Y'see, the thing is, Suikoden Tactics (West) has one of the blandest covers I've ever seen.

http://www.gametab.com/images/ss/ps2/4850/box-l.jpg

Having said that, I still preferred looking at it than playing the actual game.

Except that the PAL cover, where me and Omagnus live looked like this:

http://i2.ebayimg.com/07/i/001/0a/61/1eb0_2.JPG

I can't think of any particularly bad Suikoden PAL covers off the top of my head.

*looks at Suikoden Tactics case and cover* Oh yes, I have that one too. When I did a google image search I sort of just assumed we got screwed over with the cover as well.

Speaking of Suikoden covers, how 'bout that Japanese Suikoden I cover. :eye:

Completely agree, was just making a little bit of a joke is all. Surely you would not begrudge a chap that? :p

I know the American cover was ghastly but I thought the PAL cover was the same as the Jap one?

Sorry Omagnus, joke away mate.

Yes that's right. (All these mistakes..and I call myself a Suikoden fanatic! =O) I find it strikingly odd that it's the American cover which contains Japanese text and bizarre art designs. But yeah, I've always been a fan of the alternative Suikoden cover. And SII's, but that's just a given.

Back on topic, at least Tierkreis looks awesome.

http://www.1up.com/media?id=3612257&type=lg http://www.1up.com/media?id=3612247&type=lg
http://www.1up.com/media?id=3612251&type=lg http://www.1up.com/media?id=3612253&type=lg

The characters in the battle screen remind me of the first Wild Arms game. The rest looks pretty nice though. Given the chances of this ever getting a European release are basically zero, I might have to import this.

A comment from Edge's TGS Komani stand summary on Tierkreis that sound reasonably positive:

[ source ]

Where does this take place in teh Suikoden timeline? Sorry if it's been said already....

Unknown. No one's even sure if it's the usual Suikoden universe either, and Nintendo Power has stated the game travels through parallel worlds (parallel dimensions have been canon since the original Suikoden, so don't freak out, people). The geography makes me wonder as well. When comparing the "world" map that was in the Suikoden V bonus DVD and the map seen in some videos, it seems to be clear that the game is on some landmass that's not been shown yet. Some potential areas are the "eastern continent," as well as the lands south of Nagarea and New Armes.

One of the main antagonists works for a powerful military force, which could be Harmonia. The One King, who wallops the 104 other stars, has a name that hints at Hikusaak, but has a description that just screams Sindarin or Yuber (desires chaos, etc etc). It is a mystery.

EDIT: The December issue of Nintendo Power has a three-page article up that states that the game isn't set in the same world, and True Runes are absent entirely. Consequently, even usual mainstays like Viki and Jeane are absent. Instead, the game focuses on the limitless number of parallel universes called 'the Infinity' that have suddenly begun to overlap (causing people and powerful monsters to cross over into Tierkreis' universe and run amok). Very informative article.

Turns out the whole "reforming the Stars" plot was dropped early in development, and also mentioned some pretty cool gameplay aspects that were mulled over for that plot (resurrected Stars would sometimes be revived just as they were before death, but others would come back as weapons and various animals).

In short:

Release date: Winter, possibly as soon as December
Timeline: Moot; alternate universe, new timeline
Location: Kingdom of Salsaville, various neighboring countries

Story progression: Mission based
Online functionality: Yes, characters are sent into the Infinity (the internets), which other players will use for unique missions that net bonus experience and items

Good news. Apparently, Genso Sukoden Tierkreis is targeted for a release in America in "Early 2009".

As I mentioned in the Tales of Hearts thread, this was leaked a couple days ago. It's out in Japan proper now.

As was discussed, the game takes place in an entirely new universe, so there are no returning characters. The hero and his friends who make up the Town Guard in the village of Citro, and that is the game's initial setting.

The graphics are weird. The character models are hideously deformed, with the characters having bizarrely oversized arms compared to the rest of their bodies. The 2D backgrounds are gorgeous however, and it's been a treat to explore things. The music is also great, and Suikoden fans will more than likely appreciate the continued tradition.

Battling works like it always has, just replace the traditional Rune system with your average, run-of-the-mill MP system from other RPGs. A bit disappointing.

