So Konami decided to delay their rerelease of Suikoden 1 and 2 til next year.
As some folks might know the original devs of the Suikoden series formed a studio called Rabbit and Bear then launched a Kickstarter for a Suikoden successor they're calling Eiyuden Chronicles. The KS did exceptionally well and they were able to make a prequel game called Eiyuden Chronicles Rising last year. (Which if you like vaguely metroidvania-like action RPGs with tons of fetch quests and great writing, you'll probably enjoy. I certainly did!)
After Rising did well, Konami announced that they would be rereleasing Suikoden 1 and 2. There's no evidence that Rising or the Eiyuden Chronicles KS influenced Konami's decision, but it is conspicuous. That rerelease was scheduled for this year.
Rabbit and Bear had also said they were originally shooting to release Eiyuden Chronicles Hundred Heroes this year but decided to push it to next year. So it is interesting to me that Konami has decided to do the same with Suikoden here. The official reason is:
additional time is needed to ensure the quality performance and gameplay experience our users deserve.
Totally sensible, and considering Konami's track record with the series, not unexpected.
But there's a part of me, whether out of pettiness and disdain for Konami's infamously terrible treatment of it's employees or due to a desire to witness game industry drama, I can't help but believe that Konami has seen the success of the Eiyuden Chronicles KS and of Rising and was like "No, we can't let them get a win." Like, that has to be at least partially true, right?
It is an obvious idea that they would do something with Suikoden after the initial success of Eiyuden Chronicles. Folks want more jRPGs like that! No one is really making anything really resembling the Suikoden series. There's an indie RPG series called Celestian Tales that sort of has Suikoden vibes, but it's teensy tiny. Sure, many games have Suikoden castle-like systems these days. Whether it's the Normandy in Mass Effect or the keep in Dragon Age, or even the camp in Baldur's Gate 3. Having an HQ that collects colorful characters as the game goes on has become a video game staple even if it's rarely to the scale of Suikoden.
I don't know, this is my video game conspiracy that I've chosen to believe and will be annoying about if prompted.
