11 Platformers That Should Make A Comeback

Last year, Crash Bandicoot burst back onto the scene in the N. Sane Trilogy, a HD remastering of three of the finest platforming games ever to hit consoles. The trilogy has been pretty well-received, with older gamers grateful for a chance to revisit the classics of their youth, and younger players eager to see what all the fuss was about.

The 90s was undoubtedly the heyday for the platforming genre. The 80s gave birth to these games and laid the foundations with some classic titles, but the technological advancements of the decade that followed, combined with the rapidly rising popularity of home consoles, helped to make the likes of Crash Bandicoot and Rayman household names.

These days, the genre is stuck in a bit of a rut. Aside from the same old Nintendo characters that have been around since the dawn of time and a few indie games hoping to recapture some of the fun of the past, games revolving around cartoonish characters jumping around colourful environments are pretty few and far between.

In order to save the future of the genre, perhaps we need to take a look back into the past. Bringing Crash back was clearly a good idea, so let’s look at some other classic 90s platformers that could also receive the HD treatment!

Croc

One of the pioneering 3D platformers of the PlayStation era, Croc: Legend of the Gobbos gave us everything we wanted from this sort of game. The protagonist was silent but loveable, the ice levels were frustrating but addictive, the final boss had a fantastic name (Baron Dante) and there were plenty of shiny things and cute critters to collect and save. It was an excellent, albeit challenging all-round platformer with some slightly clunky controls but solid level design.

The game has a pretty interesting past. It was one of the first ever 3D platforming projects and was actually in development for quite a long time. Originally featuring Yoshi as the main character, the game was pitched to Nintendo by the developers, Argonaut. Nintendo said no and Argonaut decided to go it alone, eventually striking a publishing deal with Fox Interactive and redesigning the hero. 

A couple of years later, Croc 2 was released. The sequel brought a lot of new stuff to the table. The environments were much larger and Croc was tasked with talking to various characters and completing missions for them. It was another decent game, but, aside from a few mobile spin-offs, the Croc series ended there. With HD graphics and perhaps some slight improvements to the camera and controls, I for one would love to see Croc make a comeback.

Spyro

These days, kids see Spyro as a member of the Skylanders team, but gamers of the 90s will have a much different view of the purple dragon. The original trio of Spyro games were created by Insomniac, the folks who later went on to launch another successful platforming franchise in the form of Ratchet and Clank, and those original games were simply awesome.

Following that, a bunch more Sonic games were released for consoles and handhelds, including a crossover with none other than Crash Bandicoot himself. The mid-2000s saw an attempt to reboot the franchise with The Legend of Spyro trilogy, but these games received mixed reviews and everyone’s favourite purple dragon was given a break until Activision launched the Skylanders series in 2011.

Skylanders has proven to be a big hit with young kids, but Spyro himself has been used more as a big name marketing gimmick, pushed aside by the series’ huge cast of heroes. He deserves to regain his place in the spotlight and we’d be happy to see another solo Spyro adventure done right. A HD collection of the original Spyro games is set for release in 2018, but a whole new Spyro adventure would be simply amazing.

Klonoa

What is Klonoa exactly? Like a cat, rabbit, dog hybrid? Even the folks at Namco have never officially named the species to which Klonoa belongs, but I don’t care too much as his games were fantastic. Klonoa: Door to Phantomile arrived in 1997 and blew players away with its responsive gameplay and beautiful level design. The soundtrack was a joy to behold and the lovely levels of the game blew by like a fresh summer breeze. The game went on to win numerous awards and spawned a sequel, along with a few spin-offs, including a slightly strange beach volleyball title, because Japan.

One of the mechanics that made Klonoa stand out from the crowd was the character’s magical ring to snag enemies and then toss them around, a little like how Kirby could suck bad guys in and blow them out as projectiles, or even use them as platforms to reach higher areas. It was a simple gameplay aspect but it turned out to be immensely satisfying and allowed the developers to introduce some interesting puzzles in each level.

The original game was remade for the Wii and an official anime movie is actually in production, so the Klonoa name remains pretty big, at least in its homeland. Will we ever see a new release? Never say never.

Tomba

Tomba, also known as Tombi in Europe, was more than a simple platformer. With multiple planes and RPG aspects, it transcended the trappings of the genre to become something more. As a pink-haired, crazy jungle boy, players were tasked with eliminating an enormous number of evil pigs, while also completing oodles of tasks from villagers and other NPCs along the way.

At first glance, it looked like a simple platformer, but within just an hour of play, you began to realise how deep this thing went. There were tricky puzzles, hidden objects, Metroid-style backtracking and more. All of this, combined with satisfying controls and pretty environments, helped to cement Tomba as a classic in the eyes of many who played it.

A sequel arrived in the form of Tomba! 2: The Evil Swine Return, known simply as Tombi! 2 in Europe (obviously, the Americans got the better end of that deal). It was another excellent platformer and received general acclaim. Sadly, the developer, ‘Whoopee Games’, got shut down shortly after the release of Tomba 2 and the staff went on to join other studios. Despite the good review scores, the games didn’t sell well.

These days, if you own a copy of Tomba at home, you’re actually in possession of a rather rare piece of gaming memorabilia and collectors are willing to pay a pretty penny for both games. The pair have been released digitally on PSN, but it’d be amazing to see a whole new Tomba experience.