That's all I can think of at the moment.

Anybody got more thoughts on this? From the various previews and reviews I've read, the voice acting and battle interface seem pretty bad, but the characters and plot seem to have been met with great positivity. Good to hear that the plot's good, that alone makes it worth a purchase.

So yeah, definitely importing this one when it's released.

Battles are just insanely bland rather than bad. A completely standard turn-based affair in every regard. They also got rid of the smithy aspect and instead each character can equip a few of the game's... 10 or so weapon types.

The english voice acting seems like it might be pretty good. We'll have to see.

My GameStop friend happened to be nice enough to pick up the Artbook/Soundtrack CD for me, so I went ahead and took a look.

The artbook, needless to say, is shit. It's on a disc for Christ's sake, which should tell you right away how much effort Konami was putting into it. You get about 20 smaaall pieces of character art and some smaaall samples of the really good scenery art. That part's crap.

The soundtrack is... limited, but good. There's some great stuff on here, and it's in the good quality, not the DS-rip kind. Salsabil is an absolutely awesome track. Definitely getting nominated in the next Best Song Contest we have.

GB, how many tracks are there on the Soundtrack CD? For some reason, this is the first I've heard about a promotional/enclosure CD that comes with the US game.

Ordering it online from most places will mention the soundtrack/artbook. Like Gamestop, or Amazon.

In any case, there's 18 tracks. Let me see if I can't remember them all:

Citro Plains
Cynas, Capital of the One Way (two variants)
Pharamond
Castle of Pharamond
Woodland Village
Lugenik
World Map (four variants)
Formation
Salsabil
Salsabil Kingdom
Naineneis
Cragbark

...Nope, that'd be 16. In any case, you get the idea.

Fuck media CDs. PoP did the same shit for its "special edition". I want full color art printed on a page. Sega had the right idea with the beautiful Valkyria Chronicles US artbook and so did Atlus with their thick as fuck Persona 4 artbook. I was expecting better than this. This is a huge drop in quality from the Suikoden 5 artbook which was hardbound and printed on real paper.

Oh well... not that it will hurt the quality of the game or anything. I'm still looking forward to it.

Yes, believe me, I remember Prince of Persia's annoying-ass bonus disc. Fortunately, it's ridiculously easy to rip the stuff off this one. Also, like I said, it's still worth it for the soundtrack. Really good stuff.

Apparently this is out here already so I might go and buy it at lunchtime. I've got plenty to play on the train to work at the moment but I don't imagine this will be around in the shops for long so it makes sense to pick it up now, even if I don't play it for a while.

Additional Spam:
Well despite the release date on Konami's website being today, it seems that Tierkreis is following the long tradition of Suikoden games in Europe and it's simply not shown up. I remember S2 slipped a good six months before it came out and S3 slipped and slipped until they just didn't bother releasing it so I've put in a pre-order on GAME's website and it'll turn up if and when they decide to release it I guess. :(

Yeah, I downloaded it to try it out. The English voice acting is fucking atrocious. Seriously. The main character talks like someone out of Speed Racer. This isn't even out in the US and there are already folks trying to get an undub done.

People are fucked then, because the Japanese voicetrack is shit. Absolute shit. They're gonna have to live with it, either way.

Additional Spam:
Oh come on, what are people bitching about? They sound like normal kids. Is it because they didn't have exaggerated voices like Johnny Yong Bosch or Steven Blum?

Sometimes the protagonist speaks a little too fast, but it sounds intentional to show he's a pretty spastic kid (it's not to keep up with the pacing of scenes, since dialogue doesn't move along until you hit the A button to confirm it).

Oh hey, fuck you Konami:

Looks like it's import or nothing then. Why do Konami hate Europe so much?

Edit: Weird, it's still listed on Konami's UK website so maybe it's just that GAME aren't stocking it. There are a few sellers on Amazon so I've ordered it from one there, with any luck it'll turn up at some point.

Haven't had much luck over here in Australia either (also a PAL region). The few shops I've been to either don't have the game on their system or say it's been discontinued. I guess I'll just bite the bullet and import from the US; I'm not gonna wait like I had to for Suikoden V (got seriously delayed over here, if memory serves).