Suikoden II

 PlayStation
  • Publisher: Konami
  • Release Date: Sep 29, 1999
User Score
9.1

Universal acclaim- based on 321 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 294 out of 321
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 321
  3. Negative: 20 out of 321
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  1. OverlordBel
    Jan 18, 2022
    5
    So after years ignoring the Suikoden series, I finally decided to give in and try out what people consider to be the best in the series. And to some, even one of the best JRPGs ever made. Many Top JRPGs lists out there have Suikoden 2 in really high positions, so I thought to myself I was in for a great time. Sadly, and to my surprise, that was not the case at all.
    Suikoden 2 fails to    So after years ignoring the Suikoden series, I finally decided to give in and try out what people consider to be the best in the series. And to some, even one of the best JRPGs ever made. Many Top JRPGs lists out there have Suikoden 2 in really high positions, so I thought to myself I was in for a great time. Sadly, and to my surprise, that was not the case at all.
    Suikoden 2 fails to deliver a engaging and original story. What it has is a very average story about two friends eventually fighting against each other in a war for peace. I seen it before, you seen it before, it has been done many times, and in Suikoden 2 it is not done very different.
    But that is not the main problem. I could have enjoyed the story if the game had focused more in the protagonist relationship with his friend, instead of repeatedly sending you all over the map to meet uninteresting characters that have no personality at all. Suikoden 2 tries to introduce too many characters and ends up not developing the ones that actually matters.
    The dialogue, while not terrible, suffered from very rough translation to english, so many times during the game you read typos or straight up nonsense sentences, and at times dialogues are short and uneventful, like you are watching robots communicating. The main group of characters that join you all feel distant from one another and they never change, as if they are not comrades fighting together in a war.
    Now do I even dare to talk about everything else in this game?
    Graphics are nothing special, just the usual 2D sprite visuals, which are done well but thats about it. For the time it came out, jrpgs with 3D models like FF7 and Legend of Legaia already existed, so Suikoden 2 was already outdated compared to its competitors.
    The OST is just fine. I bet even the most hardcore fans of this game will not defend the bland music in this game.
    Gameplay is another point where Suikoden 2 just feels outdated. Combat system does nothing that hasnt been done before, cities and dungeons are just boring and not rewarding to explore at all, you spend a long time running from one place to another until you get fast travel way later in the story, random battles are constant and the combat system being so barebones really makes fights a real chore to do. One thing Suikoden 2 does that I can say is unique are the duel battles and the strategy battles, which actually fit well with the war plotline.
    I could go on and on but the review has a limit of letters and I think I don't need to expand further.
    Suikoden 2 is a low budget and extremely overrated JRPG that might be good as an entry level title of the genre, but when compared to other jrpgs it is just not worth the time to play.    … Expand
  2. sturunol
    Oct 22, 2022
    7
    It's alright, though the villain's kinda an overrated cartoon edgelord. It is interesting though, there was this clown man named Kamek85 on gamefaqs forums for Diablo 3 using that game as an example for saying something stupid like "Yeah, I think video games have a good 50 years to go before they start to become riveting stories. It's funny how far visual novels have come in the pastIt's alright, though the villain's kinda an overrated cartoon edgelord. It is interesting though, there was this clown man named Kamek85 on gamefaqs forums for Diablo 3 using that game as an example for saying something stupid like "Yeah, I think video games have a good 50 years to go before they start to become riveting stories. It's funny how far visual novels have come in the past twenty years but story seems to be stuck in the 16 bit era." Of course, all of this he said is objectively incorrect garbage, games like Planescape Torment, Baldur's gate 2, Amnesia, Soma, Jade Empire, To The Moon, Finding Paradise, Mgs3 Snake Eater, Wandering, Chicory a Colorful Tale, Disco Elysium, Opus Echo of Starting, Rakuen, Edith Fitch, Night in The Woods, Kentucky Route Zero, Norco, Papers Please, Obra Dinn, Bastion, Transistor, Pyre, Hades, Citizen Sleeper, Beacon Pines, Sephonie, Epiphany City, Stanley Parable, System Shock 2, Thief the dark project, Thief 2, Firework, Far Away, The Rewinder, 1428 Shadows over Silesia, The Plague Doctor of Wippra, Manafinder, Blood Nova, Roadwarden, Lacuna, The Case of the Golden idol, Deadeye Deepfake Simulacrum, The Last Hero of Nostalgia, Persona 4, Persona 5, Smile For Me, Agent A a Puzzle In Disguise, Shadow tactics, Cruelty Squad, Legend of Hand, Football game, The excavation of Job's Barrow, the Monkey Island games, The Witcher games, The first seasons of The Walking Dead and The Wolf Among Us, and countless other story driven games that released the past few years or decade or longer that all prove that video games already do often have better than riveting stories. Video games will always be video games, there will always be gameplay, but there are people who triumph at both gameplay and story. Suikoden 2 itself has plenty of strength in it's own plot, but it was never the best game ever, and that's fine.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

17
#17 Best PS1 Game of 1999
4
#4 Most Discussed PS1 Game of 1999
5
#5 Most Shared PS1 Game of 1999

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
82

Generally favorable reviews - based on 8 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 8
  3. Negative: 0 out of 8
  1. netjak
    97
    I would place this one up there with "Xenogears" and "Grandia" as the three must buy RPGs for the system.
  2. IGN
    90
    A true sequel in nearly every aspect, Suikoden II manages to achieve the rare feat of actually picking up where the former game left off, taking gamers for a familiar ride that proves to be deeper and much more detailed than the original.
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  3. GameCritics
    90
    Recreates some of the humor and visceral energy of the Chinese novel that loosely inspired it. But the characters and dramatic movement in this story of war are given enough time, thought, and care to come into a life all their own.
    Read full review
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