Part 1: Introduction
KONAMI PRESENTS
FIRST DEGREE ARSON
also starring
people with serious faces and shit
this crazy motherfucker
and
plants.
(also the main character i guess but you know what i mean)
Whoa what the fuck happened to you
My buddy used to play this on my computer back in boarding school, and every time he saw that huge dog in this opening sequence he would always be all "OH BRAH SHIRO WHAT YOU DOIN'"
Suikoden is a series with a lot of characters,
but Suikoden 2
is a game with a lot of character.
And Gengen.
But let Suikoden 2's intro be a lesson and a warning to us all:
beautiful hand-drawn images really, really don't match with rendered backgrounds.
So, Suikoden 2. A game almost universally hailed as the be-all-end-all best game in the Suikoden series. And objectively, yes, it is, and the only reason I like Suikoden 1 better is because of nostalgia.
Suikoden 2 is a fantastically charming game with lovingly-detailed animations, a by-and-large amazing score, fun allies, and villains you utterly despise. The story is pretty good too, better than most games but I wouldn't call it book material. It is also notoriously buggy. Apparently there are ways around it these days, but back when, you went big with the glitches or you went home. And Suikoden 2 is a great enough game that you could overlook the often very glaring programming errors almost completely. Almost.
My Suikoden 2 tale is one of foolishness and one of redemption. Ten years ago, I saw Suikoden 2 fresh on the shelves at the local Electronics Boutique. I bought SaGa Frontier 2 instead. Uh oh. And yes before you say anything I can hear you all cursing at me right now.
Three years later, I executed the most terrible, and most amazing, dick move in the world. A friend of mine, huge Hawaiian guy with a very Japanese surname, had given his copy of Suikoden 2 to a mutual buddy of ours for his birthday. Just the disc, but shit, it was Suikoden 2, you don't complain about that. I caught wind of this and knew that I had the chance to redeem myself for my first, and final, mistake. "wh-what are you doing barbarosa"
"Eh, Mikey, I know you gave Suikoden 2 to Kaioni, but, uh, I'll give you $25 for it"
"Oh shoooooooooots"
and Mikey proceeded to storm our friend Kaioni's room and take the disc by force. And now it belongs to me.
Well, there isn't any bad blood between the three of us, but it's become one of those stories where you crack open the Blue Moons and reminisce about that time The White Dragon bought Kaioni's birthday present from its previous owner. And that is the tale of how I am able to bring this amazing title to you all today. So wherever you are, dogg, this one's for you.