Suikoden 2 is an RPG for PSX and sequel of PSX Suikoden 1. The story takes place years after the events of Suikoden 1 and centers around an invasion by the Kingdom of Highland and City States. The player controls a quiet protagonist, who is the adopted son of Genkaku, a hero who saved the City-State of Jowston in a war against Highland years ago. The protagonist and his best friend, Jowy Atreides, each gains one half of the Rune of the Beginning , one of the 27 True Runes of the Suikoden setting and become caught up in the intrigues of the invasion and the dark fate of those who bear the halves of that Rune.
Emulater used Bizhawk 2.4.2, bios used SCPH7003.bin.
My goal is best ending, you must recruit 108 stars of destiny to achieve it. This is the detail of 108 stars recruitment for people who isn't familiar with the game: http://www.suikosource.com/games/sod.php?pf=S2
Watch online: https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1wp4y167eQ
Greatly thank mtvf1 for encoding the video.
The route:
I name hero as A, then go follow the story.
North Sparrow Pass: get 3 double beat from cutrabbit encounter. Beat mist boss in 2 turns.
Kyaro: don't recruit mukumuku, don't save Nanami here.
North Sparrow Pass: get 2 Peeing Boy from bandit, it is for selling.
I run away encounter in order to recruit stallion, it need 50 times to get him.
For some battles, RNG change per 1 frame, it's easy to get critcal hit and item drop. In some battle, RNG change per 20-30 frames even more, it's hard to get the result you want.
North Sparrow Pass: get 3 double beat from cutrabbit encounter. Beat mist boss in 2 turns.
Kyaro: don't recruit mukumuku, don't save Nanami here.
North Sparrow Pass: get 2 Peeing Boy from bandit, it is for selling.
I run away encounter in order to recruit stallion, it need 50 times to get him.
For some battles, RNG change per 1 frame, it's easy to get critcal hit and item drop. In some battle, RNG change per 20-30 frames even more, it's hard to get the result you want.
Ryube: recruit Millie and Rikimaru, save bird, don't recruit Kinnison and Shiro at the monment.
Toto: talk to the innkeeper 7 times, reenter the village to cause Pilika event.
Muse: buy a fire, fury rune and some other items.
Toto: talk to the innkeeper 7 times, reenter the village to cause Pilika event.
Muse: buy a fire, fury rune and some other items.
Mercenary Fortress: recruit Tsai, Kinnison, Shiro.
Tactics wars here end up automatically after a while, just manipulate less battle animations.
Toto: recruit Hanna, get ture rune.
Muse: recruit Nanami
Sindar ruin: upgrade unit in encounter, beat Doublehead boss in 2 turns.
So far I get Hero, Nanami, Gengen, Rikimaru, Millie, Apple, Kinnison, Shiro, Tsai, Hanna, total 10 characters.
Tactics wars here end up automatically after a while, just manipulate less battle animations.
Toto: recruit Hanna, get ture rune.
Muse: recruit Nanami
Sindar ruin: upgrade unit in encounter, beat Doublehead boss in 2 turns.
So far I get Hero, Nanami, Gengen, Rikimaru, Millie, Apple, Kinnison, Shiro, Tsai, Hanna, total 10 characters.
Muse: buy another fury rune, cause Clive event.
Highway: sell items then buy 6 FireEmblems.
Mt. Rakutei: upgrade Hero to lv64 and other characters to lv32, beat Harpy boss in 3 turns.
Tactics war: it end up automatically, recruit Gilbert, then go follow the story.
Recruits +4: Hamphrey, Futch, Anita, Gilbert, total 14.
I used Madilta gate bug to arrive Highway Village and got strong characters and equipment there that makes later battle easier, but spent more time. I'm not sure it saves time or not, but I think the time saved or loss might be slim.
Highway: sell items then buy 6 FireEmblems.
Mt. Rakutei: upgrade Hero to lv64 and other characters to lv32, beat Harpy boss in 3 turns.
Tactics war: it end up automatically, recruit Gilbert, then go follow the story.
Recruits +4: Hamphrey, Futch, Anita, Gilbert, total 14.
