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is a
role-playing video game Role-playing video games, also known as CRPG (computer/console role-playing games), comprise a broad video game genre generally defined by a detailed story and character advancement (often through increasing characters' levels or other skills) ...
published by
Konami , commonly known as Konami, , is a Japanese multinational entertainment company and video game developer and video game publisher, publisher headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo. The company also produces and distributes trading card ...
. It is the first installment of the ''
Suikoden is a series of role-playing video games developed and published by Konami. Created by Yoshitaka Murayama, the games are loosely based on the classical Chinese novel '' Water Margin'', whose title is rendered as in Japanese. Each individual g ...
'' series. Developed by
Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo , commonly known as Konami, , is a Japanese multinational entertainment company and video game developer and video game publisher, publisher headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo. The company also produces and distributes trading card ...
, it was released initially in 1995 for the
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in Japan. A North American release followed one year later, and a mainland European release came the following April. The game was also released for
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and
Sega Saturn The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it is the successor to the succes ...
in 1998, but only in Japan. The game centers on the political struggles of the Scarlet Moon Empire. The player controls a Scarlet Moon Empire general's son, who is destined to seek out 108 warriors (referred to as the 108 Stars of Destiny) in order to revolt against the corrupt sovereign state and bring peace to a war-torn land. The game is loosely based on the Chinese novel ''
Water Margin ''Water Margin'' (), also called ''Outlaws of the Marsh'' or ''All Men Are Brothers'', is a Chinese novel from the Ming dynasty that is one of the preeminent Classic Chinese Novels. Attributed to Shi Nai'an, ''Water Margin'' was one of the e ...
'', and features a vast array of characters both controllable and not, with over ninety characters usable in combat and many more able to help or hinder the hero in a variety of ways. A compilation of the first two ''Suikoden'' games, ''
Suikoden I & II is a 2006 video game compilation developed and published by Konami for the PlayStation Portable. It contains enhanced ports of the first two games in the ''Suikoden'' series, ''Suikoden'' (1995) and ''Suikoden II'' (1998) for the PlayStation P ...
'', was released for
PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PA ...
in Japan on February 23, 2006. A high-definition English localization version of the compilation under the title ''Suikoden I & II HD Remaster: Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars'' released worldwide on March 6, 2025 for
Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...
,
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,
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, Windows,
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and
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.


