Suikoden I & II HD Remaster: Gate Rune And Dunan Unification Wars Review – An Enduring Legacy

Back in the late 90s, after releasing some amazing games like Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger, Squaresoft was the undisputed king of Japanese role-playing games. The publisher's dominance in the genre, however, did not stop other Japanese publishers known for releasing some absolute bangers in other genres from launching their own takes on the genre, like Konami, which released the first entry in the Suikoden series back in late 1995 in Japan. While the game directed by Yoshitaka Murayama wasn't particularly different from most traditional JRPGs, it set itself apart from the competition by tackling some pretty mature themes for the time. However, the rise of polygonal 3D graphics and a Western release date too close to that of Final Fantasy VII severely impacted the game's audience. No one at the time could have predicted that the game would turn into a full-blown series, counting five main entries and a few spin-offs that would attract a loyal and enduring following, even after the series was clearly done.

While the series' creator Yoshitaka Murayama, who sadly passed away last year, moved on to create another franchise that serves as a spiritual successor to the Konami series, Konami has finally decided to bring back the series after a very long hiatus and offer modern audiences a chance to play both the original Suikoden and Suikoden II on modern platforms with Suikoden I & II HD Remaster: Gate Rune And Dunan Unification Wars, a remaster collection that does its job quite well, but whose real value lies in the quality of the original games.

For those who have already played the two games, let's get one thing out of the way: Suikoden I & II HD Remaster: Gate Rune And Dunan Unification Wars is a competent remaster that, maybe, could have done something more. Both games have received a considerable visual uplit, as every location has been faithfully recreated over the original games with higher resolution art and sprites, which have been left untouched over the original aside from receiving an obvious resolution bump, and new animated elements that help bring the Scarlet Moon Empire and the City-States of Jowstone to life like never before.

Character portraits have been completely redone in Suikoden I to bring them to a similar level of quality as those featured in Suikoden II, which have received some light touch-ups but no major overhaul. The soundtrack of both games was left untouched, which is not a bad thing at all, considering how amazing they both are to this day, and the only proper improvement in the audio department is ambient noises, which add a little bit of color to the entire game and help immersion, especially in the many dramatic sequences where music is absent.

In addition to the visual uplift and the small audio improvements, Suikoden I & II HD Remaster: Gate Rune And Dunan Unification Wars features a few other enhancements, including a redone UI for both games, which is quite welcome, three difficulty options, and some other quality-of-life changes, including the ability to speed up battles, and a toggleable auto-battle option that allows players to either play multiple turns using the auto option or cancel it to input commands manually the following turn. While the difficulty options are welcome, and Hard difficulty can be a little challenging, especially at the beginning of the two games, where the player has limited resources and lacks access to the most powerful Stars of Destiny, the other two combat improvements leave something to be desired.

Speeding up battles essentially speeds the entire game up, meaning that you will also have to listen to sped-up versions of the combat themes, which is so bad that I avoided using the option as much as I could, something that did not impact the experience too much since both Suikoden I and Suikoden II feature a snappy combat system that doesn't waste too much time playing out characters' actions. The new Auto Battle feature, on the other hand, is way more useful, but unfortunately, activating it forces a small black bar on the lower part of the screen that indicates Auto Battle is on, which is a little distracting and immersion-breaking. One final extremely welcome quality of life improvement exclusive to Suikoden II is the Turn Off EVen TImer option, which removes the time limit for certain events, such as Clive's sidequest.

The biggest improvement besides the improved visuals featured in Suikoden I & II HD Remaster: Gate Rune And Dunan Unification Wars are the localization improvements. While the English localization was fine overall in the original game, it was truly awful in Suikoden II, featuring some repeated dialogues, poor wording, and sentence structure that sometimes made it difficult to even understand what the characters were saying. Both games have received a new English localization that flows much better in the first game and that finally makes sense in the second game, making the story shine even more than it did back in the day, even with the horrible localization and all. Unfortunately, there are times when modern slang slips in, feeling completely out of place, such as when Viktor calls Gremio a "drama queen" early in Suikoden I, but thankfully, they aren't that frequent.

While the above is a solid selection of improvements, as I got reacquainted with the Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars, I couldn't help but feel that something more could have been done, aside from fixing the music speeding up in battle when increasing combat speed. For starters, an option to speed up field traversal would have been welcome, as would a random encounter toggle. While the two games don't have a high random encounter rate, the way they handle fighting weak enemies, who can be Let Go at the start of any turn without any penalty, it just would have made sense to give players the option to turn encounters off completely to speed up the already excellent pace of both games. With so many playable characters available, any option to improve character management would also have been welcome, especially in Suikoden I.

Even though something more could have been done to improve the two games, Suikoden I & II HD Remaster: Gate Rune And Dunan Unification Wars is still a collection that every JRPG should be getting for a very simple reason: the high quality of both games. While the original Suikoden may feel a little too traditional, even with some of its unique quirks, Suikoden II is, simply put, one of the best Japanese role-playing games ever released, taking everything the original game did and bringing it up to eleven. In my opinion, it stands head-to-head with more popular JRPGs of the late 90s, like Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VII, and Xenogears, and even surpasses them in some areas. It is a game that every fan of the genre should experience at least once.

