Suikoden Series vs Final Fantasy Series...

With the upcoming release of Suikoden II, an old PlayStation One game, coming to the PlayStation Network for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita, I thought I'd just go ramble on about Suikoden versus Final Fantasy, two of my favorite Role Playing Game series.

Anyone who knew me as a younger and slightly smaller girl knew me as the sort of kid to stay up well past bedtime playing games on the PlayStation, or the Nintendo, or anything I could get away with staying up playing. It was truly an art-form back in the day, faking sleep while the music of the game still tinkled from the television and then finding oneself inexplicably exhausted the next day when it came time to go to school.

Chief among my favorite games were the Final Fantasy series by SquareSoft (now called SquareEnix in their attempt to be less effeminate, as if any fan from my age-grouping ever cared that their name was SquareSoft... I still struggle to remember that it's no longer SquareSoft, but rather SquareEnix) and the Suikoden series by Konami (who seems to have shifted their game from Role Playing Games to First Person Shooters).

Final Fantasy was created to be a literal Final Fantasy for a game developer about to flop in 1987. The story followed four characters, but you could pick their job class out of six options (white, red, or black mage, thief, fighter, and black belt). This game became so popular, it revived the developer and brought on Final Fantasy II, which was not a sequel but instead referred more as if it was volume two and became a hit, featuring new storyline and characters and world. 

Now, SquareEnix has made it to Final Fantasy XV which was announced in 2006 at E3 but has yet to be given an official release date. Additionally, Final Fantasy has a couple dozen spin-offs and sequels to their main games ranging from games about Chocobos (imagine a giant war-chicken) to mobile phone games to prequels focusing on characters intended to be side-characters in the main series. Final Fantasy has become a cash cow for SquareEnix, and for better or worse, they're milking it. At least they're fixing their mistakes, of course! Final Fantasy XIV was an apparent disaster, but Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn supposedly makes up for that and even soothed the angry, bitter souls of the fans. 

Konami began Suikoden in 1995. They modeled the game after a Chinese book by Shi Naian titled "Water Margin", although the interpretation of the book is loose. The series follows non-linear chronological order... which is weird. So if you want to play them in order, the main series would go like this: 

Suikoden 4

Suikoden 5

Suikoden 1

Suikoden 2

Suikoden 3

There are spin-offs and graphic novels that enhance the series, too, but there certainly are not quite as many spinoffs as the Final Fantasy series has. 

Both of the series of RPGs are fun, however, Suikoden tends to grip the gamer a little stronger than Final Fantasy does, and part of that is because of how the game is designed. Throughout Suikoden, decisions begin to impact the eventual ending. Politics, war or civil unrest, betrayal, love, death, tactics and strategy battles, one on one duels, building an army, building a castle or headquarters, and of course not dying... These are all things that are relatively important aspects of the Suikoden game. It's also important to know that in some battles if your character dies, they're dead for the rest of the game - so... you know... don't die. 

There are 108 characters in each game that you can collect, although you do get a bonus character or two if you load a completed (perfect ending) game from the previous game (example: you complete Suikoden, load the perfect ending save with Suikoden II and you can get a bonus character). 

You don't even have to play other Suikoden games to understand one or another. You can pick it up from the beginning and it handles well as a standalone game. All of the games can be played without prior knowledge, though it certainly doesn't hurt to play them all. Of course... since the goal is to get that perfect ending, you may find yourself vexed and lobbing your game paddle (or game controller, if you prefer to call it) across the room when you realize you made it through hours of game play, got to the end, and found out you missed one of the 108 Stars of Destiny. Unlike Final Fantasy, the Stars in Suikoden can move at times. Sometimes you can't get them when they're in one place or another. Some won't join you until you reach a certain level or certain size of army. Other Stars are key story-line characters who join you based on where you're at. And other Stars can become missed opportunities if you don't get them to join you by a certain key point in your gameplay. 

Final Fantasy typically revolves around a select number of characters who join based on the story-line and it doesn't get any more complex than that. Unless you count Yuffie the ninja (Final Fantasy VII) who you have to seek out in the forest and beat before she joins your party.

Of course, if you played Final Fantasy or Suikoden, you know that both series managed to similarly get one thing right: vexing, nearly impossible to beat boss baddies. 

A couple for Final Fantasy include:

•  Sephiroth (Final Fantasy VII) - (SPOILER) he kills a character right in front of you. After traveling that far, going through everything, and he just runs her through and smiles about it. I cried, I screamed, I couldn't play the game for days... I was so upset! I can't recall the actual battle against Sephiroth, because this scene plays so prominently in my head every time I remember him.
• Kuja (Final Fantasy IX) - I don't actually know what the heck he's wearing but it sure doesn't look like pants. Did you have trouble beating him? I did. I think it was because his clothing distracted me. I couldn't figure out whether he was a male or a female. 

 A couple of Suikoden villains include:

• Neclord (Suikoden I and Suikoden II) - Specifically in Suikoden I, this guy was a pain in the butt. You had to save outside his castle, make it through the castle to him, and then battle him without dying or using too many potions or healing spells. Why? Because you couldn't save after his battle, and you still had to survive getting out of the castle. (SPOILER!CHEAT!) In the room with the coffins, there's a spot in the upper right side of the room where you can click on a coffin and "sleep" to regain health. Power level and keep sleeping instead of wasting potions or rune uses. He's strong and can wipe you out. Don't let yourself get to the point where all of your characters have to heal at once. 
• Luca Blight (Suikoden II) - most evil villain ever. Luca Blight is a murderous psychopath mad prince who lived through trauma as a young boy and now commits horrible acts as an adult. He's the main protagonist and your best friend betrays you to join Luca in his horrid conquest of the world. You fight Luca and his armies many times, but to this day I've been stuck at a point where you fight Luca in a three pronged attack after a strategy fight, and follow it up with a one-on-one duel.

I apologize ahead if I get anything of this wrong, dates or details. I'm going off of memories of the games, and it has been a long time since I played!

But Suikoden II is finally coming to the PlayStation Network on 12/09/14!! Are you going to be getting it? 

So, in light of all this information, please let me know what you think in the comments. Which is your favorite series?  Why do you favor that one? Have you tried the other one? I hope to hear from you in the comments!