Suikoden is a recreation that I’ve been which means to play for years. A extremely regarded roleplaying recreation from the unique PlayStation period, it’s famend for its sprawling storyline and large forged of playable characters. That additionally makes it fairly intimidating, and I’ve had a duplicate sitting on my PS Vita simply ready for after I might need the free time to lastly dig in. After all that ready, I’m now enjoying a brand new remastered assortment that features the primary two video games within the collection as a substitute. And it made me notice that, for the previous a number of months, my private gaming time has been dominated by traditional, turn-based RPGs — an expertise that has actually made clear the style’s realm of potentialities.
It began with the wonderful new model of Dragon Quest 3, which launched final November. That recreation was the equal of online game consolation meals: an exceedingly simple fantasy journey that has been spruced up with beautiful visuals, a lush orchestral soundtrack, and a few very welcome high quality of life tweaks. Soon after that, Mistwalker launched an up to date model of Fantasian. It’s technically not an outdated recreation — it initially debuted on Apple Arcade in 2021 — however it has the soul of 1, with Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi utilizing it as a option to discover new concepts in presentation and fight. Then, to high all of it off, the “pixel remaster” model of the very first Final Fantasy hit Apple Arcade in January.
These have been all video games I had performed earlier than, however digging by way of them once more in fast succession made me recognize their strengths. DQ3 and FF embody a real sense of journey. Both have simple tales which are simple to observe (or ignore, for those who don’t care about that type of factor) however areas and techniques that make venturing into cities, dungeons, and the broader world thrilling. DQ3 made that kind of expertise extremely approachable, with its stunning new presentation and streamlined gameplay, whereas I’ve found that FF is sort of probably the best cellular recreation: one thing deep sufficient to maintain me engaged but additionally an expertise the place it nonetheless feels such as you’re making progress while you solely have a brief window to play.
Fantasian, in the meantime, is sort of a fashionable reinterpretation of what a traditional turn-based RPG could possibly be. In a number of methods, it’s traditional FF, from the amnesiac protagonist to the the world that’s a mixture between fantasy and sci-fi. But it additionally has some intelligent twists on the method, like battles that allow you to goal assaults and a device for delaying random battles for while you simply wish to discover. This is all on high of the headline-grabbing visuals product of real-world dioramas. And whereas I’m just a few hours into enjoying Suikoden for the primary time, I’ve already been struck by the ambition of its storytelling, which manages to cram a number of political intrigue into the confines of a standard RPG construction.
That’s all to say that even at a time when there’s loads of spectacular, huge, and fashionable RPGs like Avowed and Dragon Age, there’s nonetheless one thing distinct and fascinating in regards to the traditional turn-based method, and it’s thrilling to see all of the ways in which varied studios have utilized it through the years. That’s true whether or not you’re replaying a brand new model of one thing outdated or, like me, attempting out Suikoden for the very first time. Even higher: there’s nonetheless extra to return. As Sakaguchi advised me earlier this 12 months, with regards to his studio’s subsequent recreation, their “objective is to create one thing outdated however new on the similar time.”
