Back in January we posted an in depth interview with the leader of the Suikoden Revival Movement, Chris Holmes. It was a wonderful piece and really tugged at the heart strings of long time fans of this glorious but forgotten series. Check out the interview here as it’s totally worth it, but one particular snippet from the interview is especially relevant today.
NG: What would be most desirable for the Suikoden community in your opinion? A localized version of the PSP title, Suikoden II on PSN, or a brand new title?
Holmes: At the moment, while I would love to see a Suikoden VI at any time, I would also have to say Suikoden II on PSN. The last thing I would want is for Suikoden VI to flop. We have not had a main Suikoden release since 2006 so it’s safe to say that series has been a bit lost in the woods for a long time now. I think it would be best to change the climate and pave the way for Suikoden VI.
We can start this by having Suikoden II released on PSN worldwide ASAP. It really should have been done by now. I can not stress that enough. Suikoden I should be available on PSN worldwide, also, and not just in the US. But why stop with PSN? I would love to see those two classic games on Steam, Android, iOS and XBLA. And why not see what platforms we can re-release Suikoden IV, V and Tactics on too?
If you haven’t picked up on it by now, it’s no coincidence that I highlighted the parts having to do with Suikoden II being released on PSN. It appears that this insanely long overdue classic RPG is finally going to get released on the PSN as a PSOne classic. I browsed around on Konami’s and Sony’s websites and various twitter accounts after catching wind of this and couldn’t find anything.
However, then I popped on over to the ESRB website and sure enough, Suikoden II was just listed as being rated by the ESRB for PS3 with SCEA themselves being listed as the publisher. No word on when it will release for PSN yet, but with an ESRB rating, it’s sure to be right around the corner.
It’s news like this that Suikoden fans have been waiting for. I am lucky enough to own the original physical release for the Playstation, but now fans that got into the series a little later aren’t going to have to offer up an arm, a leg, 12 animal sacrifices, and their first born to some price gouger on ebay just to play this classic.
Above all, it brings some attention back to this series and maybe, just maybe, Suikoden VI might be around the corner. We will keep you posted if the news ever breaks, but I wouldn’t hold your breath.
