Suikoden

Suikoden is one of Konami's early attempts at an RPG, and the start of a long and fairly popular RPG series spanning five games in the main series, and several side-games. Based loosely on a Chinese folk tale, it's a story of a young man named Tir McDohl, who, after being exiled from his home, forms an army and battles the repressive Scarlet Moon Empire. A tad rough around the edges, but an enjoyable RPG experience.

Unused Items
There are three Rune crystals that can never actually be obtained.


 * Shrike crystal - The only Shrike Rune in the game comes equipped on Kasumi, and it cannot be removed.
 * Falcon crystal - Pretty much the same story here. The only Falcon Rune is owned by Valeria, and it can't be removed, either.
 * Flame crystal - The description of this item claims it's "Bell's rune". However, while Ronnie Bell does come with her own personal rune, it's called the "Hate Rune", not the "Flame Rune". It doesn't seem this rune can be attached to anyone, either, making it even odder.

Hidden Weapon Names
As characters' weapons are strengthened, their names will change at predetermined levels, with each weapon having three names total. However, many characters join with a weapon "pre-upgraded" into the second or third name change group, preventing you from ever seeing their initial weapon title. The hidden weapon names are as follows:

(Note: Ted and Odessa have the same exact weapon, which is why they're lumped together. Technically, you never see Odessa's "original" weapon, as her weapon starts a level too high, but it's the same as Ted's, the Steel Bow.)

It's worth pointing out that because these names are never seen, there are two weapon name themes that go unnoticed in-game.

The first is that Clive's weapons all have a wind naming scheme: Wind/Storm/Tornado. The second, and more interestingly, Warren's weapons all refer to the Norse God Odin. His third weapon is just "Odin", while his first two weapons are mistranslations of Sleipnir (Odin's horse) and Gungnir (Odin's spear).

Also interestingly, many of these weapon names are repeated throughout the series... and continue to go unused, as the characters wielding them always start with their weapons at elevated levels. In particular, Futch's first weapon, "Verserk", is (un)seen again when he reappears in Suikoden 2, and is later passed on to Sharon in Suikoden 3... where it's still never seen! Several other weapons got the same treatment.