I just played through the original Suikoden again for the first time in a decade. Still holds up - really enjoyed watching this video with the original so fresh in my mind!
Thanks for watching--for this video, I played through the game completely for the first time in a decade as well, and while it seems so quaint and the story events rushed, it definitely holds up, and is still one of my all time faves.
Vandal Hearts, from KCE Nagoya, has a ton of transparency (and it was a very good port by the way). I think they simply didn't try hard enough with this one.
Ha ha, well, your hero should be Tir McDohl, since he's such a badass...you know, for a kid who dresses like a hobo, but thank you, and I too love seeing so much passion for Suikoden from people like yourself.
The dedication that you pour into these videos puts a tear in my eye. I loved how you used music outside of the games' osts.17:55 Banshee has joined the 108 Gazillion Stars of the Underworld after being slayed by Kasumi lmao.
I love the Suikoden OST, and especially the many arranged tracks on the Celtic, Piano, and other collections. Also, LMAO at that banshee...you made it, kid!
Didn't realize this game was on the Saturn, and had I not seen this video, I might have picked it up a month ago when I was browsing Saturn imports online. Thanks for stopping me from buying a lesser port. Also really happy to see your videos here again. :)
Just wanted to leave a comment here pointing a couple of things out--there are massive Suikoden spoilers in this video. It should be pretty obvious anyway, and the game is over 20 years old, but there it is to anyone who hasn't played it but plans to. Also, I broke past 5000 subscribers between this and my last video, so thank you to all those who've subscribed and watched my video series, whether you've hung around from the start, or just stumbled on it. I really appreciate it.
Very much appreciated--I love Suikoden, and I love that I have the opportunity to share that love with other fans of the series and maybe teach a few people some things about it they might not have known.
If it's one thing I hate getting in between, it's a man and his beauty sleep. Hope it was worth putting it on hold for thirty minutes...and you aren't covered in hideous moles now because of it.
another great video man. You leave no stone unturned in these videos. I never knew there was a Saturn version until a little while back, I think when Game Dave covered the first game. I assumed the differences in the Saturn version would have just been the usual downgrade in textures and lack of transparencies. So glad we didn't get that US boxart in the UK. Just wish i still had a copy because, man, it's a pricey game now. Plus we never got the PSN version on PS3 here. I'll get a copy when I become a RUclips billionaire.
Thanks--yeah, I really try to cover as much as possible without things becoming TOO boring...kind of like leaving a record for people to check out when video games are banned from society permanently in twenty years or so. When you become a RUclips billionaire, cut me a nice deal on an English copy of Suikoden II, and I promise I'll hide it well from the government in the underground secret room of banned materials I have below my bed.
Will do. I need to get on that actually forming a proper collection thing. Been collecting up the real bottom of the barrel games recently. Bit worried that I can't see the copy of Suikoden II I was borrowing off my friend though. Hopefully he took it back and it hasn't vanished.
it's a shame the saturn suikoden & especially castlevania ports were hastily cobbled together. Given proper treatment, these could be the definitive versions quite easily. Saturn was a beast in the right hands. Alas, still cool versions to experience. Nice video.
Yeah it hurts when I still hear people say "the Saturn struggles with transparences.. it doesn't.. it was just difficult to program for and I'm sorry but it could have easily had the sprites on screen while loading.. I mean look at dragon force... 200 sprite's on screen at once with no slow down.. it's as you said these were rushed ports and due to the Saturn being harder to develop for.. these are unfortunately the results
I played the PS1 English version and Japanese Saturn versions back to back, so everything was fresh in my memory. That being said, I forgot to include a couple of small things here, and I discovered a few things while I was editing, so I had to record new lines several times. I even had to play the Japanese PS1 version to confirm a couple of things...pain in the ASS!
Thanks to you i seeked out a copy of suikoden for psx. It really looks amazing. I never played it but im suprised i never tried. It looks like it has depth. I have a feeling ill enjoy it. Thank you for introducing me. Id play the saturn port but sadly i cant read japanese.
Ancient history now, but pretty sad they couldn't make the Saturn version an upgrade; and when I say "couldn't" I really mean "wouldn't" as since we all know the Saturn had superior 2-D capabilities (and potentially superior in other areas) in the right hands. As you alluded to somewhere here, just lazy.
Man, I LOVE the Suikoden games. It's been so long since I've played them though... Watching this really made me want to go back, like, now! lol.. I need to pick up a Playstation at some point. I finally have room! Great video though Jimmy, I'd say you are a pro at Long Form content now. I turned it on just meaning to watch the intro (was supposed to be working on my script) and ended up watching the whole thing! Emotionally powerful intro you did, it grabbed me and didn't let go. The amount of detail you went into with the changes was staggering, bravo on that. I love over analytical videoes like this.. because I like to do them myself :D As for the technical issues, it seems to me like the programmers just got lazy with the Saturn port. I think a lot of those things (like 5 second blank screen load times in between rooms) could have been ironed out if they took some extra time. But the Saturn was almost a dead system by the time this game came out, which probably had something to do with it... As I said on Twitter, I plan on getting caught up on a lot of your stuff. I have your notifications turned ON now, so I will get the updates and watch as I get them. Keep up the great work man! I forgot how much I love these videos that you do. You are amazing.
It seems like it was the music played on the PSX sound chip that got changed [because it had to be re-written for a different synthesiser] while the streamed music was preserved.
Thanks for watching--the PC port video should be coming up in a few weeks. Won't be along video, but there are some cool differences between it and all other versions of Suikoden I'd like to point out!
