Suikoden

Suikoden (幻想水滸伝, Gensōsuikoden), often referred to as Suikoden I, is the first instalment of the Suikoden series, designed and released initially for the Sony PlayStation and later for the Sega Saturn.

It tells the story of the (player named) son of Teo McDohl, general of the Scarlet Moon Empire and his exile from the Empire and rise to leader of the Toran Liberation Army aiming to overthrow the government.

Gameplay
As the first game in the series, Suikoden established many "series standards" many of which are used in the majority of games. The concept of the 108 Stars, and the ability to recruit them, in order to increase your forces and grow your base, has been in use in every mainstream Suikoden game to date, missing from only Suikoden Tactics and Gensosuikogaiden Volume 1 and Gensosuikogaiden Volume 2.

Suikoden's six-person party, arranged in two rows (front and back), which each character having an optimal range (Short, Medium or Long) was retained through Suikoden II and Suikoden III, was restored for Suikoden V and appeared in truncated form in Suikoden Tierkreis.

The use of personalised weapons for each character, sharpened by blacksmiths, rather than the traditional purchasing of new weapons, made it through all main Suikoden games, as well as Suikoden Tactics, until Suikoden Tierkreis dropped the concept. Equipping runes to grant magical powers as well as the use of "spell levels", rather than traditional MP, also lasted throughout the series until Suikoden Tierkreis moved to the more traditional MP system.

The first Suikoden game also introduced to the series war battles, as well as one-on-one duels. Again, both these ideas would be used in every main game of the series until 2009's Suikoden Tierkreis removed these regular parts of the series.

Plot Overview
The game told the story of the hero, the son of Teo McDohl, one of the Great Generals of the Scarlet Moon Empire. The hero, through his friend Ted, comes into possession of the Rune of Life and Death, one of 27 True Runes that governs various aspects of the world. The Rune, ruthlessly hunted for by corrupt officials within the Empire and their manipulators, forces the hero and his companions to flee the capital city of Gregminster.

Eventually, the hero finds his way to a rebel organisation where he is sheltered, although he is only convinced of the need to struggle against the Empire, when the hideout is attacked and sacked by Imperial forces. Recruiting the help of Mathiu Silverberg, a former Imperial strategist, McDohl's Liberation Army starts off as a small force working to unite rebel factions throughout Scarlet Moon before bringing down the Empire itself. Following the war, which was filled with much loss of life and many good people on both sides, the hero, still bearing the Rune of Life and Death, leaves the nation.

Release History

 * December 15, 1995 - Initial Japanese release on PlayStation.
 * November 29, 1996 - Rereleased as a 'PlayStation the Best' title.
 * September 17, 1997 - Japanese release on Sega Saturn.
 * March 26, 1998 - Japanese release on Windows 95.
 * July 11, 2002 - Rereleased as a 'PS one Books' title.
 * February 23, 2006 - Released on the PlayStation Portable alongside its successor as Gensosuikoden I&II.
 * June 16, 2008 - Released as a mobile phone application in Japan as an i-appli app also supported by both EZapp and S!app.

Media Adaptations
From August to November 2008, Assemble Gensosuikoden Radio! 108 Stars! was an internet radio show featuring an audio drama of the game performed by Japanese voice actors. These would be released as a drama CD on December 18, 2008.

Gensosuikoden The Succeed Crest was a manga adaptation of the game that ran for two volumes from 2009 to 2010. It is from that manga that we get the alternative name for the main character; Louie. Before that, the 1998 manga Parody Comics Series Genso Suikoden, focused exclusively on the title, being published before Suikoden II's release.

Suikoden