Got 2 of the multiple endings, one where I go Karen's route and one on the amusement park where I then ditch with the helicopter(thought this would lead to a more explosive climax). A truly unique concept at the time riding on cinematic tropes of the disaster movies. Surprised there were not more games copying this formula since that genre was so popular at the time, but you can hints of influence in something like the Uncharted series. I also like how this game smartly avoids conflict and has enough self-aware campiness and real melodrama.

Played the old localized ps1 version on my ps2 console, had to put it down near the end after an absent-minded loss to a boss after about a 4 hour run of playing where I couldn't make it to a save tree. Realized I had to move on if I ever want to get to the more intriguing Persona 2 games(Innocent Sin and Eternal Punishment, both having either fan or official translations for ps1). Saw how the story finished out, and I'm curious now about the alternate storyline, which to complete I would have to pick up the PSP version of the game, so if I ever return to this that's probably how I'd do it.

The rest of this is very aesthetically pleasing. It's interesting how this was the evolution of the series after SMT If... the characterization was more ensemble and casual, something that would continue on with future Persona games and SMT as a whole. The town map was the only thing hard to navigate at the beginning for me, and the dungeons too strain you to go on a bit to long with that slow, flashy sprite combat(another reason I couldn't trudge through after losing so much progress). Despite the slow pace and combat which is so true-to-form for this series, the strengths of the world still came through here in the personality of the world, the characters, the monsters(including a basketball ghost and a demon toilet), the gambling minigames in the shady mall, the twin-peaks inspired velvet room(with one of the more interesting methods for fusion), the charm of the ps1 textured marble floors in the corporate building, the memorable soundtrack, and the hokey parallel-world story that's just campy and kindhearted enough for me to still look up the finish. Though I'm moving on in this series out of necessity I can say definitively that I did enjoy my time with this one, and I'd recommend it to all curious SMT fans, especially if you have the patience to get on board with the more dated elements.

Solid JRPG experience with some emotional highs, but not THE gReAtEsT RPG on the Playstation. I played around 35 hours to do all that I needed to do to get the best ending, recruit 180 Stars, etc. I'm glad I got a filled out file from the first Suikoden to do this, as the rewards and cameo as well as the depth of the returning main cast made for a really satisfying experience here that wouldn't have been as strong otherwise. It really is the returning characters as well as the main trio who drive this experience to stand on it's own. With that said, I encountered a lot of bugs and freezes, partly because I played this on OG hardware but pirated through POPS which is buggy as hell on its own, but I've heard of others encountering this too now matter how they play. Just some audio stuff and setbacks that happened a few time. The one thing I won't forgive though is to have a "timed-out" sidequest such as the Clive thing when the whole selling point of this game is so expansive and broad. So while I didn't do that minor sidequest I completed the whole thing at my own pace and had fun with it. The war combat was cool to be in a more strat RPG style but it was still noticably shallow overall with how much of what happens relies on plot, making your input feel somewhat pointless.

Still, HOW expansive this game is does manage to impress to this day. Although many of the "108 Stars of Destiny" characters don't develop outside of their recruitment quests and become somwhat of collectable items, it is interesting to touch upon each of them as well as the NPCs inhabiting both your castle and the towns as the plot progresses and the world changes around them. If I was younger and had the time I could easily see myself wandering around for at least 10 more hours doing nothing but exploring and talking to the locals, tracking how they move along with the world. And yes, the main points of the story that involve the twists and friendship fallout do make this game's story stand out from other traditional JRPG fare. For me, I'd put it up with Chrono Trigger for pushing the envelope in terms of what this sort of presentation and storytelling medium could do at the time, even if it doesn't particularly hit me with the full effect now.

I also don't think I'll ever get around to "complete" another Suikoden with it's many many characters and tales of war across the 5 entries, but I do plan to mess around on the ps2 entries a bit if I ever happen to cross their paths.