During the early part of the last decade, in what was the golden age of role-playing games, Konami released the largely overlooked Suikoden III for the PlayStation 2. Incorporating an innovative new way of storytelling called the “Trinity Sight System,” Suikoden III attempted to redefine the franchise within the stagnant Japanese role-playing game genre. We dusted off our PlayStation 2s to take a look back at what by all rights should have been a critically acclaimed hit for Konami.
Suikoden III is set roughly 16 years after the previous game, in an area composed mostly of vast grasslands north-west of the Dunan Republic. The grasslands are governed by six diverse tribal states forming a loose federation, all of whom would be considered backwards or barbaric in contrast to their neighboring powers. Further west resides the powerful merchant city-state of Vinay del Zexay, forming the Zexan Federation that was originally an offshoot clan, but has grown distant since it grew in power and influence. Finally, to the east presides the massive Harmonian Holy Kingdom - whose size alone rivals that of the two contraries formed after the previous Suikoden games.
Despite an uneasy truce between nations, peace has been stretched thin over the years and now war seems imminent. The grasslands are pancaked between two powerhouses, their once great federation has collapsed, and they will surely bear the brunt of any conflict. It is here, at the onset of war, that we are introduced to our three main characters - each with their own perspective on the building war.
Firstly we have Hugo, the young and brash son of the Chief of the Karaya clan whose village is destroyed during a botched peace summit. Then there is Chris Lightfellow, prideful to the point of arrogance with little regard for those in the grasslands. Our final hero is Geddoe the enigmatic leader of a mercenary unit charged with investigating the resurgence in rumors about the flame champion. The events around the failed peace summit between Zexen and the grassland tribes will send all three characters down different life paths as their lives are thrown out of order, and the land is plunged into war. This gives the story three very different viewpoints on as you are able to see events play out from both sides and see the reasoning behind their actions.
The individual stories of Hugo, Chris, and Geddoe are presented through the Trinity Sight System, which gives players the choice between which characters they want to play. Suikoden III’s story is broken up into five large chapters with the first three chapters being divided into long individual sections for each main character. At the end of each section you are given the choice of changing perspective to a different character. It’s an interesting way of telling a story within a game, and to our knowledge is not something that has been attempted to such a degree since.
Fans of the series will recognize the return and reincorporation of several side characters present throughout the first two games, and the main antagonist is a returning fan favorite whose identity will please fans of the first two games. The sharing of characters between installments is common in the Suikoden franchise, and it helps ground the games in the same world, providing context for historical events. Many sub-plots started in the original games are culminated in this installment, giving fans closure on some open questions. Far from being a series of distinctly separate titles with nothing more than a shared name bonding them together, the Suikoden series has always linked its games together. While this undoubtedly can make it difficult for newcomers to digest,this feeling of continuity helps immeasurably to create the sense of a living, breathing world with an evolving history.
But for all the continuity present in terms of lore, Suikoden III represents a change in direction for the franchise with drastic changes to many common gameplay mechanics. It still tries to adhere to the original framework of the first two games though, and while not entirely successful, this blend of old and new does at least impart a degree of freshness. The traditional six member party is still present and characters are divided up into short, long, and balanced ranges. The major change to the battle system is that characters are paired up into groups to create a set of three pairs. Specific actions can only be given to one person of the pair, and the other is left to auto attack and defend as they see fit. This creates a new level of strategy as you will need to balance the actions between party members each round, and your groups must reflect this balance in turn.
On top of the changes made to the combat mechanics are the changes to how magic is played out on the field, with each rune having its own type of personality. Fire runes are now uncontrollable and while they do massive amounts of damage over a wide area, they will frequently hit allies with friendly fire. Lightning runes are fast and precise, allowing for multiple quick actions and useful for taking down single targets. There are countless changes to the runes and to list them would get tedious, but long time fans of the series have a lot to play with and will no doubt relish the increased tactical complexity.
The large army battles make their return with new mechanics. Instead of a boxed grid, battle maps are now plotted out by points and units move in real time. This real time combat creates a basic real-time strategy system as you are tasked with controlling a unit’s movement rather than its actions. When two units meet, the action is paused and zoomed in to a traditional six on six battle, as you watch the characters play out an automated battle. You are able to give basic commands – defend, attack, and retreat – but much of the strategy lies in character placement and positioning on the wider map.