Gex

He’s a gecko. He worships TV. He’s hilarious. What’s not to love? The Gex games are the perfect ode to the nineties, complete with enough out-of-date pop culture references to fill up a hundred of those “You’ll Only Remember This If You’re A 90s Kid!” lists on Buzzfeed. Navigating the ‘Media Dimension’ inside his giant-screen TV, Gex travels from channel to channel in a bid to reach the evil Emperor Rez and bring him down once and for all.

There were three entries in the series and quite honestly, the plot was pretty much the same in all three of them, but players looked past that because the character (voiced by comedian Dana Gould) was pretty charming and the level design was solid.

Back in 2015, Square Enix, the holders of the rights to Gex, did make some vague announcement which stated that its development studios would be allowed to remake or reintroduce some of the old IPs in its possession, but we’re yet to hear any word of the possibility of a new Gex game. At a time when people are seemingly obsessed with all things retro and 90s, this could be a great opportunity for someone to bring Gex back and recreate the magic.

Bubsy

Perhaps the most controversial item on the list, Bubsy is one of those franchises that people love to hate. A rip-roaring success when first released, Bubsy owes a lot of its fame to the fact that it was released at just the right time. Sonic and Mario were leading the charge, and developer Accolade saw a prime opportunity to enter the market. First of all, they released Bubsy on both the Sega Genesis and the Super Nintendo, immediately giving themselves the biggest possible audience.

They also made Bubsy himself into a kid-friendly character with bags of personality. Sure, most of us found that personality to be more off-putting than endearing and would rather punch him in the face than laugh along with his quips, but it worked with many kids because it felt like they were playing a genuine cartoon character, complete with funny animations and silly one-liners.

Bubsy isn’t a terrible game and Bubsy 2 offered some improvements. Then Bubsy 3D arrived and singlehandedly built the bobcat’s coffin and buried him deep, deep down in the gaming graveyard. Genuinely rated as one of the worst games of all time, Bubsy 3D wasn’t helped by the fact that it was released around the same time as Super Mario 64, which magnified all of its flaws tenfold. Regardless, it’s not because one of the games in a series is bad that the other games deserve to be tarred with the same brush. When it stuck to side-scrolling, Bubsy worked.

Interestingly enough, the series did actually get a new instalment in October of 2017. Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back was the first game in the series in over two decades and was released to a relatively tepid reception, presumably killing any chance of further Bubsy games. Maybe it's better that way.

Zool

Oh Zool, you could have been so much more. Originally designed as a rival to Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog, George Allen’s “Ninja of the Nth Dimension” launched on the Amiga to high critical acclaim. Zool was later ported to a variety of other platforms and followed up by a sequel.

Zool 2 was another excellent platformer and introduced a couple of new characters. Sadly, the developers backed the wrong horse. While Nintendo and Sega went from strength to strength, Commodore went bankrupt and the Amiga line ended, taking Zool with it.

Had it launched on another platform, there’s every chance I could be living in a world with dozens of Zool games, but things just didn’t turn out that way. Still, renowned for their intense difficulty, cartoonish worlds and fun mini-games, the original two games remain cult hits with hardcore gamers and should definitely be played by anyone interested in the history of the platforming genre.

Plok

Yet another game that was trying to ride in the slipstream of success left behind by Mario and Sonic, Plok was a highly creative platformer for the SNES. Developed by two British brothers named John and Ste Pickford, who actually still own the rights to the character, the concept was originally shown to Nintendo executives, with none other than Shigeru Miyamoto (of Zelda, Mario, Donkey Kong and Pikmin fame) showing a real interest. Unfortunately, the Japanese giant decided against pursuing the project for publication, but Plok still made it onto store shelves and received plenty of plaudits upon release.

The titular character’s ability to throw his own limbs at enemies was a humorous selling point, and the excellent level design and soundtrack came together to produce a great game that still has a cluster of fans to this day. A wide range of power-ups and amusing enemy designs ensured that Plok had all the ingredients necessary to be a hit, but sales weren’t great and the little red blob was limited to just one adventure. The Pickford bros actually started a comic book series based on Plok a few years ago, and maybe we’ll see him in video game format again one day.

Cool Spot

And the award for “Least Likely Game To Ever Make A Comeback” goes to Cool Spot. It’s not that these games were bad, it’s that the world has moved on. Cool Spot actually used to be the US mascot for 7Up. You know that red circle in the 7Up logo? Well, the makers decided in the late eighties to stick a face on it and turn it into a character, and that’s how Cool Spot was born. He wore shades, he liked to surf… and that’s about it for his ‘backstory’, but the games he featured in weren’t bad at all.

The first Cool Spot was a side-scroller in which Spot would jump around and toss bubbles at enemies to defeat them. The second game, Spot Goes To Hollywood, gave us a rare isometric view and pitted our hero against a variety of movie villains as he became trapped in a projector and forced to battle his way from one film to the next in a bid to escape. The camera was weird, but the game itself was colourful and fun.

Pandemonium

For those unfamiliar with the franchise, Pandemonium was a wildly fun 2.5D series starring a slightly psychotic jester (Fargus), a mighty sorceress (Nikki) and a humorous head on a stick (Sid). Players were given the choice of playing as either Fargus or Nikki and tasked with making their way through some of the most imaginative (and trippy) levels ever seen in a platformer.

The second game in particular gets pretty out there. Hell, one of the stages has you randomly take over some kind of Gundam robot and fly your way through a kaleidoscopic tunnel of psychedelic lights.

In spite of all the wackiness, or perhaps because of it, the original game and its sequel both had bags of charm, but Pandemonium 2 really is the stronger title. We don’t know what the developers were smoking while they made this thing, but it resulted in some truly memorable levels and fantastic moments.

