Suikoden IV (幻想水滸伝IV Gensō Suikoden Fō?) is a role-playing video game developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo and published by Konami for the exclusively for the PlayStation 2 video game console and is the fourth installment of the Suikoden video game series. It was released in August 2004 in Japan, and early 2005 in North America and Europe.
Suikoden IV takes place approximately 150 years before the events of the first Suikoden game, and relates the story of a young boy living on the island of Razril and the Rune of Punishment, one of the 27 True Runes. The Rune of Punishment governs both atonement and forgiveness, and is unusual in that it consumes the life of the bearer with use; once the previous bearer dies, it immediately jumps to someone nearby. Meanwhile, the Kooluk Empire seeks to expand into the nearby Island Nations.
Konami later produced Suikoden Tactics, a spinoff that serves as a direct prequel, side-story, and sequel to Suikoden IV.
Plot[]
Suikoden IV begins its tale with a training session where the Hero and his best friend Snowe Vingerhut face off against their Commander and Vice Commander, Glen and Katarina respectively, out at sea. After the training concludes, the Hero and his fellow knight trainees head home to Razril, where they are to be pronounced full-fledged Gaien knights.
After the ceremonial Kindling Ritual and a night of feasting, the Hero awakens the next morning for his first duties as a new knight, including the task of escorting a man named Ramada to the neighboring island of Iluya. During the trip there, they are attacked by Brandeau and his pirates. Snowe abandons the ship after being fired upon by "rune cannons," while the Hero decides to brave the attacks and stay, thus inspiring jealousy in his cowardly comrade. Brandeau then boards the Hero's ship and challenges him to a duel, which the young knight unexpectedly wins. As a last effort, Brandeau unleashes the power of the Rune of Punishment and attempts to destroy everyone, but a mysterious force shields the Hero from its might. Glen arrives to save his men, and in that brief moment, the Rune of Punishment is passed from Brandeau to Glen, after which Brandeau evaporates into dust.
Gameplay[]
Suikoden IV retains many of the gameplay concepts pioneered by its predecessors along with changes. It is the first game in the Suikoden series to feature voice acting for most characters, except the hero. Suikoden IV is the first game of the series to be set at sea; travel on the world map is accomplished by ship. In contrast to Suikoden III, where the six person party was divided into three controllable groups, Suikoden IV's party consists of four individually controllable characters. During combat, characters can combine effort in the form of physical "Unite attacks" or runic magic combinations. As with previous games in the series, there are individual battles (duels) as well as battles between customizable naval forces. The naval forces can be customized to use particular runic elements through choice of captains and commanding officers; each element has a weakness and strength over another element. There are several mini-games contained within the game, unrelated to the main storyline. On the first play through the game, only a fraction of the world map is viewable, a feature not seen before in a Suikoden Game.
Audio[]
Masahiko Kimura composed the music to Suikoden IV. The opening song, "La Mer" (English: The Sea), and the ending remix of "Into a World of Illusions" were composed and performed by coba.
The soundtrack was released on 2 CDs as Genso Suikoden IV - Original Soundtrack on June 1, 2005. Genso Suikoden IV Music Collection ~Another World~, an arranged version with 11 tracks arranged by Yuji Yoshino, was later released on February 23, 2006.
External links[]
- Suikoden IV at the Suikoden Wikia