The epitome of a subtle remake: Suikoden I & II HD Remaster: Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars review
As a Suikoden fan, I had to wait almost twenty years for new fodder after the fifth instalment. While the remaster of the first two parts isn’t new, the games now look nice on modern screens. But this edition doesn’t offer much more – and that’s a positive.
What sounds disappointing at first is actually good. Because even after 29 and 26 years respectively, both Suikoden and Suikoden II are still great JRPGs with a moving story.
I’ll start with the new features of the remaster and then share my thoughts on Suikoden II. I’ve already covered the first part in a retro review.
Small but sweet innovations
The most obvious new feature is the backgrounds, which have been completely redesigned. They now also look great on modern HD displays. When the hero from Suikoden has dinner with family and friends, for instance, I can make out the dish – the feast doesn’t just look like grit. The youth brigade camp in Suikoden II looks more atmospheric than ever thanks to new lighting, and it prepares me for the impending fate of the two heroes.
There are now also leaves blowing through the air and birds flying in front of the heroes. This creates additional atmosphere and is a welcome addition. Adjusting to the 16:9 format also means I can see more of the surroundings.
As great as the backgrounds are, the remastered version of the two Suikoden parts doesn’t come close to recent JRPG remasters on a visual level. They don’t look quite as stunning as the 2.5D style in the Dragon Quest III HD 2D remake. However, my main criticism isn’t the backgrounds; it’s the towns and villages on the world map. They’re displayed as three-dimensional blocks and don’t fit into the pixel graphic style at all. I’d have preferred two-dimensional shapes here.
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Overall, I think the middle ground that Konami has found with the presentation is good. The originals on the PlayStation still look OK in my eyes and I wouldn’t like a remake that was too far removed from them.
In terms of a refresh, the user interface has been given a major update. It looks modern and, most of all, the equipment is clearer. That was a real pain in the originals. That being said, it’s still not even ideal now. For instance, when equipping accessories, I can only see how they affect my defence values. However, accessories often have an effect on other status values. So I still have to be careful. Personally, I’m happy to give up +3 in defence if I get +15 in strength in return.
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As well as the visuals, the sound effects have also benefitted from the overhaul. When I approach a fountain, its splashing gets louder or quieter depending on the distance. My footsteps no longer drown out everything, and instead, the rushing stream overpowers them. These kind of details are taken for granted in games today but didn’t exist to the same extent back then. Thanks to this audio upgrade, I’m unwittingly drawn deeper into the action.
In my opinion, practically the best new feature is the ability to speed up battles. I like the animations and the reworked magic attacks look nice, but I could spot them, especially as the movements are very slow.
Last but not least, Suikoden I & II HD Remaster: Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars offers three difficulty levels. I chose medium during my playthrough of Suikoden II, equivalent to the original difficulty level, but I found it too easy. Series creator Yoshitaka Murayama set out to make the game easy, as he wanted to focus on the story and not frustrate newcomers by making it difficult.
The plot in Suikoden II
The first two Suikoden are loosely connected. So in the second part, I bump into a lot of familiar faces from the first part, along with my hero who’s called Riou according to the canon. However, the main characters are completely new.
At the beginning, 16-year-old Riou and his friend Jowy are practically child soldiers in the Highland Army’s youth brigade. They’re drawn into a cabal by Prince Luca Blight, who wants to start a war with the neighbouring city states. His plan works and Riou and Jowy narrowly escape – at least for the time being. At first, they get caught in the crossfire, which changes them. Their friendship is put to the test as they try to achieve their common goal of ending the war by different means.
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The introduction to the game is brilliant. With the limited resources of that time, the story is made appealing and I don’t want to put the controller down until I’ve finished the game. It brings home to me the psychopathic traits of Luca Blight, the sheer hopelessness of the two heroes and the cruelty of war.
What comes after the introduction puts the icing on the cake. The opening credits tell me about the past of Jowy, Riou and his adoptive father and sister. It’s accompanied by one of the most beautiful melodies I’ve ever heard. The first half hour of Suikoden II is a storytelling masterpiece.
The rest of the story still bowls me over 26 years later. Even if it’s not quite at the level of the beginning. Some sections of dialogue could have been a bit more polished. But all in all, the game is a timeless classic and, given the current political situation, also highly topical.
Addictive gameplay loop
It’s not just the stories that have made me a Suikoden fan; the gameplay loop also has me hooked. As in the previous and subsequent parts, the focus is on collecting the 108 Stars of Destiny, which are characters. A lot of the 108 people who can be recruited can even be part of the active party.