The experience never became stale because each new environment was so different and you were always being given cool new things to do or obstacles to overcome. These games are prime candidates for a HD makeover and remain highly playable to this day.

Jazz Jackrabbit

Many PC gamers will hold fond memories of the Jazz Jackrabbit series. One of the first attempts to convert the side-scrolling platformer over to PC, Jazz Jackrabbit took the classic fable of ‘The Tortoise and the Hare’ and gave it a sci-fi makeover.

The first instalment was actually co-created by none other than Cliff Bleszinksi himself, who would later go on to head up development on the Gears of War franchise. The game was heavily action-based, with Jazz using a variety of weapons to blast his way through each stage.

Like many of the series on this list, Jazz Jackrabbit has a fascinating past. The second game added multiplayer and it worked surprisingly well. Meanwhile Jazz Jackrabbit 3 was set to be Jazz’s first outing in 3D. The developers worked hard on the title and developed it into the alpha stage, but failed to find a company willing to publish it.

The project was abandoned, but the alpha was leaked onto the internet and is available for play. It’s actually pretty good, too! Rumours have suggested that the project might get picked up again someday, but I sadly doubt we’ll be seeing the return of Jazz anytime soon.

Review: Pneuma: Breath of Life

Pneuma: Breath of Life is an interesting puzzler set in a beautiful but almost entirely empty world. The game explores some intriguing issues and takes an alternative approach to the classic puzzler formula, offering a mix of super simplistic and relatively complex riddles in a seemingly random order. Yet, due to smart direction and pacing, every aspect of P:BOL feels entirely deliberate and well thought-out on the part of the developers, resulting in a thoroughly enjoyable experience from start to finish.

The game begins in total darkness. The protagonist then, in accordance with the game's title, breathes life into the world around him, creating light, marble corridors, exquisite paintings, golden decorations, gardens and more. In godlike fashion, the world seems to form around Pneuma with each step he takes, so it's no surprise that our garrulous narrator initially believes himself to be a deity, creating and bending the world at his will. As the levels pass by, Pneuma begins to question the true nature his existence more deeply, culminating in something of an existential crisis in the latter stages. To say any more would be to spoil the unravelling of what I found to be one of the more fascinating narratives ever seen in this type of game, so I'll leave it there. Suffice to say that, when the game finally arrived at its intriguing conclusion, I was left in something of a ponderous state.

Some of the environments look more like a tech demo than a full-fledged game

As has seemingly become the custom in indie puzzlers ever since Portal 2 was released, the game is narrated throughout by Pneuma's quirky British voice, ably performed by a voice actor who remains unknown to me (despite online research, I was unable to find his name). As mentioned earlier, Pneuma spends most of his time discussing godliness, self-awareness, the nature of reality and a myriad of other philosophical themes over the course of the game's approximately 2 hour playtime. Yes, this isn't a long game. In fact, with a smart head on your shoulders, you could probably finish it in less than 90 minutes, with the game's rather excessive load times accounting for at least 10 of those minutes. A few secret rooms and puzzles marginally extend the game's length for completionists, but P:BOL should be regarded more as an interesting little way to spend an afternoon, rather than a long-distance puzzler to come back to time and time again.

In fact, I'd say this is definitely a game that benefits from being completed in a single session. Pneuma's gradual breakdown from pompous, self-proclaimed god to lost, lonely, doubtful soul is most effective when witnessed in a single run. Like a good short story, it's best to stay in the world of Pneuma from start to finish, rather than taking breaks and coming back to it later. It was a game that had been sitting on my Xbox One's hard drive for some time, ever since I downloaded it for free as part of the platform's Games with Gold promotion. I imagine many other players downloaded it out of habit but perhaps haven't found the time to actually load it up, and to those people I would wholeheartedly recommend giving it a try.

The game's environments and camera tricks are very easy on the eye

Gameplay-wise, Pneuma finds itself nestled snugly in the sweet spot between puzzler and "walking simulator". Few puzzles will rarely delay you for too long, which is definitely for the best, even if it contributes to the game's relatively short length. There is a bit of a random element to the difficulty, but I feel like this was intentional. Other reviewers have criticised the game for jumping around from tricky "re-arrange these coloured blocks in the right order" puzzles to "stare at this object for 20 seconds to win" elements, which can hardly even be classed in the same category, but I think this mixture of difficulties works pretty well. Too many easy puzzles in a row would make the game a breeze, too many difficult ones would make it a slog.

By mixing up the order and throwing puzzles at you in a sort of easy/hard/easy/hard pattern, the game grants you a nice sense of satisfaction and speedy progression. You might spend 5-10 minutes getting through a particularly head-scratching moment and then, as you're still catching your breath, the game is kind enough to offer you a couple of simplistic riddles to keep the story moving. Sure, there will be moments where you solve a puzzle and say "Really? That's it?" but these almost confusingly straightfroward sections are balanced out with genuine brainteasers. Puzzle games are traditionally associated with a difficulty curve that becomes steeper the further you go, and the same is generally true here, but I appreciated P:BOL's slightly unique take on the formula. Ultimately, this is a game with a nice little story to tell and the developers want players to witness that story, rather than giving up and missing out.

Always watching

The puzzles themselves mostly consist of camera manipulation. Levels feature eerie eyes that are always watching you. These eyes act in the same way levels or switches might work in a traditional puzzler, opening doors and rotating bridges in the early stages, before things get more complex in the latter levels with rotating rooms and a couple of truly tricky moments. In general though, the camera has a large part to play in most puzzles and the developers (a small team of 21-year-olds) came up with some smart ways to play with the mechanic. There were a small handful of puzzles that left me a little bamboozled, but pretty much all of them can be figured out with careful observation and logical thinking, and few ever really reach that sort of frustrating, 'trial and error' level you tend to find in many other games of this style.

