Suikoden and recruiting the stars of destiny

Suikoden and recruiting the stars of destiny

The allure of the Suikoden game is how the best ending requires recruiting 108 stars of destiny or companions. If the hero completes the recruitment of the 108 stars before a crucial part of the story, the collective powers of the stars can prevent death or mend relationships that were otherwise destined to break. I’m especially fond of Suikoden II.

Each star of destiny would have their own dreams that they would either abandon for the sake of the hero or align with the grand vision of the hero. Some allies would abandon their lucrative careers (like Shu giving up being a businessman to be the strategist of the army), give up dreams of a peaceful life (like Nanami being tempted to convince the hero to run away and live a normal life), or bury their grudges (like Jess acknowledging that it is not the hero’s fault that the mayor of Muse City died).

In a way, the game allowed me to appreciate that there is indeed cost to discipleship, a certain sacrifice needed for the pursuit of the grander goal – a peaceful and unified nation. Even the hero had to lose friendships (due to differing ideologies) in pursuit of peace.

From a meta perspective, even the player has to sacrifice time and repetition to replay events or even replay the entire game just to recruit all 108 stars of destiny (I easily ran through Suikoden II at least 10 times!).

Indeed, there are costs to getting things right. It is through faith that we believe everything would be worth it.

Luke 9:57-62. The cost of discipleship

[DAILY GOSPEL INSIGHTS AND REFLECTION FOR MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION 271: SEPTEMBER 28, 2022]