Wish you had mentioned that Suikoden 3 newer made it to european shores because of some localization issues, thus being cancelled for all PAL territories with only an NTSC rerelease some years ago on the PS3 PSN.
Now that you mention it, I don't recall ever seeing a PAL release of Suikoden III. Sorry to hear it took so long to make it over to Europe, and not on the PS2.
@@ImportGamingFTW MAYBE Suikoden 3 gets a new chance when the Genso Suikoden remasters hit the store and sell quite nicely that europe also gets the chance on that game PLUS a relocalization. Would also be dope if Suikoden 1 & 2 get their "lost content" or additional content readded for the remaster, so that we don't have just the PS1 versions upscaled, redrawn and maybe added speed ups as new features for it.
The execution of that opening alone was amazing, the way you tied the music with the imagery. Perfection! Another Vandal Hearts fan? Awesome! It was the first game that I played on the PS1 and I have such fond memories of it. I remember being surprised by the over dramatic blood splattering whenever a human enemy died, but the political narrative had me drawn in from the beginning. I didn't realize that it got ported to the Saturn. I wonder what the differences are between that and the PS1 version? The Saturn version of the opening for Suikoden looks great. I love the redrawn character art. Especially Viktor (probably for the same reason you like Kasumi's art. ;P ) After watching this, now you got me wanting to try out the Saturn version of Suikoden for myself.
Venoix maybe, although I’m really just getting into this genre as an adult (I had xenogears and dragon warrior as my only rpgs growing up) and Vandal Hearts still really hit it out the park for me
@@opaljk4835 If you like Vandal Hearts you should check out the Arc the Lad series. Consequently, I have reviewed all 5 of the main series Arc the Lad games on my channel, if you wanted an idea of what to expect.
Gensosuikoden/Suikoden is one my favorite jrpg series. The frist game is a good starter for anyone who has just getting into jrpgs. I have the Playstation and Saturn versions of the frist Suikoden I enjoy them both. The Playstation version has lase load times. The Saturn version has the extra content. 🙂❤
It’s so weird they couldn’t get the half transparencies to match the ps1. I’ve seen so many Saturn games do that, but Konami seemed to put a little less effort into Saturn stuff than they did with the ps1. It’s the same thing with load times. Look at the speed at which shining force 3 runs between the rendering of the fight scenes and the world map. It’s extremely fast. It’s probably more about the porting process and capabilities of the programmers, or time. Who knows.
It's definitely just a less than stellar port job, but I appreciate the extra scenarios and content. If I could redo this video, I would change the way I talk about the technical shortcomings/disappointments of this port.
@@ImportGamingFTW agreed, since they were sort of discounted ports I guess it makes sense? Great vid though, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I am curious to know if the soundtrack is streamed, SCSP, or it’s a mix of them for the audio. The Saturn was such a weird and complicated and interesting console. I’ve really come to appreciate a lot of the games for it
Yeah, it was laziness. They could've used the 4MB cart expansion to enhance the experience but didn't. Great video. In the West, Suikoden was a great PSX tide-me-over until FF7 was released. Anything was better than Beyond the Beyond.
Laziness with a dash of budgetary constraints, I'd say. I played Suikoden right after Final Fantasy VII, so for me, it was like discovering a completely different, simpler approach to a 32-bit RPG, and I loved both dearly--still collect trinkets and useless crap for both games today. And Beyond the Beyond...we don't talk about that game on this channel...no sir, we don't. I remember buying it because it looked like Suikoden on the back of the box...man, how could a great dev like Camelot screw up so bad?
Hey Jimmy, can I make a video for the SOS too? Probably a Suikoden 1 / 2 review or something like this. It will be an honor, let me know. Love your work.
the US Suikoden art always cracked me up. this game was always great, but even as a kid i knew it wasn't gonna deliver on 80's style cheesy fantasy, a hot magic goth lady, and a weird cherub version of James from Twin Peaks :((((((
Oh boy, it only gets worse from here with the PC port? Haha, wow that looks bad! I can't wait to see you dig your claws into it. Let's hope for some dope box inserts to make up for that visual interface. Starting with a thick manual! I'm loving the final track at the very end though.
one look just one look i knew i would loved suikoden. when i first bought it. i mite not be the first person who bought the game in the entire world but i know that im the first who knew the game is awesome. sound track one and 2 i loved it but i never get to play 3-4or 5 im pretty sure im the first person in CA Stockton who bought it
Hey now that you mentioned futch being an adonis in 3. I wonder what happened to humphrey? Because in 2 futch uses a spear but when it came to 3 futch now uses the muramasa which is humphrey"s sword in 1 & 2. Did humphrey died? I love his character... he is the key so you could survive phantoms and pinkbirds when you do the matilda glitch in 2. He's like your early game "georg" if i could say so myself.
I played through the entire PSP port of Suikoden I completely a few months ago and was planning on doing a video on it. Didn't encounter anything bizarre regarding the upscaling...what did you find was so off about it?
@@ImportGamingFTW idk it just felt like when you put ps1 games on the ps3 and you can see the border of the screen and theres just empty black space on the edge of the screen haha
This just popped pop out of my recommendations feed and I do miss Suikoden a lot. I love this series so much that I'm so disappointed in Konami solely because of how they handle their IPs. As for Suiko 1, For the opening, I prefer the Saturn version but overall there are tidbits where I like the PS1 version and there are parts where I prefer the Saturn one. Would like to have this remade or remastered but this is Konami...so...probably not.