I used Madilta gate bug to arrive Highway Village and got strong characters and equipment there that makes later battle easier, but spent more time. I'm not sure it saves time or not, but I think the time saved or loss might be slim.
Kuskus: sharpen Hero and Rina's weapon to lv6.
Southwindow: buy 3 lightning runes.
Main World: get a Celadon Urn from fly which cost 30000+ potch in Gregminster, I need 3 of it, 1 for recruiting Lebrante and 2 for Gordon later.
Follow story, beat sword boss in 1 turn, beat Abomination in 2 turns. Get HQ, finish Shu event.
Tactics war: defeat Solo Jeeh unit as quickly as possible.
Recruits +12: Flik, Viktor, Rina, Eilie, Bolgan, FreedY, Leona, Barbara, Shu, Huan, Tuta, Luc, total 26.
Southwindow: buy 3 lightning runes.
Main World: get a Celadon Urn from fly which cost 30000+ potch in Gregminster, I need 3 of it, 1 for recruiting Lebrante and 2 for Gordon later.
Follow story, beat sword boss in 1 turn, beat Abomination in 2 turns. Get HQ, finish Shu event.
Tactics war: defeat Solo Jeeh unit as quickly as possible.
Recruits +12: Flik, Viktor, Rina, Eilie, Bolgan, FreedY, Leona, Barbara, Shu, Huan, Tuta, Luc, total 26.
HQ: meet Fitcher.
Kuskus: recruits +3: Oulan, Taiho, Yamkoo.
Two River: get Kindness rune then sell it, buy items and attach runes. Get Resurrection rune in sewers, beat Pest rat in a bit more than 1 turn.
Follow story, recruit +4: Hans, Fitcher, Ridley, Chaco, total 33.
Kuskus: recruits +3: Oulan, Taiho, Yamkoo.
Two River: get Kindness rune then sell it, buy items and attach runes. Get Resurrection rune in sewers, beat Pest rat in a bit more than 1 turn.
Follow story, recruit +4: Hans, Fitcher, Ridley, Chaco, total 33.
HQ: prepare to go Greenhill. My unit: Hero, Nanami, Flik, Chaco, Gengen, FreedY.
Greenhill: nothing important to say here, follow story, recruits +4: Emilia, Teresa, Shin, Nina. Back to HQ.
Tworiver: recruits +3: Gabocha, Sid, Jeane.
Lakewest: recruits +2: Taki, Tstsu.
HQ: recruit +1: Haiyo.
Radat: recruits +4: Stallion, Yoshino, Richmond, Amada.
Southwindow: recruit +5: Clive, Zamza, Alex, Hilda, Adlai, total 52.
I've recruited Stallion, unnecessary encounter must be avoided now. There are several ways to achieve, change movement or wait a couple of frames during moving. Some battles seem preseted that you can't avoid by the method above, you could open menu at last 2 frame before causing those battles to avoid them.
Greenhill: nothing important to say here, follow story, recruits +4: Emilia, Teresa, Shin, Nina. Back to HQ.
Tworiver: recruits +3: Gabocha, Sid, Jeane.
Lakewest: recruits +2: Taki, Tstsu.
HQ: recruit +1: Haiyo.
Radat: recruits +4: Stallion, Yoshino, Richmond, Amada.
Southwindow: recruit +5: Clive, Zamza, Alex, Hilda, Adlai, total 52.
I've recruited Stallion, unnecessary encounter must be avoided now. There are several ways to achieve, change movement or wait a couple of frames during moving. Some battles seem preseted that you can't avoid by the method above, you could open menu at last 2 frame before causing those battles to avoid them.
HQ: prepare to go Matilda.
Lakewest: recruit +1: Shilo, talk to Hix.
Forest Village: recruits+2: Wakaba, Tony.
Muse-Greenhill Border: recruits +3: Mukumuku, Meg, Gadget.
Matilda Path: recruit +1: Viki.
Matilda: follow story, recruits+2: Miklotov, Camus.
Kiba Tactics war 1: the war end up automatically, I manipulated 0 battle animation.
