All the characters animate while waiting to attack as well with clothes flapping and fighters rocking on their toes.
![suikoden ii map suikoden ii map](https://lparchive.org/Suikoden-V/Update%2094/62-falenamap.jpg)
Sword fighters have unique ways of attacking from downward slices to thrusts to some that draw and sheathe their blade for each attack. The animation is also improved and each of the characters you can take into battle seems to have unique animations, whereas there seemed to be only 4 or 5 types of animations in the original. From the hard wood floors in Muse to the cobble stoned sidewalks in your castle, they all add to the atmosphere and give each area their own flavor.Ĭharacters in battle are larger and are turned more to the side so you can see the front of them rather than just seeing their backs in the original. The towns and cities are also much more detailed with some very nice artwork to represent different textures. Instead of just the 2 frames from the original he has at least 3 for walking and 5 to 6 for his running animation. The main character and NPC’s on the screen are still rather flat but the hero has more animation to embellish his movements. Suikoden II brings the game fully into the current generation, but still feels quite dated compared to 2D games like Breath of Fire 3 and Thousand Arms. The original could barely compete with 2nd generation 2D graphics on the 16 bit systems. The graphics in Suikoden II are vastly improved over the original, but that isn’t really saying much. The word “hero” never came to mind once while I was playing, and “end of innocence” would be a good sub-heading to the game as a whole. It comes off as a terribly tragic story, which does not make it a bad story but it isn’t what I think they were going for. Instead I felt like he was just being used and manipulated by the adults around him, some of the manipulation bordering on child abuse. I place him at 12 to 14 years old, and I had a hard time accepting him as a leader of anything. Aside from that the lead is mute and he is also very young. You still have a number of dialogue choices, but only twice in the game do you have any real choice as to the path you take. Overall, it is still an entertaining storyline but I had trouble relating to the main character. Carelessness like that will keep RPGs forever a niche genre in North America. This isn’t entirely the fault of the localization team as the mistake must have been by the original developers, but the fact that it was ignored twice means the game was rushed through testing. I can handle the misspellings and bad grammar, but something like that makes the whole game feel off kilter. Also, there are numerous times when the wrong person speaks a line. There was even one point where a main character’s name was misspelled twice in the same block of text. There are numerous misspelled words, including character name, which is an unforgivable offense. It is by far the worst translation I’ve come across in my many years of game playing. That Achilles heel is the absolutely wretched translation. It far surpasses the original in this area but has a major Achilles heel that really drags the game down. The dialogue in the game is richer than the original, with some memorable lines and sometimes entertaining townspeople. While the development of the three main characters and their paths to the end of the game are fresh and thought provoking, it’s a shame that they weren’t able to carry that freshness throughout.
![suikoden ii map suikoden ii map](https://cutewallpaper.org/21/suikoden-2-world-map/Suikoden-II-Wallpapers-Wallpaper-Cave.jpg)
Many will feel a strong sense of deja vu while playing the game. Suikoden II borrows heavily from the original in order to push the plot along and introduce characters. Thus begins their story of betrayal and the destiny of the 108 stars. They escape in the chaos but are branded traitors and must flee from Highland. The Youth Brigade is slaughtered during a time of peace, and the two young heroes discover that it is their own Kingdom that has ordered the slaughter in order to continue the war with the city-state. The city-state played a small part in the victory of the Liberation Army in the original for you trivia buffs. He and his best friend, Jowy, are members of the Youth Brigade aiding Highland in the war against the city-state of Jowston. It follows the story of a young boy, the hero of the game, who lives with his adopted father and sister in the Kingdom of Highland. The story in Suikoden II is a mixture of borrowed pieces of the original and the occasional spark of originality (if you haven’t played Final Fantasy Tactics, that is). You can even use your saved games from the original to open up secrets and raise character statistics. Story arcs, characters, mini-games, battle systems and music are all carried over from the original making for a walk down memory lane.
![suikoden ii map suikoden ii map](https://www.icksmehl.de/img/spiele/suikoden/weltkarte/suikoden-1-weltkarte.jpg)
It’s a sequel that is made specifically for fans of the original game. Suikoden II is the sequel to one of the first well received RPGs to appear on the PlayStation.