Gamertell

Have you ever gone through a video game and loved the story so much, that you wish it was also available as a book so you could go back and revisit certain scenes, or reread segments, to get a better understanding and grasp of the plot and events? Well, in some cases you can. Take for example, Konami’s Suikoden III, a tale of the quest to reunite the 108 stars of destiny and fight for peace in the Grasslands.

Suikoden III though, is unique in terms of RPGs, not only because of its huge cast, but also because of the way the game is structured. The whole story and game is presented through six different viewpoints, so you can examine the story and adventure through many different angles.

This would make for a difficult book, but would work in the case of a Japanese manga, a graphic novel where visuals can help fill out some of the story. And that’s what happened here - Aki Shimizu was called upon to create an 11 volume manga called Suikoden III: Successor of Fate, which is available both in Japanese in English.

So let’s take a look at how the paperback compares to the disc when it comes to the story of Suikoden III.

So once upon a time…

The story is the same, just the character art is slightly different. Most of the 108 Stars of Destiny from the original game do make appearances, either in influential parts or cameo roles.

It is also structured in a manner similar to the actual video game. Instead of following a single lead character, the story bounces between the three main leads and their respective groups initially. So at first, you’ll be seeing chapters that follow Chris Lightfellow, Hugo or Geddoe. At times, even Thomas’ story is even represented.

The manga’s first volume begins with a segment of Chris’ story, despite the fact that Hugo, Fubar, Sergeant Joe, Lucia and Lulu are on the cover. It looks at her past, and her first actions in the game. It ends, and most of the second volume deals with Hugo’s story. In the third volume is mainly split between Geddoe and Chris, talking about both of those heroes story. Until the groups all unite under a common goal, the manga volumes tend to follow this pattern, of mainly focusing on one group’s segment or story.

How does it compare to Suikoden III?

There are quite a few changes that occured in the translation to print. For example, extra dialogue or scenes are added in some parts to fill out the story more, or to add more comic or dramatic moments.

Some characters also are under represented. Of course, that’s to be expected when there are over 108 players involved, but still. If one of your favorite Stars in the game was a lesser character, perhaps someone who just lived or operated a shop in the castle or was an extra fighter, that Star may not receive the representation you feel he or she deserves.

One of the biggest changes is a canon Flame Champion is instituted in the manga. In the original game, players have the option to choose who takes up the role of Flame Champion and master of the True Fire Rune. To make things simpler, the True Fire, True Water and True Lightning Runes are all assigned. Many people may not see this as too bad a decision, as in the original game the characters who are assigned the Runes in the manga are actually the best candidates and users of the runes in the game.

There is also a single, canon ending. The original game had differing endings (and a whole extra scenario, depending on how you played, if all 108 Stars were recruited and if there were no permanent character deaths outside of two that were written into the story.

The one drawback is the length of the series. While 11 volumes is exceptionally long, and a respectable manga run, it could have probably stretched to 15 or more volumes and included more details from the original game. For people who aren’t accustomed to purchasing and reading manga though, the 11 volumes could seem incredibly long (and expensive) and not worth the cost if they already own the video game. It does make a nice companion piece to the original game.

COMING NEXT WEEK: Important Portables talks about practical DS applications.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Last week Important Importables discussed some dating sims for guys.

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