It's the sort of game that lets you feel pretty good about yourself without ever really taxing your neurons too severely. And, perhaps most importantly in this age of online walkthroughs and extremely narrow attention spans, you probably won't get stuck to the point of seeking out a solution by Googling it, and I consider that to be another point in the game's favour. It's a sign that the puzzles are well thought-out and just tricky enough to give you pause for thought, without ever frustrating you too much.

All-in-all, P:BOL is a fine game and more than worth an hour or two of your time. It asks some interesting questions agency and identity, without ever getting too far into the more pretentious or complex aspects of existentialism. It has a story to tell and a message to share and it does it brilliantly, giving your brain a nice little workout along the way.

GameCenter CX, Kacho ON

Hello everyone, today I wanted to share with you one of my favourite shows of all time, and certainly my favourite show associated with video games. It's called GameCenter CX (or Retro Game Master) and hopefully, many readers will have heard of it, but for those who haven't, let's do a little introduction.

The show features this fellow here, a hilarious Japanese comedian by the name of Shinya Arino, also known as the "Kacho" (Chief). Essentially, GameCenter CX consists of his attempts to complete (mostly) difficult and (mostly) retro games within the space of a day. Each episode is essentially a montage of his progression, highlighting the funniest moments, the most brutal challenges, and ultimately, his triumphant success or miserable failure. 

Arino's amusing commentary as he plays is one of the show's main draws

He is assisted by the shows "ADs" (Assistant Directors) in a variety of ways, and episodes will also contain bonus "corners" or segments in which Arino will, for instance, visit an arcade, interview a famous developer, narrate a manga, or investigate classic pieces of gaming hardware.

If any of that sounds interesting to you, then you should already be scrolling down and clicking on the related links to download/watch some episodes, but if you'd like to know more, then let's continue.

The show even has its own official DS game series

GameCenter CX is pretty huge in Japan, as is Arino, but unfortunately attempts to sell the license overseas have been rather disappointing. In the US, the show has been retitled Retro Game Master with an English narration and professional subtitles, however the future of this version is very sketchy for the time being. 

The website Kotaku was allowed to stream episodes in English for a brief period a few years ago but that agreement ended and the rights for Retro Game Master are being passed around all over the place. I don't know the details but trust me, it's probably going to be quite a while before you can walk into a random media shop and pick up the DVDs outside of Japan.

The sight you look forward to at the end of each episode

Anyway, luckily for us, the internet exists and so do hardcore fans who can speak Japanese. Thus, a decent majority of the episodes have been given English subtitles and can be found online (again, scroll down for links). 

So why should you watch? Well, I suppose the major draw of the show (aside the obvious fact that it's all about games) is the humour. Arino himself is a one-liner machine, with his reactions a never-ending source of chuckles. He's not a bad player, but he's by no means a pro either, and every episode is riddled with comedy as he struggles again and again with tricky controls and troublesome enemies.

Action replays are yet another amusing feature

Recurring comedic elements will make their mark on you as you progress through the seasons. Arino's terrible habits of raising his fists in celebration before the game is actually finished (and thus dying) or forgetting to input the secret code to continue (and thus having to restart entire games over) are just some of the reasons you'll finish in hysterics.

The ADs and staff similarly provide a ton of laughs. New ADs are introduced regularly, each with their own amusing personalities, from the wrestling warrior Inoue (humorously nicknamed Inoko MAX by Arino) who says he likes games "a normal amount" to the desperately shy Nakayama, who has an accompanying sound effect every time he bows (which is rather often).

Multiple ADs will often arrive to help Arino, and his huge stock of snacks is always funny to see

As Arino struggles, the staff will often chime in with their own amusing remarks and criticisms, and there's a real family atmosphere throughout each episode. I suppose that's another of its draws: it really feels as though you're right there with these guys, all sitting together and enjoying a game like when you were young. It's a simple pleasure, but a powerful one.

Despite such a relatively basic premise (heck, half of YouTube is filled with guys playing games and commentating on them), the way the show, in perhaps that typically Japanese way, loves to make everything sound far more serious than it actually is, is another wonderful attraction, particularly for us Westerners. "His ultimate nemesis has returned!", "Choosing the right character is the true secret to completing this game!", "The real Super Mario Bros. begins now!" are just a few examples of the sort of phrase you'll hear time and again from the show's deep-voiced narrator.

I can't be the only one who adores phrases like this

Watching someone play a game for an extended period of time can become a little grating, as perhaps many who have watched "Let's Plays" online can attest to. Thus, the "corners" of GameCenter CX provide welcome moments of respite to balance out each episode. My personal favourite is the 'TamaGe' or 'You Should Visit this Game Center Sometime' section. It not only offers a fascinating look at the arcade scene in Japan, but is often wonderfully touching as Arino shares his prizes with local children, makes store-owners laugh, and gathers a small crowd of new friends as he challenges various machines

As with the humour, the more emotional side of the show can be found throughout. It's a simple thing to finish a game, but the show often adds a sentimental slant to things as young fans send letters and pictures of encouragement to Arino, their hero, and he vows not to let them down. Special episodes feature the comedian going to events or foreign countries and exchanging gifts with strangers. It's the sort of thing you have to watch to appreciate but make no mistake, Gamecenter CX can make you feel very fuzzy inside.

