~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ GENSOSUIKODEN CARD STORIES GENERAL FAQ by Dessa ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UPDATES- 9/01/03- Added the General Menu Guide and the Dungeon Mini-Guide, as well adding more characters to the Main Characters list. 6/24/03- Updated "approved list" to include IGN.com, as well as fixing the Card Battle section. 6/22/03- Started FAQ and uploaded preliminary version. I know there are a few errors, but I want to get this up, 'cuz it'll be easier just updating it. ~~~~~~~~ CONTENTS ~~~~~~~~ I. INTRODUCTION II. STORY III. GETTING STARTED IV. BASIC CONTROLS V. THE CARD GAME VI. GENERAL MENU GUIDE VII. DUNGEON MINI-GUIDE VIII. MAIN CHARACTERS IX. MISCELLANEOUS X. CREDITS ~~~~~~~~~~~~ INTRODUCTION ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gensosuikoden Card Stories is a video game based off of the Gensosuikoden (or just Suikoden) RPG series. Instead of a traditional RPG battle system, this game uses a card game to decide battle outcomes. The game is for the Gameboy Advance, but unfortunately was not released in the US. Gensosuikoden Card Stories is based off of the story of the second Gensosuikoden game, (Genso)Suikoden II. This is how the game fits in with the other games in the series: (Genso)Suikoden I (S1) (Genso)Suikoden II (S2) = (Genso)Suikoden Card Stories (CS) (Genso)Suikoden Gaiden I (G1)* (Genso)Suikoden Gaiden II (G2)* (Genso)Suikoden III (S3) *The Gaiden games take place roughly within and after S2. However, some events in the Gaiden games may occur differently from the main game, and are not completely cannon. This guide is a companion to my other guides, the Walkthrough for Card Stories, the Card List for Card Stories, and the Card Shops Guide for Card Stories. ~~~~~ STORY ~~~~~ Note: for the purposes of this guide, I will use the "official" name for the main character, "Riou." You can name the character whatever you want. Also, the story listed here is specific to S2. There may be some differences between S2 and CS, but seeing as how I can't read Japanese, and my boyfriend isn't in the mood to translate the whole game for me, I'll stick with the base story of S2. You are Riou, the adopted son of a great war hero. You and your best friend Jowy have been accepted to the Unicorn Brigade (youth corps) of the Highland Army. However, while you are at camp one night, the camp is attacked. You and Jowy must now flee for your lives, a trip that ends up placing the two of you directly in the line of Destiny. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ GETTING STARTED ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The first thing you see when the game starts is the Konami logo. After it, the title/logo of the game pops up (Gensosuikoden in kanji, "Cado Sutorizu" in kana). Underneath it, there are four options: Hajimekara Tsuzukikara Ruru [kanji][kanji] Keburu [kanji][kanji] The first one is for "New Game", and I'm assuming the second one is "Continue". The third one brings up a secondary menu with one option in it, and returns you to the main menu. Not sure what that one is. The fourth one appears to be "cable" something, so I guess you can trade cards between GBAs if you have a cable. The options that you can't use (cable if you're not connected, continue if you don't already have a saved game) will be skipped over if you try to select them. [NAME SELECT] Now that you've started a new game, the first thing you have to do is choose a name. There are four pages of characters to use. The default character set is Hiragana. To toggle the character sets, use the L and R buttons. The other three sets (by way of the R button) are Katakana, English Alphabet, and Numbers and Symbols. Both Phonecian and Roman numerals are available. Every time you restart the game, a different default name will be given. Here are some of the default names given: Teinka Iason Taku Non Kata Guraham Kun Rainharuto "A" will confirm a selection, and "B" will delete whatever is in the highlighted slot. Selecting "ED" will exit you from the name menu and start the game. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BASIC CONTROLS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A- Advances text Confirms Selections B- Cancels Selections "D" pad (Directional arrows)- Moves selection in menues Moves character on screen L and R- Toggles cards in the view section Start- Enlarges cards in Card Battles Select- Gives additional menues in Card Battles Allows you to exit dungeons ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE CARD GAME ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The card game is based of of the Trading Card Game (TCG). My explaination of the game is probably gonna be a little sketchy, 'cuz I'm not completely sure how to play it myself... I'm playing "guess, check, and refine" just to get through it. The card battles themselves are fairly simple to understand, but can contain a lot of strategies, making them not simple to master. There are basically three types of cards: Characters, Missions, and Facilities: ·Characters- Character cards are red, and have two subtypes: Leaders and regular characters. ·Missions- Mission cards are blue, and have three subtypes: Army Battles, regular battles, and duels. ·Facilities- Facility cards are yellow, and only have one type. I'll explain each of these cards when we get to them. BEFORE THE BATTLE- Before each battle starts, a coin will be flipped. Sometimes you're given the option of choosing heads (star) or tails (nothing), and others you aren't After the flip, if the text is pink, then you go first. If the text is blue, then your opponent goes first. After the coin flip, you draw your hand of six cards. Too look at the cards closer, press "START" and use "L" and "R" to toggle between the cards. You can select up to three to put back into your deck, drawing the same number in return. To do this, highlight the card and press "down". To return them, press "A", and then select the first option ("hai"). To accept your hand as is, press either "A" (with no cards "downed") or "B", to start the battle. Both