We're playing Suikoden II? Hooray!

Oh hey, now I remember why I was so slow to finish this game. I knew that thing was going to come after me sooner or later and I knew it was going to kick my ass.

There's always been a weird disconnect between the difficulty of the main quest and the difficulty of the last boss in the Suikoden games. That goddamn tree in Suikoden IV was the worst. I was so anxious to be done with that game and it was a last, big fuck you for my troubles.

Alright guys, last paper of the semester is due on Wednesday so expect an update shortly after.

Before we go about finding Shu, let’s have a look around our shiny new castle. In every Suikoden game you come across a base that you use to field your army, do some shopping and play some minigames. They range from Suikoden I’s lake castle to Suikoden IV’s, er, boat, but I think hands down this game has the best. Not only is the main castle area large, but the surrounding village is huge and expands significantly as your roster grows.


You may not realize it yet but you’re looking at the best area in the castle. As soon as this part is filled up I’ll be showing you the single best thing to ever come to the series. Seriously.


Alright, I grab a few characters and a squirrel and make my way to Radat. Radat is to the east of the castle, sitting on the lake that divides the area we’re in from the beginning area which is still under Highland’s control.


We find Shu’s mansion sitting in the middle of town.


A servant gets Shu who comes to greet us.






Apple makes her pitch but Shu refuses to help.



Shu refuses to stop the war because, as a good neo-con trader nothing is better for his business than war.

He then kicks us out. What a great guy!



Even studying under Mathieu Shu wasn’t able to use his talents for good purposes.



We’ve been rejected but Apple knows she’s not up to the task of stopping Highland, so we’ve gotta put a little more effort into it. Let’s have a look around town and see if we can get more information.


No luck finding Shu yet, but we do find this shady looking man in the streets.


Luckily for us we run into his entourage inside the tavern.








Apple, truly determined to get Shu onto our side, gets on her knees and begs for his help. It doesn’t work, as Shu gets disgusted and leaves. Begging won’t work, but Apple is determined, so we decide to keep looking around. Shu is going to try to avoid us though, so we need to find a way to confront him.


How about we go back to Richmond? He did say to come back later, after all.

Richmond happens to be a detective. He knows all about Hiro and Nanami’s past, and also seems to know that we need to meet with Shu.


He agrees to help us out for 1500 potch. He’ll gather the information so we go back to the inn.


He then wakes us up in the middle of the night to give us the results. Hey Richmond, how much do we have to pay for you not to sneak into our bedroom in the middle of the night?


Shu has to attend to an important trade tomorrow, that’ll take place on the bridge on the east side of town. Looks like that’s our best chance to confront him.


The next day we wait by the bridge for him to show up.


Eventually he comes, but is no more willing to help.





Shu gets to the heart of the matter. Apple’s failed plan to defend the mercenaries’ fort cost many lives, but even if she was successful people still would’ve died. He questions whether she can bear that burden.



He then makes a deal. He throws a coin into the river, and if we can find it he’ll agree to join us.


Nanami realizes how unlikely it is to find a small coin in the river but Apple isn’t hearing it. Before we can start searching we need to close the gate.


This guy is in charge of closing it but it’s only done for special occasions. Seriously, every step of this quest is roadblocked. Well, what do we have to do to get this guy to close the gate?

Oh, I gotta beat this guy up. Alright, let’s get this over with!


One desperate attack and he goes down.


Now that that’s taken care of he’ll lower the gate, but just for the night. Guess we should hurry then.


Hiro, Nanami and Apple start looking.



Nanami reveals why she’s so sure we won’t be able to find the coin. Before he threw it Shu replaced it with a rock. Despite this Apple wants to keep looking.


Before we give up Hiro spots something shining in the water.


Nanami must’ve been wrong, because we’ve found the coin!


As soon as we find it Shu stops by to keep his end of the deal.



Er, pretty sure their lines are crossed here.



Shu asks to see the coin Hiro’s holding, but then spots the rune on his hand.