And in that classic Japanese way, there's nearly always some text plastered across the screen

So, have I sold it enough yet? If not, know that I'm barely scratching the surface. The show can make you laugh and cry, can open your eyes to the incredibly rich world of what is now "retro" gaming, gives a fantastic insight into Japanese culture and gaming traditions, and is full to the brim with wonderful, hilarious people. It's a real treat and I would implore anyone, even those who have but a passing interest in video games, to give it a watch.

Et voilà, the links you've been waiting for:

To download individual episodes, I recommend this forum thread:
http://www.gaki-no-tsukai.com/viewtopic.php?f=73&t=2653
Of course I wouldn't normally condone this sort of downloading, but most people outside of Japan literally cannot see this show any other way. If it comes out on DVD in Europe, I'll certainly be making my purchase and I encourage other fans to do the same.

To simply watch episodes, there's no better place:
http://www.gamingcx.com/p/gccx-videos.html
This is a fantastic site run by some very good people who do their best to host every episode of the show they can get their hands on. Now and then you'll see blanks in their list, but there's close to two hundred fantastic episodes to get you started.

Don't miss the Kacho!

Let's Blog Suikoden - Epilogue

Well, now that I've finished playing and chronicling the game, it's time to have a little chat about Suikoden. What did I think of the game overall? What will stick with me? Am I eager to continue the series and jump right in with Suikoden II? What have I learnt about the game in research since its completion? 

Well, the last question is perhaps the most interesting, so let's get right to it. After finishing the game, I went online to have a look at people's interpretations of the ending. I soon discovered that, in fact, what I obtained was, relatively speaking, the bad ending. Yes dear friends, there is indeed another ending to the game, and I'm sure it'll shock you. 

Gremio can be resurrected. I'll repeat that: Gremio can be resurrected. Oh and Pahn? He doesn't have to die at all, he can defeat Teo if you level him sufficiently. It goes without saying that I was astonished and a little disappointed with my own efforts upon discovering this information. It turns out that if you recruit all of the stars before the final battle, and Pahn lives, then Leknaat will utilise the magical power created by this union of stars in order to revive our fallen servant. Yeah! 

There I was, thinking Pahn's death was an inevitability, that I'd found all the stars properly, and never giving a second thought to the notion of resurrection. But hey, that's the game and that's the sacrifice you make when you play without consulting guides, I'm still pretty proud of what I managed. In spite of this pride, I can't help wanting to go back already and earn the true ending for myself, but am eager to commence Suikoden II. We'll see what happens. 

So, after all my depressive talk in the final post, it turns out that the game can finish far more cheerily than I originally imagined; a fact that has certainly put my mind to ease. To fill you in, the good ending shows a similar seen, Akami leaves the castle in the middle of the night and sets out into the world, but this time the familiar face of Gremio is by his side. Isn't it amazing how the presence of a companion can completely change the dynamic of that ending? 

Fancy a bit more good news? Viktor and Flik survive! It's not shown in the game but I stumbled onto the knowledge that they appear in Suikoden II where we learn they made it out of the castle alive. Lovely stuff! I feel like my decision to begin Suikoden II has already been made for me, I can't wait to see Vik again.

On top of all this, there was plenty more I missed. I certainly obtained all the stars but I barely used any when you look at it; since completing the game I have read of the many abilities of the characters I chose to ignore, their special unite moves, and found plenty of surprises. Some of the strongest stats and abilities are to be found in characters you'd least expect. There's even an entire combo magic system I missed out on entirely; when certain spells are cast in tandem they can create wonderful special effects, adding yet another consideration to party creation.

Anyway, all-in-all I found Suikoden to be a fantastic experience. The criticisms I could throw at the game are too minor and few to even discuss, and I enjoyed it from start to finish. Its unique feature of so many playable characters was intimidating at first, but I grew to adore the system, savouring the almost Pokémon-esque "Gotta catch 'em all" nature of recruitment, and relishing the prospect of trying out new characters and combinations whenever I could.

The game is nearly two decades old, and I'd be lucky if this blog had even a dozen followers in two decades (har-har), so it doesn't mean all that much coming from me, but I have to thank the team behind it. Suikoden is adored the world over by a community of fans, and their number just grew by one. The game took me on a wonderful journey and I grew attached to a band of characters that will remain with me for a long time. If you're a fan of older games, JRPGs, fine stories... hell, if you enjoy video games then I can certainly recommend this one. It's like a book you can't put down, and I'm eager to begin the sequel.

Let's Blog Suikoden - Part 23

This is it, people, we're closing in on the end. I have to say, for as much as I love the JRPG genre, it's rare that I really end up finishing them all that often. I tend to adore the openings of these games, and when I get attached to the world and characters, I'll go on to spend so much time wandering around, finding ultimate weapons and visiting every last location, that I'm usually a little burnt out by the finish and move on to other things. 

I don't like saying goodbye to these stories; I must have at least half a dozen separate saves of Final Fantasy X wherein I've restarted the game, gone around nabbing every last secret, and left the thing unfinished just before the finale. The endings of these sort of games are also often immensely emotional; not only are you massively attached to these characters and having to finish their tales, but often some of those you love best end up dying. And in Suikoden, with nigh on 108 individuals that could potentially kick the bucket, I'm not holding out much hope for dry eyes when the credits roll.

