News: Suikoden 4

[Glenn]

PROBABILI SPOILERS INSIDE!!!!

Da una rivista Japponese:
1) Il compositore di questo 4° suikoden sarà Coba, conosciuto per aver composto le musiche di "Pokemon".
2) Viki tornerà ancora una volta!
3) Jeane sarà utilizzabile per la 1° volta! [anche se nn è confermato, è stata "vista" entrare in un dungeon con l'eroe di turno, quindi si presuppone che per la prima volta sarà un PG giocante]. "Vestirà" lo stesso costume di Suikoden 1 & 2.
4) Ci saranno 4 gatti guerrieri [convermati!].
5) C'è una ragazza con un martello che sembra diversa da Meg e Belle.
6) La Rune of Punishment [runa della punizione] VERRA' trasferita da Brand al Pirata Glen. C'è inoltre una scena in cui l'eroe combatte contro Brand e un'altra in cui Glen parla con Snow.
7) Snow parla [nel senso che c'è l'audio!]alla fine del trailer, quindi per la prima volta potrebbe esserci il doppiaggio!

Riguardo Rune e l'Eroe di turno
L'eroe sarà un Tenkai Star e saremo in grado di dargli un come a piacimento. E' orfano, e lavora al servizio di Snow. (Snow è figlio di un aristocratico). Le sue armi sono 2 spade, ed è stato confermato che vestirà la Runa della Punizione.
La Rune of Punishment Gives da enormi poteri a ch la indossa, ma toglie energia vitale. Quando tutta l'energia vitale sarà esaurita, la runa scieglierà una nuova persona che dovrà sacrificare la sua vita...

Il resto è in inglese... nn ho voglia di tradurre tutto quello [pensavo fosse meno ]
Buona lettura -.-

Based on the released screenshots, it seems like the initial bearer of the Rune of Punishment is "Brand the Pirate." It is already official that Brand will die early in the story. Glen (The brown-haired man with a beard) will be the second bearer of the Rune of Punishment. The hero will probably receive the rune from Glen... which means that Glen would most probably die as well. But regardless, Glen seems to be one of the most important characters during the early part of the game.


Another characteristic of the Rune of Punishment is that it retains a fragment of the previous bearer's memory, like a sudden flashback. The main hero is supposed to be tormented repeatedly by these flashbacks of dark, dreary events that never happened to him. Perhaps one of the previous bearers would be someone we have heard of in previous installations.



Setting: Location will be the Island Nations, era is a "secret."

During an interview, Matsukawa stated that the era Suikoden 4 will take place is a "secret." Hopefully we will find out soon enough, such as during the TGS. However, one thing Matsukawa said stirs imagination--"When I was thinking about 'what to do with 4,' I thought that, like 2 was to 3, 1 should be to 4. But the era is still a secret." This can be interpreted a few different ways. The time between Suikoden 2 and 3 is 15 years, so if we apply the same rule to Suikoden 1 and 4, that would mean Suikoden 4 will take place 3 years before Suikoden 3. However, a semi-reliable source in an internet message board in Japan stated that the plot would take place 3 years AFTER suikoden 3 (and That Edge and Sharon will be among returning characters--Edge will apparently have longer hair). So at the moment, we really do not know. There are many rumors about prequels, but that is also uncertain.

Concerning whether Suikoden 4 will resolve any of the "loose ends" that existed in previous installations, Matsukawa stated "There will be no hints." I'm not sure how to interpret that comment though, but it seems like we really have no idea at this moment whether characters like Lorelai, Killey, or Georg will make a comeback.

The setting is the Island Nations. Where is that? It is located south of the Toran Republic (Where Suikoden 1 takes place). Please refer to our Suikoden Map to look at its hypothetical location (The location of the Queendom of Falena is WRONG on that map based on recent research).

The Island Nation is often mentioned as being "south of Kanakan," and thus we can assume Kanakan will make an appearance in the game in some way or another. Also, the Island Nations was one of the chief trading locations that Shu dealt with, so it is assumed that there is a lot of transport between the Island Nations and the Dunan region (and Toran as well, naturally). This means it is not far-fetched to assume that we will be able to visit Toran or Dunan (or even Budehuc) because arguably anywhere a ship can go, the hero can go as well.



Character & Plot


Only a few names have been released, but a few other characters have been witnessed in screenshots. Here are some explanations concerning these known characters


Snow
The son of a local aristocrat who governs an area within the Nameless Lands. We have already seen two different portraits and character sets (one where he is wearing ornate armor and another wearing a green coat), so we know he is a pretty important character. He'll definitely have an important role in the story. He is supposed to be a "friend" of the hero, but because the hero is a servant of Snow's household, their relationship is a bit more complicated than mere friendship. It seems like they will have a fallout at some point, as Snow is later seen (in his green coat), telling the hero, "Don't think you did me a favor , I always hated how you are such a do-gooder."


Count Fingerfoot
A middle-aged man wearing red clothes with a small moustache. He is recorded as saying something like, "Congratulations to the newly initiated knights." He apparently looks pretty normal.


Eleanor Silverberg
A flask-swigging, rough-talking middle-aged woman strategist. She looks like a retired strategist based on what she says. Seems like we will have to convince her to join just like how the Tenki Star was recruited in Suikoden 1 and 2.


Jeane
Jeane is seen involved in combat. She seems to have a unite attack with Kika and another woman. It's obviously the beautiful woman attack! The clothing she wears seems similar to what she had in Suikoden 1 and 2, but it is different.


Leknaat
She will be coming back. Only one screenshot has been revealed, so her role is quite unclear at this moment.


Viki
Viki appears in front of the hero with a sneeze. She seems to wear the same clothes as Suikden 1 and 2.


