Suikoden I & II HD Remaster: Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars Review
(Reviewer’s Note: Konami recently announced multiple adjustments that were not available to us at the time of the review. This review is true to the version available to us at the time of review.)
The morning after I rolled credits on Suikoden II in the Suikoden I & II HD Remaster: Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars, a fellow staff writer asked me a tough question: if I already have access to these games elsewhere, is this remastered collection worth grabbing?
On one hand, the answer appears easy: these are two of my favorite games ever. Suikoden II is still the pinnacle of the genre for me; I even have art from the ending hanging over my TV at home. Suikoden I is no slouch, either. I’ve played them both at least ten times, and every RPG fan should give them a shot. Most importantly, these are, without a doubt, the best versions of each game. Nothing this remaster does tarnishes the experiences. Sounds like a slam dunk, right?
The real answer is slightly more complicated than that.
If there’s an aspect of the game that doesn’t need to be touched, though, it’s the story. Fortunately, it hasn’t been. For the uninitiated, Suikoden games share a common conceit in their narratives: in each, you find yourself embroiled in a large-scale conflict between warring nations or factions, and you must gather “108 Stars of Destiny” to bolster your ranks and take down your foes. You may often find yourself on the opposite side of a conflict from someone or something you know and care about, whether it be family, friend, or country.
In Suikoden I, those personal stakes become obvious early. You play as Tir McDohl, son of one of the great generals of the Scarlet Moon Empire. When the empire hires you to do some work, you quickly discover that everyone isn’t happy with the country’s current situation. When they take someone dear away from you, you eventually find yourself leading the rebel faction against the empire and against your own father.
You have to go a little deeper for similar stakes in Suikoden II, but it’s all the more effective for it. You play as Riou, a member of Highland’s youth brigade. You and your best friend Jowy quickly realize that your encampment is under attack from your own people, and you escape to the neighboring City-State of Jowston, which has a tenuous peace agreement with Highland. Riou and Jowy must wrestle with their loyalty to Highland and their newfound home in Jowston, eventually finding themselves thrust into leadership roles in this conflict.
Suikoden games are never interested in easy, black-and-white answers: everyone always has a reason for fighting, some arguably better than your own. They aren’t afraid to show the costs of war, either—both the personal and to the people as a whole. And it’s always those people, those personal relationships that keep these stories grounded, even when war rages around them. This is remarkable given that these games are juggling over 108 characters. Suikoden II is particularly notable on this front—the relationships and characters are so well drawn, especially between the leading trio. Even after playing it a dozen times, the ending never fails to move me. The characters who carry over from the first game certainly help, but Suikoden I establishes the template well, too. While its fast pace might sometimes prevent it from hitting the heights of its sequel, it’s still more mature and thoughtful than most RPGs today.
Given that the storytelling is mostly unchanged, let’s go back to that question: is the remaster worth picking up if you have access to the originals? The biggest reason supporting the remaster is the polished localization. I know in some circles “new localization” can be a dirty phrase, but the reality is that both original games, particularly Suikoden II, tell brilliant stories with a compelling cast in spite of the messy translation. I always liked the personality of it, but sometimes things were unclear or there were glaring typos. Honestly, I was worried they’d change too much, that things wouldn’t feel the same. Nothing is lost, though. The personality and nuance of the characters shine through a little more clearly with this polish. In fact, if you compare the localizations side by side, you’ll notice that they’re pretty similar, but one is just, well, better. It’s been my only major complaint over the years, and they address it exactly how I wanted.
The other significant change is the visuals. Truthfully, the visuals never drew any criticism from me; I think the look has aged better than most of the 3D PS1 games. Luckily, the most important part of the visuals remains unchanged: the pixel art. Suikoden II, in particular, is a masterclass in the form; the expressiveness, the detail, and the variety add to each character’s personality and unique charm, even when they’re only on screen briefly. Outside of that, everything else is now “HD” in these versions, including new spell effects, brighter and sharper backgrounds, an updated UI, and (of course) it’s all in widescreen.
