The Suikoden series was the last big white whale in my JRPG backlog library. I challenged myself to beat both Suikoden and Suikoden II back to back for Retro Encounter. Suikoden set the foundations perfectly for a wonderful series with an exciting premise, tonnes of characters and a boatload of charm, but it was just missing the polish that Konami in the 80s and 90s were capable of. Then I started up Suikoden II, and as much as I loved the first game, II bettered it in almost every single way. There are few adventures as bright and colourful on the surface, yet so horrifying and heartbreaking underneath as Suikoden II. The war merely acted as a backdrop to the drama of Riou, Nanami and Jowy's lives. I fell in love with the cast so quickly, including most of the 108 Stars of Destiny, each one so different in personality. This only made the darker parts of Suikoden II even harder to swallow. I was mesmerised from start to finish.

Perhaps the other thing that sticks in my mind most about Suikoden II is how much there is to do. While expanding your castle and getting all 108 Stars of Destiny is priority, you can also collect seeds to grow in your farm, participate in cooking contests, go fishing, fight in duels or command an entire army, SRPG style (the latter being the only sticking point through my whole 40 hour run time). The turn-based battles are simple and effective, and the numerous amounts of runes meant the possibilities were endless. And the few returning characters and locations had me feeling nostalgic for a game I'd only finished a few weeks prior — I felt like I knew these characters and this world like a game I'd replayed many times.

Suikoden II might just be one of the best RPGs I've ever played. When I wasn't playing it I was thinking about my army, my castle, wondering who would join the Dunan army next, or what horrors awaited us (probably Luca Blight, who goes down as one of my most hated villains ever). In the space of a couple months, I went from having never played a Suikoden game to completing two of them and falling head-over-heels for the series. I'm sad we'll likely never see a new entry, but at least I've got the rest of the series to work through. I can't wait.

Oh, and so it's on record: Neclord is the most extra vampire ever and the best character in this game. Give him his own Castlevania game.

If I'm completely honest, we could have done four episodes of Retro Encounter on Suikoden II and it still wouldn't have been enough. Hell, we could rename the podcast Suikoden Encounter and I'd still find something to talk about every week. I love this series and I probably love this game most of all.

One of the biggest sources of enjoyment I had replaying Suikoden II came from its continuous world — a shockingly rare feature in JRPGs. Whether it's seeing characters in one game have a minor role and foreshadowing their larger role for the next game (See: Lucia & Sasarai) or a returning character from a previous game showing up unexpectedly having grown up a bit, the Suikoden world feels alive and there's always things to discover.

As for the plot, it's just as masterfully told as I remember. The plot of Suikoden II is so good even a bad localisation can't hide its greatness. I don't think I ever cared about the fate of a group of characters more in a video game than this. At its heart Suikoden II is a heartbreaking story about a tiny family of three children, none related by blood, who have lost everything to a senseless war. They are trying their hardest to carve out a small place in the world where they can live in peace, but each has a different ideology on how to achieve it. By the end of the game, after seeing all the pain they had to go through, it's safe to say I cried.

Now, if everyone could email retro@rpgfan.com to request Suikoden III that would be great!

Oh, Suikoden II. How do I love thee? Let me write the ways.

It's undeniable that the Suikoden series is almost unparalleled in terms of its world-building and tapestried storytelling. Alongside the political machinations is a series of thrilling entrelacements that form a dynamic and colorful world. And in my opinion, Suikoden II showcases this best.

You see, Suikoden II is a perfect nexus. Besides its scintillating plot, endearing cast, and dastardly antagonist (who is one of my favorite RPG villains of all time I might add), one aspect that makes Suikoden II a mind-blowing masterpiece is its pivotal role in linking each of the main games as well as the Suikogaiden spinoffs together through various references. Since I wasn't able to spot any of them during my first playthrough, I challenged myself to identify as many connections as I could during this run. And boy there's a ton. But the biggest surprise by far was encountering Georg Prime from Suikoden V after the events at Tinto. It was jaw-dropping to say the least, especially after knowing his history. Now where did I put my Suikoden V disc...

How can I possibly talk about Suikoden II without mentioning its stunning sprite work? Alana hit the nail on the head when she states how it has aged well throughout the years. Not only are they pleasing to look at, but they also serve as a nice incentive to use different characters so that you can witness each of their distinct personalities and mannerisms — especially since many of them had little to no backstories.

Aside from being able to revisit Suikoden's tantalizing world, the thing I looked forward to most about this podcast was taking this journey with Alana. During my RPGFan interview a little over a year ago in which she was the interviewer, she asked what some of my favorite games were. The first thing I blurted was the Suikoden series. After she disclosed to me that she had not played any of the games before, I proceeded to go on a fifteen minute ramble on why I think the Suikoden series is phenomenal. So being part of her Suikoden experience is rather touching for me since it reminds me of my RPGFan beginnings and our first encounter. Quite fitting for the game centered around the Rune of Beginning, don't you think?

I didn't think that writing my final thoughts for this would be so difficult. There's so much more I want to say but I'm afraid of turning this into a detailed analysis of the game. Maybe one day, we can have a multipart Suikoden podcast where we dissect the entire series and see what new things we can discover. But for now, make sure you do as Leona says and request Suikoden III! I want to be reunited with my favorite Tenkai Star.

Suikoden II is one of those rare games from my childhood that has survived the test of time. It plays superbly, and every emotional beat still resonates with me, even after all of these re-plays. The sprites are beautiful, the battles are fun and intuitive, and recruiting new allies and building up your castle never gets old.

It does leave me with a sense of melancholy, however. It hurts to know that the series is currently stuck in limbo, with no future games planned. So many stories have been left unfinished, and so many questions are still unanswered. A story as beautiful and complex as this deserves to be continued. Personally, I still maintain hope that we may one day see more from the series. With the recent announcement of the Castlevania remakes for the PlayStation 4, perhaps we'll see more announcements from some of Konami's other IPs. It's a shot in the dark, but it's a hope that I will keep in my heart till the end of my days.

Suikoden II is constantly regarded as one of the greatest RPGs ever created, and it didn't earn this moniker without reason. Retro fans who have yet to play this game, I beseech you to give this one a shot. While finding a copy of the PlayStation 1 version in the wild is expensive and rare, a PSN version exists for Vita and PlayStation 3 owners. Don't let this opportunity pass you by. Please. Play Suikoden II. Let Konami know that us fans are still here.

Before September this year, I knew Suikoden II only by reputation. Beloved on internet forums full of RPG players; among the rarest of PlayStation games for collectors; nary a remake or re-release, and took an unusually long time to land on the PlayStation Network. It took me around twenty years of owning various PlayStations before finally starting Suikoden II, but once I got into it I couldn't stop playing it.

Suikoden II feels special. It conveys over a hundred character personalities in brief scenes. It gives you a real feeling of commanding a large force, with easily triple the named characters of a Fire Emblem or Tactics Ogre or any number of other large-scale-battle Japanese RPGs. Suikoden II's themes of war, friendship, justice, and balance — communicated through an exciting story and some vague rune-flavored mythology — are very present but don't feel forced or preachy. By the end of Suikoden II, I felt like I experienced a moving war story told with real heart and soul.

And Suikoden II isn't only despair and desperation! Several characters are amusing to see every visit, several battle animations and one-off jokes are absurd and delightful, and your castle's kitchen often serves as a stage for culinary duels! Suikoden II is a beautifully-told story with an enormous cast, but also feels dense with options and systems when you aren't trying to recruit 108 stars. I was completely charmed by Suikoden II. For many years Suikoden had my curiosity; now it has my attention.