Let's Blog Suikoden - Part 13

Off into the castle we go, it's time for Kwanda to pay the piper. The castle has quite a few levels and rooms hidden all over the place so our exploration takes a little time. Normally, of course, one wouldn't wander around opening chests in a situation like this but hey, I like items. Don't worry, we'll get to him soon enough. I'm just as eager for vengeance as everyone else in fact, I didn't particularly like the elves but a guy like Kirkis proves they can't be all that bad, and it's not like the other races have shown much compassion for one another either.

Enemies in the castle are pretty tough but fortunately a girl just near the entrance to the castle offers a free inn service that I take repeated advantage of. The party levels up to around 27, and that leads me onto a slight side discussion of the levelling system that I've been meaning to mention for some time. The levelling in this game is done very, very well and fits perfectly with the rest of the game's apparent philosophy to streamline some of the more traditionally grey areas of the genre.

The connotations of such a question do not warrant discussion

Basically, you have a lot of playable dudes in this game, as you all know. And of course, sometimes you'll leave them behind while you go out questing and suddenly find yourself ten levels ahead of other characters next time you choose a party. For instance, Viktor has been missing for some time and joined me here a good six or seven levels lower than Akami. But what's great about the game is that your exp rewards from battles are massively affected by your current level. So, after literally two fights, Viktor, too, is right up there at level 25, and a battle or two later matches Akami once more on 27! Clever, huh?

Of course, it's a simple system that you see used in all sorts of games these days but for a JRPG of that era, I'm surprised at the inclusion of the feature. The developers seem a decent way ahead of their time. The levelling system is also very simple to follow, you always need 1000 exp to get to the next level, and the game basically seems to rule out grinding by forcing your party to be at the level it decides throughout. For instance, once my guys had reached level 27 in this area, they were earning about 10 or 15 exp per battle, making it more or less impossible to go any further. This is something I've witnessed throughout the game; you'll reach a new area, boost up a few levels, and then reach the cut-off point and have to finish the zone at the level the game wants.

Voilà, the level system in all its glory, I like it. And Viktor, I like him too.

I like that system I must say, it removes tedious grinding, it allows you to freely use all of your characters without concern, even those you've left behind for extended periods, and most importantly it allows combat to retain a challenge. I'm only overpowered in areas I've been to, never those I'm yet to explore. I'm sure plenty of us have enjoyed grinding away in an RPG to godly levels and crushing all beneath your feet, but we'd admit it does take the difficulty out of the game; here in Suikoden, that's not an issue.

Back to the action. Eventually, we work our way up to the throne room of the castle where a dragon of all things is waiting to greet us. Fortunately, this turns out to be another of those boss fights that isn't too much of a boss fight. Maybe this'll change later in the game but so far I'm seeing a pattern of battles a little like this. My lack of runes and magic attacks sort of restricts most battles to a repetition of physical attacks and medicines from time to time. The lack of versatility in combat for now seems to consequentially lead to enemies who aren't incredibly tough, if you see what I mean. I'm confident this will change later in the game as I discover more magic and have more options at my disposal, hopefully I'll be proven right.

His bark is a lot worse than his fire-breath

We reach the roof of the castle where Kwanda is moping over his broken mirror. He recognises us as the son of Teo and invites us to see the strength of the Black Rune he was gifted by Windy. Oh deary me. Suddenly, we fade to yet another screen, it's Akami vs Kwanda one-on-one, but it's not a traditional battle, no, we've got health bars! It's like Tekken or something! Yep, yet another new system the game surprises me with, some sort of duel mechanic. Similarly to the big-scale battles, we're presented with a few options of attack and have to make our choice in what I assume is, again, a rock, paper, scissors sort of affair.

I can choose from Attack, Defend, or Desperate Attack. That's as deep as it goes and I won't go in-depth on the choices I made since it's not quite as tactical as the large fights. Essentially I went for the strategy of "Don't stop attacking" and it all worked out all right. Kwanda falls, I think it might be all over, he's clearly beaten, but maybe the end of this story has one last surprise for us.

Round 1! Fight!

Kuromimi gets himself involved, asking Kwanda to fix those he has "messed up". Kwanda appears bewildered that a Kobold is "still sane" which leads me to imagine he has used his powers to drive the Kobold race mad, leading to those stories of illness that Kuromimi initially told us about. Kwanda's arm then begins to glow and throb with pain through the power of his Black Rune.

He collapses. We awaken him moments later and appear to have risen a completely different man. He seems surprised to see us all there, and invites Kirkis and Kuromimi to take their vengeance on him for it's all he deserves. Suddenly we begin to wonder if he hasn't been under a spell. He asks Akami to take his head, a soldier's death his last request. I'm given the choice to kill him, or express my thoughts that something might be wrong.

Am I a blood-hungry loon or a rational mind?

I'll admit, this was one of the easier choices so far. It's true, he could be faking it all but it just doesn't seem like that. He'd have no reason too either, he asked us to kill him so he's obviously not plotting an escape or begging for mercy. He genuinely appears confused and amnesic. Of course, he killed the Elves and cursed the Kobolds, but we all know the sort of magic Windy wields, and it's far from the realms of impossibility that she has had her part to play in Kwanda's actions. The runes have a dark power that we just witnessed evidence of, and executing a man when we're so unsure cannot possibly be the right course of action.

We voice our opinion, and others agree. Kwanda seems strange. He explains the rune was given to him by Windy, granting him power over monsters, but that it also sucked away at his willpower. He is suddenly alarmed at the thought of Windy being untrustworthy and worries for the safety of the Emperor Barbarosa. He is clearly a loyal servant to the crown.

Pretty much, how 'bout it?

