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

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?

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.

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.

Little did I know that a game I bought because the artwork on the gem case looked cool would turn out to be one of my favorite RPGs of all time, still living rent free in my brain 20+ years after I initially played it.

For those wanting to experience this game in a more modern setting, they're giving it a remaster and re-releasing on steam and switch, including an update on the translation, which would be my only real knock against this gem. It wasn't as horrible as some of the worst offenders at the time, but it could...Certainly have been improved.

But the core of the experience remained in this game, which is a JRPG which is NOT 'teenagers go and kill god', but rather one based on politics and intrigue. So you know. Relatable reasons. Its a game with so many well placed twists and betrayals and reveals that 20 years later I still don't want to spoil them. It also includes one of most memorable villains in any game ever, Luca Blight.

You can also hire a detective who can look into the background of a unicorn that joined your party, and he complains about what went wrong in his life to lead him to this juncture.