There were actually six Goemon games released in the west, if you count Mr. Goemon, as it was re-released on the X360 and PS4. :D Oh, and does that TMNT LCD game count? The one that's the same as the Goemon one? I know the TMNT version was supposedly the original, but it's still a version of a Goemon game... :D By the way, Suikoden 1 and 2 were on sale on the Playstation Network about a month ago, and I missed them :( I really should give the series a try, as it does have a dedicated fanbase, and it's by Konami, but I find myself getting into less and less RPGs as they usually take a long time to beat, and time is not something I have a ton of nowadays. You mentioned that the first game is pretty short, though. About how long is it?
I always forget about Mr. Goemon being released in that weird arcade thing...but I didn't know it was also on PS4...looks like I'm downloading it soon. I got to play it for the first time a year ago on one of those Arcade Gears machines here in Japan--good fun, IMO! The LCD thing is a bit tricky...I'll consider it half a release like that Konami compilation over in Europe, so at least it counts toward one full release! Ha ha. I definitely recommend playing both games...like, highly, HIGHLY recommend it. We have similar tastes, so I'm pretty sure you'd enjoy it, and yeah, it's Konami at its finest. The first game is probably about 20 hours for a first-time playthrough. I hadn't played the game in over ten years when I captured footage for it a month or so ago, and I beat it in under 14.
Sega Saturn is much better in handling 2d games than PS1, so i guess that shortcomings of this port came from devs' lack of experience with complicated hardware of Saturn.
I used to like JRPGs but the random battles really takes the wind out of my patience. If it was up to me id adjust by configurations & options. Such as: Frequency of Battles [xcpt events]- None/Rarely/Frequent/Constant Amount of Enemies [xcpt events]- Single/Section/Squadron/Platoon Enemy Challenge [xcpt events]- Normal Stats/Hard/Punishing/Cheap & Broken
I used to be such a fan when I was younger, even had a circle of friends in high school call me the "RPG Master" a few times as a nickname...but in the PS2 era, I just kind of got sick of them. I have been getting into them again lately, though. And I would love to adjust those parameters you mentioned, especially for some of the older games...guess Game Genie/Shark is the way to go.
But it's not that bad in Suikoden 1. It's worse in Suikoden 4. Each step you take almost took me to random encounter. At beginning of the beginning I kinda was ok with it, but more I progressed it became tedious and don't let me start the attacks when you got the ship. That's too much random encounters. Suikoden 1 an 2 were acceptable
Very nicely put together video! I find fault with some of the information contained within however. Everyone knows by now that the Saturn absolutely destroys the PS1 with 2D games. Only the development team's laziness and or ignorance held this game back from being superior to the original PlayStation version in every single way. Also, of you seriously believe that "hardware limitations" prevents the Saturn from displaying loading animations, you are either lying or extremely ignorant as that is a complete falsehood. There are tons of Saturn games that have animated load screens, as of that was anything exciting to begin with. Nevertheless, this was a statement that should have never been made. Anyways, I prefer this version due to the extra content that it offers. While not quite on the level of the Dracula X offerings we got, this version of Suikoden still feels the most complete as a result.
Weird the Saturn version fails at certain ports when it can more than handle 2D. Of course what they really need to do is provide a definitive port that brings all the extra stuff together with better graphics.
23:12 Yes, that is correct, sir. It's a shame that the Saturn version has so many technical flaws, since the added bonuses really make it the "complete package" for Suikoden.
Laziness only for almost everything. The transparency can be done in Saturn and the worst thing is that the game came in late 98 so programmers knows how to use both vdp1 and vdp2. Konami has done bad ports for the Saturn. I understand why metal gear didn’t come to the Saturn with lazy guys like that
the problem with that these arcade ports from capcom are not exclusives for the system .making the saturn less atractive.to own now a days with all mame cps2 cps3 rom with almost perfect emulation around no loading times etc is pointless really . the sega saturn is good for is exclusive sega first party titles not realease on other platform konami had the best exclusives but on the ps1 and n64 like metal gear and others.. they never care for sega
14:10 in the intro is a corelation between the elements schown whitch is wrong, earth connect to fire and wind, and not thunder, and so on. That intro was the reason why i played the game from new, just to check if the resurection rune realy has no combo with the others :) btw. one of the books that you get in the game says, you can cast ultimate magic by combine 3 elements, and it schould be posible only with crowley in the team. Could somebody figure that out? or was it another translation error? corse it never worked for me, i managed only to create 2 element combos. Or maybe it works only in the Saturn version?
Hue Jackson pal systems run on much superior rgb and the pal format has higher resolution. Many saturn games were pal optimised anyway so run at the same speed. You win some, you lose some. PAL format wasn't as bad as many people made it out to be.
Ugh...every time you mention the Goemon games we never got, specifically the SNES ones, I die a little inside. Translate 'em for me. I thought about getting Rosetta Stone for Japanese just to play those games, no shit.
so far thats 4 2D Games where the ps1 Version is a little better then the saturn version. Rayman MKTrilogy SotN And now Suikoden. Who knows their maybe more idk about. Also i don't consider additional things added to the saturn version to be better if the experience is changed a bit such as lower framerates, longer loadtimes, little flaws and limitations get in the way. The additional things added are more like compensation to make up for it, but i don't classify that exactly as superiority.
Yeah, PS original all the way, but like I said in the vid, it's a good game for people to play through who are already fans of the game. I've heard that Dodonpachi on Saturn is worse than its PS1 counterpart, but I'm not sure--I only own the PS1 version and can't compare myself.