Brand the Pirate
He seems to be the first bearer of the Rune of Punishment during Suikoden 4. Unfortunately, it is official that he will die. A scene involving a duel between the hero and Brand has been witnessed at TGS.


Glen
A burly mercenary-style swordsman with a beard--he looks pretty strong. He will be the 2nd bearer of the Rune of Punishment after the death of Brand the Pirate. That also means, Glen would also probably die (and the rune would probably go to the Hero). He is a superiot to Snow, and in one scene he is seen scolding Snow for abandoning his troops. He is also seen fighting the hero, but who knows if this is out of enmity or just some sort of spar. But judging from the fact that the hero has to get the Rune of Punishment from Glen some way or other, it is probably out of enmity.


Kika
A female pirate with a short red vest and two swords. Kawano states in an interview that "This person is going to be very cool." She is apparently a pirate. She is seen in one screen with a tattoo on her back. She is also seen doing a unite attack with Jeane (Kika drawa a heart in the air).


Cat People
Three cat people have been verified. A frontal shot was seen at TGS, so they are indeed cats. One of them wears a hat. One of them is seen in a combat screenshot, this cat person looks pretty weak. He(she?) seems to be a martial artist of some sort (although his clothing doesn't look really like it).

Rino En Culdes
Seen in a screenshot aboard a ship. He has very pale blond hair and a goatee, and looks pretty strong (he uses a spear). He is seen to be fighting together with soldiers wearing conical hats. He seems to belong to the same group as these conical hatted soldiers.


Conical Hatted Soldiers
Because two people are wearing the same clothing, it seems to be a uniform. They are wearing a long conical white hat, and what looks like a military uniform. Their swords are also identical. Perhaps they are soldiers of the Queendom of Falena?


Trickster Girl
A trickster girl who uses a pink hammer in combat. Her clothes apparently is greenish, making her seem more like Meg, but her hairstyle is more like Belle.


Mermaid?
Not really a mermaid, but a female human with blonde hair, who's lower body is scaly. She has legs, so she is probably a new race introduced from Suikoden 4.


Elven Warrior
An elf is seen peering out to the horizon at the edge of a ship. He wears armor similar to what the hero is wearing (when he is with Snow).



Combat System and Music


Combat
Not much is known yet about the combat system, but the graphics are supposed to be heavily improved, especially magic. Also, for magic that takes an extra long time, a feature is said to be included that will allow the player to skip the sequence.

An interesting comment made in Dorimaga is that the "Buddy System" will be back. However, because this is merely a comment made by the writer of the article, hopefully this isn't true.

One definitely cool news is that weapon graphics will change after their name changes from sharpening. Previously only the name changed and weapons looked exactly the same, so this would be a good change.

Lastly, Matsukawa states, "There are many things we want to try, but when the final product goes to the hands of the end users, we want to make sure the gameplay element is honed out." Hopefully we would not have all the awkwardness experienced in Suikoden 3.



Music
As far as music, Matsukawa has said, "You would be able to feel "Genso Suikoden" from the music," and "We are working on music that is catchy and suikoden-like."

[Hawkeye]

Ma questa volta ci possiamo sperare o no che venga in italia?

[Balflear]

Molte novità rispetto al III,staremo a vedere.

[Glenn]

Hawkeye ha scritto:
Ma questa volta ci possiamo sperare o no che venga in italia?

E' già confermato PAL per il 1° quadrimestre 2005

[Hawkeye]

Nn ci posso credere !!!!! Speriamo solo che nn facciano lo stesso scherzettino del 3°.....cmq nn è poi cosi vicino il 2005...mò mi fate aspettare tutto sto tempo....

[Glenn]

Hawkeye ha scritto:
Nn ci posso credere !!!!! Speriamo solo che nn facciano lo stesso scherzettino del 3°.....cmq nn è poi cosi vicino il 2005...mò mi fate aspettare tutto sto tempo....

Guarda che uscirà ad estate inoltrata in Japp.
Ergo: è più che ottima la data!

[Hawkeye]

Vabbè...cercherò di aspettare!

[Jin Uzuki]

Che bella notizia!In estate mi giocherò il 3 e all'inizio del 2005 uscirà il 4,evviva.

[Underground DJ]

Intanto si sà qualcosa se il 3 esce PAL?

[explorer]

Underground DJ ha scritto:
Intanto si sà qualcosa se il 3 esce PAL?

credo proprio che non esca....8(

[Devil 87]

In generale i contenuti in ing?

[Glenn]

Underground DJ ha scritto:
Intanto si sà qualcosa se il 3 esce PAL?

Il 3 è confermato che non uscirà.
Ad ogni modo non è una perdita così grave.
E' molto divertente, quello si, ma credo valga la pena di apettare il 4° che il 3° [che ho finito pochi giorni fa ]

[Jin Uzuki]

Glenn ha scritto:
Il 3 è confermato che non uscirà.
Ad ogni modo non è una perdita così grave.
E' molto divertente, quello si, ma credo valga la pena di apettare il 4° che il 3° [che ho finito pochi giorni fa ]

Ci sono nel 3 personaggi mitici come Jowy Atreides oppure l'eroe Genkaku del secondo?

[Glenn]

Jin Uzuki ha scritto:
Ci sono nel 3 personaggi mitici come Jowy Atreides oppure l'eroe Genkaku del secondo?

Il 3 è l'unico che ho giocato & finito...
Quindi ti assicuro solo Landis, il mio PG preferito
Gli altri [Hugo su tutti -.-] non sono un granchè (

[Jin Uzuki]

Glenn ha scritto:
Il 3 è l'unico che ho giocato & finito...
Quindi ti assicuro solo Landis, il mio PG preferito
Gli altri [Hugo su tutti -.-] non sono un granchè (

uff...io mi aspettavo il ritorno di McDohl!(