A cult role-playing game from Japan will release a remastered version of the first two parts on Steam and other platforms in March 2025. And although the last main entry is already 19 years old, the development team has great plans for the franchise.
Which role-playing game is it? Konami has revived the Suikoden series. This is a video game franchise based on the Chinese novel “Water Margin.”
- The unique aspect is that the idea of the “108 Stars of Destiny” has been embraced. Accordingly, there is the possibility of recruiting 108 fighters.
- The individual games are interconnected story-wise. In each part, it is about taking possession of an old castle and letting it grow as a headquarters.
- Political intrigue, revolution, and friendship are fundamental themes in Suikoden. The 27 True Runes are also an essential part of the franchise.
- There is a mix of turn-based combat, duels, and large battles.
The first part of the main series was released in 1995, and the last one in 2006. Since then, only a few spin-offs like Suikoden Tierkreis in 2008 or the spiritual successor Eiyuden Chronicles in 2024 have appeared.
Recently, the HD remasters of the first two parts have become available on Steam. And as Konami reveals, they have much more planned to revive the franchise.
Suikoden aims to compete with AAA titles
What plans do they have for Suikoden? Series producer Rui Naito revealed in an interview with Bloomberg that Suikoden is to be revived. They want to expand the series from where it left off. Unfortunately, the original creator Yoshitaka Murayama passed away in February 2024, and they want to make him proud now.
To revive the series, they want to refer to the notes of the original creators. Konami has preserved all the papers that were created in the 1990s. The series is now supposed to build on this foundation.
The ambitions are enormous:
We hope it will be a major title that can compete with other AAA titles. We hope we can take it one step at a time.
Rui Naito, series producer
Additionally, the developers are planning a new anime, a new mobile game, a manga, a concert, and a theater play. Naito even plans to bring Suikoden to film. He asks the Bloomberg interviewer if he has friends in Hollywood. If so, he should let him know.
So Konami has quite a lot planned for Suikoden and hopes that the series will someday become a serious competitor to AAA games.
However, it is still lagging behind a game that grandiosely referred to itself as a “AAAA title.” Meanwhile, that game is not doing so well. Nevertheless, the developer continues to support it: Despite poor player numbers on Steam, Ubisoft continues to support its “AAAA game” with new content in year 2.