And again Genkaku’s name comes up. Shu says that not many remember his name, but it holds special meaning in the City-States. Shu and the others prepare to leave immediately, but as they do the camera pans up…


…and it becomes clear where Hiro’s coin came from.

022/108 - Shu


Shu has business to take care of before leaving Radat, so we make it back to the castle before him.





He arrives not long after us and proceeds to give this lovely pep talk. I feel confident already!





Flik goes over our situation. We’ve got 2000 soldiers and the castle, compared to Highland’s 20,000.





Shu lays out his plans. Of the 20,000, Highland can only attack with half. Of those a third are from South Window. If we can convince them to abandon Highland it’d be 5,000 vs. 7,000 and we might have a chance. He orders Freed to infiltrate the Highland camps and spread a rumor that all the South Window soldiers will be executed after the fight.

Viktor isn’t so sure that a rumor alone will sway the South Window soldiers, but Shu’s already thought of that. A small unit will make its way behind the Highland forces by water and attack Solon Jhee directly. Thinking that they’re surrounded, the South Window forces will come to our side.


Flik wants to know who will attack Jhee, figuring it’ll either be him or Viktor…



…but Shu has another candidate in mind.


Hiro will lead the unit because of the rune he carries. Hiro goes to rest for the battle…


…and the next day the Highland troops make their move.



Culgan sees the weakness of their plan, but Jhee ignores him.


The only thing we have to do is damage Solon Jhee’s unit.


Here’s how the field looks. We have three units defending the castle compared to the forces of Highland, including Freed here who’s disguised as a Highland soldier. Hiro and his backup unit are to the south, by the shore.

We managed to make our way to Solon Jhee’s unit and attack, and the Highland soldiers take notice. The attack, along with Freed’s speech makes the former South Window soldiers turn side.



A few turns later and the remaining Highland units retreat. Victory!


Hiro returns to the castle and is greeted like a Hiro hero.




Shu immediately brings the mood down. Thanks Shu!


We have the place to gather troops but need a leader to unite people.



Shu isn’t suitable, so who will lead us?

Of course, it’s Mr. Hiro Protagonist!




Shu believes Hiro should lead the people, being the son of Genkaku and carrying his Bright Shield rune. Having taken down Solon Jhee, the people look to him for hope.


Hiro is hesitant, but before he makes his decision Viktor wants to speak with him, about what Anabelle wasn’t able to tell him.


That night we meet Viktor in the tavern.

And that’s the story of Genkaku, why the people of Kyaro ridiculed him and why Anabelle wanted to atone for some crime against him.


The next morning Hiro goes to see Shu, having made up his mind. Of course, he accepts Shu’s offer.






Everyone pledges to fight for Hiro…



…including Dr. Huan, who just arrived from Muse.

023/108 – Huan




After all the celebration a name has to be decided for the castle.


Alright guys, same as before, we’ve got 8 spaces to name our castle. Make it a good one!

Once again, I propose Vania Castle.

Similarly, I propose Draculas Castle. Or maybe Dr Wilys Castle.

Do they tend to refer to it as "________ Castle" or "Castle ________" throughout the game?

Eureka's.

The former.

Eureka's has been done and wasn't really that interesting a reference to begin with. All I can do is suggest Haunted again.

Anything but Eureka's.

One more for anything but Eureka's.

. . . this is not a suggestion, but in my game Nanami Army and made its home in Genkaku Castle. I'm not very creative.

(In Suikoden 1, it was Odessa Castle...)

I like Vania Castle, Let's go for that.

Freedy's a fool. That name is awesome. It shall remain N.Window Castle!

And I hate how Nanami waits until you've been searching for several hours before mentioning "Oh yeah, the coin's not here anyway."

O-Oh. Oh my goodness, that's perfect. Not only the joke, but thematically too, since Hiro's holding the White Shield rune. EDIT: Or Bright Shield. Whatever, close enough.

I... could get behind that one. Bright/White close enough.

Nah, I hear that new country down south has some dick-shaped rock called Eureka's Castle. We wouldn't want to copy them now would we?

Well played, sir. I approve.

White Castle!

Works for me.

White Castle.