Status: Completed
Currently: All 108 stars, extra chapter finished, so completed!
I love the Suikoden series, though I never really owned one until way later on, mostly due to getting the playstation very late in its cycle. I actually played it first by borrowing number 1 from a friend a few times, and beat that without owning it. 3 was actually the first one that I purchased, and since then I've gone on to get all 5 of the main series, plus tactics. I love collecting the characters, the well designed stories, and the very tactical combat the whole series has.
Three is no exception, and the series made a good jump to the ps2 and 3d at the same time. The 3d models are very clean and the art style ages very well, so much so I doubt this game will ever look truly bad compared to modern games. The story was well written and kept me going the entire way, even though technically this was my second time playing through (on my first I realized I had gone past the point of no return for getting all 108 stars, and kinda put it down, this was several years ago). The added fact that the second half can change in story based on which main character you pick, adds a bit of re-playability (though I doubt I will unless I try to do a challenge run). Overall it is one of the most solid JRPGs you can play, and I heartily recommend it to anyone.
My main complaints about the game are more comparisons to others in the same series, and noticeable parts where they changed things, and made them worse. The most noticeable part is the army battles. Where the previous two games took two completely different tacts (the first is more rock paper scissors with special cards, the second is more fire emblem), each time you felt as you gathered up your army and collected all the stars, that your options in combat were growing, and you were becoming noticeably more powerful as an army. Since you really don't get your castle till halfway through the game (where its clear you actually control an army), and since the story is split half the time, most of the army battles have predetermined rosters. In addition, practically every fight is purely scripted, you last a certain number of turns, something happens, its over. You can't really win, just not lose. Even later in the game, the second to last battle is specifically scripted to prevent you from winning too soon, which ended with me decimating the entire enemy army, then the last commander becoming invincible at half health and killing my units until the game finally ran its scripts, and let me kill him. The only battle you truly feel you lead your own combined army is the last one, and its a brief flirtation. The other major complaint is the stars of destiny seem...sidelined for this game. A full half are ones you get automatically through gameplay, and the rest are minor additions. I fully expect if I tried to beat this game with only the stars you get automatically, abusing the ones that are -very- powerful, the only major problem I would have would be the lack of blacksmithing over a certain point.
Still, as all my blogs tend to be, I write more about the little nitpicks than the overall good. I gave this a 4 star rating on my Backloggery, and would easily recommend it to anyone. Its a good game, whether you enjoy the series or not.
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