The Mad Speculator

Is it Story or Storytelling that truly makes a "tale" great?

2010-02-08T12:57:00.000-08:00

How many times have you seen this on a forum "[Game A] has a terrible story, it isn't original at all! Just the same redundant crap we see all the time!" Well I hate to tell you "Junior" but at the end of the day a lot of it is the same redundant crap... at least in terms of raw "Story".

In his book "The Seven Basic Plots" Christopher Booker explains that there are only seven "Raw" stories that are repeated over and over again within literature, with or without the author of said work actually recognizing what is occurring. I'm not going to go into exactly what these 7 Plots are, the list is pretty easy to find on the internet, in fact I'll even give you a link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plot_%28narrative%29

According to this and similar theories like "The Thirty Six Dramatic Situations" as proposed by Georges Polti we can surmise that there ARE no original plots, not really. Every "raw plot" that can be written HAS been written, codified, studied, analyzed and hence can be predicted... at least that's what some people would have you believe.

At the end of the day I don't think it really matters. Expecting a story to be wildly original every time is a sure way to end up a horribly disappointed human being, especially when you realize that barring a divine act you WILL use one of the 7 Basic Plots and many of those Thirty Six Situations no matter what type of story you try to tell. The key to achieving peace with this idea is realizing that at the end of the day, this is NOT the element of Story that truly matters.

"Basic" plot is just that, basic. There are no characters in those 7 Plots, nor are there characters in those situations. They're just the raw elements necessary for the construction of a story, they aren't what make it enjoyable, meaningful or worth experiencing in anyway. Think about it like a building, at the end of the day all buildings will require, to some degree, a foundation, a superstructure, probably stairs depending on the size and height of a building etc. Any building that doesn't have these fails as a building and would not be recognized as such or used as such, and a story is similar. Yet when you look at a particularly attractive building do you pat attention to the foundation, the superstructure, the stairs? Not really I say, these are just the elements that make it a building, not the elements that make it an attractive one. In order to make these individual elements stand out, indeed to make the building itself stand out, something needs to be added to it. For a "Plot" or "Story" this is where "Storytelling" comes in, it is that "something else" added to a basic structure that makes a story memorable, enjoyable and worth experiencing.

Take my most recent favorite game, Mass Effect 2. At the end of the day what are you doing? Saving Humanity from Evil Aliens, a combination of an Against the Monster, A Quest and a little bit of a Journey and Return plotline. Not wildly original by any stretch, yet like its parent Mass Effect 2 comes across as wildly original in terms of storytelling.

You don't just Save Humanity from Evil Aliens, you take a character deeply rooted in a heavily realized fictional universe yet shaped through your personal choices and actions into either a virtual expression of yourself or a fully realized character in their own right. You find companions for this character, earn their trust and learn more about yourself in the process before triumphantly charging off with suicidal abandon to protect the universe and everything you care about because goddamn it you are a HERO and you will save mankind. This to me is the real "plot" of Mass Effect 2, not the simplistic and basic"Save Mankind from Aliens" story you might see on the surface. This belies the uniquely personalized yet cinematically sweeping style of storytelling that characterizes the game, you feel like that hero, you feel like this is your universe to save and that is what makes it different from a standard Humans vs. Aliens space opera.

Something similar could, once upon a time, be said about the classic "Lunar: The Silver Star Story Complete" for the Playstation 1. At the most basic level, Lunar is a game about a Boy rescuing his Childhood Friend from an Evil Emperor who wants to use her Innate Powers for Evil. Standard JRPG stuff right? Pretty much but the addition of warm, funny and likable characters with well done Anime Cut Scenes and the substantial amount of voice acting combined with a well paced set of revelations regarding the overall story makes Lunar something to behold despite its stereotypical trappings. Look at Bioshock, Half-Life, Portal and many other games out there. Many of them really aren't that original in terms of basic plot, but the method by which they convey their narrative, the Storytelling, makes them so much more than that.

Hence at the end of the day it isn't the story itself, it's the storytelling that makes something a truly great narrative. It's a combination of Pacing, Character, Presentation, Art, Dialogue or lack there of, Mood, Setting, Set Pieces etc. not just "plot" that makes something great and allows it to transcend the simplicity of the 7 Basic Plots.

Am I a Writer?

