LogFAQs > #978803150

VectorAgent posted...

Oof. I definitely do not have the first gamebut, I suppose I could always put II on the back burner in case I come by the first one. I didnt realize the games followed from each other, I thought they might be standalones.

You can play 2 standalone technically (the overall main story is stand alone) but it has characters and a few minor plots that return from 1 that enhance the overall experience if you know about them beforehand.

The Suikoden series is basically a series of wars taking place in different countries in the same world at different points in time. Some characters are travelers that happen to get involved in multiple ones, some influential characters have their fingers in the pies of multiple countries, etc.

There is also technically a meta-plot binding it all together as well going on in the background but sadly it never got resolved before the series essentially got soft canned by Konami being Konami.

Oh and to kind of expand on the "Why does Suikoden's massive cast work for it but not Chrono Cross's" discussion- Suikoden's storylines are specifically framed as macro storylines that affect entire countries. While the core story may involve the main characters the most, they're not the only ones that have reasons to participate in the conflict- armies are formed, cities are invaded, and life is generally upended for everyone, even regular NPCs. This is not the case for Chrono Cross. Chrono Cross's storyline is generally very personal to the protagonist and their friend group with little immediate effect on the wider world, and many characters just join you 'because they can'. They don't really have a stake in anything or reason for coming along, they just do, with little if any reason given.

I do like Chrono Cross personally, but that game has a lot of flaws.