Post by Bytor on May 2, 2011 7:36:47 GMT -5
Suikoden IV (幻想水滸伝IV Gensō Suikoden Fō) the fourth game in the series was released by Konami for the PlayStation 2 on August 19, 2004 in Japan, in North America on January 11, 2005 and in Europe on February 25, 2005. The game was directed by Masayuki Saruta with primary artwork by Junko Kawano and music composed by Masahiko Kimura, Michiru Yamane and Norikazu Miura. The game sold relatively well but reviews among critics and gamers were mixed at best, with most perceiving the game to be by far the wekest released yet.
The story is actually a precursor taking place 150 years before the events of Suikoden I. As always you play as the "hero", who by the way was a silent protagonist in I and II and very vocal in III, a young boy living on the island nation of Razril, which is being invaded by the Kooluk Empire. The story centers around the struggles to keep the island free and insure peace.
The game, is once again typical RPG with certain SRPG elements thrown in. However, and this is one of many complaints by some, it seems some changes from I, II and III were made simply to make changes. For instance instead of a party of six (as in I and II) fighting separately or the combo actions used in III here you have a party of four which can fight together, as in III, or separately, as in I and II. Also, the game actually takes place at sea, which makes sense considering the story motif, although some complained about the naval battles. The world map is also limited in what you can see/explore in IV much more so than in I-III. Runes, as always still play a prominent role and character customization is similar to before.
The game was perceived as rather short and the ebb and flow was considered inconsistent with the plot developing way too slowly, especially for such a short game. Many also felt the constriction of taking place on ships and islands to hamper the game as well and while overall the game sold decently well it probably did little to garner new attention to the series. And these are just a couple of the myriad complaints garnered by the game, Konami actually attempted to recify many of these issues actually releasing an unheard of direct sequel to the plot of IV with the release of Tactics less than a year later.