Gameplay

''Suikoden'' plays like a traditional
role-playing video game Role-playing video games, also known as CRPG (computer/console role-playing games), comprise a broad video game genre generally defined by a detailed story and character advancement (often through increasing characters' levels or other skills) ...
, with the player moving characters across a landscape, advancing the plot by completing tasks and talking with other characters. It has been compared to '' Beyond the Beyond'' and, more rarely, ''
Final Fantasy VII is a 1997 role-playing video game developed by Square for the PlayStation. The seventh main installment in the ''Final Fantasy'' series, it was released in Japan by Square and internationally by Sony Computer Entertainment, becoming the first ...
''. The Hero may recruit up to 107 new characters to his cause, although not all recruited characters are playable characters, and the battle system in ''Suikoden'' features six person parties in combat, with each character being individually controllable, with an option to allow the characters to fight automatically. Some characters can only be recruited if the party has reached a certain experience level or found a special item. Combat triggers through
random encounter A random encounter is a feature commonly used in various role-playing games whereby combat encounters with non-player character (NPC) enemies or other dangers occur sporadically and at random, usually without the enemy being physically detected ...
s and is
turn-based Timekeeping is relevant to many types of games, including video games, tabletop role-playing games, board games, and sports. The passage of time must be handled in a way that players find fair and easy to understand. In many games, this is don ...
. Both the player-controlled party members and the computer-controlled enemy combatants select their actions before the turn commences. Characters carry out their actions in the order of their speed. A variety of statistics determine in-game combat ability, including optimum weapon range. Weapon range requires the player to think about character placement in the standard battle formation. There are three ranges from which a character can have the ability to attack: Short, Medium and Long. Short range characters are typically swordsmen who have to be placed at the front row of the six party formation, while Medium range attacks can fight from either the front or the back row, meanwhile Long range attackers can attack from both ranges but benefit more so from fighting in the back row, usually due to either their low hit point total, their low physical defence, or both. They also benefit from being able to attack either the enemy's front row or back row in combat. If all six characters lose all their
hit point Health is a video game or tabletop game quality that determines the maximum amount of damage or fatigue something takes before leaving the main game. In role-playing games, this typically takes the form of hit points (HP), a numerical attribute ...
s and are thus incapacitated, it is
game over "Game over" is a message in video games which informs the player that their play session has ended, usually because the player has reached a loss condition. It also sometimes appears at the successful completion of a session, especially in ga ...
and the player must restart from a
save point Save, SAVE, or Saved may refer to: Places * Save (Garonne), a river in southern France * Save River (Africa), a river in Zimbabwe and Mozambique * Sava, a river in Eastern Europe also known as Save * Savè, Benin, a commune and city * Save, Rwan ...
. Exceptions exist for certain plot battles in which winning is optional; the player can lose and the plot continues on, albeit in a slightly different fashion. Two other types of battle systems exist: duel battles and war battles. Both
duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people with matched weapons. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the rapier and later the small sword), but beginning in ...
battles and strategic war battles are analogous to
Rock, Paper, Scissors Rock, Paper, Scissors (also known by #Names, several other names and word orders) is an Intransitive game, intransitive hand game, usually played between two people, in which each player simultaneously forms one of three shapes with an outstret ...
. In one-on-one duels, there are three commands: attack, defend and special. Attack beats defend, defend beats special and special beats attack. The player is given hints on the best course of action as the dueling opponent will often telegraph their intentions. In strategic war battles, the four major groups are charge attacks, bow attacks, magic attacks and others. Charge attacks beat bow attacks, bow attacks beat magic attacks and magic attacks beat charge attacks. The 'other' command acts as a free special command enabling the player to, for example, learn what the enemy's next attack will be. Weapons are unique to each character and require sharpening in towns that have blacksmiths. There are no weapon shops in ''Suikoden'' and equipment shopping is limited to armour and items. However, because of the need to sharpen a minimum of six characters' weapons at any one time, this can be a more expensive process than in a typical RPG. Information gathering and character recruiting is also a commonplace occurrence within towns. Wilderness areas such as the world map or dungeons generally feature random encounters with monsters that do not increase in difficulty as the player's party advances in level, and the amount of experience characters gain is based on their level (a low-level character will receive more experience than a high level character, even in the same battle). Runes are the source of all magic in the world of ''Suikoden''. Characters have a certain number of spell usages per "spell level;" governed generally by their magic statistic. For instance, a character with four level 1 spell slots and a Water Rune could cast "Kindness Drops" (the level 1 Water Rune spell) four times. Other runes offer different benefits such as allowing a character to deal double damage at the cost of a 50% reduction in defence. Most runes can only be used in a limited capacity.