@Dark Savior Madara Unless there's information I'm not aware of (and please enlighten me if thats the case), Rayman is NOT better on the PS1, its worse. All of the end level effects and transitions are completely missing whereas they are always a sight to behold in the Saturn game, and as usual the loading times and such are better - not to mention the advantage of having the best controller for 2D games, ever. Some backgrounds were changed for the PS1 version if thats what you're referring to, but that hardly makes it "better", they are just different. Also, everyone knows this by now but SOTN is basically running on a 3D engine, its not a true 2D game, as if it was the Saturn would be better in every single way. They lazily ported over the 3D engine from the PS1 game without reworking it for the Saturn's architecture. MKtrilogy is unknown to me, the differences at least. Feel free to divulge that information here on why the PS1 could be better?
The load times make no sense at all because the saturn has better hardware decompression, more ram available, and faster transfer rate. It makes no sense. On top of missing but possible graphical effects and weird textures that.. btw... have the original textures files available but not used(on a device with more vram)... it just screams lazy
i am very gifted any game i see when i say its good its going to be good any game i say its suck its really going to be suck with out have to read the story of the game or playing it
Ps3 don't upscaling so good but If you like ps3 style then nice for you. I use PSone with XRGB-mini or OSSC and i like them both. But the most important thing is that you enjoy playing. (Graphics are not everything.)
Miska Simola Imo smoothers are best on HDTVs and Sharpness is best for CRTs i switch around here and there and yes your correct enjoyment is what matters most
Yeah, pixelated all the way for me. I used official RGB cables to record Saturn footage here, and it looked great on my TV, but sadly, the capture card didn't do it justice.
What kind of TV do you have? I have Sony PVM-20M4E and shitty HDTV but take all what OSSC throw out. Hope update at some point OLED, but price is right now to expensive. (OLED look more like CRT than LED HDTV because OLED can do perfect Black and there is no color bleeding like LED HDTV but need model that have less input lag before i buy one.)
Founding out this game came on Sega Saturn. But stopped watching because of numerous "sAtUrN iNfErIoR gRaPhIcS" assertions. We know today saturn was Indeed the more powerful hardware.
I just played through the original Suikoden again for the first time in a decade. Still holds up - really enjoyed watching this video with the original so fresh in my mind!
Thanks for watching--for this video, I played through the game completely for the first time in a decade as well, and while it seems so quaint and the story events rushed, it definitely holds up, and is still one of my all time faves.
I'm looking forward to the new "HD" release. Looks like it's coming out in March 2025.
They've used the PSP port as a base
S2 is always my favorite but S1 has a soft spot for me. Love the games!
Vandal Hearts, from KCE Nagoya, has a ton of transparency (and it was a very good port by the way). I think they simply didn't try hard enough with this one.
This ^ it still hurts with the misinformation on saturn and transparency effects
You're my hero. Love seeing so much passion for Suikoden
Ha ha, well, your hero should be Tir McDohl, since he's such a badass...you know, for a kid who dresses like a hobo, but thank you, and I too love seeing so much passion for Suikoden from people like yourself.
I hope they bring in the additional story details in the HD remaster. Konami did actually used the Saturn OP for their TGS reveal.
I love everything Suikoden. Thank you so much for this video, very underrated series. Especially the first two. The story and music are unforgettable
You're welcome--keep the love of Suikoden alive!
IKR? This intro brought tears to my eyes.
Wow, as a long time Suikoden fan it was really weird seeing new content I had no idea existed! Great video.
Thank you--and I'm glad to hear you found out something new with this video, despite being a Suikofan!
I have played almost every Suikoden game ( missing Suikogaiden and Suikoden Tactics) and this presentation is so damn impressive.
The dedication that you pour into these videos puts a tear in my eye. I loved how you used music outside of the games' osts.17:55 Banshee has joined the 108 Gazillion Stars of the Underworld after being slayed by Kasumi lmao.
I love the Suikoden OST, and especially the many arranged tracks on the Celtic, Piano, and other collections. Also, LMAO at that banshee...you made it, kid!
Didn't realize this game was on the Saturn, and had I not seen this video, I might have picked it up a month ago when I was browsing Saturn imports online. Thanks for stopping me from buying a lesser port. Also really happy to see your videos here again. :)
Amazing cover of of my all time favorite game series!! Played the saturn long time ago and its a great port!
Thank you, and you have IMPECCABLE taste in games, IMO.
Just wanted to leave a comment here pointing a couple of things out--there are massive Suikoden spoilers in this video. It should be pretty obvious anyway, and the game is over 20 years old, but there it is to anyone who hasn't played it but plans to.
Also, I broke past 5000 subscribers between this and my last video, so thank you to all those who've subscribed and watched my video series, whether you've hung around from the start, or just stumbled on it. I really appreciate it.
Also, much like many of my other videos, there's a little bonus thingy for those who make it all the way to the end!
No joke, you could make a while channel just covering Japan only Saturn ports.
Hell yeah, let's do this then.
Jimmy Happa.. your enthusiasm rocks! Love your work, thank you!
Very much appreciated--I love Suikoden, and I love that I have the opportunity to share that love with other fans of the series and maybe teach a few people some things about it they might not have known.
Jimmy your videos are so good. This was really informative and fun. Thanks!
Thanks a lot, I'm glad you're enjoying them--I'll try to keep them informative, can't guarantee the fun, though.
You make this so clear.. thank you
Thank YOU for watching, I'm glad my presentation wasn't too jumbled up/clunky for you to understand.
Duuuuude I was getting ready to go to sleep but I love your content so much I had to put my beauty sleep on hold.
If it's one thing I hate getting in between, it's a man and his beauty sleep. Hope it was worth putting it on hold for thirty minutes...and you aren't covered in hideous moles now because of it.