We are then granted the option once more of finishing him, or recruiting him, and again the choice is easily made. He's obviously as innocent as Pahn was, doing nothing more than serving the Empire he trusted and lived by his whole life. Windy is the true villain here. We ask him to join, a proposal he first finds humorous, why would a 10-year long servant to the Emperor join the Liberation Army after all, but after some persuasion from Viktor and the others, Kwanda comes to the conclusion that the Emperor might not be the same man he once was.

He finally agrees to join our cause, pledging his eternal allegiance to the Emperor, but not the man who currently wears his skin. We then head triumphantly back outside where Mathiu congratulates our success and some Kobolds (Kumomimi's mother and brother, in fact) arrive, revealing the spell over their people is broken. Happy days all around. Kuromimi, Valeria, Kirkis, Sylvina, and Stallion all offer their allegiance to the army. Back to The Castle we go!

Check out Akami's sweet pot collection

Inside the castle we go and suddenly "Three Months Later" appears on-screen. Oooh! Always exciting when we see something like that. The castle has changed! We fade back in on Akami in a very nice new bedroom. Taking a wander around our freshly-decorated digs, we stumble onto Flik! He's finally managed to find us, bringing the remnants of the old army with him, along with Humphrey and Sanchez, but is very angry not to find Odessa here. It's about to kick off, I feel.

Mathiu arrives, introducing himself as Odessa's brother and lead strategist of the new army. We assume he's about to lie and cover up his sister's death once more, but apparently not as he reveals the truth. Flik is immediately distraught and reacts with anger, asking how on Earth we can all follow a leader like Akami, who could never replace Odessa. Humphrey and Sanchez leap to our defence, saying we've done a pretty good job so far, but Flik reacts in exactly the sort of petulant child manner you might imagine, storming out in a "You guys are stupid!" way.

Woah woah woah! Woah! Is there any need for such language?... Dick.

He says he's going to an inn in Kaku and disappears. Sanchez attempts to comfort us, revealing that Flik was just very close to Odessa and must be taking the news of her passing poorly. That's basically what I'd gathered myself, I haven't liked Flik's attitude from day one, he's always seemed to think of the army as his exclusive club and rarely been welcoming to newcomers, but I understand the death of a woman like Odessa must hit him hard.

Viktor wants to go and have a talk to Flik, and Mathiu suggests it's not a bad idea at all; if we can convince him to join us and bring the rest of his army with him then we'll have a mighty fine force at our command. So it's decided, off to Kaku we shall go, but first it's time to do a little more exploring of the castle and take a look at the new changes.

Do you really need to ask , game?

The 3rd floor has been redone as a bit of a market, we've got Rock's vault, Maas and Meese as blacksmiths, and of course, Sansuke with his baths. We decide to take a bath. I fall in love with the game just that bit harder. I don't know what the point of this, if there exists a point, is, but it's brilliant. Just me and Viktor soaking in a steamy pool. Every lad's dream come true. It only gets better as a menu then pops up asking me "What you gonna do?". Options include "Placing Antiques" (I have no idea) "Exit the bath" (No way) or "Continue to View" (my personal preference). 

After a long soak, we move on. The party is formed of Akami, Viktor, Stallion, Cleo, Juppo, and Kwanda and equipment is sorted out. Last time I feel I was using a very melee heavy party, so I'd like to give this more balanced team a go. My three tough guys of Akami, Vik and Kwanda up-front while the others cast spells and fight long-range from the rear. 

Oh yeah...

So the new castle seems cool, huh? Baths, blacksmiths... well it's about to get better in the basement! We head down, seeing that girl Kiki, the sorceress who randomly appeared on our way to the Elven village. You remember how she appeared? I said at the time it seemed like teleportation, didn't I? Well guess what she can do?! Oh yeah she can teleport us! As if this game couldn't get any nicer, it throws in fast travel. We can now teleport to any area previously visited. Even places like that Pirates Fortress I found ages ago and must remember to return to with Tai Ho sometime. Cowabunga.

Anyway, off to Kaku we teleport. Luckily for us we stumble on a girl named Meg who is in fact the niece of Juppo! His presence in the party triggers a scene with her and she gets recruited! That was very cool and does indeed confirm my suspicion that certain recruits will become available depending on my party make-up. We also meet a fellow named Sergei in a bar who says he's invented an elevator that he'd be happy to show us. Guess the castle's getting a life. Just have to say I love this system of developing the castle like that, recruiting people to have your own shops and new features there, it's a really addictive sort of mini-game feature and I can only imagine how The Castle might end up.

Again, do you really need to ask?

In the basement of the same bar we meet a one-eyed chap named Gaspar who offers to join if we can beat him in a game of dice. We oblige, another recruit for the army. Time to go and see Flik now, and he's not hard to find as his men are all over the place. He's holding out in a small house, and apparently is rather upset. In we go.

Flik has calmed down a little, he doesn't have the politeness to apologise or anything, but he says he had his own responsibility for Odessa's death and can't blame us. He won't accept us as the leader just yet, but he'd like to join forces. I'm cool with that for a start, I know you'll bow to me eventually Flik *evil laugh*. Back to The Castle again! Oh boy we've got an elevator!

One more, do you really need to- okay, no this time you do need to ask

Speedily ascending to the top floor through the technical innovation of Sergei, we go and have a group discussion with Flik. He explains that after the hideout at Lenankamp was attacked, he escaped to Milich's domain in the west. Milich is one of the five great imperial generals (in which our father Teo also has a role). Flik attempted recruitment in the area, hearing word of our castle and decided to visit. His plan is for us to unite our armies and liberate Milich's domain. Mathiu is all for it and I'm presented with the option to send the troops out once more!