Let's rock

Here we go, walking the green mile towards the meeting room. Ah, a sweet moment of relief, there's nobody in the meeting room! I guess they must be outside. I can at least spend a few more minutes walking slowly down the stairs. Unfortunately, I have to go out eventually, and there awaits a group. Along with boats. Well, boats that seem to be made of ice. Tons of them. Apparently Mathiu had yet another stroke of genius, deciding to use Thrash's breath to freeze parts of the water around our castle to create a small fleet of ships with which we can commence our attack on Shasarazade. He said he'd get us boats, he got us boats. 

We give the order to move out, and the battle at Shasarazade begins! Things kick off with our first viewing of Sonya Shulen, a young, blonde Valkyrie-type. She yells out some valiant battle cry that Tai Ho instantly belittles by saying she's cute. However, Sonya didn't come here looking for compliments and instantly retorts that she'll take Tai Ho's head. Damn. Not to be trifled with, this general.

Marvel at our icy fleet

The battle begins, as is often the case, with one of my cheeky ninja scouts. Kage reports that the enemy is plotting a magical blast so we counter with our elven archers. Sonya loses 3,000 of her 17,000 strong force. Meanwhile, our 15k remains untouched. In goes Kasumi who reveals she's preparing a charge so Crowley, Luc, and Lotte smash her with some magic for a big hit. The pattern repeats with the final ninja and then I send in the thieves to continuously counter everything she prepares. Her forces are wiped out and we don't lost a single man. Fantastic.

Now it's time to explore Shasarazade itself. Mathiu plans to burn the place down with oil, but we need to head inside first and close their floodgates in order for our act of arson to succeed. Viktor joins the squad by force, but I would have chosen him anyway. I decide to go a bit mad with the party selection here; Krin, Hellion, Fukien, and Kage make up the rest of our team. Kage is a given recently, he's got that lovely double exp rune and I'd like to see how high I can level him. Fukien has resurrection abilities which have got to to be useful. Hellion has something called a Mother Earth Rune which at least sounds impressive, and then Krin... well, I just sort of wanted to use Krin.

Lovely numbers

We battle our way through a few rooms and eventually come across a giant clam blocking our path. Guess we'd better fight that thing. Oh my days, Hellion, where have you been all my life? It turns out her rune is unbelievably good! She's got a fantastic spell called Earthquake that smashes this clam for nearly 2,000 damage! (that's a lot, by the way) She's also got some nice spells that give our men some kind of armour/bonus defence which is greatly appreciated as this clam hits to kill.

Fukien has to use his resurrection a couple of times, it's nice to finally have such an ability since I'm yet to find an item in the whole game that can bring anyone back to life. However, he's not too great at looking after himself, the monk, and eventually falls to one of the clam's big attacks. As usual, we tear through our medicine supply and use nearly all of our spells but finally the thing falls. Our reward is 100,000 bits. Not bad at all.

This is Akami's uber spell "Judgement", first the enemy is surrounded by blinding white light, then these evil angels appear and summon a rain of blue lasers on the unfortunate victim. I like it.

With that out of the way (quite literally), the path is clear and Viktor takes it upon himself to run along and use his phenomenal strength to shut the enormous floodgates. Back we head towards the entrance, ready to set this place alight. But oh dear, we forgot about someone. Sonya Shulen awaits us at the exit. She asks why we betrayed the empire and our own father, she's mentioned Teo a lot actually, perhaps they were close.

Suddenly, fire! Flames rapidly surround us, lighting up the inside of the castle like a Christmas tree. You know, a Christmas tree on fire. Sonya looks around and asks if this is what we want, to kill everyone and burn the world down. She won't let us escape without a fight, and into another boss battle we go.

Oh alright, Sonya, since it's you

That's a bit of problem for me since, as previously mentioned, I used quite a lot of medicine and spells in that last boss battle, and was wholly unprepared for this one. Almost every turn Sonya smashes us with a devastating attack that reduces our entire party's HP by about half. We're in a real pickle, but a combination of luck, smart use of our remaining health items, and wise old Hellion with her armour spells, I eventually make it through alive. Only Kage and Akami survive the fight, and I don't think they would've managed if both hadn't landed some incredibly lucky critical hits in the last couple of turns.

Sonya isn't surprised she can't defeat us after we were strong enough to stop Teo, but says she won't let us defile her. She says "I'm Teo's..." before trailing off and walking towards the fire, presumably preparing to jump in. It seems like perhaps her and Teo were together. Anyway, Viktor can't let a pretty lady die, in his words, and snatches her away from the flames.

Sonya and Teo were indeed sitting in a tree, it seems

We get outside and - brace yourselves for a shock - Mathiu is down! Liukan is attempting to wake him up but he's not responding. Then we find out - brace yourselves for shock number two - Sanchez was the one who lit the oil ahead of time. Sanchez was the spy! He says he has always been loyal to the Emperor and can't stop now. I find that a bit ridiculous frankly, when even the most stalwart of the Emperor's generals has seen sense and joined our merry band, why is this idiot still serving him, especially after everything he's seen? Besides, we're not even after the Emperor really. Windy is the villain of the piece and she's controlling Barbarosa, we just want to restore a bit of order!

Flik asks if Sanchez was the reason the old liberation army base was attacked and Odessa killed. The old man confirms it. Apparently, after spending this time with us, he began to question what was right and wrong, and even swayed towards switching allegiances to our cause for good, but he's "too old" to change sides. Jerk.