I just discovered you channel and i must say that i really respect that attention to details. You got yourself a new subscriber.
Brilliant video! Always wondered about the differences in this version, and now I know.
Then my work here is done!
Its always great seeing another video from you, jimmy.
Well, thank you for the continued support, John.
I love your content man! Suikoden 1+2 is and will always be my favorite RPG.
Thank you very much, love hearing that from a fellow Suikoden fan.
another great video man. You leave no stone unturned in these videos. I never knew there was a Saturn version until a little while back, I think when Game Dave covered the first game. I assumed the differences in the Saturn version would have just been the usual downgrade in textures and lack of transparencies. So glad we didn't get that US boxart in the UK. Just wish i still had a copy because, man, it's a pricey game now. Plus we never got the PSN version on PS3 here. I'll get a copy when I become a RUclips billionaire.
Thanks--yeah, I really try to cover as much as possible without things becoming TOO boring...kind of like leaving a record for people to check out when video games are banned from society permanently in twenty years or so.
When you become a RUclips billionaire, cut me a nice deal on an English copy of Suikoden II, and I promise I'll hide it well from the government in the underground secret room of banned materials I have below my bed.
Will do. I need to get on that actually forming a proper collection thing. Been collecting up the real bottom of the barrel games recently. Bit worried that I can't see the copy of Suikoden II I was borrowing off my friend though. Hopefully he took it back and it hasn't vanished.
it's a shame the saturn suikoden & especially castlevania ports were hastily cobbled together. Given proper treatment, these could be the definitive versions quite easily. Saturn was a beast in the right hands. Alas, still cool versions to experience. Nice video.
Yeah it hurts when I still hear people say "the Saturn struggles with transparences.. it doesn't.. it was just difficult to program for and I'm sorry but it could have easily had the sprites on screen while loading.. I mean look at dragon force... 200 sprite's on screen at once with no slow down.. it's as you said these were rushed ports and due to the Saturn being harder to develop for.. these are unfortunately the results
All the feels in your video make me happy. How did you get all of these comparisons? Did you play both games at the same time?
I played the PS1 English version and Japanese Saturn versions back to back, so everything was fresh in my memory. That being said, I forgot to include a couple of small things here, and I discovered a few things while I was editing, so I had to record new lines several times. I even had to play the Japanese PS1 version to confirm a couple of things...pain in the ASS!
You deserve more subscribers! You create amazing contents!
Thank you very much.
Thanks to you i seeked out a copy of suikoden for psx. It really looks amazing. I never played it but im suprised i never tried. It looks like it has depth. I have a feeling ill enjoy it. Thank you for introducing me. Id play the saturn port but sadly i cant read japanese.
No problem at all--let me know if you ended up playing the game! Though it's really the combo of I & II that makes the series so special.
Ancient history now, but pretty sad they couldn't make the Saturn version an upgrade; and when I say "couldn't" I really mean "wouldn't" as since we all know the Saturn had superior 2-D capabilities (and potentially superior in other areas) in the right hands. As you alluded to somewhere here, just lazy.
Man, I LOVE the Suikoden games. It's been so long since I've played them though... Watching this really made me want to go back, like, now! lol.. I need to pick up a Playstation at some point. I finally have room!
Great video though Jimmy, I'd say you are a pro at Long Form content now. I turned it on just meaning to watch the intro (was supposed to be working on my script) and ended up watching the whole thing! Emotionally powerful intro you did, it grabbed me and didn't let go. The amount of detail you went into with the changes was staggering, bravo on that. I love over analytical videoes like this.. because I like to do them myself :D
As for the technical issues, it seems to me like the programmers just got lazy with the Saturn port. I think a lot of those things (like 5 second blank screen load times in between rooms) could have been ironed out if they took some extra time. But the Saturn was almost a dead system by the time this game came out, which probably had something to do with it...
As I said on Twitter, I plan on getting caught up on a lot of your stuff. I have your notifications turned ON now, so I will get the updates and watch as I get them. Keep up the great work man! I forgot how much I love these videos that you do. You are amazing.
Saturn was developed for until Jan 2001
It seems like it was the music played on the PSX sound chip that got changed [because it had to be re-written for a different synthesiser] while the streamed music was preserved.
It's a nice port, just like Vandal Hearts on Saturn.
I'd like to do a comparison of the PS1 and Saturn versions of that game as well.
How i just found your channel? Great stuff keep up the great work
Thanks, and glad to have you around.
Really enjoyed this, great video I love suiko 1 & 2
I love this and it's only on my watch later.
BULLSHIT! C'mon, you girly man, what are you waiting for? KILL MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! DOO IT NAOOOOO!!!!
Lol
24:44 :D Segata Sanshiro must have been at the office when Punch the Puss was added.
thx jimmy, can't wait for the windows 95 ver. episode ;)
Thanks for watching--the PC port video should be coming up in a few weeks. Won't be along video, but there are some cool differences between it and all other versions of Suikoden I'd like to point out!
Wish you had mentioned that Suikoden 3 newer made it to european shores because of some localization issues, thus being cancelled for all PAL territories with only an NTSC rerelease some years ago on the PS3 PSN.
Now that you mention it, I don't recall ever seeing a PAL release of Suikoden III. Sorry to hear it took so long to make it over to Europe, and not on the PS2.
@@ImportGamingFTW MAYBE Suikoden 3 gets a new chance when the Genso Suikoden remasters hit the store and sell quite nicely that europe also gets the chance on that game PLUS a relocalization. Would also be dope if Suikoden 1 & 2 get their "lost content" or additional content readded for the remaster, so that we don't have just the PS1 versions upscaled, redrawn and maybe added speed ups as new features for it.