If we have qualms about this system, it’s because moving player control from the smaller battles seems to have made the army battles harder than they really should be. The computer that controls your units will often make poor decisions on character actions, often splitting up damage over a wide range of enemies rather than focusing on downing a single target. It’s rather frustrating to watch your better characters get soundly defeated by enemies that would otherwise be a breeze under your control. Furthermore, there are boss battles that play out during these war scenes and you will basically end up throwing wave after wave of party members them until you either run out of units or they die, in a frustrating war of attrition. We do like that there was a shakeup of the large battle systems, but the decision to remove player control is baffling, presenting the player with fewer tactical options when we hoped for more.
As mentioned before, Suikoden III is the first in the series to use 3D graphics, and with the switch from 2D there come a change in art direction. Graphics had never been the focus of the Suikoden series as it has been with Final Fantasy, and while the game looks good for the era, it fails to stand out like the previous two titles did with their sometimes gorgeous 16-bit 2D sprites. It’s a shame that Konami were not able to translate the 2D art to 3D models as they were able to accomplish in Suikoden V.
Suikoden III also saw a departure of the long time series composer Miki Higashio lead composer of the soundtracks for the first two games. Higashio’s work is widely regarded as some of the most memorable music in gaming history and was part of what separated Suikoden from Final Fantasy. Suikoden III’s music was composed by Michiru Yamane, Keiko Fukami, and Masahiko Kimura and largely tries to capture the essence of the first two games. Unfortunately outside of the opening title track and a few key others most of the music remains uninspiring and largely forgotten.
This is coupled with several odd choices with the use of music, as several dialogue scenes play out with no background tracks. With voiceover not present in this title you’ll end up reading through a lengthy bit of text in total silence and that gets boring quickly. This could be due to the fact that series creator and director Yoshitaka Murayama left Konami towards the end of development, and many directorial decisions could have been overlooked in the wake of their departure.
These changes can be jarring to longtime fans of the series and they continue to be divisive within the online community over the quality of the game. At the time of Suikoden III’s release many critics and players felt that too many changes had been made to what was considered to be enjoyable about the franchise. But time has been favorable for the game and the changes are now viewed as what makes Suikoden III unique within the pantheon of RPGs.
Suikoden III presents a war from three different perspectives and the story does an excellent job at justifying all sides of the conflict. Zexen, the grassland tribes, and Harmonia are not evil or malicious in their actions, they are simply doing what they believe is the best course of action to take at the time. All three factions are being manipulated from the shadows by a mysterious man with his own objectives. Even though his actions eventually take a turn down a dark path it is easy to understand his perspective when his motivations are clearly outlined. He is not insane like Kefka or bitter from betrayal as Sephiroth was, he is simply trying to take back control of his own destiny.
The Konami team behind Suikoden III took the existing framework of the series and injected new life into a stagnating genre. By making what was a perfect storm of risk-taking and innovation needed to create a unique way of telling stories within a videogame, they ended up creating something special - albeit a product with some noticeable flaws. Despite this, it largely went unnoticed here in the West, much like the games which preceded it.
Suikoden III was released to mixed reviews at the time of release, with many citing that it was slow-paced and low in action compared to other RPGs of the time. High-action Final Fantasy-style games had become the norm, and Suikoden III wanted to slow things down to take time building its plot up to big payoff moments. It’s a thinking person’s RPG, now regarded as one of the better games made for the PlayStation 2 with critics often citing its revolutionary way of telling stories.
Suikoden III would be a perfect game if it didn’t stick the landing on some of its graphics and sound direction; but those are minor issues when looking at everything else that it does right. We fell in love with each of the main characters, and the weaving of perspectives not only helps you feel as though you own your own story, but also provides an incentive to play through the game again.
Much like how we concluded our review of Suikoden II, we have to emphatically state that fans of any age will enjoy experiencing Suikoden III, and there are a surprisingly high amount of copies available through online purchase at a reasonable price. Take advantage of these outlets, as it doesn’t seem that the game will be getting a digital release anytime soon; it took Konami quite a long time to come around to the idea of re-releasing Suikoden II through PSN.
Suikoden III was a game largely passed over ten years ago by critics and fans, but it’s also a game that deserves your attention, regardless of its faults. With a rotating cast of characters and rich narrative, there’s a lot to like if you’re a genre fan. Get your hands on a copy and pick a hero, as this is one you probably missed before but have the chance to experience now - and you won’t regret it.
