Suikoden I & II HD Remaster: Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars Review (Mikan)
Better than Eiyuden Chronicles…
On a serious note, this game isn't a remake, is a remaster, it doesn't have many of the contemporary jrpgs qol improvements for that reason. Despite that, it has a proper translation this time since the og game on ps1 had certain parts rushed and broken, for now most of them are faithful to the original game with slight changes to add more text in certain characters and keeping their original intended message (so far as I know). The new artstyle for portraits, sprites and scenery may look odd in certain areas and great in others, it's a hit/miss situation. And we have a new re-arranged soundtrack.
I bought it despite those flaws because I love these series, it has 6 great games (yes, even Suikoden 4) with 2 VNs, and 3 decent spinoffs even if those are not related to the main timeline. It has an expansive lore that unfortunately was never finished and left many questions to be speculated in order to seek a response, and thus left the fans waiting for more of this franchise. It had nice characters with great development arcs and conflicts that kept stakes and interest in their stories. Luca Blight is still my favourite villain of any game I’ve ever played. And from party members, Sierra and Kasumi, whose designs are simple yet lovely, haven't been dethroned from my heart.
I wish this series to continue on, and for the price, if I can play once again these games with a newly look and proper bug fixes that the original game had, support these series and hope for a new entry, then yes, it worth the price for 2 games and one of them being one of the best jrpgs I’ve ever played.
Suikoden 1 and 2 are beloved not only because they were great games back on ps1, but because their story, music, characters and artstyle still holds up and are a joy to play even nowadays. If you don’t want to buy this remaster I can understand your point, but try the OG games, they are still great for today's standards.
Besides, it’s also nice to see a work of Murayama being respected and in a modern engine with their original vision and story not being defiled, to keep his memory alive.