2010-01-29T08:15:00.000-08:00

One of my good friends has just "officially" become a professional writer. He's getting paid to produce material for a small, still in production game project which should be popping up in the sometime this year. It's interesting stuff too, tons of ideas that make me go "damn I wish I'd come up with that"and there's a large group of very talented people working on it, all of whom are also very likable.

Unfortunately I find myself livid with jealousy over my friends success in the writing field, mostly because that kind of thing was something I've always wanted from myself but never been able to achieve. This has led to a bit of soul searching on my part as I honestly cannot recall the last time I seriously put some prose to page. I haven't even given it a good attempt within the last several months, what with my workplace being thrown into chaos and my baseless melancholy crippling my creativity. All I've written are notes for my numerous Roleplaying Projects and the occasional discussion thread or review on The Escapist and even these feel like crap lately.

What have I become? Am I even a writer anymore?

I cannot recall the last time I created a character, established a scene, wrote an action sequence or even tried to seriously convey an idea or meaning through indirect means. I haven't even tried to prose up my Roleplaying notes, not since the summer and the last description piece I tried to write turned out like complete crap.

I am seriously down on this...

However I can only see one solution, I need to pick up the pen once more and kick my own ass until I actually write something I can look at with some measure of contentment. Yes sir, I must do this once more, I WILL be a writer again even if I'm only writing for myself.

Best of the Year 2009 Videogames Part 1

2010-01-28T08:29:00.000-08:00

Well since it is January and it's been a whole year since I did any regular posting I thought I might enlighten all of you as to my favorites of the last year.

Video Games

2009 was the year of the Action/Adventure game, seeing an unprecedented glut of high quality releases all focusing around this hard to pin down genre that nonetheless endears as a mainstay of the industry and a favorite of this particular gamer and while there were some other major releases none of them really held a candle to the Action/Adventure titles that dominated the stage. Anyway here's my obligatory list of titles that made the grade this year...

Infamous
In June gamers were treated to a one-two punch of Sandbox Superhero games, one where you play as a misanthropic mutant in a blood filled rampage through New York, the other where you play as an Electrical Superman who can choose the role of Hero or Villain while he searches for the secret behind the events that empowered him and that have been laying waste to his city. Infamous developed by Suckerpunch and exclusively for the Playstation 3 is the second of those. You play as Cole McGrath, a man who gains electrical super powers, destroys a large portion of Empire City, his home and must now contend with a bevy of superpowered foes in a quest to learn about the disaster and himself. Two things about InFamous really stood out to me, for one it's a 3rd Person Shooter rather than a Brawler and it's the only super hero game I've played that really makes you FEEL like a HERO. This is something that oddly defines the game in a way you might not expect as I noticed something about reviews of InFamous, those who took the Villain Path did not enjoy it much and gave it a low score. Those who took the path of the Hero seemed to get a whole lot more enjoyment out of the game since when playing the hero path you get to see your actions inspire the population of Empire City, they put up posters of you, rally against the supervillains taking over neighborhoods, clean up the streets and cheer you as you go by. You feel like a hero who has made a difference in the world, this city is BETTER and it's because of you and the choices you've made. I have yet to go through the villain path myself, but a friend assures me that it's not really worth it, being a Hero is where it's at and InFamous is good at conveying that idea.

Some thoughts on Storytelling in Videogames

2010-01-28T08:15:00.000-08:00

With the recent release of Mass Effect 2 I've been thinking pretty regularly about storytelling methods in Videogames. See to me Mass Effect 2 represents probably the pinnacle in Player Driven Narrative, where the player can not only decide through their actions the outcomes of various stories but can also effect personality and relationships on a much deeper level than in most other games. In fact it beats out November's Dragon Age, a game soaked in choice and depth of consequence, purely through its focus on "personality" because unlike Dragon Age, in Mass Effect one actually gets the feeling that Cmdr. Shepard is a REAL character, not simply an extension of the players will. Yes you get to put the words in Cmdr. Shepards mouth, but those words are translated into the voice of the character, a character you define but one that is still somewhat separate. As I see it this is the key to developing a real "Roleplaying Game" in an electronic medium, where you play AS a character who is still a CHARACTER, not just an avatar for your actions.