A great slice of classic Konami nostalgia, thanks!
No problem--with Konami these days, aside from headaches and heartbreak, nostalgia is all we have.
Keep it up you deserve more
Thanks man, much appreciated.
The execution of that opening alone was amazing, the way you tied the music with the imagery. Perfection!
Another Vandal Hearts fan? Awesome! It was the first game that I played on the PS1 and I have such fond memories of it. I remember being surprised by the over dramatic blood splattering whenever a human enemy died, but the political narrative had me drawn in from the beginning. I didn't realize that it got ported to the Saturn. I wonder what the differences are between that and the PS1 version?
The Saturn version of the opening for Suikoden looks great. I love the redrawn character art. Especially Viktor (probably for the same reason you like Kasumi's art. ;P )
After watching this, now you got me wanting to try out the Saturn version of Suikoden for myself.
Vandal Hearts might be my fave srpg outside of shining force. It’s not all that difficult, but it’s fun and the characters are great
@@opaljk4835 Yeah, I really liked the development of the characters. It probably helps that Vandal Hearts was my first PS1 game.
Venoix maybe, although I’m really just getting into this genre as an adult (I had xenogears and dragon warrior as my only rpgs growing up) and Vandal Hearts still really hit it out the park for me
@@opaljk4835 If you like Vandal Hearts you should check out the Arc the Lad series. Consequently, I have reviewed all 5 of the main series Arc the Lad games on my channel, if you wanted an idea of what to expect.
Gensosuikoden/Suikoden is one my favorite jrpg series. The frist game is a good starter for anyone who has just getting into jrpgs. I have the Playstation and Saturn versions of the frist Suikoden I enjoy them both. The Playstation version has lase load times. The Saturn version has the extra content. 🙂❤
It’s so weird they couldn’t get the half transparencies to match the ps1. I’ve seen so many Saturn games do that, but Konami seemed to put a little less effort into Saturn stuff than they did with the ps1.
It’s the same thing with load times. Look at the speed at which shining force 3 runs between the rendering of the fight scenes and the world map. It’s extremely fast. It’s probably more about the porting process and capabilities of the programmers, or time. Who knows.
It's definitely just a less than stellar port job, but I appreciate the extra scenarios and content. If I could redo this video, I would change the way I talk about the technical shortcomings/disappointments of this port.
@@ImportGamingFTW agreed, since they were sort of discounted ports I guess it makes sense? Great vid though, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I am curious to know if the soundtrack is streamed, SCSP, or it’s a mix of them for the audio. The Saturn was such a weird and complicated and interesting console. I’ve really come to appreciate a lot of the games for it
They should make a hole new game with the weird (but cool) designs they put in the western cover of Suikoden.
Oh, I would love to see that.
Yeah, it was laziness. They could've used the 4MB cart expansion to enhance the experience but didn't. Great video. In the West, Suikoden was a great PSX tide-me-over until FF7 was released. Anything was better than Beyond the Beyond.
Laziness with a dash of budgetary constraints, I'd say. I played Suikoden right after Final Fantasy VII, so for me, it was like discovering a completely different, simpler approach to a 32-bit RPG, and I loved both dearly--still collect trinkets and useless crap for both games today.
And Beyond the Beyond...we don't talk about that game on this channel...no sir, we don't. I remember buying it because it looked like Suikoden on the back of the box...man, how could a great dev like Camelot screw up so bad?
Yeah, I was thinking the same thing with the expansion cart.
The monster arena is interesting, never knew that!
It's a pretty nice feature--the armor is great, and Tir jumped from level 60 to 68 in a single run of the colosseum.
Hey Jimmy, can I make a video for the SOS too? Probably a Suikoden 1 / 2 review or something like this.
It will be an honor, let me know. Love your work.
Sure, of course--I was hoping more people would ride the wave, and a couple have, actually. The more Suikoden stuff out there, the better.
Can't wait for part 2
I ran into a few hiccups capturing footage, but I'm slowly working my way through a complete playthrough now.
the US Suikoden art always cracked me up. this game was always great, but even as a kid i knew it wasn't gonna deliver on 80's style cheesy fantasy, a hot magic goth lady, and a weird cherub version of James from Twin Peaks :((((((
LMAO at cherub Twin Peaks James, that's pretty spot on!
Oh boy, it only gets worse from here with the PC port? Haha, wow that looks bad! I can't wait to see you dig your claws into it. Let's hope for some dope box inserts to make up for that visual interface. Starting with a thick manual! I'm loving the final track at the very end though.
One of the best soundtracks of all time
one look just one look i knew i would loved suikoden. when i first bought it. i mite not be the first person who bought the game in the entire world but i know that im the first who knew the game is awesome. sound track one and 2 i loved it but i never get to play 3-4or 5 im pretty sure im the first person in CA Stockton who bought it
18:11 that Apple framed picture haha
I'm glad someone picked up on that and mentioned it. Love that Apple gal.
I'll stick with the PSX version.
Shivas Thong Same!
Yup, I think you'll feel the same in regards to the PC and PSP versions, too.
i always thought of it as greemio
I always thought of it as a Spanish sounding name...also, the Japanese is pronounced that way, more or less.
Hey now that you mentioned futch being an adonis in 3. I wonder what happened to humphrey? Because in 2 futch uses a spear but when it came to 3 futch now uses the muramasa which is humphrey"s sword in 1 & 2. Did humphrey died? I love his character... he is the key so you could survive phantoms and pinkbirds when you do the matilda glitch in 2. He's like your early game "georg" if i could say so myself.
