GSG: Volume 1 Impressions

[Yoon]

I recently got Genso Suikogaiden: Volume 1 a couple of weeks ago. I have only played through a fraction of the game so far.
First things first, if any of you are planning to import this game, I want to warn you that it is highly recommended that you have knowledge of Japanese (at least two years of knowledge). It is VERY heavy in Japanese and even I (three year Japanese student) am having a difficult time understanding the game, due to heavy use of kanji in the game.
Storywise, it is great. It adds more detail on what happened in Suikoden II and it's more like a neutral point of view on the events in Suikoden II. It is unfortunate that North America is missing out on this one and Volume 2, for they add much depth into the Suikoden storyline.
In terms of Gameplay, you could think of it as reading a storybook on TV. Since I am not used to reading so much Japanese (along with unrecognized kanji), it is difficult to understand. Although there are at times where you are forced to make decisions, they are not life and death choices, for they only result in slightly different events. In other words, you can't die in this game. Sure, you could import it and play it without knowing any Japanese and tap the X button to skip through the text, but it would be very boring (and tedious) without understanding what's going on in the game.
I really hope that Konami brings these games to North America, but it looks very doubtful, due to the game's text-style of gameplay. If you have a sufficient understanding of Japanese, I would recommend importing it (if it never makes it on this side of the world of course). If not, I would strongly advise against importing the game, unless you have a lot of extra cash or you're a very persistent Suikoden collector.

- CKTurbo128

[thecapedcrusader]

Games of this nature tend to not be accepted well by our audience.  Unfortunately.

[huangke]

i read something about this, Konami thinks that suikogaiden will not hit the US than higher than suikoden 1 and 2 that why there are no english version of it. but i already made a petition to make a translation of the game....i hope everybody too

hey cool! you understand nihonggo? i know katakana and hiragana but kanji, that takes years of guts

[cyclonia]

LoL...i have no idea what there wierd words that are being thrown out are (kanji?)...call me a dope...is this a dialect of japanese? I am thoroughly depressed that suikogaiden will not make its way to western shores, particularly in view of watching both opening sequences and seeing all the familair people. It is even more disturbing considering that Nash, the hero of the suikogaidens series is IN suikoden III!! We will surely miss out unless we know his history. It is my recommendation to everyone who is looking forward to Suikoden III to read the stories of Suikogaiden I and II, available on Suikosource.com (although Im sure you all already have!)

[Yoon]

Kanji is one of the three different types of characters the Japanese use (the other two being hiragana and katagana), which are basically Chinese characters which the Japanese use as "shortcuts" to save time, instead of writing the actual word out. It's like the "&" symbol, which we use a lot to substitute "and." Suikosource really is the best place to get information on the Suikogaiden series. By the way, welcome to the LoS boards, Cyclonia!

- CKTurbo128

[s0uleater]

text gameplay games really aren't too hot in north america. but to us hardcore suiko fans, we'd pay anything for them, no matter how easy they may seem.

i can't understand a word of japanese, and what's more, konami really has no intentions of realeasing the gaidens out in english. :'( or so i heard.
lately there have been rumors of it coming out in english along with gaiden 2 when suik 3 came out in english. any truth to it?