In Defense of The Sequel

2009-01-21T10:46:00.000-08:00

Now the standard intelligent reason for disliking sequels to popular videogames is the perception that they stifle more creative projects but is that really the case? Granted I know that both EA and Activision are incredibly guilty of this, spending money on more Madden Games and Ice Age sequels... but would they really innovate if you suddenly tooka way their ability to make Madden 2010? I doubt it, innovation doesn't simply come from pulling the numbers from the ends of games. Look at Mirrors Edge and Dead Space, finally EA tries something different, something non-sequelly... and then they still take a lot of flak for it.

Similarly for Final Fantasy, most of you don't like the games anyway... what are you missing out on? Square isn't suddenly going to make an FPS, that's not their style, they'd just make ANOTHER Big Budget JRPG under a different name, hell they tried that with Infinite Undiscovery and Last Remnant, both failures but for different reasons.
The Metal Gear series didn't stop Hideo Kojima from developing original ideas, after Metal Gears 1 and 2, he developed Policenauts and Snatcher, similarly after Metal Gear Solid he put out Zone of the Enders and the Boktai titles for the gameboy.

I suppose my primary assertion is that this hatred of sequels seems to be largely baseless. For me a "sequel" is an excuse to take and improve on a tried and true formula, granted in some cases they are unnecessary, and in others they are just attempting to capitalize on a well known and loved title. But ask yourself, would Resident Evil 4 have been any better if it hadn't been the 4th Resident Evil? If not another Resident Evil, what should Capcom have released instead?
That's the question I pose to the sequel haters, What do you want instead? What games are you missing out on? What is Final Fantasy XIII taking away from you? Removing sequels isn't going to magically bring you a flood of innovative and original games.

Not everything can be a "Psychonauts" or a "Brutal Legend", those are rare products made for us by the skilled hand of an artist, but games industry does not have a surplus of men like Tim Schafer. If you really must examine this to it's core, take Mr. Schafer's Lucasarts adventure games... The Day of the Tentacle was really Maniac Mansion 3, and the Monkey Island games reached 4 titles before finally dying out.

The point I'm trying to make is that innovation doesn't happen "in spite" of sequels, it just happens, and the next Metal Gear Solid game isn't really going to stop any true artist from developing their amazing idea.

Having Trouble?

2009-01-15T13:24:00.000-08:00

Here is an interesting little application that provides tangible consequences for not writing. Personally I think it could be of great use and I intend to give it a whirl tonight. I'll tell all of you how it turns out.

http://lab.drwicked.com/writeordie.html

Survival Horror: The Pinnacle of Videogame Narrative

2009-01-14T07:06:00.000-08:00

The thought provoking article "Is it Art?" from the London Book Review by John Lanchester got the wheels turning in my brain regarding the importance of the Survival Horror genre to the idea of Videogame Narrative. Why is this you ask? Because few other genres in videogaming have the potential to convey so much story without resorting to lengthy cutscenes or conveniently abandoned narrative devices (literal devices, scattered around the environment and everything).

One of the reasons is that in Survival Horror, you can manipulate the environment itself into a brilliant narrative device. Every creature, every set piece, every message written in blood on the wall can help to convey a feeling, an emotion and a sense of story. Look at the pinnacle of the genre, Silent Hill 2, everything in that game is deeply rooted in protagonist James Sunderland's psyche, from the horrifying Pyramid Head to the Horrible Sexy Nurses to the vile straight jacketed things. They all serve a narrative purpose and all relate to the horrible revelations that drive James's quest into this dark place.

Similarly does Resident Evil 4 convey many "narrative" aspects through gameplay and environment. When we shoot our first mutated Spanish villager in the face only to have him glare at us angrily, it's clear we aren't dealing with ordinary rural hillbillies here, these are monsters. And later when you arrive at the shotgun wielding, head exploding phase, the villagers will suddenly sprout horrific doom appendages which will slice and dice you, leading to more questions and even a few answers.

Granted both Resident Evil 4 and Silent Hill 2 still often rely on cutscenes, but there is narrative outside of that, in the enemy design and environmental characteristics. I eagerly await the day when you'll be able to accomplish an entire narrative (except the "ending" and "epilogue" bits) without resorting to the movie like, medium breaking cutscenes that hurt the idea of "games" as a unique art form.

Is it art?

