.
Cutscenes with voice acting were painfully few during the middle of the game, and what little there were seemed to always be cut short. Even important story characters only got a few voiced scenes, it seems that most of the VA budget went to the main handful. At this point in time I think that's a rather inexcusable thing to do, along with the no character motion during cutscenes thing... you've got these elaborate, interesting character designs and personalities - show them off, damnit! Let them speak, let them move! For godsake, at least let them have a CLOSE UP!
The plot was relatively solid, although I found myself getting bored because I felt so removed from it. Every time something would start getting interesting, you'd either be forced to relocate, or it would end too quickly. The weakest element in the entire thing was, by far, the villains. Gizel and Marscal Godwin are pretty pitiful. Nether Gate was an interesting subplot, and I had hoped that something interesting would be made of Childerich, but instead I got a poor man's Luca Blight. Aside from a few pathetic attempts to take over various cities that the heroes already occupied, none of the villains really did much. I also thought Sialeeds' betrayal seemed tacked on as an afterthought. I find Sialeeds to be one of the more interesting characters, but they didn't bother going very in depth with her motivation or make much of a big deal of her death. That's a big missed opportunity there.
The ending was probably my favorite part. I have a serious weakness for scenes where the spirits of the dead show up and have their moments with other characters... yeah. Good times. Or, bad times, since they're dead, but y'know. Uh, let's just move.
As for the actual gameplay, it was pretty good. THE LOAD TIMES ARE HORRIBLE, and I doubt I'll ever get used to them. But the battles, while slow because of said load times, were interesting enough. I do have issues with the skill system, chiefly in that it seemed to be almost entirely arbitrary. I changed maybe 3 characters' skills throughout the entire game and had very little problems. In the future if they return to the skill system I hope it's more like 3 & Tactics... if it ain't broke, don't fix it, Konami. Other problems I have with the gameplay were the fact that, in the beginning of the game, I often had no idea where ANYTHING was, and due to the lack of a map, got lost quite horribly and frequently. The encounter rate was irritatingly high in some places (namely dungeons), though I've touched on that before. My other huge nitpick is that anytime you sail anywhere, it takes for-fucking-ever, and you cannot skip the little sailing scene, even though it seems to serve no purpose.
Final boss was a bit of a nasty bitch because of the damn magic attacks that hit every character and my complete lack of preparation on that front. Richard died on like the second turn because his MDF is apparently crap. Disaster struck when Kyle and Miakis also died, leaving only Zerase, Prince, and Lyon left alive. Then I discovered the godly 4th level spell unite of the Dawn and Twilight runes... woo! Miakis and Richard were still dead by the end of the battle, heh.
The castle... let's just not even speak of it. I don't like the castle, and I felt very uncomfortable there throughout the entire game.
Music was one of the game's stronger points I thought. There are a lot of good tracks, with maybe only one or two that I don't like. Sometimes the music playing in a certain area didn't fit the mood of the scene, but that is a general Suikoden problem (and a general RPG problem, in fact... I really wish games paid more attention to that. I can't tell you how many times the emotional impact of a scene has been lessened for me because of inappropriate background music.)
And now the juicy parts... characters. Ah, yes, my favorite part of every game. Let's take this on a slightly more individual basis, shall we?
Prince Freyjadour Falenas (a.k.a. Strumpet) - I have no major qualms with the Prince. I don't like him as much as the other Suiko heroes (except Riou, since I haven't played 2 yet.) I do think he's an awesome person though. And he's fucking adorable. His battle sounds are pretty damn good, I almost wish he had been a voiced character because of it. I'm not sure what else to say about him... uh, I love his outfit. The royal garb, not that awful orange shit. He's also very flaming, but it's Suikoden, so like I needed to point that out.
The Royal Family - Oh, the sadness... anything involving Arshtat and Ferid was automatically awesome. They're both great characters, and I was extremely angry and distraught when they died. Despite the fact that MY DISC FREEZING DURING THE SCENE totally fucking ruined it, the scene where Arshtat kills her husband is one of the hardest things to watch in any game I've played. I still wish Ferid was my dad, he is so fucking cool I almost can't stand it. Sialeeds is a good character too, and despite her flipping sides, I can sympathize with her and can't really blame her. Shit's fucked up in Falena, you gotta do what you can. I thought she was entertaining and one of the more believeable characters. Lymsleia... Little Lym! I love her! I thought for sure she was going to be a typical "woe is meeeeeeee" princess type, but I was blown away by her strength and attitude. That little girl don't take no shit from no one! So basically: this family is full of win.
