Let's Blog Suikoden - Part 5

Monumental news my friends: I moved on from the mini-game. Oh yes, in fact I moved on quite a bit, a lot has happened that I'll share with you in this post; things are heating up in every sense, the story is moving along faster, and I'm excited to be going along for the ride.

After an excessive amount of time spent following cups, I proceeded on towards Grady's house, 40,000 bits better off than before. We arrived at the sneaky governor's gates, spotting Varkas and Sydonia tied to poles out the back. Unfortunately, a guard was blocking the entrance and wouldn't let us in. Fortunately, we have Viktor. The new hero of my party said he'd handle things, disappeared off the screen, and moments later a guard is running around like a headless chicken yelling "The governor's house is on fire!" Problem solved. Gremio typically doesn't approve but that's how Viktor does his business.

Oh that Viktor!

So we went inside, battling guards along the way to the back door. We're more than a match for everything Grady has to throw at us, and reach the exit. Varkas and Sydonia are naturally not too pleased to see us, assuming we're here to gloat or make them suffer, but we explain the misunderstanding and set Varkas free. Sydonia promptly performs this teleport-type thing where he instantly frees himself, it turns out he was able to escape the whole time but didn't want to leave on his own.

We charge our way back through the house, bumping into Grady on the way and threatening the coward into retreat. He says he'll tell Kraze about all this, more or less destroying the slimmest of hopes we might have had of returning to the Empire, surely. We head out to the edge of Rockfall, where Varky and Syd give us their thanks and bid us farewell. I do hope we'll see them again and in fact I wish they'd join the party; Sydonia's teleporting skills would come in useful I'm sure. 

You can tell Varkas had been thinking of what he'd like to do to Grady

Afterwards, by suggestion of Viktor, we head back to Lenankamp to report to Odessa and see what's going on. She's thrilled to see us and has already prepared a second mission; some blueprints for fire spears have arrived, the sort of thing that will be vital to the war effort if ever the Liberation Army raises the numbers to attempt a coup and do battle with the Imperials. What we need to ensure the blueprint is delivered to their secret factor. At this point, discussion breaks out amongst the group. Gremio is naturally all "Woah woah woah! We're respected members of the Empire, not rebels!" but Akami (me) decides that this life of resistance is more his sort of thing.

Thus, we offer to help out and Odessa herself decides to come along for the ride, joining the party in fully playable form. We head out of Lenankamp, over the river to the west and into Mount Tigerwolf, the treacherous mountain we're forced to cross in order to reach our destination. Here we encountered some marvellous enemies I have to say, and the names themselves are all you need to see why: Giant Snails, Killer Slimes, and Slasher Rabbits (saved the best for last, there). 

I wish people in reality greeted my arrival with such enthusiasm!

Halfway up the mountain we discover an inn (odd place for that, huh?) where a creepy little chap named Ledon offers we spend the night. Viktor and Gremio are shattered, and despite Odessa and Cleo's claims of endurance, they're pretty tired themselves, so we decide on the rest. Inside, Ledon offers us some special tea, and despite my consistent attempts of refusal, the game literally won't let you continue until you drink the obviously poisoned beverage. The guy was creepy as anything, living in an inn halfway up a mountain, and insisting we all try his "special brew", how many more indicators of poisoning do these people need!? 

Anyway we all wound up having a sip, and subsequently fell unconscious, after he's taken his typical villainous chance to let us all know that what we drank was known as "Robber's Tea". Luckily for us, Ledon's boss Kessler arrives and recognises Odessa, promptly chiding Ledon for being so foolish as to poison the head of the liberation army, of which they are evidently supporters. Kessler orders an antidote to be prepared, and we are soon back on our feet. Despite this rather hostile welcome, we wind up staying the night anyway, and uneventfully leave in the morning, pushing on through the mountain and finally reaching the village of Sarady.

No. No. No. No. No... Okay fine!

Sarady is the smallest village in the game thusfar, consisting of very little more than an item shop and an inn. I'd just like to interrupt the train of thought for a moment to mention the village music by the way, it's fantastic! If you've got a bit of spare time I would really recommend a listen to some of the Suikoden soundtrack, I'm loving it so far. Anyway since there wasn't much else to do, we went to the inn where we were supposed to meet a messenger, and settled down for another night.

In the middle of the night came a scene I certainly wasn't expecting, Akami woke up and went out onto a little balcony where Odessa was suffering similar insomnia. She instantly opened up to us, talking about all the pressure she was under to succeed, the lofty expectations she feared unable to satisfy, the comfort she felt in our presence. Apparently Akami has the sort of eyes that draw people towards him, and exudes an unparalleled compassion. Personally, I was not at all expecting that Odessa would reveal such interest in our young hero, but it was a nicely-written scene. 

Odessa: Liberation Army Leader and Love Interest apparently

The flickers of romance are interrupted by the arrival of a god damn ninja. Yeah, the messenger we were waiting for turns out to be this total badass named Kage, who has been sent by Mose, head of the secret factory. Odessa gives him a little test to ensure he's genuine, displaying her level-headedness and leadership skills, before handing over the blueprints. Kage disappears into the night, and our work is done.

In the morning we head back across Mt Tigerwolf towards Lenankamp, it was during this leg of our journey that I realised we have the ability to instantly run from any battle with no penalty! So that's a pleasant surprise, and quite ahead of its time for the genre. Random encounters thusfar have posed no problem for me, they're not frequent enough to annoy, and battles themselves barely last more than a round or two, lending a nice flow and rhythm to the gameplay. 

Suikoden is replete with fantastic translated phrases. "You can't handle that weapon son!"

I'll just mention another few random notes about combat while I'm on the subject. With the money I earnt from cups I've upgraded everyone's weapons to level 5, and equipped a few with runes, which appears to have made a nice difference, everyone is hitting for decent damage and the elemental effects are on show with their own animations. I'm still trying to figure out the rune system however. Remember I equipped Gremio with a Holy Rune? Well, he still has no rune move in battle so I wonder if perhaps there's a level limit or runes are designed for specific characters. Akami likewise has no special move despite having the "Soul Eater". Still learning.

Anyway, we arrived back at Lenankamp and headed to the inn where - get ready for the cliffhanger folks - someone is lying injured on the floor, and that's where I left it for now, but fear not, I'll be back soon and we'll find out who this poor, wounded chap is and what on Earth happened to him. I'm more eager to continue the story than anyone and can't wait to see what happens next.