Suikoden II could be one of the most over looked games of all time
+ Over 108 characters to interact with
+ Fantastic story
Negatives
- Hmmm...
The story is quite simple in the end, your army is ambushed but it turns out that the commander of the army betrayed you, you and your freind then flee to join the mercanery rebellion.
The story continues and there are epic twists throughout keeping you on the edge of your seat nearly all the time.
Altough Suikoden looks and sounds very last gen you shouldn't judge it.
There isn't much more to say about the music and graphics, but you really shouldn't let them get in the way of you playing this game.
To be honest on the whole the sound is very good and suits the simple but involving story line.
Combat is typical turn based action, however Suikoden has a twist.
You buy more normal 'runes' at rune shops which can be equipped to characters.
Different runes do different things, for example there is the water rune which grants the weilder healing powers.
The rune then grows with the character it's equipped to and can be changed or removed at any time you just visit a rune shop which are in mosts towns.
There's also combo moves which involve two or three characters sacraficing their turns to do a super move which usually causes heavy damage.
In the end Suikodens combat dosen't vary much from the traditional turn based RPG system but it's still very satisfying to build up around 70 playable characters customising their armour, upgrading their weapons and choosing their runes.
What makes it unique is the way you can recruit optionally around 70 characters and customise their armour, weapons and runes keeping combat fresh along with the fantastic story making it quite addictive.
I conclude it's not that different from the first game but offers a more smoother experience and complex story with many twists and turns which will hold your attention for longer.
Thanks for reading
~Gormo