Game of the Month (March) - Suikoden I & II HD Remaster

We’re three months into 2025 now, and while the state of the country isn’t going the way we all hope, the state of gaming is still in good form.  March is bringing us yet another handful of games that we’re all hyped for in different ways.  We’re getting new series iterations (Assassin’s Creed Shadows), new IPs in popular genres (The First Berserker: Khazan), and a few remakes (Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition).  Many of us are divided on the amount of remakes and remasters that have been coming out over the last few years, and looking into the future they’re not stopping any time soon.

While I usually wouldn’t do MegaDads’ Game of the Month on a remaster, this month I’m changing up the paradigm and dubbing that my most highly anticipated game release this month is the mouthful that is Suikoden I & II HD Remaster: Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars.

Suikoden tells the story of the Rune Wars, where one of the great heroes of the world suddenly turns traitor.  You play as his son, who raises a Liberation Army against the evil empire run by your father.  You have to gather the “108 Stars of Heaven and Earth” as allies in your army to fight back against those oppressive forces.  As you grow your army, your home base also grows, along with the services your recruited allies provide, from weapons and armor sales, to farming items, to party members in the fight against the empire.  

Suikoden II takes place 3 years after the first game with a new hero fighting for an army that isn’t as noble as it seems, so he grabs his best friend and step-sister and goes to form another alliance of 108 possible characters to fight back.  This game also features one of the most bloodthirsty villains since Kefka in Final Fantasy VI, and even though this story sounds very trope-ish, it definitely does not disappoint.  

If you grew up in the PS1 era and loved JRPG like I did, you likely heard about this series.  Suikoden first came out in 1995 and became so popular that it spawned 11 more games in the series (including spin offs).  They can both be played independently, but I remember that Suikoden II had extra content if you loaded a completed game file from Suikoden I.  Like most JRPGs, these games are not small.  Even if you’re not a completionist, this remaster gives you a lot of bang for your buck on two amazing PS1 JRPGs, along with updated graphics and sound, improved UI, and autosave and Speed-Up/AutoBattle features.

I played these games for the first time during the pandemic, and I wish I had played them earlier.  They were the perfect nostalgia bomb at a time when I was looking for a traditional JRPG experience that wasn’t hard to get into.  I even took a long break within the middle of one game, and when I came back I was able to jump right back in without missing a beat.  With a lot of current games with tons of “innovative” game mechanics that are impossible to remember if you put the game down too long, these games being immersive and simple in their gameplay at the same time really makes them instant classics.  

It’s also important to note that the creator of the series released Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes in 2024, which was touted as a spiritual successor to the Suikoden series. If you enjoyed that game, you will certainly enjoy the games that inspired it.  

Suikoden I & II Remaster: Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars releases on March 6 for PS4 & PS5, PC, Switch, Xbox One/SX/S