2009-01-14T07:03:00.000-08:00

A great article looking at videogames as art from the perspective of a cultural elitist. Good stuff really, well? Why are you still here? Get over there.

http://www.lrb.co.uk/v31/n01/lanc01_.html

Review: Final Fantasy XII

2009-01-07T13:31:00.000-08:00

(Reposted from The Escapist Forums)

I am a Final Fantasy fan. I stayed up, missed school, skipped classes, disobeyed my parents and did many other slightly shameful things for these games. My "first" experience with Final Fantasy was having a sleepover at my best friends house and watching his brother play through Final Fantasy VI (it was 3 back then) and ever since then I have been hooked. The first Final Fantasy I had the chance to play for myself was Final Fantasy VII, which I begged, bothered, conned, pleaded, cajoled and bargained with my parents for. And lets make one thing clear, while experience has made me aware of FFVII's various displays of fuckwitery at the time, the tender age of 13, I fucking loved it like it was a combination of caffeine, sugar and sex. Since then I have dutifully pre-ordered every single Final Fantasy as soon as a release date has been announced and I have skipped school, gotten in trouble and taken unnecessary days off on their release dates in order to play them. Fortunately for me when FFXII came out, I was in University at that unimportant period between the end of midterms and final paper time, I was also just starting a new job and I conveniently set my start date for November 7, giving me almost a week straight of playing time and as I watched the stellar opening movie and played through the first several hours of the game I was entranced. I had been waiting for a very long time for this game, having pre-ordered it when it was first announced and dutifully keeping my pre-order slip in a special place so I wouldn't lose it I damn well felt like I was 13 again. Unfortunately for me this feeling wouldn't last.

The drama behind the FFXII delays is nothing secret, Yasumi Matsuno, the acclaimed designer/director behind Tactics Ogre, Final Fantasy Tactics, Vagrant Story and FFT: Advance was helming the project and promised that it would move Final Fantasy away from turn based/ random encounter oriented combat and present the missing link between FFXI and previous entires in the series. Unfortunately this didn't stick as Yasumi Matsuno suffered from serious health concerns during the development of Final Fantasy XII and was forced to bow out. He was replaced by Hiroshi Minagawa, the artist behind the Tactics Series and Vagrant Story, and Hiroyuki Itô, a series vetran who worked on many previous titles and had his turn at the wheel with Final Fantasy IX. There is even a sidequest devoted to the switch in directors, the Yaizmat hunt (a play on Yasumi Matsuno). This switch in creative direction is unfortunately very obvious in gameplay and I will explain how I see it as I write the rest of the review.
I will start with what I see to be the bad points of the game the first and most prominent being the new battle and ability system. The new battle system discards the clever and interesting Continual Turn Based Battle (CTB) seen in Final Fantasy X with a new system known as Active Dimension Battle (ADB). I see this as a negative as the CTB system was so well received that almost EVERY turn based RPG system since Final Fantasy X has ripped it off, Xenosaga's 1 and 3 use it ( I never played 2), Shadow Hearts 2 and 3 use it, hell, even Lost Odyssey maintains the idea of different actions advancing your place in the turn order. This is made more apparent by the fact that the much lauded ADB system is pretty much exactly the same as the Active Time Battle system seen in Final Fantasies IV through IX. Don't believe me? Pay close attention to the ADB system, it has time bars for every action, only they activate after you choose the action, that's the only difference, hell it even has a goddamn WAIT mode. The only real difference is the fact that the ADB system is faster with the implimentation of the Gambit System, a cool take on programable party AI that I actually really enjoyed. The fact that the ADB system is actually a throwback isn't a game breaker though, what does REALLY hurt the battle system for me are the following points. 1: It is hard to determine the weaknesses of bosses, making spell choice during boss battles difficult and almost pointless when simple attacks and Mist Knacks work better. 2: Technics are nearly useless, I cannot recall any of the interesting Technics ever working for me.3: Boss Battles descend into Mist Knack blitzes, using as many of these as possible and hoping to chain them together well. Now I'm not such a wanker that I demand everything be turn based, I like the fact that random encounters are gone, I don't mind the shift to psuedo realtime, but this all has been implimented better (re: Bioware Titles and their Obsidian sequels) and clearly the FFXII battle system designers didn't do their homework.
I am also not a fan of the Liscence Board, which replaces the Sphere Grid from FFX. I wasn't a big fan of the Sphere Grid due to it's too linear approach to character building but I dislike the Liscence Board even more because it is effectively RANDOM in its execution. Often I found myself chewing through tons of random squares desperately hoping to find the ability to actually USE the new weapon I acquired. It was frustrating and by the end of the game I had the board filled up with every character, and I am NOT a fan of grinding, LP's just got handed out like candy if you played your cards correctly. On the positive side of the battle system I did enjoy hunting for the various summons and fighting them to gain their power. I also enjoyed how they were implimented and had a lot of fun with the few I bothered to collect.

