Great game with amazing themes held down by duck tape and one of the worst localizations I've ever seen, which is sad because the characters are held back by it a lot. There are many questionable gameplay choices, most notably the shitty wars, and honestly I can put them aside even though they do suck ass, however what I can't put aside is that the NTSC release of this game doesn't even play the music that plays during wars along with a few other tracks due to a bug in the games code. That's just stupid and it's equally as sad as the localization shit because the soundtrack is rather good.

This game is a clear step up from Suikoden 1 in nearly every single way, but some of the things I didn't like about the first game remained in this version, namely the fact that some characters in this game are missable and unless you google how to acquire them, you don't really find out that you missed them until you get access to a tablet that shows you which characters you missed... and by then it's too late to do anything about it.. It's very backwards and confusing.

I really like Suikoden's gameplay loop and I'm planning on playing the rest of the series relatively soon, sadly however my save file from Suikoden 1 didn't transfer for some reason and I didn't find out that it didn't until I was more than half way into the game, which really sucks.. but I'm open to replaying this game in the future and getting all the stars of destiny as I did in Suikoden 1. Chances are I'll do it before I get to Suikoden 3, so I'm not really that pissed about it. Who knows I might end up liking this as much as everyone else when I 100% it later down the line

Hope those remakes fix the problems, though knowing Konami... it won't. Lol

Very few games are able to build a world the way Suikoden does, and Suikoden II manages to skirt the line of having it all, while losing nothing in the process. From emotional beats, to showcasing characters, connecting with the previous game, managing to make a great villain, and a battle system that keeps up the entertainment; Suikoden II isn't just a classic, it's a master piece.

Suikoden II starts out with a clear focus on three characters, Joey, Naomi, and the player. Throughout the course of the story their bonds with each other, the hopes they have, and will to fight are constantly pushed to the brink. In a lot of ways, Suikoden II is just about this trio, and it's what helps set a focal point for newcomers that only played this game. As the trio go along their village and witness their lands getting into war, they realize they have to flee, and end up becoming apart of a new band of revolutionaries. This new bunch of revolutionaries not only consistent of characters from the previous game, but help structure their growth from Suikoden 1 to 2. It really is amazing how subtle the story deals with Suikoden 1 references, but they are abundant yet never distracting.

Luca Blight, is easily one of the best villains ever to grace gaming, and his reign of tier is showcased throughout the game; never satisfied with just telling how much of a monster he is. As the game comes to a head, more interesting developments happen, and largely they are all because of him.

This is a Suikoden game after all, and on top of the story, we have a great cast of characters, roughly 108, as we build the army to defeat Luca Blight. Due to having a large cast, not everyone gets the chance to shine, but we do get plenty of chances to see a lot of characters have a moment. Heck, there is even an entire mini-game based on Iron Chef that cook for the army does, with a full plot. The main problem with a lot of these moments tho is how they are timed and limited. If you aren't falling along with a guide or don't know a thing or two before hand, you will likely miss a lot during your playthrough of Suikoden II. And even if you do everything right, there is still a whole other side story that is completely timed, although I'd suggest you be looking around alleyways as much as you can when you are in Muse.

From turn based combat, to war rock paper scissors, Suikoden II's combat is a nice way to showcase the armies might. Largely, like any Suikoden game, you are given roughly 6 slots to use for a party, and each character will often have a special weapon or magic they can help use. On top of this, Suikoden II gives you unity attacks that act as a special of sorts when you have 2 or more characters that work well together. Suikoden II's battles are a very basic and bare bones map turn based tactics game where you engage in a sort of rock paper scissors style match that lowers both teams amount of units, although sometimes nothing happens to either side. Either way, you are always given a nice scale of how the army is growing, and just where exactly you are at in this game.

Really Suikoden II just packs way too much content that it's hard to explain why it's as loved as it is, but I feel like everyone has different reasons for it. To building your army, to emotional story beats, to even the iron chef mini game; Suikoden II gives you a lot while never letting you down.

After around 4 years of me picking up and putting down this game... I finally decided to pick it back up around 50% in and finish it.

The game has an amazing story.

Riou, Jowy, and Nanami are highlighted throughout most of the game.

Luca Blight is a goated ass villain. Suikoden also makes shit feel like a real war.

All the characters that return from Suikoden 1 are great - especially Viktor and Flik. Those two are the fucking GOATS man. Then being able to get Tir McDohl, the protagonist from the last game??? That side quest was cool

I'd say the only issues with it is that it's Suikoden - there are 108 recruitable characters and it's hard to fully flesh out a ton of them, but even so, I still think the primary side characters in the main story had arcs to solidify them as good characters.