At a glance, Suikoden I and its sequel don't look that different. Both are traditional top-down 2D JRPGs where players explore the Scarlet Moon Empire and the City-States of Jowston as the story dictates, alternating between towns and villages and dungeons as required. While both experiences are fairly linear, their traditional world maps sometimes allow players to branch out in search of new companions to recruit, the 108 of Destiny, who can join the main, mandatory story characters in battles or provide significant help during Army Battles, which are played as some sort of rock-paper-scissor game in the first Suikoden and as a tactical turn-based RPG in the second, or new services at the Headquarters. The straightforward turn-based combat system is made more remarkable by the large parties of up to six members, the ability to use combinations attacks with certain characters called Unite Attacks, and its general fast speed.

At some point during both games, certain characters will also be involved in duels, one-on-one fights that employ a rock-paper-scissor system and feature a sort of cinematic feel that looks great even with the dated and simple 3D backgrounds. Enriching both games are dungeons with a solid design featuring some puzzles and a decent wealth of mini-games that provide some variety, though the RNG dice game Chinchirorin remains as annoying as ever.

What truly makes Suikoden I & II HD Remaster: Gate Rune And Dunan Unification Wars stand out even today with their relatively straightforward gameplay are their stories, which were, in many ways, groundbreaking for the time. Even with its relative simplicity, Suikoden I laid the thematic groundwork that would get further developed in its sequel, not shying away, as already mentioned, from dealing with some pretty dark and mature themes like the reality of war, often shown without any sort of filter, prejudice, and racism, duty, honor and sacrifice transcending every bond.

Suikoden II goes even deeper with these themes, featuring some chilling sequences that get etched into the player's memory and heart, all the while, much like its predecessor, balancing them out with considerably less dark sequences. What makes Suikoden II the best entry in the series and one of the best JRPGs of all time, elevating it past its already solid predecessor, is its cast. The incredible main trio of protagonists - the main character, Nanami and Jowy - the way their personal stories intertwine not only with the war between the City-States of Jowston and the Highland Kingdom but also with the overarching series' story of the 27 True Runes and the personal conflicts of other story-significant characters are a massive highlight of the experience, and how they get resolved, no matter the ending reached, are capable of moving pretty much anyone who has the chance of experiencing them first hand. All of this is massively improved by the incredible and diverse soundtrack, whose standout piece, the beautifully melancholic Reminiscence, is only the tip of the audio iceberg.

But if there is one character that is the true standout of the Suikoden II cast is one of the main villains, the infamous Mad Prince of the Highland Kingdom, Luca Blight. This psychopath, who can only be described as a demon in human skin, is rightly considered one of the best villains ever seen in JRPG, and for good reason, surpassing other known JRPG madmen like Kefka and Sephiroth by engaging in the most heinous of war crimes only because he had the authority and the power to do so, all while delivering some unforgettable speeches that truly send shivers down the spine. Going against the tendency of the time, which still holds true today, to make JRPG villains grey, the absolute evil that Luca Blight shows whenever he appears on screen, and even offscreen at times, is a refreshing breath of air nowadays, a testament of the genius and courage of Yoshitaka Murayama and the entire writing team.

As a remaster, Suikoden I & II HD Remaster: Gate Rune And Dunan Unification Wars definitely succeeds at updating the two classic JRPGs while staying faithful to the original games' art direction, although a few more options and quality-of-life features wouldn't have hurt. Even if the remaster somehow failed to deliver a quality upgrade, however, Suikoden I & II HD Remaster: Gate Rune And Dunan Unification Wars would still have been a worthy purchase for any JRPG fan. The two classic games have stood the test of time incredibly well and still provide extremely compelling gameplay enriched by charming casts and thought-provoking stories that are still worthy of experiencing in 2025 as they were back in the late 90s.

PC version tested. Review code provided by the publisher

9.0

WCCFTECH RATING

Suikoden I & II HD Remaster: Gate Rune And Dunan Unification Wars

Suikoden I & II HD Remaster: Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars is an excellent update to the first two entries in the series, enhancing their timeless appeal with improved visuals that breathe new life into the Scarlet Moon Empire and the City-States of Jowstone, along with an improved English localization. While a few additional quality-of-life features would have been welcome, the excellent, thought-provoking stories and charming cast make this collection a must-have for both newcomers and longtime fans. It took decades for Suikoden to make a proper return, but Suikoden I & II HD Remaster: Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars was well worth the long wait.

Pros

• Solid visual overhaul
• Improved English localization over the original releases, with more consistent naming across games
• Great stories, especially Suikoden II's
• Amazing cast of characters, which includes one of the best villains ever in Japanese role-playing games

Cons

• Music speeding up in combat while increasing speed
• Modern slang in some istances feels out of place
• Additional quality-of-life features would have been welcome

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