Now that I have finished with the worst offenders I will move onto less overtly annoying bits. The most important aspect of any Final Fantasy game is that epic story that will pull you in like a giant vacuum cleaner and keep you glued to your television set until that last annoying 10 or so hours of the game where you need to do stupid sidequests and level in order to take on the Final Boss and see, what you hope will be, a truly awesome ending. Final Fantasy XII somewhat fails in this respect. The sidequests are there from the get go in the form of semi-optional Hunt Missions, some of which are cool and entertaining, others which are overly hard and annoying. This is an immense part of the game, as the development team allegedly spent much their downtime while the director drama was being sorted out building tons of these things. Overall it is not unwelcome, but this is the main form of sidequest, other styles being few in number. Final Fantasy XII is also a lot more devoted to Dungeon Crawling than previous titles in the series, you spend a lot of time wandering across VAST tracts of geography going from one place to another, few if any of them offering any contribution to the overall plot.
This does add a positive aspect to the game as the WORLD of FFXII is one of the largest and most well fleshed out of the entire series and leads me into my next point. FFXII's Ivalice postively reaks of history, from the depths Raithwalls tomb, to the ancient heights of Bur-Omicase, the ancient Giruvegan and the living cities of Rabanastre and Archades. These locations are broken up by vast tracts of wilderness each with their own flavor, character and implied history. I felt like this world had been lived in and used for thousands of years prior to the story we are currently involved in.

The story itself is best described as Final Fantasy does Suikoden does Starwars, trading an overt save the world plot for a smaller, more focused rebellion story about saving your country and fighting for freedom. This story is nothing we haven't seen before, a ragtag band of freedom fighters facing down a large and oppresive empire, but it is one that is always welcome as long as it is told well. The political turmoil of the conflict is well adressed, with shifting alliances, ulterior motives and even an ancient mystical conspiracy that hearkens deep into the worlds history and mythology. These are very different things for a Final Fantasy plot and this setup spawns some of the Series' most interesting villains, the fantastic main antagonist Vayne, the troubled and noble Judge Gabranth, Emperor Gramis Solidor, all of them are some of the deepest and most well motivated foes we've ever seen in this series. Unfortunately the heroes are not so well fleshed out. We are saddled with your typical boy hero, an annoying little prick named Vaan who serves as a sort of innocent observer to the epic events going on around him. He is easily the worst main character to ever grace a Final Fantasy title, young, stupid, pig headed, generic, girly looking and poorly voiced. On the positive side he does have his counter points, the primary one coming in the form of the games' "Second Main Character" Ashe, the princess of Dalmasca, a deep and emotional character fighting for the freedom of her country, one who makes many hard descisions as the story goes on. The rest of the supporting cast is equally good, the innocent Penelo is likable as a poor youth caught up in events beyond her understanding, the noble Basche, a presumed traitor attempting to make up for sins he never comitted, Fran, a mysterious and deadly vera who dresses like a dominatrix and fights like a demon and lastly Baltheir, a gentleman rogue of the highest order who is responsible for the greatest dialogue EVER heard in a Final Fantasy Game. I was disapointed that FFXII spends a lot less time on character building than previous titles and spends more time on implied relationships between these characters, which I didn't like. The plot is also hampered by the large gaps between actual story sequences, as you will occasionally spend up to 3 or 4 hours without a single story sequence, and for a Final Fantasy this is a big change.

Visually this game is a stunner, boasting some of the coolest airships ever seen in the series, some of the neatest environments and one of the first living worlds ever presented. This world is full of different races, all of which wander the streets of the worlds major cities and all of whom look very distinct, even when compared to others of their species. The character animation used in the FMV is a step down when one compares it to some of the stellar work seen in FFX-2 and Kingdom Hearts 2, but it is more than adequate. The regular in game engine pushes the PS2 to its limits and everything looks great under almost every circumstance, with detailed character models and excellent looking environments. Equally awesome are the myriad selection of monsters seen throughout the game, with most special Hunt Creatures being modified versions of normal monsters but still looking awesome (you feel like your fighting different species' of the same critter rather than palatte swapped, samey baddies).