Plot

The Hero (nameable by the player, though known as "Tir" in official material) is the son of a Great General of the Scarlet Moon Empire, Teo McDohl. Teo is called away to fight a battle in the northlands, leaving his son alone under the guardianship of several family friends: long-time friend Ted and servants Cleo, Pahn and Gremio. Together, they accompany the hero to begin his career in the Imperial Army. He soon comes to realise through his missions and association with his leaders that the corruption within the Empire's top tier has led to a country whose populace is enslaved and unhappy. Through Ted, who is left hurt by a top servant of the king's, he comes into possession of the Rune of Life and Death (also known as the Soul Eater), one of 27 True Runes that govern various aspects of the world. Because the Rune is ruthlessly hunted for by corrupt officials within the Empire and their manipulators, the Hero and his companions are forced to flee the capital city of Gregminster with the help of Viktor, a suspicious character with unknown intentions. Unable to move properly, Ted stays behind to delay the enemy. Pahn, unsure of where his loyalty lies, decided to side with the Empire. After escaping, Viktor reveals he is part of the ongoing rebellion determined to face the corrupt Empire. Taking a liking to The Hero, he enlists him into the organization with the approval of their leader, Odessa Silverberg and reluctance of other members, particularly warrior Flik. In his short time there, the hero is only convinced of the need to struggle against the Empire when the hideout is attacked and sacked by Imperial forces, who kill Odessa after she tries to protect an innocent child. Recruiting the help of Odessa's brother, former imperial strategist Mathiu Silverberg, the Hero becomes the new Liberation Army leader. After securing an abandoned castle as its headquarters (nameable by the player), the army starts off as a small force working to unite rebel factions throughout Scarlet Moon, and eventually becomes a force large and powerful enough to bring down the Empire itself and evil lurking from inside it.


Characters

''Suikoden'' boasts over 108 allied characters and numerous enemies and neutral characters. Many of the characters in this game also appear in later games in the ''Suikoden'' franchise.


Development

''Suikoden'' took roughly two years to develop.


Audio

The soundtrack was published by King Records and released in Japan on April 5, 1996. It was composed and arranged by Miki Higashino, Tappi Iwase (Tappy), Taniguchi Hirofumi, Mayuko Kageshita and Hiroshi Tamawari. The soundtrack contained 2 discs and a total of 48 tracks.


Release

The Saturn version was released nearly three years after the PlayStation original. It is an enhanced port including new locations, new enemies, enhanced colors, and a new opening
full motion video Full-motion video (FMV) is a video game narration technique that relies upon pre-recorded video files (rather than Sprite (computer graphics), sprites, vector graphics, vectors, or 3D models) to display action in the game. While many games featur ...
.


Reception

At the time of its release, ''Suikoden'' received mostly positive reviews. It has averaged a score of 82% on
GameRankings GameRankings was a video gaming review aggregator that was founded in 1999 and owned by CBS Interactive. It indexed over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 video games. GameRankings was discontinued in December 2019, with its staff bei ...
culled from 14 reviews. Art Angel of ''
GamePro ''GamePro'' was an American multiplatform video game magazine media company that published online and print content covering the video game industry, video game hardware and video game software. The magazine featured content on various video ...
'' deemed it "a superlative RPG experience. What separates ''Suikoden'' from other RPGs are a great story line, sensational sounds, and a user-friendly interface." He elaborated that the many subplots "neatly tie up the final denouement", the soundtrack captures the feeling behind each situation and setting, and the clearly laid-out inventories eliminate any unnecessary effort in playing the game. He identified the graphics as his one point of criticism, citing the pixelization when the game zooms and the absence of
full motion video Full-motion video (FMV) is a video game narration technique that relies upon pre-recorded video files (rather than Sprite (computer graphics), sprites, vector graphics, vectors, or 3D models) to display action in the game. While many games featur ...
. A reviewer for '' Next Generation'' called it "one of the most addictive RPGs to come along." He particularly praised the look of the combat engine, the strategic elements of the war battles, and the lack of a resurrection mechanic. He described the story as "stock RPG" but said it was enough to keep the player motivated. The four reviewers of ''
Electronic Gaming Monthly ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' (''EGM'') is a monthly American video game magazine. It offers video game news, coverage of industry events, interviews with gaming figures, editorial content and product reviews. History The magazine was fou ...
'' were enthusiastic about the lengthy storyline, massive lineup of playable characters, different combat systems, and soundtrack. They described it as the most ambitious PlayStation RPG to date, while noting that it was soon to be eclipsed by ''Final Fantasy VII''.
IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
claimed the game was "one of the best RPGs ever made", stating that although its story is simple, the background visuals and music are beautiful and fantastic, and it never becomes boring.
Jeff Gerstmann Jeff Gerstmann (born August 1, 1975) is an American video game journalist. Former editorial director of the gaming website ''GameSpot'' and the co-founder of the gaming website '' Giant Bomb'', Gerstmann began working at ''GameSpot'' in the fal ...
stated in
GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady, and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
that, although not ground-breaking, it was a good game, if short and easy. He considered the game as a "warm-up" for upcoming RPGs such as '' Wild Arms'' or ''Final Fantasy VII''.
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gave the game an A−, quoting in particular its astonishing musical scores. ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' named ''Suikoden'' a runner-up for Role-Playing Game of the Year. Though the award went to '' Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain'', they noted it had been a close race between the two games. During the inaugural Interactive Achievement Awards, the
Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) is a non-profit organization of video game industry professionals. It organizes the annual Design Innovate Communicate Entertain Summit, better known as D.I.C.E., which includes the presentation ...
nominated ''Suikoden'' for "Console Game of the Year" and " Console Role-Playing Game of the Year". In a retrospective review, RPGamer stated that the game was original, breaking out from the typical "Mysterious stranger saves the world" story-line, and also pointed out that it was a relatively simple game suited generally for "novices" and for "die-hard fans" of the series who hadn't played it yet and rated it a 7. Peter Tieryas of Kotaku described the narrative as telling "a sweeping tale about justice, corruption, and humanity in a way few games have." ''
Game Informer ''Game Informer'' (''GI'' is an American monthly Video game journalism, video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and video game console, game consoles. It debuted in August 1991, when the video game reta ...
'' ranked it the 82nd best game ever made in its 100th issue in 2001. They felt that its originality made up for lower-than-average graphics and standard gameplay.


