Let's Blog Suikoden - Part 3

Hello again Suikoden followers and boy do I have some exposition to share with you. Things have gone down! They've even gone up! They've gone around, under, over, things have been moving in pretty much all directions in fact. We left off last time about to face this:

Even scarier on the battle screen, isn't it? And where did those little guys come from!

So we got into battle and at first, everything was going alright. I ordered three of my guys to take out the little ants, while the other two, Gremio and Pahn, used their special 'Unite' attack on the queen. As soon as the ants were eliminated, the queen raised her hand and another three fell down from the sky, but no enemy managed to attack me in the whole round. 'Right' I thought, 'No point focusing on the little guys, let's take out the queen!' I ordered everyone to attack her; we didn't do a lot of damage at all, but I hoped that perhaps she didn't have many hit points. Then boom! She unleashes a devastating attack on my entire party, taking out around half of everyone's health. I heal up a little, and decide to focus on the ants again; quickly realising that if I take out all the ants in a round, the queen has to use her move to bring them back and thus cannot attack me. Before I can get too cocky however, the screen fades to black and we're out of the battle.

The party attempt to strategise amongst themselves, fearing that we have reached an impasse. Out of nowhere, Ted suggests he try something. At this point, we're given the option to encourage him or try and talk him out of it - I should mention briefly here that yes, this game features dialogue choices, however I've tried saying "No" a few times and it's just one of those situations where the game asks you again until you eventually choose the option they want, so no real game-changing moral dilemmas just yet I don't think. Thus, we tell Ted to do his thing, but I couldn't possibly have predicted what would happen next. Our little friend walks up to the giant ant queen, enters into battle and unleashes a damn black hole that wipes her off the face of the planet. Turns out he's got a few secrets, that Ted.

But! There's no time for him to explain any of them because we're instantly moving onwards. We soon track down the presumed bandit leaders, Varkas and Sydonia, a couple of fellows with impressive two-tone hairstyles. We fight them in a very uneventful and straightforward battle, and capture them. However, once we bring them back to Rockland, the plot begins to thicken. Sneaky governor Grady - head of that town that has a lot of money problems, don't forget - gives us a 10,000 bit (currency name) reward. Kanaan quickly nabs this of course, as you can see in the humorous image below. What's interesting however is that Varkas is astonished at the 'tax thief' accusations, suggesting that Grady is the true villain around here. Unfortunately we don't hang around any longer to find out, quickly heading back to Gregminster (our town and the capital of the Empire, don't think I mentioned its name before).

Who saw that coming?

Upon arrival at Gregminster, things begin to take even more unnerving turns as Ted is suspiciously taken away by Kanaan. We do a little shopping, where I bought Cleo some 'Wing Boots' which cost almost all the bits I had obtained thusfar, but give her +14 defence and a speed boost, which is all very good indeed, trust me. Speaking of Cleo, remember that fire rune she had equipped? Well, it must have levelled up or something because now she has a new one-use spell 'Firestorm' which obliterates entire groups of enemies in no time. Still learning how this all works but it seems like perhaps runes upgrade and level up with use or experience or at least something like that.

Anyway, enough about that, back to the story. So we head home and await Ted's return, but he's certainly taking his time. Our hero is just about to head out looking for him when there's a knock at the door and in falls Ted. He's quite severely injured, but we manage to get him into bed where he's able to briefly tell us what happened. He was taken to the palace where he met with Windy, the court magician. The pair apparently know each other from 300 years ago (!) and Ted is evidently fearful of Windy, whom he calls a witch. That black hole Ted summoned? It turns out it was from a rune he'd been keeping secret, but not just any rune, this is one of the 27 True Runes, which obviously sound rather important. More specifically, Ted is the holder of the 'Soul Eater' rune, which Windy has wanted for a very long time. Rather than handing it over, Ted used its powers to escape and that's how he wound up in such a state. His story over, our friend loses consciousness.

At this point, the party have no idea what to think. Pahn wonders aloud if we should turn Ted over to the guards, while Gremio immediately jumps to his friend's defence. Cleo, often the voice of reason, suggests we wait to make any decision until after Ted has awoken. Pahn then leaves to 'get medicine' (can you imagine where this is going?). Ted eventually wakes up once more, discussing a little more about his rune, and that Windy has been searching for it for years. He's hidden all over the world for 300 years to avoid giving up the rune, but now it's time for the Soul Eater to change hands; Ted gives it to our hero, warning that it might bring us harm, but we're the only one to whom he can entrust it. Immediately afterwards, we hear commotion downstairs and I'm sure you don't need a hint to guess what's happened.

You might do a fine imitation of a certain Street Fighter, Pahn, but you're not a good liar!

Yes, Pahn has alerted the guards and arrives with a small troupe, along with that jerk Kraze. They want Ted and they won't leave without him, naturally believing him still in possession of the precious rune. Our poor, unfortunate Ted hands himself over as bait, telling us to escape while we can. The hero, Gremio, and Cleo head out through a secret exit in the kitchen, into the rainy night where guards block every exit from Gregminster. Our only option is to hide it out in the local inn. We spend the night up in the attic, and head down in the morning only to bump into a couple of guards, who recognise us as the wanted fugitives. Luckily, a friendly intervener named Viktor, who was dining at a table nearby, jumps to our aid and talks the guards out of their suspicions before smuggling us out of the inn. 

It turns out Viktor isn't an entirely noble good Samaritan, he actually only interfered to get out of paying the bill for his meal, which obviously only endears him to my heart. I originally really liked Pahn, he was a badass in and out of battles but he's already been forgotten and replaced with the witty Viktor. The previous of course spoils the fact that he does indeed join our party; after escaping the inn, he offers to smuggle us one step further - out of the city - in exchange for meeting 'someone'. Fair deal, I thought, and Viktor joined our entourage. His crafty plan to escape from the city is in fact rather simple, he bribes one of the guards to leave his post for a few moments; the craftiest part of all is revealed afterwards as he admits the bribe was in fact stolen from Gremio. We all enjoy a chuckle at these events - apart from the unfortunate Gremio, of course - and head south to fulfil our side of the deal!

What a loveable rogue

And that's where we leave things for today. A lot has happened, Ted's fate remains unknown but I'm not holding out a great deal of hope, Pahn has betrayed us but I doubt it's the last we'll see of him, and the most amusing character thusfar has joined the team. On top of all that, we're wanted fugitives and our job with the imperial guard has gone out the window. This appears to be where the real Suikoden starts - to borrow half a Dark Souls expression. Who are we going to meet in the southern village of Lenankamp? What will become of our party? Is the Emperor in on all of this? Until next time mes amis.