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First I discover a new village, find and recruit new characters, thereby increasing my army and the castle, before moving on to the next village and repeating the whole process. This is broken up by dungeons and bosses, countless mini-games and side quests. The mini-games include fishing, cook-offs and rope climbing. Meanwhile, side quests with the character Clive are scattered throughout the game. They’re purely fun and distract me from the repetitive loop.
I know the original but haven’t played it for years. So I’m thrilled each time I’m joined by another peculiar character that could have come from an anime. This means that everyone who plays the game is sure to find characters they can identify with. Be it the tough guy Humphrey, the gender-fluid Simone or the unicorn Siegfried – yup, there’s a unicorn too.
Duels, fights and battles
As in Suikoden, there are three battle systems. As well as the classic turn-based game with up to six party members, where I give them commands such as attacking, using magic or items, I can also duel one-to-one or fight epic battles. The duels are based on the rock-paper-scissors principle. Attacking beats defending, defending beats frantic attacking, frantic attacking beats attacking.
Source: Konami
In Suikoden, the battles follow the same principle. Suikoden II replaces this with a principle based more on tactical JRPGs. I move my troops on a chessboard-like grid and have them attack the enemy troops or perform special attacks.
Source: Konami
This is a welcome innovation, but the implementation isn’t at the level I’d like to see, as the battles aren’t challenging. I can’t lose most of them, either because the story wants it that way or because it simply requires no tactical skill and I might as well do nothing.
Fortunately, I usually fight with my group of up to six in dungeons or on the world map. I can position three in the front row and three in the back. As in the first part, the characters are divided into short (S), medium (M) or long-range (L) attackers based on their weapon. S can only attack from the front row and only fight opponents in the front row. While M can attack from the back row, their opponents can only be in the front row. L, on the other hand, can attack everything from everywhere.
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This system is fine and it’s also fun to mow down hordes of enemies. But here, too, it requires little tactical skill. If my characters are at the right level, I can defeat bosses with ease. Elementary effects like in other JRPGs hardly play a role. This is a shame, especially as the system with the runes – the magic in Suikoden – has been revised and even allows combinations with special effects. However, I usually choose the auto-battle feature, where everyone uses standard attacks.
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A soundtrack for eternity
The soundtrack of Suikoden II is 105 songs strong. Even by today’s standards, that’s a huge catalogue. Even more impressive is the fact that the overwhelming majority of them were composed by Miki Higashino – 98 to be exact. This ensures that the soundtrack comes across as homogeneous. Each new place has music to match. For instance, Japanese sounds await me in the ninja village, while Spanish or Middle Eastern sounds echo around the cities of the south. It really feels as if the music is also being played in those places. Miki has created a masterpiece here, as she did in the first part. Not long after this, she gave up her career as a composer to focus on her family. Even today, I listen to certain tracks over and over again, such as the aforementioned Reminiscence or unconsciously bob my head to the beat in the Kobold Village.
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Suikoden I & II HD Remaster: Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars is available from 6 March for PC, PS5 and PS4, Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One as well as the Switch. I tested the PC version that Konami kindly provided for testing purposes.
In a nutshell
Two slightly remastered classics that you definitely need to play
Konami has adapted two of my favourite JRPGs for modern displays in Suikoden I & II HD Remaster: Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars. In contrast to Square Enix with its Dragon Quest remasters, Konami has redesigned the backgrounds in HD rather than relying on the popular 2.5D style. It may not look quite as pretty as 2.5D, but it remains true to the original.
Suikoden II is a game that takes me back to my youth and tells an epic story of friendship, war and loss. I’m thrilled that I get to experience it again and that the younger generation can also enjoy this highly topical story.
In terms of gameplay, the title may not seem quite as fresh as it once was, and equipping the characters is cumbersome. But the low difficulty level makes it easily accessible.
If you’re a fan of JRPGs, I can highly recommend Suikoden I & II HD Remaster: Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars, especially as you get the equally brilliant predecessor as well as the tried-and-tested Suikoden II.
Pro
- Epic, well-told story
- Excellent soundtrack
- Two classics in one
- Slight remaster
Contra
- Difficulty level too low
- Gameplay not as fresh
Header image: Kevin Hofer
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Kevin Hofer
Senior Editor
kevin.hofer@digitecgalaxus.chFrom big data to big brother, Cyborgs to Sci-Fi. All aspects of technology and society fascinate me.
