A decent adventure with a few glaring flaws...

Lee Babin

Suikoden Tierkreis is a testament to how well the Nintendo DS platform is succeeding. The Suikoden series is a somewhat niche Konami original that has been around for ages and mostly resonates with a select Playstation crowd. It is therefore rather interesting that Konami has decided to try and spice up the series a bit by moving it to the DS platform (largely, I am sure, due to the massive install base). This creates something of a strange dynamic for the title however. I could almost review this game from two different angles and will make an attempt to cover both of them. The first are long standing Suikoden fans, of which I am one. The second, is for those completely unaccustomed to the series, who will, interestingly, probably enjoy this game more.

Konami has taken the Suikoden series and mixed it up a bit. You can now only have 4 characters in any battle (plus a helper ally), each character can equip many different types of weapons (as opposed to the series general one unique weapon per user), you can still collect 108 characters and you will definitely be building up a base of allies. The 108 characters is quite well done with enough uniqueness amongst characters to enjoy them all (for the most part). The new multiple weapons change allows for greater flexibility but will probably annoy long standing series veterans (as powering up a unique weapon is charming). The base building control is largely taken out of your hands but is still fun to explore as you gather more allies.

Tierkreis sticks very close to genre traditions. Battles are turn based (though they move quickly which is nice) but allow multiple characters to attack at once. Certain characters can team up for combos and everyone can customize their special abilities. The overworld map is handled via a "node based" system whereby you point and click where you want to go. There is a system in place that tracks the current season you are in (time passes as you move around the map) but it isn't heavily utilized save for the occasional character recruitment or mission.

The story progression is handled through the popular (at least on portable consoles) mission system. You pick a mission (or are automatically assigned to one) and you go through and complete it thus allowing you to report in and collect your reward. This helps to break down the game into bite sized nuggets (perfect for a portable) and makes the game easy and fun to play in short sessions. I do really mean easy, the difficulty level in this game is almost completely negligible.

Teirkreis' gameplay systems work well and feel fairly polished save for a few really annoying and largely unnecessary hiccups. First off, your character walks slow. And I do mean slow, like plodding through 4 feet of snow in galoshes. It is ridiculous really. You can obtain an accessory if you look really hard for it that speeds up the walking a bit (but not enough) but it is super easy to miss and will tie up your accessory slot for the entire game! Second, the random encounter rate is nothing short of insane. Since the game keeps you leveled up handily without the need for grinding (another series tradition), you will frequently find yourself fighting encounter after encounter and receiving nothing in the way of rewards. These two flaws alone turn a great game into a merely average game; they are really that bad and could have so easily been avoided.

Where Tierkreis really shines is in its story. The strange thing is, if you were to play the game for only an hour or two, the plot would actually be the worst part of the game. However, once you get over the initial boring, bland hump, you are thrust into a very compelling tale of multiple universes and the slightly political world within and around them. The story builds and builds making the game fly by and quite enjoyable but never really delivers in the end. It is slightly disappointing that such a high point in the game will eventually end up unfulfilled. That being said, for a game targeted at a large audience, Tierkreis delivers quite nicely on its plot.

Graphically, Tierkreis is both the ugliest and prettiest game on the DS. The backgrounds, anime cut scenes and environments are beautiful, diverse and really nice to interact with. There were parts in this game that I found stunning and which I would actually wait a moment to savor. The cut scenes are also very well done. However, the character models are amongst the ugliest I have ever seen. I suppose I shouldn't be expecting much with there being 108 characters, but yikes! The polygons are as chunky as this generation gets and the monsters are nothing to write home about. Seriously, the character models are so ugly that it almost destroys the battles.

Those who enjoy a video game's score are sure to like Tierkreis. It's a little old and a lot new and is rather diverse and grand. I found the music very well done for a portable game and surprisingly varied. There are also some remixes added to old favorites for us Suikoden vets that was a very nice touch. The voice acting however is hair pulling bad. So bad, in fact, that you will be constantly fighting a war within yourself on whether to leave the volume on for the excellent music or turn it off for the mind numbingly bad voice acting. Not only is the voice acting bad, it has also been sped up and distorted. I can't think of a worse case of voice acting in any game, ever.

All in all, Tierkreis both delivers and fails at the same time, which is disappointing. Strangely, that which kills it could have been easily remedied. If Konami had toned down the random encounter rate, sped up the walking speed and cleaned up (or just removed) the voice acting, I would be calling this a great game! Instead, I am calling it an average game that came so close to greatness. I would still recommend playing it, both for series vets or otherwise, it is still a very good DS RPG, just expect that you will be annoyed with things that should have been fixed.

Related:

• Konami