Kiba Tactics war 2: Kiba unit seems only can be defeated after Ridley unit appear.
Recruit +2: Kiba, Klaus, total 63, unlock HQ lv3.
Lakewest: recruit +1: Shilo, talk to Hix.
Forest Village: recruits+2: Wakaba, Tony.
Muse-Greenhill Border: recruits +3: Mukumuku, Meg, Gadget.
Matilda Path: recruit +1: Viki.
Matilda: follow story, recruits+2: Miklotov, Camus.
Kiba Tactics war 1: the war end up automatically, I manipulated 0 battle animation.
Kiba Tactics war 2: Kiba unit seems only can be defeated after Ridley unit appear.
Recruit +2: Kiba, Klaus, total 63, unlock HQ lv3.
HQ: prepare to go Banner.
Teleport to Radat: recruit +1: Lebrante.
Banner: buy a Rose Brooch, get a window set from tiger, beat Worm boss in a bit more than 1 turn.
Gregminster: get blink mirror, recruits +4: Kasumi, Sheena, Lorelai, Gordon.
Rokkaku: recruits +2: Mondo, Sasuke, total 70.
Allies in Gregminster only can be recruited after you get 63 allies to unlock HQ lv3. Before go there I can recruit 67, the 4 guys I droped are Templton, Hix, Tengaar, Yuzu. They are trouble to recruit without blink mirror, this is why I have to recruit Sid earlier instead of getting him during Hix's request.
Teleport to Radat: recruit +1: Lebrante.
Banner: buy a Rose Brooch, get a window set from tiger, beat Worm boss in a bit more than 1 turn.
Gregminster: get blink mirror, recruits +4: Kasumi, Sheena, Lorelai, Gordon.
Rokkaku: recruits +2: Mondo, Sasuke, total 70.
Allies in Gregminster only can be recruited after you get 63 allies to unlock HQ lv3. Before go there I can recruit 67, the 4 guys I droped are Templton, Hix, Tengaar, Yuzu. They are trouble to recruit without blink mirror, this is why I have to recruit Sid earlier instead of getting him during Hix's request.
Luca battle: This battle is the most painful part in the run. Luca has high defense and evasion, lots of my members are weak. RNG change per more than 20 frames, it's hard to manipulate a good result. You also need to manipulate Luca uses his normal attack as much as possible which spend less time. Maybe attaching more runes on some characters could help this out. Anyway, I defeated him in 2 turns for each unit.
Before go Tinto, I teleport to Ryube to recruit Tomo and Templton, +2.
Teleport to Tworiver, go KobldoVillage to meet Hix, during his first request in Southwindow, recruit Max, +1, talk to Annallee and Killey. During his last request, get 2 double strick rune from EagleMan, recruits +3: Hix, Tengaar, Yuzu.
Forest Path to Matilda: recruit +1: Badeaux, total 77.
Teleport to Tworiver, go KobldoVillage to meet Hix, during his first request in Southwindow, recruit Max, +1, talk to Annallee and Killey. During his last request, get 2 double strick rune from EagleMan, recruits +3: Hix, Tengaar, Yuzu.
Forest Path to Matilda: recruit +1: Badeaux, total 77.
Tinto, follow the story, get a power ring and put it on Rina. I chose don't run away when Nanami asked. Recruits +3: Raura, LLChan ,Tenkou.
My unit for Tinto Mine: Hero, Victor, Luc, Rina, Kahn, Sierra. Get a master garb and put it on Victor. Killed Golem and Neclord in 1 turn.
When Tinto event is over, recruits +8: Hauser, Sierra, Jess, Kahn, Gijimu, Lowen, Kyou, Maelowe.
Southwindow: recruits +3: Killey, Annallee, Gantetsu, total 91.
My unit for Tinto Mine: Hero, Victor, Luc, Rina, Kahn, Sierra. Get a master garb and put it on Victor. Killed Golem and Neclord in 1 turn.
When Tinto event is over, recruits +8: Hauser, Sierra, Jess, Kahn, Gijimu, Lowen, Kyou, Maelowe.
Southwindow: recruits +3: Killey, Annallee, Gantetsu, total 91.