Legacy

''Suikoden'' began the ''
Suikoden is a series of role-playing video games developed and published by Konami. Created by Yoshitaka Murayama, the games are loosely based on the classical Chinese novel '' Water Margin'', whose title is rendered as in Japanese. Each individual g ...
'' franchise, which includes video games,
light novel A is a type of Genre fiction, popular literature novel from Japan usually classified as young adult fiction, generally targeting Adolescence, teens to Young adult, twenties or older. The definition is very vague, and wide-ranging. The abbr ...
s, and
manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...
. Its direct sequel was ''
Suikoden II is a role-playing video game developed and published by Konami for the PlayStation video game console and the second installment of the '' Suikoden'' video game series. It was released on December 17, 1998, in Japan; on September 29, 1999, in No ...
'', which first released in 1998. Game designer
Warren Spector Warren Evan Spector (born October 2, 1955) is an American role-playing and video game designer, director, writer, producer and production designer. He is known for creating immersive sim games, which give players a wide variety of choices in how ...
listed ''Suikoden'' as his sixth favorite video game of all time. He credited it as an inspiration on his work, particularly the ''Deus Ex'' series as well as ''
Epic Mickey ''Epic Mickey'' is a 2010 platform game developed by Junction Point Studios and published by Disney Interactive Studios for the Wii. It was released in November 2010 in North America and PAL territories. The game focuses on Mickey Mouse, who a ...
''. He said the limited
choices A choice is the range of different things from which a being can choose. The arrival at a choice may incorporate motivators and models. Freedom of choice is generally cherished, whereas a severely limited or artificially restricted choice c ...
in ''Suikoden'' inspired him to expand on the idea with more meaningful choices, with the development of ''Deus Ex''. A stage play adaptation of ''Suikoden'' was announced during a livestream for the game franchise on March 4, 2025. It will be directed by Norihito Nakayashiki and will run in
Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
and
Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...
in December 2025.


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Suikoden 01 1995 video games Dengeki Bunko Japanese role-playing video games Konami games PlayStation (console) games Sega Saturn games Single-player video games Suikoden System Sacom games Turn-based role-playing video games Video games developed in Japan Video games scored by Miki Higashino Video games scored by Tappi Iwase Windows games