Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Bringing again the previous
Taking inspiration from others
I’m not a fan of random encounters in RPGs anymore.
As somebody who had grownup tasks on prime of reviewing video video games, I discover my time to be rather more helpful than once I was 13 years outdated. I get why they exist. Back within the day, implementing random encounters was a strategy to get round {hardware} restrictions, because it was too technically demanding to generate a number of enemies in an atmosphere concurrently. Other instances, random encounters had been inventive selections meant to simulate the “randomness” of RPGs like Dungeons & Dungeons. With {hardware} limitation not being an issue these days, many video games have gotten rid of random encounters in favor of seen enemies on the sphere. This lets gamers determine whether or not they wish to have interaction in battle or not.
When I play an RPG, I favor to preserve sources for boss battles and wish to shortly expertise a recreation’s story, so random encounters are extremely irritating. If I’m compelled into battle, I threat shedding treasured HP and losing MP on small fry once I have to be ready for the more durable fights up forward. Consequently, this makes random encounters boring as I’m solely utilizing primary assaults as a substitute of flashy ones that devour MP. There are methods round this. While video games like Tales of Graces f have seen enemies as a substitute of random encounters, it additionally has no MP in any respect. Modern options like this actually match my gaming habits and way of life.
So once I was on the brink of play Suikoden I&II HD Remaster Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars, I used to be dreading having to trudge via random encounters as a result of they had been staples in retro RPGs. Surprisingly, I truly discovered myself having fun with the random encounters, and that’s because of its timeless dungeon design and pacing that makes these remasters price revisiting — even in the event you don’t normally have the endurance for traditional RPGs.
Bringing again the previous
Suikoden is a RPG collection full of political intrigue and thrilling turn-based battles. It’s loosely primarily based off of the Chinese novel Shui Hu Zhuan, the place 108 outlaws come collectively to combat a standard enemy. As a consequence, every mainline Suikoden recreation has 108 recruitable characters. While not all of them are playable, it’s nonetheless positively a grind to maintain the massive solid in control with every character’s degree and gear, necessitating random encounters.
Konami
What actually stands out greater than something, although, is its wonderful dungeon design, which well accounts for its random encounters. Dungeons are brief, principally containing a couple of giant rooms with one or two branching paths that result in treasure chests. Short dungeons means fewer random encounters earlier than an upcoming boss and I can preserve extra sources like my HP and therapeutic objects.
One new function in these remasters that I initially took without any consideration is the Dash capacity. Simply put, it simply lets your character run quicker. In the unique Suikoden, your protagonist must equip the Holy Orb with a view to use Dash. In the remasters, the flexibility is already baked into your character from the very starting, which additionally frees up a treasured Orb slot that you should utilize for a unique capacity and lets me dash via dungeons even quicker.
One fight function that made Suikoden forward of its time was its auto-battle function. In its turn-based battles, you need to click on instructions akin to assault or defend for all six of your characters. Having to undergo six completely different menus actually bogs down the battle’s circulation, particularly random encounter ones. Auto-battle routinely permits my characters to only hit with primary assaults with out having to manually enter instructions. New to the remasters can be a velocity up function. This merely simply quick forwards a battle like a video tape and is a large quality-of-life enchancment that makes it simpler to push via random encounters.
These high quality of life options don’t simply maintain an outdated recreation in control with trendy instances. In reality, the remasters transcend some model new retro-inspired video games. Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, an RPG billed as a Suikoden religious successor, doesn’t have a quick ahead function. Eiyuden Chronicle is a captivating counterpoint to the brand new remakes, because it’s a venture that made essential errors in its try to mix in trendy recreation design with retro mechanics.
Konami
For occasion, Eiyuden’s dungeons felt fully too lengthy in comparison with these in Suikoden. It felt like the results of Eiyuden attempting to make dungeons that felt trendy, nevertheless it clashed with its old-school random encounters. The longer the dungeon, the extra encounters I triggered. Normally, this wouldn’t be an issue, however I hated having to waste MP towards regular enemy encounters once I might be saving it for an upcoming boss. This is exacerbated by the truth that save factors don’t restore your HP and MP.
While the save factors in Suikoden additionally don’t restore HP, the distinction right here is that the dungeons are a lot shorter, making the trek to the boss a lot much less annoying. The pacing at which therapeutic objects are upgraded makes an enormous distinction too. In Eiyuden, the bottom therapeutic potion solely heals 40 HP, which I felt was insufficient. However, in Suikoden, the bottom medication heals 100 HP, a way more acceptable quantity. In the early components of each Suikoden and Eiyuden, that therapeutic quantity made an enormous distinction as enemies can hit fairly onerous. It’s not till later within the Eiyuden that you simply get entry to its second degree therapeutic potion, which heals 100 HP.
Taking inspiration from others
Both Eiyuden and Suikoden have a Rune system, nevertheless it’s the best way they make the most of MP that stands out. Eiyuden’s MP system is as easy as many RPGs. Your allies can solid magic spells to both deal harm, grant buffs, or heal HP. The challenge right here is that MP restoration objects are extremely uncommon, and might normally solely be present in treasure chests up till you develop your HQ to incorporate the objects in its device store.
Suikoden, then again, doesn’t take care of conventional MP in any respect. Each Rune has a set variety of instances that they are often solid. The solely strategy to restore Runes is by sleeping at an inn. This system feels rather more limiting on paper. But in apply, I had loads of medication in order that I didn’t must waste my therapeutic or offensive Runes on random encounters and will save them for more durable fights.
Konami
While Eiyden Chronicle struggled by straightforwardly implementing random encounters, different current RPGs have taken distinctive approaches to the mechanic to make them really feel trendy. In the Bravely Default collection, there’s an adjustable slider to vary the encounter price. It may even be set to utterly off, and that makes exploring dungeons much less worrying. However, this might come on the expense of being underleveled for boss fights. The participant company lets me dictate the pacing, which is one thing I appreciated.
In Fantasian Neo Dimension, gamers can stack random encounters as much as a sure level right into a separate pocket dimension after which defeat the entire enemies in a single fell swoop. I used to be making progress because it was an environment friendly strategy to get extra highly effective whereas additionally respecting my time.
It’s ironic that these Suikoden video games, which have probably the most primary random encounter system, didn’t frustrate me as a lot as these titles designed to chop again on friction. It’s all because of how well designed Suikoden is with its dungeon size and its dealing with of things. I can see why the collection was so lauded to start with: it bought issues proper the primary time.
Suikoden I&II HD Remaster Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars launch on March 6 at the moment for PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, and PC.