sapient

User Score
9.5

Presentation - 9.0
Gameplay - 8.5
Value - 9.5

Suikoden has had a long history. From the first Playstation 1 outing to the latest Nintendo DS game there have been 5 main games, 2 visual novels and 3 spin offs. Not all spin offs are created equal though. While Suikoden card stories was connected to suikoden 1 and 2 and Suikoden Tactics was connected to Suikoden 4,  Suikoden Tierkries has nothing to do with Suikoden universe.

While this may sound like a bad thing, in a way it is not. Due to the limitation of this being a handheld game the decision to create an entirely new universe for Tierkries actually works well.This has allowed them to make sure nothing in this outing chnages the main story of Suikoden i.e. "the true runes".

Suikoden has always been about 108 stars of destiny and their struggle against an evil empire/ tyrant. Suikoden Tierkries has the same concept. Stars of destiny are called star bearers and like all Suikoden games the hero is expected to recruit as many Star bearers as he can. There are no True Runes here as the lore has nothing to do with True Runes.

The changes from Suikoden Series are as follows.

- Magic is handled similar to most RPG and not like Suikoden games.

- Most characters can equip multiple weapons.

- No weapon upgrading

- No skill system(although to be fair skill sytem was introduced in Suikoden 3)

- No Duels or Army battles.

- No mini games

In spite of all these changes, as a game, Suikoden Tierkries is a very enjoyable experience. The combat system is pretty well thought out and while there are random encounters, for the most part the encounter rate is very reasonable. Also, unlike most RPGs the flee option actually works.

Status effects play a major part in combats, this increases the strategy element of combat and keeps things interesting. Grinding is not really necessary in this game as like most Suikoden games just a couple of encounters in a new area give you enough experience to counter the rest more easily.

The story is interesting and while some people (read reviewers) have been annoyed by the fact that the main theme/message is continuously talked about in the game, it all makes sense. Every time the hero interacts with a fellow star bearer they provide him with their insight into the conflict and they all seem to agree. This makes sense as otherwise why would they join with the hero in the first place?.

The games cut scenes have Voice and for the most part it is well done. The music is pretty good as always and the sound effects are nicely done.

There are quite a few cut scenes in the game done in Anime style which are really good. The intro is also one that is really well done.

There is no stylus support in the game which would have really benfitted it since the d-pad on DS is a pain to use as it is 4-way only and when majority of paths you need to traverse are not at 90 degrees to each other travelling from point A to B gets very annoying very fast.This is not helped my the fact that you have to walk every where. The teleport option is available pretty late in the game, is one way and there is no escape scroll to get out of dungeons.

There is some online component in the game ( a first for the series) but it is sort of tacked on and not something I used often.

In short, the combat, the story, the characters all seem to come together in a really neat package. DS gamers have a new really great RPG to play.

Verdict: 9.5/10 

I do have to qualify my above statement that as a Suikoden game I would rate it as an 8/10.