Queen's Knights + Lyon - GEORG PRIME IS A HOT BITCH. Ahem. I mean... I really like Georg. A lot. He is a badass of astronomical proportions. I also like Miakis a lot. And Kyle. And Galleon was okay too, but he wasn't around as much as the others. Lyon was the one that got on my nerves a little. She's too much of a goody two-shoes I suppose. Her voice is also kind of grating. But I don't dislike her, and I find her backstory compelling, so she's an okay gal. Now, Alenia and Zahhak on the other hand... hatred. I honestly could not wait to kill them. I was so disappointed when Alenia in particular turned on you, I thought she had a decent shot at being one of the token "kick ass females" of the game at the very beginning, but no dice.
Lucretia Merces - She gets her own blurb because godDAMN do I dislike her. She's smug. And you know how much I hate it when characters are smug! (She's also not a Silverberg... but let's not even go there. Again, that is.) Every amazing coincidence seemed to benefit her, she seemed to happen upon solutions without actually utilizing much knowledge, and then proceeded to act so superior about it all. Even her extremely blatant relationship with Lelei couldn't save her in my book. You know it's a sad day when lesbians can't win me over.
I'm getting tired of typing, so I'll cut this part short by making a top 10 favorites list... IN NO ORDER. Except 1 and 2, because they're awesome.
FAVORITE CHARACTERS!!! (v1.0)
1. Richard - why is he so awesome? Is it the flaming homosexuality? The Mueller obsession? The fur gloves? The EPICNESS with which he whoops ass on the battlefield? All of the above, baby. All of the above.
2. Subala - because flat-chested, rough-talking, goggles-wearing fisherwomen are LOOOOOOOVE. I can't even tell you how much I love her. I want to RP her. I want to BE her. Mostly, I want to FISH!!!
3. Georg - he's a pimp. Yes indeed.
4. Ferid - see above.
5. Euram Barows - I laughed. I laughed SO HARD. Euram is the Snowe of Suiko5. He's pathetic and whiny and flamboyant and does THE TOOTH SPARKLE and I heart him. He also has a great voice. But WHYYYYY is he a support character when you recruit him? Goddamnit.
6. Kyle - because I'm not a playa hata'. But seriously, he's not fooling anyone. Behind every CHICKS CHICKS CHICKS!!!! character there is a man. Doing him in the butt.
7. Miakis - what's not to love?
8. Oboro - OBORO IS A GIGANTIC SLUT. I AM STILL TRYING TO FIND CONCLUSIVE PROOF OF THIS, BUT TRUST ME. I KNOW SLUTS WHEN I SEE THEM. Oh and also he's funny. And a detective. That's awesome and stuff.
9. Lun - now if only her voice actress were as great as her character...
10. Roy - WHOOPS, I almost forgot him. But here he is, smart-mouthed little bastard that he is! He amuses me greatly, and he wears a neckerchief. This seems to be a trend. I still think I've seen him somewhere before though... hmm...
And now my personal favorite part... pairings.
some combination of Georg/Kyle/Prince... I haven't decided yet. Leaning towards Georg/Prince. Kyle can just hang out and watch or something.
Ferid/Georg - I have no excuse. Just let me enjoy it, damnit.
Mueller/Richard - it's canon. You will never convince me otherwise. Wilhelm as an optional third party is also acceptable.
Oboro/every person on the face of the earth - well, maybe not. But Oboro is still a slut. I say that with all the love in my heart!
Roog/Rahal - yeah. Also canon. This is pretty much a given.
Shigure/Sagiri - awwwww.
Miakis/Lym - convinced it's canon, even as just a crush. I think they would make an adorable couple though, when Lym is older of course.
Subala/Lun - yeah. Nothin' to see here, folks, just move along...
Roy/Prince - I CAN ALMOST PRETEND IT'S SELFCEST~ (also toying with the idea of Lyon/Roy/Prince, in that order... but you didn't hear that from me...)
last but not least Ferid/Arshtat - because they are the best. Seriously.
Also, I fully support Lucretia/Lelei, but on the very basis that it includes Lucretia I can't enjoy it in good conscience. But they're totally doing it. It needed to be mentioned.
So! Unless I think of something else to add (which should occur about two minutes after I post this), that's all I have to say for now. I KNOW ONLY LIKE ONE PERSON WILL ACTUALLY READ THIS ALL THE WAY THROUGH. But this is all mostly for my own benefit anyway.
Final verdict: 7/10.
My rankings (in terms of enjoyment):
Suiko4 > 3 > Tactics > 1 > 5.
Take that, rest of the fandom.
I'll just cut to the chase: I like this game, I don't love it. I don't feel the same kind of attachment for it like I do with 1, 3, 4, and Tactics. But I do like it. Near the end (and I mean very near) it started to win me over a little more. The end and beginning of the game were by far the best parts. It's just everything in the middle that was a little... off-putting? I'm not sure how to phrase it.