The gameplay is great as you can make broken set ups with the runes and have a bunch of combination attacks by using specific characters together. Getting to use Riou and McDohl at the end made regular encounters so easy. The only bad thing about the gameplay is war battles.

To end it off, that true ending was one of the most satisfying endings out of any RPG I've ever played.

Extremely well made game. It deserves its praise cause it's definitely one of the best RPGs ever created and easily one of the best on the PS1.

Completely deserves its reputation as one of the greatest RPGs ever made.

This game does not waste your time. Battles load almost immediately, and are quick and fluid. It doesn't have a particularly long running time (~40ish hours), but there is almost always a sense of riveting urgency to the story, and it just feels like more things 'happen' in this game than some that are twice as long.

Visually, it has not aged a day. It looked fantastic 25 years ago, looks fantastic today, and will look fantastic 25 years from now.

Recruiting characters and growing your castle is an absolute joy. Some will be fighters for your party, some will run shops or minigames, some don't do much of anything but add humor or backstory to other characters. It's hard to make 108 different characters distinct, memorable and useful, and this game does an exceptional job at it. Add in one of the best antagonists from any game ever, and you have a truly special cast.

While entirely playable on its own, play Suikoden 1 first for some extra emotional oomph, as much of the cast returns for this game.

Absolute 10/10.

When you fall in love so strongly with something, sometimes it's hard to find a way to relive that experience again. I have felt this way about jrpgs for a while. I have played some excellent ones, but the childlike wonder of my all-time favorites has felt like it was something I wouldn't achieve again.

Suikoden 2 (and 1, but different story) showed me I was wrong and captured that feeling all over again. This game has everything that I could ever want out of a JRPG. Its world is so big, immersive, and developed. It has a simple but beautifully fun combat system. It has a ton of variety- whether fighting, doing army battles, duels, and recruiting the massive lineup of characters. It has wonderful music and beautiful presentation that enhances its atmosphere. It's not too long but has plenty of meat to dig into. It's replayable, with lots of role-playing in this role-playing game. Above all else though, it tells such a great story too. I refuse to spoil anything, but the way that it tells such a small, personal, and investing story with its characters on such a large scale that adds as much weight as it does memorable moments is fantastic. I love this game. I think the fact that I'm already itching to revisit it just a couple of months later is a sign of something special. wonderful

uma coisa que ocorre muitas vezes é o excesso de conteúdo em uma obra, muitas vezes tornando a atividade uma empecilho, eu estou falando quando é apresentado uma variedade de conteúdo sem parar, fazendo essas informações se tornar maçante ou desinteressante, podendo acabar quebrando tanto a progressão quanto a apresentação, esse tipo de situação é muito comum em obras com excesso de conteúdo, porém por mais que Suikoden II tenha sim esse excesso, ele é tão bem contado, construído ou mostrado, que apenas faz o jogo mais rico e único.
todas as noites as 9 horas da noite eu me deitava e apenas se podia ver uma luz tímida do meu quarto, aonde meu ps vita bootava o jogo, sinceramente é uma das aventuras mais gratificantes que já pude ter nesses últimos tempos, irei sentir saudade do meu único companheiro noturno.

desculpa pela mal escrita, escrevi rápido e precisa falar disso em algum lugar, ignorem o erros ortográficos

A poignant tale about how life and ambition can lead close friends down very different paths. Much more vibrant and polished than the first game, I understand why this one is a favorite for both series fans and PS1 RPG fans.
My only gripes are the localization, which while better than Suikoden, is still a little rough, and the numerous bugs, which actually detract from certain scenes and can potentially reduce enjoyment of certain playable sections. If you want to play this, I highly recommend finding a version where bug fixes have already been made or where you can apply bug fixes yourself. Hopefully the upcoming remake smooths these things over.

Idk man I've kinda been sitting here rumminating on this one.

In a lot of ways this game encapsulates so much of what I love about RPGs. The sense of a high stakes quest, the people you meet along the way, seeing character become stronger and change, and so much more. Moments of really high suspense and honestly some of the most depressing and discouraging plot points at times couples with lighter moments as well that bring this kinda of calming warmth when things arent so bad.

Something I find especially well done is showing that Riou really is a kid who gets tossed into a war. I think there a lot of moments where it shows that hes kinda lost in all this and kinda taking it a step at a time. Whether that's done through his very hesitant and unsure dialogue options or the several times he passes out from exhaustion throughout the story. The game really does a great job of showing that this is a war that isnt even particularly his to fight but alas he is there trying to, for better or worse and whether he wants to or not.

I also really enjoyed the 100 something chars you can have join you (not all for battle but its fine). A lot of them are pretty thin personality wise but the interactions you do have with them gives enough of a glimpse of who they are or what they have going on that i enjoyed. I think the amount of character in the sprite work helps with this as well.

