Surprise! We’re back to season four with a very special 66th episode. We’re joined by Aidan Moher to discuss his upcoming book on Suikoden and Suikoden II and listen to some of Aidan’s thoughts on Suikoden I&II HD Remaster. In finer detail, that includes: accepting Suikoden pronunciations, measuring Suikoden’s place in RPG history, wondering if RPG sequels have a place in today’s game space, exiting battles in five seconds, filling a world with life and activity, totaling the cost of violence, interpreting Suikoden differently as adults, comfortably adjusting to sprite changes, making questionable decisions about what to remaster and what to leave behind, failing a background check, experiencing existential dread in a remastered Pizza Hut, smoothing out some legends of localization, and remaining true to piss. You must still Determine or Cancel.

Find Aidan and his work at:

• Bluesky

• Astrolabe

• Fight, Magic, Items: The History of Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and the Rise of Japanese RPGs in the West

00:00:00 Intro 00:03:50 Suikoden’s Beating Heart 00:15:36 Suikoden’s Stellar Moments 00:24:02 Let’s Make a Water Margin RPG 00:39:29 Favorite Stars of Destiny 00:46:42 Pronouncing Jowy 00:48:00 Bespoke Animation Preservation 00:51:23 Remaster? Remake? 01:02:16 Localization: Adjustment or Replacement? 01:10:05 New Features 01:15:16 Bonus Questions 01:21:46 Outro