Suikoden II

Suikoden II (Japanese: 幻想水滸伝II, Hepburn: Gensō Suikoden Tsū,  (listen) ) is a role-playing video game developed and published by Konami for the PlayStation video game console and the second installment of the Suikoden video game series. It was released in late 1998 in Japan, 1999 in North America, and in 2000 in Europe. It was also released for Microsoft Windows in 2003 only in China. The game features a vast array of characters, with over 100 recruitable characters, of which over 40 are usable in combat, and many more who move the plot forward.

Suikoden II takes place years after the events of the original Suikoden, and centers on an invasion by the Kingdom of Highland of the City States of Jowston. The player controls a silent protagonist whose name is chosen by the player (named Riou in the Japanese novelization and Drama CD adaptation and Tao in the manga adaptation); he is the adopted son of Genkaku, a hero who saved the City-State of Jowston in a war against Highland years ago. The protagonist and his best friend, Jowy Atreides, each gain one half of the Rune of the Beginning, one of the 27 True Runes of the Suikoden setting, and become caught up in the intrigues of the invasion and the dark fate of those who bear the halves of that Rune.

Suikoden

Suikoden (Japanese: 幻想水滸伝, Hepburn: Gensō Suikoden) is a role-playing video game series originally created by Yoshitaka Murayama. The game series is loosely based on the classical Chinese novel, Shui Hu Zhuan by Shi Naian.Shui Hu Zhuan is rendered as 水滸伝 in Japanese, and read phonetically as Suikoden. Each individual game in the series centers on relative themes of politics, corruption, revolution, mystical crystals known as True Runes and the "108 Stars of Destiny"—the 108 protagonists who are loosely interpreted from the source material.

Though the Suikoden games follow an irregular chronological sequence of events, the entire series (except for Tierkreis and Tsumugareshi Hyakunen no Toki) takes place within the same world among continuing and overlapping histories. In some cases, several characters appear in multiple installations.

Games

The Suikoden franchise has been developing games since 1995 and has developed various video game titles bearing the same name. The development team of the Suikoden series started developing games using 2D or two-dimensional graphics primarily used in the first and second games, while they only incorporated 3D graphics on environments and visual effects. Suikoden III however, marked the series' complete shift from 2D to 3D as the game jumps platforms; from PlayStation to PlayStation 2.

Suikoden (video game)

Suikoden (Japanese: 幻想水滸伝, Hepburn: Gensō Suikoden,  listen ) is a role-playing game published by Konami as the first installment of the Suikoden series. Developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo, it was released initially in 1995 for the PlayStation in Japan. North American and British releases followed one year later, and a mainland European release came the following March. The game was also released for the Sega Saturn in 1998 only in Japan, and for Microsoft Windows in 1998 in Japan. On December 22, 2008, Suikoden was made available on the PlayStation Store for use on the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable consoles.

The game centers on the political struggles of the Scarlet Moon Empire. The player controls the son of a Scarlet Moon Empire general who is destined to seek out 108 warriors (referred to as the 108 Stars of Destiny) in order to revolt against the corrupt sovereign state and bring peace to a war-torn land. The game is loosely based on the Chinese novel Shui Hu Zhuan, and features a vast array of characters both controllable and not, with over ninety characters usable in combat and many more able to help or hinder the hero in a variety of ways.

Suikoden IV

Suikoden IV (Japanese: 幻想水滸伝IV, Hepburn: Gensō Suikoden Fō,  (listen) ) is a role-playing video game developed and published by Konami for the Sony PlayStation 2 video game console and is the fourth installment of the Suikoden video game series. It was released in August 2004 in Japan, and early 2005 in North America and Europe.

Suikoden IV takes place approximately 150 years before the events of the first Suikoden game, and relates the story of a young boy living on the island of Razril and the Rune of Punishment, one of the 27 True Runes. The Rune of Punishment governs both atonement and forgiveness, and is unusual in that it consumes the life of the bearer with use; once the previous bearer dies, it immediately jumps to someone nearby. Meanwhile, the Kooluk Empire seeks to expand into the nearby Island Nations.

Konami later produced Suikoden Tactics, a spinoff that serves as a direct prequel, side-story, and sequel to Suikoden IV.

Gameplay

Shu

Shu may refer to:

China

People

Fictional characters

Shu (state)

The State of Shu (Chinese: 蜀; pinyin: Shǔ) was an ancient state in what is now Sichuan, China. Shu was based on the Chengdu Plain, in the western Sichuan basin with some extension northeast to the upper Han River valley. To the east was the Ba tribal confederation. Further east down the Han and Yangtze rivers was the State of Chu. To the north over the Qinling Mountains was the State of Qin. To the west and south were tribal peoples of little military power.

This independent Shu state was conquered by the state of Qin in 316 BC. Recent archaeological discoveries at Sanxingdui and Jinsha thought to be sites of Shu culture indicate the presence of a unique civilization in this region before the Qin conquest.

In subsequent periods of Chinese history the Sichuan area continued to be referred to as Shu after this ancient state, and later states founded in the same region were also called Shu.

Early independent state of Shu

Before 316 BC the Sichuan Basin was isolated from what was then China, which was centered in the Yellow River basin to the northeast. The discovery of Sanxingdui in 1987 was a major surprise since it indicated a major semi-Chinese culture that was previously unknown. Circa 2050-1250 BC the site of Sanxingdui 40 km north of Chengdu appears to have been the center of a fairly extensive kingdom. Objects found in two treasure pits are in a style distinct from objects found from further north. This culture is suggested by many archaeologists to be that of the Shu kingdom.

List of Blue Dragon characters

The characters of Blue Dragon were designed by Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama. The anime version expands the characters' backgrounds as well as provide personalities to the Shadows, making them more than just extensions of the Shadow Wielder.

Main Characters

Shu

Shu (VG) Voiced by: Marina Inoue (Japanese), Mona Marshall (English)
Shu (anime) Voiced by: Keiko Nemoto (Japanese), Yuri Lowenthal (English)
Blue Dragon Voiced by: Masaya Takatsuka (Japanese), Lex Lang (English)

Shu is the main protagonist of Blue Dragon. Like many others in Talta Village, Shu's parents died because of the Land Shark when he was a baby. Because of his parents' untimely deaths, he now lives with his grandfather, Fushira, in Talta Village. Shu's brash and impetuous nature has often gotten him into trouble, but his courage, strength, and determination has saved him from certain death many times. It is revealed that he has a crush on Kluke.

In the anime, Shu is depicted as even more brash and impulsive than in the game. When around Bouquet, he is shown to be something of a pervert, but still controls himself around her much better than Marumaro does. Two years later, he is in Legolas' resistance against the forces of Rosekstan using an exo-suit with an artificial shadow to lead a supply raid upon a Rosekstan airship. Upon encountering Noi during an attack by Rosekstan and Michael's Red Dragon form, Shu regains his ability to summon Blue Dragon as he goes on a mission to stop the Investiture Beings from destroying the world.