Honestly the only thing I didnt like where the SRPG battles, or the grid based ones. They just felt very wishy washy and not really ironed out. Which sucks cause the 1v1 battle method i think is simple but effectively excecated, and used in some really really good moments.

I probs have more thoughts and feelings but this is sufficient for my thoughts on it.

I just have a feeling this game is gonna mean a lot to me as the days go by.

Taking the hint from the previous game, Suikoden II portrays an darker side to the original's theme of wartime cruelty. Here, the tragedy of war is pronounced to terrible extremes, with cutscenes that are almost uncomfortable to sit through, due to in large part the actions of Luca Blight, one of the most effective RPG villains of all time.

Besides presenting the horrors of a genocidal madman in all its twisted glory, Suikoden II is in many ways the emotional journey of two soldiers. The two major characters experience lives full of incredible hardship, one that brutally and unfairly tests their resolve, courage, and ultimately their friendship as their ideals slowly drift apart. The moments between the player character, Jowy, and Nanami constitute some of the most emotionally excruciating scenes in video game history. The maturity found within its morbid vision of war allows the game to confidently implement some more disturbing themes in its narrative, without fully engorging in its own bloodlust, that once again revolutionizes JRPG story. The game also succeeds in the narrative details, with 'microstories' revolving around the various towns and cities in the world effectively turning each one into meaningful locations of their own, not just spaces to buy equipment and restore HP. All-in-all, it was a crucial point in the evolution of political JRPG story. Whereas Yasumi Matsuno's brand always held a chilling, detached (yet paradoxically in-your-face) philosophy, Yoshitaka Murayama presented a humane, warmer, ideal outlook. However - unlike the naive enthusiasm of their peers, this was idealism tempered and fueled by sheer grief, remaining hopeful despite all the trauma.

While the combat system remains lacking, the base building of the original is expanded to include several more minigames and more inventive means of recruiting allies. While being a strong visual and mechanical upgrade over their predecessor. the gameplay of Suikoden II remains cast in the shadow of its plot, lost in the story's gripping emotional wasteland.

Suikoden II is a grand achievement, one that - in its cascades of tragedy, effectively represents a hyper-realist take on human conflict.

I still have vivid memories of the summer in '00. Being alone for a month and a half, my parents away for the summer, my days boiled down to a simple routine; Wake up around 10-11, eat breakfast while playing Suikoden II and continue playing; spending the afternoons at a questionable telemarketing firm, no really giving two shits; go home and squeeze in an hour or so of Suikoden II; meet up with my friends and go for a swim or out drinking in the balmy Swedish summer night; come home late and play some more Suikoden II until I started nodding off. Rinse and repeat. And on some days I skipped the middle part entirely and just stayed at home. Playing Suikoden II, naturally.

So my impression of Suikoden II is biased, to say the least, being a cornerstone in The Best Summer EVER™.

Forever having lived under Final Fantasy VII's and its 3D-contemporaries shadows, Suikoden II was something of the last hurrah for big-budget sprite-based jRPGs. At least for a couple of years, until pop culture's obsession with all things '80s kicked in. If you didn’t play it the first time around – which not many people did, to be honest – you probably know it as “that game my RPG-playing friend won’t shut the f--k up about”. I'm pretty sure I was one of those people, myself.

Suikoden II is easily one of the best entries in the genre (at least during its 16-bit era; I can’t speak for more modern games since I haven’t played newer jRPGs) and a huge improvement over the ‘95 original. It definitely reinforced my delusion of jRPGs as a favorite genre, when in reality I actually just liked 5-6 games with Suikoden II sharing first place with Chrono Trigger (something I discovered later, though).

Better and more engaging writing with more fleshed-out characters, broader scope, and more varied gameplay, crispier graphics, and sprites. Where Suikoden felt like a quaint change of space with its USP of a 108-person character rooster, Suikoden II is like a Tolstoy epic about war, peace, friendship, and betrayal.

That’s not to say it doesn’t struggle with localization issues and some of the characters really being one-note stereotypical RPG cliches. I wouldn't go as far as calling them outright offensive but definitely dated. Overall, though, it’s a more mature game that has aged quite a lot better than its predecessor.

It might be the best JRPG ever made, and if not, it certainly deserves a seat at the table with other contenders like Chrono Trigger.

I would be hard-pressed to name a single substantial criticism. Perhaps it's overly linear, with no post-game or side content beyond the well-known goal of attaining all 108 recruitable characters. Suikoden II is on rails, it tells a single grand story from point A to point B, with little deviation.

But is that really a criticism, or just my yearning for more?