In the audio sphere the game is equally if not more fantastic than the visuals. The sound track is epic, evocative, eclectic and exciting, very much bringing an excellent feeling to the world. The typical "battle" theme is gone, but this is a plus as you now here the often very interesting scene theme while you fight your normal battles. Bosses still have their own separate theme but it is exciting and pulsepounding in nature. The voice acting is, except for Vaan, truly excellent, as is the accompanying script. It sounds more natural and emotional than 10, and it seems as if the scripters made sure the dialogue would sound good in english before they wrote it.

Overall, I would say that despite my criticisms I had a good time with Final Fantasy XII, unfortunately, I had to look hard to find it. I would like to see the series continue to uphold the quality world design used in this one, but I would like to see more care and attention paid to the characters and a return to the more focused storylines of yesteryear. On the otherhand, writing this review has made me want to play the game again and relive some of the more interesting moments, so there you have it.

Review: Suikoden V

2009-01-07T13:11:00.000-08:00

(Reposted from The Escapist forums)

For me the Suikoden series has always been a highpoint of traditional roleplaying game design and storytelling. Instead of being an epic quest to save the world, the Suikoden series is instead concerned with telling the deep political dramas surrounding the many kingdoms and empires in its very large world. In Suikoden 1 we saw the collapse of the Scarlet Moon Empire, in the second installment we witnessed the Deunan Unification War, in the third we saw a civil war in the Grassland region which transformed into a war of resistance against the encroaching forces of the great Harmonian Empire and in the fourth we saw the Island Nations Unification War. All of these conflicts take place in different time periods along the worlds history, there are several recurring characters that we see throughout and there are even hints at a longer, overarching plot and presence which sits in the shadows waiting to make itself known.

One of my personal favorite entries in the series was the most recent entry, Suikoden V, which tells the story of the Queendom of Falena, a lush and rich land sustained by the power of the Sun Rune, one of the many True Runes that often serve as major plot devices throughout the series. The Sun Rune is of extreme importance to the games plot, and serves as the initial incident which gets the game going. You play as The Prince of Falena, the only son of Queen Arshtat and King Ferid, the two rulers of Falena. Your first task in the game is to survey the damage done to Lordlake, a small town where the Queen unleashed the power of the Sun Rune to quell an insurrection, leaving the once lush green land a barren waste of sand and rock. Since that time the Queen has become more and more unstable in personality, shifting between kind ruler and petty tyrant at the drop of a hat. Furthermore, various scheming factions within the royal parliament are attempting to gain influence by competing for the hand of the princess of Falena, your younger sister and the heir to the throne.

To portray the various complex relationships and political machinations at work, Suikoden V uses a unique story telling method that some may find undesirable. The "introductory period" of the game is roughly 8 hours long, taking a great deal of time to establish characters and relationships, alliances, allies and enemies before it all finally explodes into all out war and chaos. What this 8 hours did for me was present a series of very likable characters whom I wanted good things to happen too, which made the story all the more dramatic when everything goes to hell and you end up fighting for not only the fate of your country, but the fate of your family and friends. It made the 60+ Hour story all the more compelling as I REALLY wanted to know what was going to happen after every twist of the story. As well, like the other entries in the series, Suikoden V offers multiple endings based on how many of the 108 Stars of Destiny you have recruited by the end of the game, and as usual Darker ending is heart wrenching whereas the Happy ending is very uplifting.

And now onto the meat of any good game review, the gameplay, graphics and overall interactivity of the game. Suikoden V forgoes the unwelcome innovations of 3 and 4 and returns to the fast paced 6 Person Party turn based combat from 1 and 2, with a slight twist. It incorporates the Team Up Magic attacks from Suikoden 4, the combat skills from Suikoden 3, and adds in a new Formation Changing feature which allows you to switch your parties layout on the fly for various bonuses. My favorite aspect of the Suikoden Games is also improved in V as the Unite Attacks (similar to Chrono Triggers Dual Techs) are present and expanded, with every character possessing at least 1 Unite Option with another character or group of characters. What I love about the Unite Attacks is how they are all indicative of amusing character traits, from the Sworn Protector unite between the Prince and his Body Guard, to the Bald Head Flash from all of the characters with receding hairlines. These are fun to discover and are one of the most amusing aspects of the battle system. Suikoden V does, unfortunately, use Random Encounters (in GREAT regularity), but it is primarily a Story based game and you rarely need to "level" in order to continue onward, in fact, I was able to play through the entire game without stopping to Level. (Yes, that's 60+ hours of game, all of it Story focused)