First, the negatives. I know I've harped on this constantly, but it's my main complaint: camera. WHY IS THE CAMERA ZOOMED SO FAR OUT? I can see they TRIED to compensate for it by giving 2 levels of zoom, but the zoom always seems to be at an awkward angle so you can't really tell where you're going. The fact that it switches back during cutscenes makes zooming almost pointless. The only reason I can come up with for why it's programmed that way is because they were trying to mask the fact that they didn't bother to animate the characters during cutscenes most of the time.
Cutscenes with voice acting were painfully few during the middle of the game, and what little there were seemed to always be cut short. Even important story characters only got a few voiced scenes, it seems that most of the VA budget went to the main handful. At this point in time I think that's a rather inexcusable thing to do, along with the no character motion during cutscenes thing... you've got these elaborate, interesting character designs and personalities - show them off, damnit! Let them speak, let them move! For godsake, at least let them have a CLOSE UP!
The plot was relatively solid, although I found myself getting bored because I felt so removed from it. Every time something would start getting interesting, you'd either be forced to relocate, or it would end too quickly. The weakest element in the entire thing was, by far, the villains. Gizel and Marscal Godwin are pretty pitiful. Nether Gate was an interesting subplot, and I had hoped that something interesting would be made of Childerich, but instead I got a poor man's Luca Blight. Aside from a few pathetic attempts to take over various cities that the heroes already occupied, none of the villains really did much. I also thought Sialeeds' betrayal seemed tacked on as an afterthought. I find Sialeeds to be one of the more interesting characters, but they didn't bother going very in depth with her motivation or make much of a big deal of her death. That's a big missed opportunity there.
The ending was probably my favorite part. I have a serious weakness for scenes where the spirits of the dead show up and have their moments with other characters... yeah. Good times. Or, bad times, since they're dead, but y'know. Uh, let's just move.
As for the actual gameplay, it was pretty good. THE LOAD TIMES ARE HORRIBLE, and I doubt I'll ever get used to them. But the battles, while slow because of said load times, were interesting enough. I do have issues with the skill system, chiefly in that it seemed to be almost entirely arbitrary. I changed maybe 3 characters' skills throughout the entire game and had very little problems. In the future if they return to the skill system I hope it's more like 3 & Tactics... if it ain't broke, don't fix it, Konami. Other problems I have with the gameplay were the fact that, in the beginning of the game, I often had no idea where ANYTHING was, and due to the lack of a map, got lost quite horribly and frequently. The encounter rate was irritatingly high in some places (namely dungeons), though I've touched on that before. My other huge nitpick is that anytime you sail anywhere, it takes for-fucking-ever, and you cannot skip the little sailing scene, even though it seems to serve no purpose.
Final boss was a bit of a nasty bitch because of the damn magic attacks that hit every character and my complete lack of preparation on that front. Richard died on like the second turn because his MDF is apparently crap. Disaster struck when Kyle and Miakis also died, leaving only Zerase, Prince, and Lyon left alive. Then I discovered the godly 4th level spell unite of the Dawn and Twilight runes... woo! Miakis and Richard were still dead by the end of the battle, heh.
The castle... let's just not even speak of it. I don't like the castle, and I felt very uncomfortable there throughout the entire game.
Music was one of the game's stronger points I thought. There are a lot of good tracks, with maybe only one or two that I don't like. Sometimes the music playing in a certain area didn't fit the mood of the scene, but that is a general Suikoden problem (and a general RPG problem, in fact... I really wish games paid more attention to that. I can't tell you how many times the emotional impact of a scene has been lessened for me because of inappropriate background music.)
And now the juicy parts... characters. Ah, yes, my favorite part of every game. Let's take this on a slightly more individual basis, shall we?
Prince Freyjadour Falenas (a.k.a. Strumpet) - I have no major qualms with the Prince. I don't like him as much as the other Suiko heroes (except Riou, since I haven't played 2 yet.) I do think he's an awesome person though. And he's fucking adorable. His battle sounds are pretty damn good, I almost wish he had been a voiced character because of it. I'm not sure what else to say about him... uh, I love his outfit. The royal garb, not that awful orange shit. He's also very flaming, but it's Suikoden, so like I needed to point that out.
The Royal Family - Oh, the sadness... anything involving Arshtat and Ferid was automatically awesome. They're both great characters, and I was extremely angry and distraught when they died. Despite the fact that MY DISC FREEZING DURING THE SCENE totally fucking ruined it, the scene where Arshtat kills her husband is one of the hardest things to watch in any game I've played. I still wish Ferid was my dad, he is so fucking cool I almost can't stand it. Sialeeds is a good character too, and despite her flipping sides, I can sympathize with her and can't really blame her. Shit's fucked up in Falena, you gotta do what you can. I thought she was entertaining and one of the more believeable characters. Lymsleia... Little Lym! I love her! I thought for sure she was going to be a typical "woe is meeeeeeee" princess type, but I was blown away by her strength and attitude. That little girl don't take no shit from no one! So basically: this family is full of win.