Im a big fan of the Saturn so I would get the Gensō Suikoden port but I need to learn to read and speak Japanese
You could/should play the game to study Japanese--it's not too hard to manage, I'd say.
you should cover the psp port
has some bizarre upscaling
I played through the entire PSP port of Suikoden I completely a few months ago and was planning on doing a video on it. Didn't encounter anything bizarre regarding the upscaling...what did you find was so off about it?
@@ImportGamingFTW idk it just felt like when you put ps1 games on the ps3 and you can see the border of the screen and theres just empty black space on the edge of the screen haha
This just popped pop out of my recommendations feed and I do miss Suikoden a lot. I love this series so much that I'm so disappointed in Konami solely because of how they handle their IPs. As for Suiko 1, For the opening, I prefer the Saturn version but overall there are tidbits where I like the PS1 version and there are parts where I prefer the Saturn one. Would like to have this remade or remastered but this is Konami...so...probably not.
Is the dialogue set for the captured girls translated and available anywhere? Can you translate it?
You gonna talk about Suikoden 2's PC port?
If I can get my hands on a copy--oh hell yeah.
Jimmy you ever play the 2 lunar games and the always enjoyable Vanguard Bandits
BONUS OMAKEEEE
You got that special cool-kids only treatment, my friend.
Loved that Jimmy
Hey Tooty, long time! Thanks man, happy to hear it.
There were actually six Goemon games released in the west, if you count Mr. Goemon, as it was re-released on the X360 and PS4. :D Oh, and does that TMNT LCD game count? The one that's the same as the Goemon one? I know the TMNT version was supposedly the original, but it's still a version of a Goemon game... :D
By the way, Suikoden 1 and 2 were on sale on the Playstation Network about a month ago, and I missed them :( I really should give the series a try, as it does have a dedicated fanbase, and it's by Konami, but I find myself getting into less and less RPGs as they usually take a long time to beat, and time is not something I have a ton of nowadays. You mentioned that the first game is pretty short, though. About how long is it?
I always forget about Mr. Goemon being released in that weird arcade thing...but I didn't know it was also on PS4...looks like I'm downloading it soon. I got to play it for the first time a year ago on one of those Arcade Gears machines here in Japan--good fun, IMO! The LCD thing is a bit tricky...I'll consider it half a release like that Konami compilation over in Europe, so at least it counts toward one full release! Ha ha.
I definitely recommend playing both games...like, highly, HIGHLY recommend it. We have similar tastes, so I'm pretty sure you'd enjoy it, and yeah, it's Konami at its finest. The first game is probably about 20 hours for a first-time playthrough. I hadn't played the game in over ten years when I captured footage for it a month or so ago, and I beat it in under 14.
Sega Saturn is much better in handling 2d games than PS1, so i guess that shortcomings of this port came from devs' lack of experience with complicated hardware of Saturn.
I used to like JRPGs but the random battles really takes the wind out of my patience.
If it was up to me id adjust by configurations & options. Such as:
Frequency of Battles [xcpt events]- None/Rarely/Frequent/Constant
Amount of Enemies [xcpt events]- Single/Section/Squadron/Platoon
Enemy Challenge [xcpt events]- Normal Stats/Hard/Punishing/Cheap & Broken
I used to be such a fan when I was younger, even had a circle of friends in high school call me the "RPG Master" a few times as a nickname...but in the PS2 era, I just kind of got sick of them. I have been getting into them again lately, though. And I would love to adjust those parameters you mentioned, especially for some of the older games...guess Game Genie/Shark is the way to go.
But it's not that bad in Suikoden 1. It's worse in Suikoden 4. Each step you take almost took me to random encounter. At beginning of the beginning I kinda was ok with it, but more I progressed it became tedious and don't let me start the attacks when you got the ship. That's too much random encounters. Suikoden 1 an 2 were acceptable
Very nicely put together video!
I find fault with some of the information contained within however.
Everyone knows by now that the Saturn absolutely destroys the PS1 with 2D games. Only the development team's laziness and or ignorance held this game back from being superior to the original PlayStation version in every single way. Also, of you seriously believe that "hardware limitations" prevents the Saturn from displaying loading animations, you are either lying or extremely ignorant as that is a complete falsehood. There are tons of Saturn games that have animated load screens, as of that was anything exciting to begin with. Nevertheless, this was a statement that should have never been made. Anyways, I prefer this version due to the extra content that it offers. While not quite on the level of the Dracula X offerings we got, this version of Suikoden still feels the most complete as a result.
Great intro!...
Eu amo essa série de jogos gosto mais do suikoden 2
Suikoden II is the best!
@@ImportGamingFTW yeah true
Right, I hated the pirates too; I seem to have a lot of hate in me.
Let the hate FLOW through you.
Jimmy Hapa (Import Gaming FTW!) Yes, the Dark Side is strong in me!
Interesting. While the graphics look smoother, the special effects look way worse.
Weird the Saturn version fails at certain ports when it can more than handle 2D. Of course what they really need to do is provide a definitive port that brings all the extra stuff together with better graphics.
good channel
Thanks.
woop
Dere it is.
sadly the best armor only exists in sega saturn with 70 defense and eikei arena too
23:12 Yes, that is correct, sir. It's a shame that the Saturn version has so many technical flaws, since the added bonuses really make it the "complete package" for Suikoden.
Laziness only for almost everything. The transparency can be done in Saturn and the worst thing is that the game came in late 98 so programmers knows how to use both vdp1 and vdp2. Konami has done bad ports for the Saturn.
