Suikoden I & II HD Remaster Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars

Something is going on with Konami. For years, the company has received harsh criticism, some of it deserved. Now, little-by-little, it is returning to the path of success. Long gone are the days of pachinko machines, NFT bets, or infamous games like Metal Gear Survive. All that is still there, but it is no longer the first thing that comes to mind when we think of Konami. It's true that this resurgence attempt is based, above all, on the exploitation and recovery of its most emblematic IPs; but that doesn't have to be a bad thing. After all, we are talking about Castlevania, Silent Hill, Metal Gear, Yu-Gi-Oh!, or the saga that concerns us today: Suikoden.

The important thing here is that there are two ways of doing things, just as there are two ways of bringing back existing games or sagas: the good and the bad. And the same goes for remasters: there are good ones and bad ones. Suikoden I & II HD Remaster Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars, beyond a title whose name we won't be able to remember, belongs to the first line. So, to whet your appetite as the remasters of Suikoden I & II - the PS1 originals - have come out well. Add to that the remake of Silent Hill 2 and how the future Metal Gear Solid Delta looks... Has anyone used the Konami code in a ritual held in a foggy village? Who cares. Let's celebrate.

Of course, this compilation is primarily aimed at fans of a series that has long been invoked. But if this is your first time playing Suikoden, you should know that the legend is no accident. Nor is the fact that Konami has opted for the first two - and best - instalments. Both had, already at the time, the ability to transfer the best of the typical JRPG structure of the time (16-32 bit), adding layers of personality unique and never seen before in the genre. Something like the Squaresoft imitation that so many others had tried, but with the luck of hitting the nail on the head with those identifying elements.

As it won't be possible to go through both games in depth in this review, I'll summarise what those hallmarks are. First of all, the series is characterised by stories with a clear political and military focus. And although it also has medieval touches, everything feels more contemporary and realistic, especially on an aesthetic level and thanks to a much more Japanese setting than other JRPGs developed in the Land of the Rising Sun. Moreover, the way it deals with war is brilliant, constantly proposing dilemmas and moral questions on the subject, such as honour or the need or not to waste human lives. Is there really a right side? Is friendship possible in such a context?

Another great feature of Suikoden is its ability to offer different types of combat. On the one hand, there is the typical turn-based combat, but with special features such as the possibility of certain characters being able to perform combo attacks due to their relationship in the plot, runes for magics or even details such as being able to "let go" of enemies instead of running away when we are the ones with the higher level. But the beauty of Suikoden is that there are other - less numerous - situations in which we can enjoy very different battles. So there are war battles, which are strategy mini-games (much improved in Suikoden 2) and duels, which are a fight between two characters. In the latter, we only have three possible actions and it works in a rock-paper-scissors fashion, but with the distinction that we won't be playing totally blind; in fact, it will be the phrases our opponent says that will help us deduce what their next move is, and therefore help us choose the right action. Some of the duels are memorable, and one particularly difficult one, cof, cof.

And finally, the icing on the cake. Suikoden's real signature hook: the 108 Stars of Destiny. It sounds silly, but no other JRPG has ever included in its structure that one of the main collectibles in the game is the characters in your party. Here there are not 5 or 6 characters, but 108. All recruitable, all playable in battles and most of them useful in other tasks in the game. The latter is possible when, late in the story, the hero can acquire a castle that serves as a base for our army. The translation is that all recruited characters will go there, and some will even have special functions in the base: opening a shop, cooking, making lifts, offering mini-games, etc. So Suikoden are also excellent management games. And upgrading the base is a real blast.

At this point, let's focus on what's new in these remasters, which both old and new players will appreciate. We've already said that Konami has done a good job, but what we might not have expected is that both titles look so good graphically. If you've been following the release news, you'll already know that the stages have been redone for these revamps. That means the background artwork is now in HD. Best of all, this has been done without altering the essence of the original. There are scenes where it is particularly noticeable, especially when there are living elements such as waterfalls, or when experiencing a sunset, but absolutely all the elements have been touched: houses, trees, statues, floors, etc. And on top of that, the new effects for pixel art animation are pure gold.

Personally, I own both games as PS1 classics for PSP, PS Vita, and PS3. And when you put them side-by-side for comparison (e.g. on PS Portal), you're really blown away. It's no small job, and it's probably what has given Konami the most headaches. And speaking of the PSN classics - which were only in English - the other great novelty of the compilation is a reason for great joy for many people: They arrive fully localised in other languages. While the first Suikoden had never been in Spanish before, Suikoden 2 was only translated in the PAL ESP version of the original PlayStation game. And it's not a very good translation, by the way. The translation of these remasters is simple but impeccable.

This is important because neither of the first two Suikoden games were very accessible. Platform-wise, because it forced you to own older PlayStation consoles, with limited access to the PlayStation Store. And for price, because the PS1 originals cost an arm and a leg, still to this day. For that alone, I have no doubt that the series will finally reach a lot more people, getting the sales it always deserved. Or at least more attention. And accessibility and quality of life is also what this remaster is all about. In fact, there are two other important new features you should know about. On the one hand, we have the conversation log, which allows you to open the menu and read, at any time, the previous chats with the characters. This is very useful for those moments in a JRPG when you don't quite know what to do, and should be mandatory in any remaster of the genre. And on the other hand, there's the fast-forwarding in battles, which allows you to speed up battles with double or even triple speed when you move forward. That removes a lot of chaff if we want to advance faster in the story.

Unfortunately, other options that are more typical of emulated classics than remasters are missing, but should be present. For example, the ability to rewind the action or the ability to record the game at any time. Konami has told us that this remaster includes a very useful autosave function. This is true, but it is extremely limited as it only works when you enter a room with a save orb. In other words, there will only be autosave in situations where we have manual save at hand. Nonsense. Especially when a boss destroys you and you have to replay a 40 minute section. Not in 2025, if you want to make the game more accessible.

It would also have been nice to have options that are present in other remasters of the genre, such as the option to limit (or even eliminate) turn-based combat. It's not something I would use, but given that the game has some high difficulty peaks, it wouldn't have hurt. Especially since some people won't want to play on Easy, but will notice those peaks on Normal or Hard. Finally, while Konami has put a lot of effort into improving the menus, it's more aesthetic than functional. In other words, both games still suffer from some of the same issues as the originals. For instance, the equipment system in the first Suikoden is obnoxious.

On a more positive note, the new character artwork is perfect. And it's very noticeable that they have been done by Junko Kawano, who after all did the original ones as well. They change, but keep the style, and are much cooler. Also, the new ambient sound effects are awesome and add a lot of realism, also in battles.

In short, although Suikoden I & II HD Remaster Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars is not necessarily the definitive version of these two great games, it is the best possible version to date and, above all, the most accessible. Its price (€49.99) may scare some people away, but I guarantee that just for the translation, the visual improvements, and the unquestionable quality of the originals, it's worth it. Its storylines will grab you, its soundtracks will thrill you, its battles will challenge you, and its Stars of Destiny will make you keep playing. Well, maybe Suikoden 2's cooking mini-game - which is also a superlative sequel - will too.