A look back at: Suikoden Tactics

I guess I'll say it, but Suikoden is my favorite RPG franchise. What to do with so many characters, many of which are recurring!

Well, I still haven't played Final Fantasy Tactics yet, but from what I can tell, this game somehow has some tactics (hurr) similar to that, just with the Suikoden fundamentals, character-specific weapons, runes, skills (which finally make a return, hey where were those in Suikoden 4?). Also permadeath, unfortunately, for quite a good chunk of the not-so plot relevant cast. I'll give Tactics credit for giving us a little more background on a number of Suikoden 4 characters, as well as the Rune of Punishment itself, although it's not the central plot piece this time around. Also gotta say, 100% completion of Suikoden 4 really does payoff, since Lazlo can be recruited and he's easily the most overpowered character in this game.

Overall though, the game's main focus is terrain, so use items/rune magic to lay down terrain corresponding to the innate element (Kyril is fire, for instance), and make sure it's not whatever you're weak against. The AI really tries to take advantage of this, plus back attacks and the Wind of Sleep spell which has an annoying range. Also there's obviously not random encounters, instead you hunt for monsters on the field or in sidequests, or just play the normal plot and fight some soldiers or something.

Well I'll give it credit, Suikoden Tactics manages to completely wrap around Suikoden 4's plot, but both sides manage to do it quite well. Walter's whole deal with finding out about Rune Cannons seems serious, especially considering how those were never touched on in 4. In the end, Steele ended up being one hell of a character for this game, which ends up in lots of tragedy for characters there. The time skip shows that Kyril's still going along his father's wishes, ending up in Kooluk and finding the truth about Iskas. The idea of a patriarchal faction seems alright as well, and the turning of people into fishmen is quite nasty in this game. Ultimately like other protagonists before him, Kyril proved to be a unifier of many to stop an ultimate threat, and that's what Suikoden protagonists do. So yeah, great continuation and a potentially good save of a good franchise from its main slumping point.