[ SECRET POST #538 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #538 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 67 secrets from Secret Submission Post #077.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 1 2 3 4 5 6 - not!secrets ], [ 1 - not!fandom ], [ 1 2 - too big ], [ 1 - repeat ], [ 1 - posted twice ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

Re: 147

[(Anonymous)]

Just out of curiosity, what do you feel makes 3 better than the other two games? I'm not trying to start a fight or anything, but I really have a completely opposite opinion, where I feel like 2 in particular was the game that I fell in love with because it felt so different than everything else that was coming out at the time, where 3 made me fall right back out of love with the series by falling into so many tired old RPG cliches.

Just to clarify, I'm not speaking at all on the behalf of 4 or 5, mostly because I've never played 4 and I'm about as neutral on 5 as I am on 1-- I'm most interested in the differences between 2 and 3.

Re: 147

[kanna.livejournal.com]

er-- I'm not actually sure why that posted anonymously! I was logged in at the time D:>

Re: 147

[terra]

That's okay, I love discussing/debating games and the like :)

I guess one thing I'm not a fan of (and this is weird for being a Suikoden fan, but the good of the series overrides this one thing I don't like) is silent mains. So I really liked it that they didn't do that for Suikoden III. The things I liked about Suikoden in general-- politics, not always a happy ending, some characters actually over 22, were still present. Although, the castle building was kind of lameified.

But what I really like about Suikoden III is the Trinity Sight System-- because the way it's told from all these different viewpoints and how at the end of chapter three you can make a decision that actually effects how the rest of the game plays out. For me there's a tension in RPGs between the Japanese style RPG and the more recent Western-style RPG (by recent I mean like 1997, hahaha): basically open ended gameplay or interactive movies. (FF7 vs Fallout, I guess) And like I mentioned earlier, I think having a blank slate main character makes a lot of the game themes really shallow. (This isn't a criticsm I have of Suikoden, more games where you can chose to be "good" or "evil" and but really it's all quite shallow and black and white.) I really liked that in Suikoden III player choice could effect the outcome in a tangible sense while still supporting and enhancing the overall themes of choice vs. fate.

Just for me it took all the things I liked in Suikoden II and stepped it up a notch.

Re: 147

[kanna.livejournal.com]

:v I hadn't really thought of some of it like that! I mean, I definitely agree that the silent protagonist is something that can be very take-it-or-leave-it, but I never really seemed to mind it.

To offer a counterpoint, I loved the idea of the Trinity Sight System, but felt it was executed very poorly. The idea of three protagonists was very cool, but the actual game's storytelling became very muddied at best and painfully redundant at worst. Seeing the same exact scene from Hugo and Chris's perspective just made me roll my eyes, rather than feel any sort of drama that may have attempted to attach itself to the situation. I guess it didn't help that I found all three of the main characters to be entirely unlikable? I mean, Geddoe was fairly acceptable, but I always had debates with myself on whether I hated Hugo or Chris more. I'm willing to accept that as personal taste, but I guess I'd gotten too accustomed to having a hero who was completely inoffensive.

As an aside, I maintain, that I would have liked 3 a MILLION times more if Thomas played a more central role, because his portions of the game felt more like a "genuine" Suikoden than the rest.

I love the idea that you're bringing up morality in this, by the way, because the ongoing theme of morality in 2 is what really attracted me so strongly to the game in the first place. I'll be the first to admit that Suikoden is a TERRIBLE series for actually making the player feel like they're involved in the decision making process. Is 3 more involved in that aspect? I mean, it's been a while since I played it.

I guess, overall, I just felt insulted that the "politics" in the later games rang incredibly false. I'm not saying that 2 is the most strategically brilliant masterpiece, but the later games (the ones I've played, at least) sort of feel like they're just running through the motions. 5 was particularly bad with this, where it TRIED to create a political intrigue but really just felt like it was trying way too hard to make the antagonists into one big strawman argument.

As a quick cheap shot, I will never get over the awful little dirty tricks they pulled with the characterization. There were a small handful of characters I genuinely enjoyed in 3, but they really dropped the ball on so many others. I mean, the main villain? Really, guys?

Re: 147

[terra]

See, I really liked the Chapter 1 from all the different perspectives and I didn't feel it was muddled at all. It's not so much about drama, more about questions, and again really worked with the overall themes for me of no one really being "right" in war. And I love Chris so. Uh. Yeah. Geddoe is nice but static and Hugo I can sort of take or leave, but I still like him more than Tir because yeah, silent main.

See, I guess what makes things more "genuine Suikoden" to me is the recurring themes and the world, rather than the "nameless youth with a true rune" formula. I liked that they were mixing it up, only to go back to...well, Suikoden IV.

Yeah, I think it does better than most Final Fantasy games (which are like it or not the yardstick by which the genre is measured) with alternate endings and the dilemma presented at the end of Suikoden II was great, but I liked being able to choose your own main. (Which was the interaction III offered.)

I share your complaint about V to a lesser extent. But I guess for me the TSS worked with Suiko!Politics and not against them, but I could see how to some degree it's always going to be a matter of taste.

And I agree the main villain is sort of fail, but he was never a favorite so it didn't bother me. I don't like any of the Suiko III villains on their own (bar maybe Sarah, but not in any way I could really gush over) but I did like the way they functioned as a unit. So.

I don't think Suikoden III is a game without flaws, but the whole piece really worked for me, I guess is what it boils down to.

I am kind of eternally disappointed Sasarai didn't have the hat in III though.

Re: 147

[infected-wound.livejournal.com]

Just commenting randomly on Sasarai;

...Sasarai's SIII was so made of win. It made me giggle so much. Existential angst

...that's all ._.

Re: 147

[terra]

Oh yeah, I loved Sasarai in S3. Just...if only he could have had his S2 hat.

Re: 147

[infected-wound.livejournal.com]

...maybe Harmonia imposed a baggage-limit rule on its generals?

"T_T Lord Sasarai, we simply cannot stuff your hats in it our luggage anymore, you must make do with... no hat!"

Sasarai: "D: *existential angst*"

Though, the more logical explanation would be that 3D-ing Sasarai's hat would have meant more pain for the programming peeps. I mean, look at what they did to Yuber. Wasn't it official that the reason they stuck Yuber out of that armor was because they didn't want to do the coding for that and all...?

[/end not making sense in afternoons]