Of the two, Suikoden I gets the most notable facelift, with new character portraits from the original artist, whereas Suikoden II‘s are simply cleaned up and at a higher resolution. I’ve always thought the portraits in the first were odd-looking and chunky, whereas I love the portraits in Suikoden II, so this is exactly what I hoped for. Otherwise, while I’m certain some will think the sprites look odd against the new backgrounds, it quickly felt right to me, and some of the moments, especially at night, are much more beautiful and evocative than the original. While I didn’t need this change, I appreciate the effort and do think both games are better for it.
Here’s where the endorsement for this new version falters, though: the gameplay. The only place with any notable tweaks is in “standard” battles, where you field six characters in two rows. Some need to be in the front to attack, some are better suited to the back. Characters equip “Runes” to give them magic, stat boosts, or adjustments to the way they attack, and some can even “Unite” for more powerful attacks.
Sounds familiar, right? I have no problem with that: the original attacks fire off quickly, and you have so many characters that you’re bound to find someone you like. There’s a lot of variety and it’s quick. But there are some annoyances, like when characters are forced into your party. Did they change that? No. You’re still rolling with Gremio, no matter how useless he is. A convoy like they introduce in Suikoden II and refined in later entries would have been nice. That doesn’t happen here.
Instead, they went quick and easy by improving the autobattle function and adding basic difficulty options and a speed-up button. For autobattle, you don’t have to select it between each round. That’s fine. Good, even. Difficulty options are great in theory, but it seems like they just upped HP values and damage output from the enemies. Even on “hard mode,” you still blast through the toughest enemies with ease once you establish your setup. The same broken setups from the original remain broken here. Speed-up feels odd, partially because the battles already moved fast, but mostly because the music speeds up too, which is distracting. You can also only use it in battle. Yes, I understand that the changes to combat are easier to implement than other more wholesale adjustments, but it feels like Konami added things that weren’t necessary instead of addressing the real problems with the originals.
The other two types of combat, army battles and duels, play out the same. Army battles are still essentially a rock-paper-scissors affair in Suikoden I and watered-down Fire Emblem in Suikoden II. The duels are unquestionably better with the cleaner scripts, though; you can actually tell what the opponent is saying and react appropriately.
Other than a baffling autosave function that only triggers when you’re in a room with a save point, which is possibly the oddest and most pointless addition I’ve ever seen in a remaster, everything else is the same, too. Fortunately, the music is all unchanged. It’s still absolutely beautiful. They say the remaster has adjusted sound effects, but I couldn’t notice much difference. Recruitment requirements are identical to the originals, even the missable characters. Drops and drop rates also seem to be identical; yes, it’s necessary to grind for those Double-Beat (now Double-Jab) Runes at extremely specific and missable times. You still can’t teleport to Gregminster in Suikoden II, so get ready to climb those ladders at least a half-dozen times. Even inventory management is the same, which may be the biggest blunder. It’s exhausting to constantly flip items and equipment between characters, particularly in Suikoden I. Again, it’s an actual problem that goes unaddressed.
Remastering a classic is tough. Everyone wants something different, and we don’t want our memories to be tarnished. But did anyone seriously want the same inventory management problems from the first game? Find me someone, and I’ll give you 10 bucks. Konami makes some baffling decisions in these remasters; frankly, I’m not sure they understood the assignment. Does it look and sound better? Yes. Is the localization much more coherent? Yes. Can you actually dash in Suikoden I now? Yes. Outside of the script, is that really what the games needed? I’m not so sure. It mostly feels like a quick and easy coat of paint.
To be clear, Suikoden I & II shine even more brightly here than they have for over 25 years. Plus, building up your base is still a blast, and I got the same dopamine hit every time I added someone to my army. The characters and story are still working on a singular, elevated level. I love the look and the sound. But, even this superfan purist wanted a little more care and attention in addressing the legitimate complaints people have about these games.
I guess none of that really answers the first question. You know what? Buy it anyway. It’s not complicated after all: it’s still Suikoden, and it’s still glorious.
