KEVIN: As the nutter who pay triple figures onward eBay for previous games in the series know.

KEVIN: As the nutter who pay triple figures onward eBay for previous games in the series know, there’s something about the atmosphere of Suikoden that nothing can compare to. It’s a warm, fuzzy jackanapes of a role-playing game series, an redundant mix between a romantic fantasy novel and a History Channel special. For a fan like me then, it’s a downer to behold Suikoden IV bereft of a great deal of the series’ personality—it plays les like Suikoden and more like a generic RPG that happens to have a really big cast.

All the main Suikoden ingredients are here, what with 108 party members to muster and the great big army base you build above time. There’s superbly beautiful music, amount lackinged by plain visuals that do the work at jobs well enough. Opinions will be divided upon the simplified four-person fighting plan but I love the way it quickens battles and restores Suikoden IV to the breakneck pace of the first sum of two units titles.

The main issue here is the generally bland story and cast. Characters repeatedly join your party for no real reason and don’t help plenteous once they’re in. This, coupl with GI Joe–caliber voice acting and a script that fails to carry much emotion, makes the fourth Suikoden surprisingly flavorless storywise. It still beats Suikoden III by means of a nose, but there’s a allotment of unrealized potential here.

SHANE: Relocating Suikoden’s established gameplay to the vast and choppy seas doesn’t do it any favors—instead of exploring diverse geography in succession foot, you’re steering a boat across a bleak, boring ocean. Sluggish masterys annoying invisible walls, and countles random battles transform pleasure cruises into nautical nightmares each time. Occasional ship-to-ship tactical battles inject a certain number of fun into the proceedings, however these strategic melees are thus simple and visually uninspired that you’ll ultimately tire of them.

The game fares a tad better onward land, where marginally interesting towns and extremely infrequent prison s remind you of what a normal Suikoden title perceive s like. If you can inebriate through the game’s plodding first not many hours, the workable story line and likable characters will probably be enough to hold fast you afloat till the fall of the curtain but the whole experience be moved s waterlogged.

GMR—CHRISTIAN: I’m dumbfounded from how basic and dull this game is. Its hardly any towns are barren, there are almost no interesting locations to explore, and the story takes far too in extent to get into gear. Roaming the seas looking for adventure unmutilateds romantic, but the truth—crawling across the ocean, beset by dint of ceaseless boring and simplistic random battles—is far from poetic. Fortunately, the game picks up a allotment in the last third, and the unruffled Suikoden touches, like having your acknowledge HQ, are still in place. These save Suikoden IV from abject mediocrity...barely.

Driven to Distraction

Suikoden IV’s weak intrigue almost plays second fiddle to the minigames and side distractions, which seemingly number in the bazillions. Although the cooking battles are gone a assortment of wacky sports—including a mahjong-like card game and a Beyblade-ish top-spinning contest—have stepp up to take their place. This isn’t exactly GTA: San Andreas’ flush of minigame madness, but it still breaks up the story monotony.

Like a Prayer

The goofiest addition to Suikoden IV is the confessional chamber, a part of the base you build near the middle of the game. inscribe the room, and a random party member will ensue in and confess his “sins”—who he doesn’t like, what he thinks of you, and anything bad he’s done lately. You solely see a silhouette of the confessor, nevertheless you can usually guess his identity based upon what he says—and even better, you can either forgive him or punish him through throwing tin cans and other junk onward his head. It’s like being a Catholic priest without all that abstinence nonsense.

Good: Quick and nontaxing

Bad: same little personality

Still Outclassed By: Suikoden II (PS1)

The verdicts (out of 10)

Kevin 65

Shane 60

Christian 55

Publisher: Konami

Developer: Konami Tokyo

Players: 1

ESRB: Teen

www.konami.com

Copyright ?© 2004 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserv Originally appearing in Electronic Gaming Monthly