Here’s some exciting news Suikoden fans: Konami just relaunched the Suikoden series portal website. And, of course, the bad news that comes along with it: Konami just relaunched the Suikoden series portal website.
The Suikoden series, starting on the PlayStation in 1996, is one of the most well-regarded JRPG franchises in history. In particular, Suikoden II (1999), with its wide variety of characters, endings and gameplay modes, is viewed as the best of the entire series and is fully capable of standing alongside titles from Square Enix’s catalog.
It is with that reverence in mind that fans have been pleading for the past several years for Konami to revisit the series, and now it looks like they may finally get their wish.
The last time the website was updated was on June 18, 2014, when a free trial of the “Best Collection” version of Suikoden I & II for PSP was made available for PlayStation Plus subscribers in Japan, and before that was in Nov. 21, 2012, when the “PSP the Best” version of Genso Suikoden: Tsumugareshi Hyakunen no Toki was dated in Japan.
Had this occurred a few years ago, the prospect of a Suikoden series update could only be viewed as exciting, but considering that this is the present era Konami we’re dealing with, it’s hard to view this event with the same level of optimism.
For the past few years, Konami seems to have made it its goal to tarnish the many IPs that it built its reputation upon. Metal Gear Solid? Pachinko and a half-baked survival game. Castlevania? Pachinko and mobile (admittedly, there’s an HD collection coming later this month too). Bomberman? Super Bomberman R is decent enough, but the series as a whole doesn’t have the same clout it once held.
And there’s little reason not to believe that Suikoden could suffer a similar fate, especially since the current trend in Japan is to take classic JRPGs and put them on mobile devices where they either die (Breath of Fire), become Japan-exclusive (Valkyrie Profile) or become a gacha (Arc the Lad).
Granted, there’s no guarantee that Konami has any intention to bring the series to mobile, or even update the series for that matter. However, deciding to relaunch the website after six years of inactivity does raise some questions. The only fear is what those answers will be once they arrive.