I understand why metal gear didn’t come to the Saturn with lazy guys like that
konami didnt care for sega since 16bit era.. priority was nintendo and sony
@@xtremegold2950 exactly. Capcom clearly was a friend of Sega.
The only mistake from Capcom was the cancellation of resident evil 2 on the Saturn
the problem with that these arcade ports from capcom are not exclusives for the system .making the saturn less atractive.to own now a days
with all mame cps2 cps3 rom with almost perfect emulation around no loading times etc is pointless really . the sega saturn is good for is exclusive sega first party titles not realease on other platform
konami had the best exclusives but on the ps1 and n64 like metal gear and others.. they never care for sega
I have the psp version too bad theres not translation patch (but i have the ps1 versions)
It would be awesome if there were translation patches for those ports--I'm honestly surprised no one's done it yet.
14:10 in the intro is a corelation between the elements schown whitch is wrong, earth connect to fire and wind, and not thunder, and so on. That intro was the reason why i played the game from new, just to check if the resurection rune realy has no combo with the others :)
btw. one of the books that you get in the game says, you can cast ultimate magic by combine 3 elements, and it schould be posible only with crowley in the team. Could somebody figure that out? or was it another translation error? corse it never worked for me, i managed only to create 2 element combos. Or maybe it works only in the Saturn version?
love this game, but not really playable in jpn version
damn u i need to play suikoden
But of course, and you're not the only one...I won't stop until everyone's played Suikoden...
Us box art on general was so terrible. Thank god I was and still am a pal gamer.
Terrible? YES. Funny? YES. Charming? Debatable, but to me, YES.
Hue Jackson pal systems run on much superior rgb and the pal format has higher resolution. Many saturn games were pal optimised anyway so run at the same speed. You win some, you lose some. PAL format wasn't as bad as many people made it out to be.
Ugh...every time you mention the Goemon games we never got, specifically the SNES ones, I die a little inside. Translate 'em for me. I thought about getting Rosetta Stone for Japanese just to play those games, no shit.
I die a bit, too...I die a bit, too...
Speaking of which, I really need to cover at least another one of the games before the end of the year.
Please do!
so far thats 4 2D Games where the ps1 Version is a little better then the saturn version.
Rayman
MKTrilogy
SotN
And now Suikoden.
Who knows their maybe more idk about.
Also i don't consider additional things added to the saturn version to be better if the experience is changed a bit such as lower framerates, longer loadtimes, little flaws and limitations get in the way. The additional things added are more like compensation to make up for it, but i don't classify that exactly as superiority.
Yeah, PS original all the way, but like I said in the vid, it's a good game for people to play through who are already fans of the game. I've heard that Dodonpachi on Saturn is worse than its PS1 counterpart, but I'm not sure--I only own the PS1 version and can't compare myself.
@Dark Savior Madara
Unless there's information I'm not aware of (and please enlighten me if thats the case), Rayman is NOT better on the PS1, its worse. All of the end level effects and transitions are completely missing whereas they are always a sight to behold in the Saturn game, and as usual the loading times and such are better - not to mention the advantage of having the best controller for 2D games, ever.
Some backgrounds were changed for the PS1 version if thats what you're referring to, but that hardly makes it "better", they are just different.
Also, everyone knows this by now but SOTN is basically running on a 3D engine, its not a true 2D game, as if it was the Saturn would be better in every single way. They lazily ported over the 3D engine from the PS1 game without reworking it for the Saturn's architecture.
MKtrilogy is unknown to me, the differences at least. Feel free to divulge that information here on why the PS1 could be better?
テャンこ よう
Gremio..
Such a great character.
The load times make no sense at all because the saturn has better hardware decompression, more ram available, and faster transfer rate. It makes no sense. On top of missing but possible graphical effects and weird textures that.. btw... have the original textures files available but not used(on a device with more vram)... it just screams lazy
hd remaster taking the intro from this game
pretty weird
Man air or tink took hvac radial arm saws scafric von gustavv wtf erick oric xl
i am very gifted any game i see when i say its good its going to be good any game i say its suck its really going to be suck with out have to read the story of the game or playing it
Pixelated PS1 vs Blurry Sega Saturn pick your poison. I think i pick pixelated.
Miska Simola im good with the ps3 download lo
Ps3 don't upscaling so good but If you like ps3 style then nice for you. I use PSone with XRGB-mini or OSSC and i like them both. But the most important thing is that you enjoy playing. (Graphics are not everything.)
Miska Simola
Imo smoothers are best on HDTVs and Sharpness is best for CRTs i switch around here and there and yes your correct enjoyment is what matters most
Yeah, pixelated all the way for me. I used official RGB cables to record Saturn footage here, and it looked great on my TV, but sadly, the capture card didn't do it justice.
What kind of TV do you have? I have Sony PVM-20M4E and shitty HDTV but take all what OSSC throw out. Hope update at some point OLED, but price is right now to expensive. (OLED look more like CRT than LED HDTV because OLED can do perfect Black and there is no color bleeding like LED HDTV but need model that have less input lag before i buy one.)
I make better reviews
Founding out this game came on Sega Saturn. But stopped watching because of numerous "sAtUrN iNfErIoR gRaPhIcS" assertions.
We know today saturn was Indeed the more powerful hardware.
Yet they still stuck to PlayStation.
@Tvspelsgalen
100% agree!
@@thepooroldsoul8179
Yeah, more money. Doesn't change the fact the Saturn hardware was far superior for 2D gaming.
@@thepooroldsoul8179Saturn >>>>>>>> ps1