Flik means business

He says he's genuinely sorry for Odessa, and that he does like us all. Then why did you just try and kill us? Oh well, Flik's getting ready to take care of business anyway. Our young hothead draws his sword and prepares to cleave Sanchez's head from his shoulders, when suddenly our strategist awakes. Mathiu climbs to his feet and asks Flik to stand down, saying that the execution of Sanchez and his unveiling as a spy would be a hammer-blow to the troops' morale. For now, we act like nothing happened. Victory is too close now, it can't be put into jeopardy.

It's time to attack Gregminster. This may very well be the end. We head back to the castle and I take the time to roam the place a little, deciding what to do next before chatting to Mathiu and presumably commencing the finale. Down in the basement, our prison finally has a prisoner. Sonya is being held there, and we eavesdrop as she talks to Cleo, asking how someone so loyal to Teo could betray him. Cleo says she knows about Sonya and Teo's relationship, but that she, personally, never betrayed Teo and always remained by his side. She asks Sonya if she believes Teo really hated Akami, before telling her that when the general died, he spoke only of his pride and happiness with the way his son turned out.

Sonya doesn't appear to believe much, but goes silent at the end. Cleo then leaves and I head in to chat to Sonya, which in fact gives me the option to recruit her. She, once again, professes her hatred towards me but I say that I don't mind, I want her fighting by my side. She remains combative, speaking aloud her desire to watch me die. What a lovely lass. Regardless, she's in. Guess it's time to march on Gregminster, huh?

Ivanov finished his painting, gotta say I think it's a masterpiece

Let's Blog Suikoden - Part 22

Here we go again...

The battle begins, well, I say 'battle', it's more a measly attempt at buying the Imperials some time as Griffith sends out a force barely numbering 3,000 to our comparatively colossal 13,000. Griffith says that they wish to surrender if we can just give him a bit of time to speak to his men. Mathiu sees through this rather obvious ploy and orders our immediate attack.

I now have the Dragon Knights as one of my 'Others' options. I'd love to use it but the description says it will yield to bows, so first I send in a speedy Ninja recon to figure out what Griffith is planning. He's preparing a magic strike so I'm good to go, we send in the dragons to unleash all manner of hell. In actual fact, they don't do a world of damage but the attack is lovely to watch as the herd of beasts rain in from the sky. A thousand of Griffith's men fall.

Fly my pretties

It feels almost unfair to send in another Ninja but I have to protect my forces; Kasumi reports back that they're planning a charge so I quickly unleash a magic blast to wipe him out. The battle was a perfect victory, but that was to be expected. There's surely far more difficult fights still to come.

We're now at the Northern Checkpoint where Griffith surrenders. He hardly seems like a beacon of virtuosity but when I'm presented with the option to either recruit him or take his head, I feel that I can hardly execute the guy. As has been my standpoint throughout the game: Windy is the villain and she is the one I'm coming to stop. Everyone else isn't really 'on her side', so to speak, they're just doing their jobs and serving the Empire as they always have. Thus, Griffith joins up and asks that we spare his troops; he seems like a fine guy actually. His men then offer to join us too, lovely stuff.

Actually, he seems like a decent guy, Griffith

Mathiu now plans a further charge north before the Imperials know what hit them. He places Lepant and Humphrey in charge of separate battalions and orders them to attack two forts, these battles will serve as distractions whilst we sneak in and rescue Viktor and Warren. Mathiu has even apparently organised some special reinforcements, should they be needed. Another spectacular plan from our tactical mastermind.

We then pick a party and head to the castle, Krin and Kasumi are forced members so I bring along Kage as I've enjoyed working with him recently. I also stick in the deadly duo of Alen and Grenseal. Mathiu has yet another scheme worked out for our entry into Moravia; Griffith shall act as though he has captured our strategist and wishes to hand him over to Kasim Hazil. Whilst the occupants of the castle are preoccupied dealing with this, we'll sneak around the place and find the prisoners.

Classic Krin

Inside the castle, Griffith and Mathiu head off to commence their performance and our sneaking mission kicks off. We have to make it to the top floor. What sort of castle decides to keep their prison on the top floor? I have no idea, but I suppose it does make sense. If you stick your prisoners in the dungeons there's always a chance of them tunnelling out or quickly escaping via the front door. Put them on the top and their only way out is via a descent through the entirety of your castle. 

Anyway, the dungeon goes rather quickly and smoothly; the battles are simple enough and the path is quite linear up to the top. Upon arrival, we spot Viktor and Warren held in a cell, along with Vincent de Boule! We save the two targets but before we can get to Vincent, the scene shifts to Mathiu. He's talking to Kasim Hazil, who asks that he switch sides since it would be a shame to execute such a brilliant strategic mind. Mathiu says he doesn't need to worry about any execution, and in runs a guard reporting that the castle is surrounded by the Liberation Army. Ho-ho-ho! Nice one Mathiu.

To be totally frank and true, I mostly came for Viktor, but nice to meet you, all the same

Kasim attempts to laugh off his predicament, saying that the armies currently fighting Lepant and Humphrey will soon return victorious and crush our forces here. "Wrong again" says Mathiu as another guard enters, bringing news that all the troops they sent out have been defeated by our forces combined with the army of Jowston. Jowston is apparently a City-State that Mathiu doesn't really want to ally with, however he let them know ahead of time that the Empire had some rather unpleasant intentions for them and so they sent their army to help us out.

Lepant and Humphrey arrive revealing they've taken care of their ends of the plan, and Viktor and Akami enter afterwards. Mathiu asks Kasim to surrender, and Milich arrives to help persuade his fellow general. Milich says they have all been stubborn to support an Emperor who is not the man he was and an Empire that no longer stands for what it once did. Their duty now must surely be to restore what they once defended, and open their Emperor's eyes. Kasim ultimately agrees and joins our team. With that, as usual, it's back to The Castle before the Jowston army decide to attack us too.