Other than the standard turn based combat Suikoden V has two other "battle systems" of note. One is the Real Time Strategy Battle System, which acts as a sort of Real Time Rock Paper Scissors where you use Archers, Infantry and Cavalry to counter other units of the same type. This battle system also extends to naval conflict, where you use Arrow Boats, Raider Boats and Ramming Boats to similar effect to the various ground forces. Several Characters also possess unique abilities they can use during these conflicts, some of which can GREATLY increase your chances of victory on the field. Though these battles are fairly simplistic overall, they feel very epic and really add to the feel that these conflicts happen on a large scale. As well this battle system presents one of the other more interesting aspects of Suikoden... Non Scripted Character Deaths, that's right, when certain characters fall in the Strategic Battles, they may be gone for good, with only a sad grave stone in your castle grave yard to mark their passing. The third, and least used battle system is the Duel System, a simple game of Rock Paper Scissors in which two characters (usually the Prince and Someone else) fight in a visually dynamic manner. Its not very deep, but it is better than simply showing these duels in cutscene form as sometimes (especially near the end of the game) you feel like making these bastards pay for what they've done, and the fact that you actually get to is very satisfying.

The other important aspect of the Suikoden series is the Castle Development section of the game, whereby you recruit various members of an army and they all converge on your castle, often adding rooms and services as they go. This is largely unchanged from previous entries in the series, you get your standard shop owners, your restaurant, your inn, a fishing minigame, various gambling mini games, a hilarious suggestion box, the painfully funny "bath house" scenes and a newspaper as before, and they are as entertaining as ever. As well it is a welcome feature for you to be able to see all of the games characters while they are at rest between major events of the game, which often leads to some interesting side story based on what certain characters think about the actions that your forces have taken.

Now onto the Audio Visual department of the game. Suikoden V has an excellent soundtrack, almost up to par with the stellar Suikoden 2, but not quite. The tracks are well placed and suitably dramatic and convey the appropriate level of Epic Warfare upon any given scene. Furthermore the Voice Acting is decent, giving many characters a unique spoken voice that fits them well (even the Voiceless Protagonist has an in battle voice). The Dubbing however is a little off, many lines not occuring while that characters lips are moving. Graphically Suikoden V, like many other traditional RPG's, uses simple anime style graphics to get its point across, though in the case of Suikoden V, there are 108 well detailed and unique looking characters to look at. Unfortunately, as a point of Nostalgia, Suikoden V uses a very old-fashioned ¾ overhead view for standard gameplay. This is one of the worst features of the game, it doesn't hurt gameplay, but as conveyed through real time cutscenes, the graphics have nothing to be ashamed of yet the game seems unwilling to let you look at them. As well the Character Animation is a little weak, most motion in battle seeming stilted and restrained.

This game is not remotely perfect however and there are some very annoying little quibbles that replaying the game has revealed to me. For one, the interface is complete shite, it's a pain in the ass to heal your characters and everytime a new party member is added you need to rearrange your party layout to compensate for their attack range. And due to the crappy interface this is made all the worse. As well it doesn't help at all when you need to equip 50+ characters for battle and the equipping system can really hinder this.

In closing I would like to state that if an effeminate main character bothers you, do not play this game, the Suikoden character designer is a woman and she REALLY likes her pretty men, The Prince being one of the worst to date. A last interesting point to make about the main character is that although he is a "voiceless" protagonist, you are given MANY chances to choose his dialogue, which makes you feel a bit more active in your control of this character.

I would recommend this game to anyone who enjoys a good strong story with likable characters and decent gameplay to back it up. I would exceptionally recommend it to any Jaded JRPG fans who are tired of saving the world and want a more interesting plot with compelling, well motivated villains whose goals make sense.

The Coolest Site on The Web

2009-01-07T13:05:00.000-08:00

No it's not here, I'm just getting started. No, I'm referring of course to the excellent website "The Escapist" which can be found at http://www.escapistmagazine.com/. Not only do they host the hilarious Zero Punctuation reviews, they also offer some awesome gaming news, thought provoking articles and host an excellent forum community. Check them out.