Suikoden V is a role-playing video game that is being developed by Konami and Hudson Soft. The game was originally published by Konami and is played in Sony PlayStation 2. It was introduced in the year 2006 and is the fifth main installment of the Suikoden game of series. This was the last part introduced to date and there are no hopes of a next addition to the series. After its release, the company sold almost 2,00,000 copies of the game in Japan.
Based on a classical Chinese Novel the game centers on mainly the political struggles of the Queendom of Falena. The player plays the Prince of Falena and travels the whole world dealing with different problems faced in the nation and acquiring allies. There is a vast array of different characters in the game. Over 60 characters are usable in the and various others are also available that either help or hinder the prince in several different ways.
Gameplay
The battle in Suikoden V features 6 persons as parties rather than just 4 person parties of Suikoden IV. This was the most desired change in the game as the first parts included 6 characters only. The characters can be individually controlled as well. A skill system also exists in Suikoden V & VI as it was present in Suikoden III. For instance, there is a stamina skill and it increases a character’s hit points. There are different affinities for different skills in each character. However, only two out of various skills can be added to each character but they can be switched at any point in time while the person is playing the game or battling.
If all the hit points of all the characters are lost then the game is anticipated to be over and the player must restart the game. There are exceptions in the plot battle in which winning is not sure and the player loses and the plot continues.
There are different characters in the game as well and those who don’t participate in the game directly are seen offering other services to the prince. The services offered include running a shop, aiding in the strategic war battles. You also have the option of keeping 4 characters aside in reserve of the current parties. There are some non-combat characters offer other minor benefits as well such as the healing capability after the bottle or there are also greater chances of finding a special item after the battle is over.
Some additional benefits are also provided to certain characters in certain different units. The benefits offered are magical attacks, using runes, leadership bonuses, etc. Suikoden V also contains a variety of minigames that include fishing, which is accessible through the character Subala and Blind Man’s bluff which is a card game played by Linfa.
Development
The game started as a guide to the series. The development began much before that of Suikoden IV. However, the content that the team grew the game eventually evolved into the main installment.
The prince searches first for a sanctuary and then for a way to fight back. The soundtrack of the game includes a variety of remixes and references to Higashino’s work. The complete Suikoden series all the music from the game in the original form. The original form was released in 2006 and along with it was released a shorter limited version of demo disc that was also released earlier. The music in Suikoden V is composed by Norikazu Miura and Konami veteran Miki Higashino.
Playtime according to the reviews
After playing continuously for 2 and a half hours the person will be able to fight almost 6 battles in the series. There are some irritations and annoyance experienced by many players while they were playing because of the 10-step and another cutscene repetition. It seems that the game never picks up and you will have to play the same thing again and again. It is being concluded by many players that it seems to them as a visual novel and they don’t take it as a game at all. The players have to endure this game as they see cutscenes one after the other is being played and much gaming is not seen in the fifth edition.
Conclusion
Well, the entire game can take a minimum of around 5 hours to complete fully and moreover it also depends on how the player plays it and if he is enjoying the game or not. The people who are interested in the game are likely to finish it earlier than those who are not able to enjoy the game. Though a huge fan base was recognized by the production house at the time of its release, the game was not liked by many and they were expecting much more in this edition. Some took 6 hours to end the game.