It's true, you're living in the past Kasim!

Back in the meeting room, Mathiu says we've liberated much of this Empire and solely the capital remains. I begin to realise I'm getting near the end of this wonderful game, and the pressure starts to build. Sanchez tells us that our army is reaching a level where it can finally match the core of the Imperial forces, and Viktor suggests that surely their HQ is our next target. However, to get there, Mathiu advises, we must pass through either Ain Gide's fortress of Kwaba or the floating fortress of Shasarazade (NB: I apologise if I have alternatively spelt this word 'Shazarazade' in previous posts, however the game seems to be in two minds as to the spelling, so I'm just following its lead. I'll stick with 'Shasarazade' from now on).

Lepant recommends we attack Kwaba, it's location on the ground is far more accessible to our troops and it's doubtful we could possibly summon the required number of boats to even transport our army to Shasarazade. However, that's exactly what the enemy will be thinking as well. They'll be expecting us to attack Kwaba, thus we'll do the opposite! The element of surprise has often been our friend and we'll need it here. But what of the boats? "Don't worry, I'll have 500 by morning." says Mathiu. Well, alright. Mathiu is pretty much Superman now.

... you know, after everything you've done Mathiu, this doesn't even seem that far-fetched. Fine, you take care of the boats, I'm going to sleep

Right, off to bed we go, safe with our faith that Mat will sort it all out. As we rest, we see a few scenes of various characters throughout the castle, and it's a moment I really love. First there's Mathiu and Humphrey sharing their respective war stories. Humphrey talks of how he never wishes to attack someone in rage, like he once did during the Kalekka incident many years ago. I'll just interrupt for a moment to tell you about that incident actually, as it's rather important.

Basically, from what I've read in my Old Books, understood through talking to others, and gleaned from visiting the decrepit remains of Kalekka itself, the town was perhaps the greatest casualty of the war between the Empire and the City-State of Jowston. It was decided that the Imperial forces, in order to drum up support for the war, would slay the entire population of Kalekka, every innocent man, woman, and child, and then claim that it was the City-State's doing.

Our written account of the incident is scribed from the perspective of the Empire, it talks of how the cruel City-State orchestrated the whole vicious attack, and how the noble imperial forces found their courage renewed by the desire to avenge such a heartless crime. "History is written by the winners" in full effect here.

Humphrey was involved in this incident, ordered to murder civilians he turned in rage and killed his own commander before joining the old Liberation Army. Mathiu was around at the time of the incident too, indeed it was that that triggered his own abandoning of the Empire and his position in the Imperial army.

We then move on to see Gen chatting to Kamandol; they toss insults back in forth in typical fashion before Gen reveals his fear that they might die tomorrow, and he wanted to be sure to see Kamandol's face one last time. The alchemist then offers him some tea, and they presumably go on to spend the evening with one another. It's a nice moment.

The back-and-forth between Gen and Kamandol has been one of my favourite recurring features of the game's dialogue

We then have Cleo, alone, asking Pahn to protect her in the battle. Tai Ho, Yam Koo, and Kimberley are down in their little home at the dock of the castle. Tai Ho seems preoccupied, and Kimberley tells him to relax and let them enjoy this night together. She seems to insinuate that she'd like to spend the night just the two of them, but Yam Koo makes his presence known in order to "protect" his brother.

Hix and Tengaar sit outside beside a fire. It's a rather romantic moment but Hix is being a little ignorant. Tengaar sulks a moment before they quickly make up. Flik is gazing out of a window thinking of Odessa as Sanchez comes to see him, offering a cup of tea. Meanwhile, Krin snores in the dungeon, dreaming of treasure. Then we see Fukien and Liukan, the old timers of the group, pondering if victory is possible. Fukien says that of course we can win, but many young lives will be lost, and the pair of them sigh sadly at the thought. 

The fishermen share a few pre-battle drinks

Finally, and perhaps most touchingly of all, we see Akami in bed. Viktor arrives at the door and enters, claiming to have something to give us. "Obtained steel hatched" appears on the screen; it's Gremio's weapon. Viktor went back at the prison to retrieve this for us, keeping it hidden so as not to upset a soul until now, since it might be his final chance to hand it over. Viktor talks of how many of our men may die in this battle, but that we have to push on for everyone who believes in a better future, everyone like Gremio. "Akami, let's win tomorrow." he says quite simply, before taking his leave. We then try to get some rest.

I have to say, all of that was one of the best sequences I've ever seen. By far one of the most touching and emotional little clips I'm yet to see in almost two decades of all this video game nonsense. Simple, yet wonderfully effective. I can't believe how attached I have become to this world and these characters. Before kicking off the game I had my favourite JRPGs, I had the worlds and personalities I adored and entered this one with a huge fear I'd be unable to recreate even half the emotion I have for, say, Lost Odyssey, here with Suikoden. I'm so glad to say I was mistaken. 

We'd better

This game has touched me and I'm terrified of the next battle, losing even one of these characters would be gut-wrenching. There are a few I don't care as much about of course, if the likes of Kai (a character I've never even used or spoken to) were to fall, I can't see myself weeping but I can't even imagine if someone like Viktor winds up dead. I don't want to lose a single one of my men. I get the feeling I'm approaching a point of no return so might take the chance to extend my playtime and go out searching for some recruits, but there's a battle coming up and I can only run from it for so long.

Next time: we begin the final assault. For Gremio!