HQ: beat Lucia in 2 turns.
Greenhill Tactics war: defeat Jowy nuit to end the war.
My unit for Greenhill: Hero, Viktor, Rina, Sheena, Luc, Kahn. Beat each Lucia and Bone dragon in 1 turn.
Muse Tactics war: defeat Lucia nuit to end the war. Beat Golded wolf in 1 turn.
Greenhill Tactics war: defeat Jowy nuit to end the war.
My unit for Greenhill: Hero, Viktor, Rina, Sheena, Luc, Kahn. Beat each Lucia and Bone dragon in 1 turn.
Muse Tactics war: defeat Lucia nuit to end the war. Beat Golded wolf in 1 turn.
Allies recruitment time:
Kuskus: recruits +2: Karen, Tessai.
Forest Village: recruits +3: Connell, Feather, Ayda, get Clay stash that Jude need it.
Greenhill: recruits +2: Pico, Jude, get Silver Hammer. Tworiver, recruit +1: Bob.
Tinto area: recruit +2: Georg, Alberto, total 101, unlock HQ lv4.
Radat: recruit +3: Hoi, Simone, Vincent.
Tinto mine: recruit +2: Abizboah, Mazus, get double strick rune from chest.
Windcave: recruit +1: Pesmerga.
HQ: I sharpened Hero's weapon to lv14 for one on one fight to Han Cunningham later.
Coronet: recruit +1: Genshu, total 108 stars.
Forest Village: recruits +3: Connell, Feather, Ayda, get Clay stash that Jude need it.
Greenhill: recruits +2: Pico, Jude, get Silver Hammer. Tworiver, recruit +1: Bob.
Tinto area: recruit +2: Georg, Alberto, total 101, unlock HQ lv4.
Radat: recruit +3: Hoi, Simone, Vincent.
Tinto mine: recruit +2: Abizboah, Mazus, get double strick rune from chest.
Windcave: recruit +1: Pesmerga.
HQ: I sharpened Hero's weapon to lv14 for one on one fight to Han Cunningham later.
Coronet: recruit +1: Genshu, total 108 stars.
Rockaxe : the war end up automatically, just manipulate less battle animations.
Rockaxe: follow the story, beat Gorudo in 2 turns.
L'Renouille Tactics war: the war end up when you arrive L'Renouille.
My final unit: Hero, Viktor, Sheena, Rina, Luc, Mazus. Beat Lucia in 1 turn, beat Culgan and Seed in 1 turns, beat Beast rune in 2 turns.
Tenzan Pass: Meet Jowy, game end.
This is all.
Rockaxe: follow the story, beat Gorudo in 2 turns.
L'Renouille Tactics war: the war end up when you arrive L'Renouille.
My final unit: Hero, Viktor, Sheena, Rina, Luc, Mazus. Beat Lucia in 1 turn, beat Culgan and Seed in 1 turns, beat Beast rune in 2 turns.
Tenzan Pass: Meet Jowy, game end.
This is all.
Thank mtvf1 for his encoding, thank BadPotato, Omnigamer for comment in Suikoden 2 topic.
ThunderAxe31: Judging.
ThunderAxe31: Optimization seems good. As mentioned in the submission thread, there are some glitches that were not used, however they seem to be not useful for saving time. I also want to note that this glitch seems to happen more frequently on emulator, which would make it harder to confirm its legitimacy in a TAS, for which I'd suggest to avoid using it anyway.
Regarding the goal choice, it seems to work nicely as a full-completion definition, making it applicable for the Vault tier. There are various possible endings, and the one aimed for in this movie is objectively the best ending available, due to both its requirements and the plot implications. In order to be triggered, there are hard requirements including having all 108 Stars of Destiny joined in the group, as well as making specific story choices that lead to having the three main characters reunited, which is denoted by the ending cutscenes before the credits and the full-colored portrait displayed after.
There haven't been a lot of reactions to this submission, however the few votes and posts are positive, and by comparing to relatively similar games published I can give this enough merit to allow it for Moons.
Accepting for Moons as the full-completion category for this game.
Spikestuff: Publishing.