HD Remaster Suikoden Gate Rune War and Suikoden II Dunan Unification War Review

The legendary turn-based RPGs, Suikoden and Suikoden II, are considered by many to be some of the best Japanese role-playing games ever released. They are now back — with a long title — and looking better than ever in Suikoden I&II HD Remaster Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars. The Suikoden series is set in a world that is inspired by feudal China, and the first game centres on our hero, the son of Imperial Army General Teo McDohl. Both titles deal with political struggles that arise when the oppressed rebel against their oppressors. With politics, friendship, loyalty, and destiny thrown into the fray, there is a lot of story going on here. I can’t wait to see if this HD remaster captures the feel and essence of the original titles or if it misses the target and feels entirely different.

The first thing I need to mention is that the visuals in the game have been upgraded, particularly the background illustrations. The look of this title reminds me of other remastered RPGs where you have pixelated characters with ground textures that look realistic. The backgrounds, particularly when you are in the mountains, look like they are hand-painted; it's an interesting blend that makes the colourful pixel characters pop and stand out.

Though being a huge fan of pixel graphics, I found the background could look a little too clean and smooth at times. The animated battle effects are now in HD, making the fights feel more realistic and making all your attacks feel powerful. Along with these improvements, the camera isn't stationary; it will move around and sometimes zoom in when your character jumps in to attack, adding to the excitement of the fight, especially when it has exhilarating battle music accompanying it.

As soon as you start the game, you have the option to play either of the two titles: I suggest starting with the first, as your completed data will be used in Suikoden II. This main menu also features a Gallery where you can listen to music, view cutscenes that you have already seen, relive events from the games, and rewatch endings. There is a manual for each game available to look through to learn the controls, like how the circle button (right face button) is used to run and the square (left face button) will bring up a map of the area and get information on the main characters. It reminded me of reading through a game's physical manual when I was younger, trying to learn everything I could and appreciating the beautiful art.

When you start playing the game you selected, there are a few different difficulty choices to pick from: Easy, Normal, or Hard. If you choose Easy or Normal difficulty, you can switch it to make it easier or harder mid-game in the Settings menu. However, if you selected the Hard difficulty, you are stuck with it and can't swap mid-game.

With all that set, it’s time to name your main character. I always use my name, no matter their gender, which makes it easier to see at a glance which file is mine. The hero of my story is apparently Alana McDohl, son of the imperial army general, Teo McDohl. You have an audience with the emperor Barbarossa. He asks Teo if he has heard of the troubling developments up north and if he can travel there to secure the border. He gifts Teo with his beloved sword, named Prakk, as it has always protected him and brought him luck.
The Emperor asks if Alana would help protect the Empire while his father is away. You can say yes or no, but why would you say no? There are a lot of decisions that you will need to make in these two titles that will alter your path and possibly change the ending of your game. You will serve under the command of Lord Kraze, who is the Commander of the Imperial Guard. Barbarossa has high hopes for you and hopes that one day you will surpass your father; no pressure at all!

The story of Suikoden II revolves around the protagonist, any name can be chosen, but the default name is Riou, and his best friend since childhood, Jowy Atreides. Each of them acquires half of the Rune of the Beginning, which is one of the 27 True Runes in the Suikoden universe. This Rune causes conflict and war, which leads to the two friends to fight until one is defeated and the two pieces are united once again. The conflict between these two friends is distressing to Nanami, the adopted sister of Riou, and she just wants the three of them to run away and live a joyful and peaceful life together.

In the Suikoden titles, if you fall in regular battles, you can use medicine to heal once the fight is done; you don't need a special item to revive you first. In an encounter, some of your party members can perform special moves, like Gremio’s Unite attack where two characters work together to perform a new special ability. You also have the option to Bribe enemies in battles with Potch (gold) to make them leave without attacking you. It cost me 1,920 Potch to escape from six Blade Bunnies! It's not cheap! Some fighters, like Pahn, will defend teammates when they are hurt, jumping in before they take a hit from an enemy. You can also let the game auto-battle if you are tired of hitting the buttons yourself, especially when you are grinding for levels.

The characters will not only rely on weapons to attack enemies: they can also use special magic attacks acquired from special orbs called Runes; they can be found while you are travelling or by purchasing them at a shop. There is magic sealed inside of each of these orbs that isn’t released until a Rune Master attaches them to a person. Once that happens, they can use the magic held within the orb. Typically, they fall into one of three categories: Melee performs attacks or enhances the user’s physical ability; Magic allows the use of different spells, usually elemental in nature; or Support is a passive skill that gives bonuses to the user, like increasing the critical hit rate or the amount of money you get after a battle.

The item management system in the first Suikoden title is a lot different from what I am used to in other RPGs. In the first game, each member of your party holds their own collection of items. There is a party item stash, but most items are equipped to an individual. So if one character gets a piece of new armour and still has their old tunic, you can't just equip it on someone else. You first need to transfer it from the original owner to the other character...

Instead of constantly buying new weapons, you head to the blacksmith in town to get your current ones upgraded. This is good because the amount of items everyone can carry is small, so you run out of space fast. Some of the blacksmiths that you visit have a limit as to the level they can upgrade the weapon to, and this service comes at a cost. At the start, it costs 300 per character to sharpen, and as you level up, the price will increase. Once you hit the sharpening max in that town, weapon upgrades may be available to purchase at the Armour Shop. Fortunately, Suikoden II gets rid of the individual item bags for the characters and implements a Party Bag and the equipment that they are currently wearing does not take up space in the inventory.

On your travels, you will meet various characters that will join and leave your team, as each title has 108 recruitable characters who are known as the Stars of Destiny, but these aren't all the same characters in both games. However, you have a max of six members on your battle team at one time, so it will frequently change. Some people you recruit may not be great on the battlefield but can offer other services that will help you, like a cook or blacksmith, and they can be a huge help outside of the fights. The characters that are most vital to your game will be easier to find, so you shouldn’t miss any of these recruits when you are playing.

Suikoden II introduces a new type of fighting called Army Battles. Here, you will lead an army of allied forces against the opposing enemy. The Allied Units are made of groups of up to three characters. The unit’s abilities will change depending on who is in the group. You can switch up the group's composition by speaking with Apple at Headquarters. When in battle, click on the unit you wish to move, and you will see its moveable range. Select where you would like it to move to. A Unit Command menu will be displayed showing the actions you can take: Attack, hit the enemies in range; Wait, end your turn and not take an action; or Rune, if your Unit Leader has a Rune equipped, attack the enemy with magic. The thing you need to be aware of is that if you take a massive amount of damage in an Army Battle causing characters to die in the fight, they can never be used in the game again…

If you aren’t a fan of turn-based RPGs, I don’t think Suikoden I&II HD Remaster Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars will change your mind because this is just a great-looking and sounding version of those original titles. But, if you enjoy RPGs of this type and have played the original releases of these games, or if you missed out like I did this is your chance to check out two of the most loved titles in this genre to have come out. I am so happy that I didn’t miss out on the Suikoden games for a second time!