Queen's Knights + Lyon - GEORG PRIME IS A HOT BITCH. Ahem. I mean... I really like Georg. A lot. He is a badass of astronomical proportions. I also like Miakis a lot. And Kyle. And Galleon was okay too, but he wasn't around as much as the others. Lyon was the one that got on my nerves a little. She's too much of a goody two-shoes I suppose. Her voice is also kind of grating. But I don't dislike her, and I find her backstory compelling, so she's an okay gal. Now, Alenia and Zahhak on the other hand... hatred. I honestly could not wait to kill them. I was so disappointed when Alenia in particular turned on you, I thought she had a decent shot at being one of the token "kick ass females" of the game at the very beginning, but no dice.
Lucretia Merces - She gets her own blurb because godDAMN do I dislike her. She's smug. And you know how much I hate it when characters are smug! (She's also not a Silverberg... but let's not even go there. Again, that is.) Every amazing coincidence seemed to benefit her, she seemed to happen upon solutions without actually utilizing much knowledge, and then proceeded to act so superior about it all. Even her extremely blatant relationship with Lelei couldn't save her in my book. You know it's a sad day when lesbians can't win me over.
I'm getting tired of typing, so I'll cut this part short by making a top 10 favorites list... IN NO ORDER. Except 1 and 2, because they're awesome.
FAVORITE CHARACTERS!!! (v1.0)
1. Richard - why is he so awesome? Is it the flaming homosexuality? The Mueller obsession? The fur gloves? The EPICNESS with which he whoops ass on the battlefield? All of the above, baby. All of the above.
2. Subala - because flat-chested, rough-talking, goggles-wearing fisherwomen are LOOOOOOOVE. I can't even tell you how much I love her. I want to RP her. I want to BE her. Mostly, I want to FISH!!!
3. Georg - he's a pimp. Yes indeed.
4. Ferid - see above.
5. Euram Barows - I laughed. I laughed SO HARD. Euram is the Snowe of Suiko5. He's pathetic and whiny and flamboyant and does THE TOOTH SPARKLE and I heart him. He also has a great voice. But WHYYYYY is he a support character when you recruit him? Goddamnit.
6. Kyle - because I'm not a playa hata'. But seriously, he's not fooling anyone. Behind every CHICKS CHICKS CHICKS!!!! character there is a man. Doing him in the butt.
7. Miakis - what's not to love?
8. Oboro - OBORO IS A GIGANTIC SLUT. I AM STILL TRYING TO FIND CONCLUSIVE PROOF OF THIS, BUT TRUST ME. I KNOW SLUTS WHEN I SEE THEM. Oh and also he's funny. And a detective. That's awesome and stuff.
9. Lun - now if only her voice actress were as great as her character...
10. Roy - WHOOPS, I almost forgot him. But here he is, smart-mouthed little bastard that he is! He amuses me greatly, and he wears a neckerchief. This seems to be a trend. I still think I've seen him somewhere before though... hmm...
And now my personal favorite part... pairings.
some combination of Georg/Kyle/Prince... I haven't decided yet. Leaning towards Georg/Prince. Kyle can just hang out and watch or something.
Ferid/Georg - I have no excuse. Just let me enjoy it, damnit.
Mueller/Richard - it's canon. You will never convince me otherwise. Wilhelm as an optional third party is also acceptable.
Oboro/every person on the face of the earth - well, maybe not. But Oboro is still a slut. I say that with all the love in my heart!
Roog/Rahal - yeah. Also canon. This is pretty much a given.
Shigure/Sagiri - awwwww.
Miakis/Lym - convinced it's canon, even as just a crush. I think they would make an adorable couple though, when Lym is older of course.
Subala/Lun - yeah. Nothin' to see here, folks, just move along...
Roy/Prince - I CAN ALMOST PRETEND IT'S SELFCEST~ (also toying with the idea of Lyon/Roy/Prince, in that order... but you didn't hear that from me...)
last but not least Ferid/Arshtat - because they are the best. Seriously.
Also, I fully support Lucretia/Lelei, but on the very basis that it includes Lucretia I can't enjoy it in good conscience. But they're totally doing it. It needed to be mentioned.
So! Unless I think of something else to add (which should occur about two minutes after I post this), that's all I have to say for now. I KNOW ONLY LIKE ONE PERSON WILL ACTUALLY READ THIS ALL THE WAY THROUGH. But this is all mostly for my own benefit anyway.
Final verdict: 7/10.
My rankings (in terms of enjoyment):
Suiko4 > 3 > Tactics > 1 > 5.
Take that, rest of the fandom.