decks are then shuffled, and gameplay starts. THE FIRST TURN Whether you or your opponent goes first, the first turn will always consist of one of three actions: ·Play a Mission Card- Playing a Mission card places that mission's icon onto the field. This could be either a tent, a hill, a base, a castle, or a collesium. When you play a mission card, no matter which type, your opponent is given a chance to play the first card. Players can continue to play characters as long as they can/want, until the mission is beat or neither players have characters that they can/want to play. Regardless of how it ends, it then becomes the other player's turn. ·Play a Facility Card- Playing a Facility card is similar to playing a mission card. The only difference is what your goals are. I'll explain them more later. ·Discard Cards- You discard cards the same way you put them back in the deck before the game starts. The only difference is that those cards go to your discard pile instead of back into your deck. Regardless, you get that many cards back in your hand. Bear in mind that while you could only discard up to three cards before the battle, you can discard up to your entire hand. LATER TURNS In later turns, you can still do the above three actions, but, if a Mission or a Facility is in play, you have two added options: ·Instigating a Battle- This is done by sending a Leader Character to a Mission or Facility card that does not already have any characters from your side in battle. ·Add more "troops" to a Battle- If you already have characters at a Mission or Facility, you can add more characters to that battle. WHAT THE DIFFERENT CARDS DO ·Character Cards- All Character Cards have 3 number statistics next to them. These stats are given next to a Sword, a Flag, and a Hammer. The Sword's number gives you the attack strength of the character. Attack Strength is used in regular battle Missions. The Flag tells you the number of troops a character brings to an Army Battle. Needless to say, this is used for said Army Battles. The Hammer represents their craft skills. This is used when YOU are playing a Facilities card, trying to build it. Character cards also have descriptions that tell you about special abilities, etc. that the character may have. I can't read them, but maybe one day I'll make a Card FAQ, listing all the info I can for each of the cards in the game. ·Leaders- Characters cannot go into battle by themselves. They need a Leader to lead them into battle. Leader Cards are denoted both in your hand and in the Card View. In your hand, the text is over the image of the card, is colored RED, and appears somewhat like this: | | /-/" | |---- \/---- / / In the Card View, the same text will appear in bright RED, directly under the Attack Strength icon. Not all Leaders can go into all battles, but a message will appear if you try to play the card to that Mission/Facility. If you are already on the Mission/Facilitie's sub-screen, then an "X" will appear on that card when highlighted. ·Non-Leaders- If there is not a leader in battle, non-leader characters cannot go into battle. In Card View, non-leaders are either marked with a PURPLE kanji, or a light BLUE character set looking like this: ____ | | / | |---- / / This means "Free". I'm not sure exactly the difference between Free Characters and the ones with the PURPLE kanji, but, regardless, just like some Leaders will or won't go into certain battles, some characters will or won't follow certain leaders into battle, or have other requirements before you can play them. This information is listed in the character's description, but I can't read it. If a character can't go into battle, then they will have an "X" over them in your hand when highlighted. ·Mission Cards- All Mission Cards have the same three stats as Character cards, but they are for different things. The Sword icon tells you how much damage (from attack strength) you have to do to the card to win the battle. The Flag icon tells you how many net troops you have to have to win the battle (see Army Battles for extra rules). The Hammer icon isn't really used in Mission cards, but is still there, marked as "0". Each Mission card also has a section labeled VP, followed by a number. These numbers are either 1/1, 1/2, or 2/2. VP stands for Victory Points. The first number is how many VP you earn for defeating the card. The second number is how many VP your opponent earns for defeating the card. Like Character cards, Mission cards also have descriptions, telling you about any restrictions, penalties, or bonuses that the card gives. ·Regular Battle Missions- These are what you are going to be using most often. Regular Battles usually have a number for the Sword, and a zero for the Flag. To win a Regular Battle, the combined Attack Strength of all of your characters in play must meet or exceed that of the total for the Mission. In the Mission sub-screen, on the left side of the mission card, your total Attack Strength and the total required is shown, with the same on the other side for your opponent. The first person to meet or beat the required Strength wins that card. You then must pick one of your characters in battle to "secure" the card and return it's icon to your side of the screen, as you recieve the VP from it. ·Army Battle Missions- These are the second most common type of Mission cards. Army Battles usually have a zero for the Sword, and a number for the Flag. To win an Army Battle, you must have a net amount of troops equal or exceeding the total number of troops for the Mission. However, where this majorly differs from Regular Battles is the idea of "net troops". You see, unlike Regular Battles, which is more of you vs. the card, and your opponent vs. the card, an Army Battle is you vs. your opponent, with the card stating the stipulations. After each player is done with the cards they can play, the two armies charge at each other. Whichever team has the least amount of troops is completely whiped out, and the other team must remove an amount of troops equal or more than however many troops the loosing team had. The remaining troops remain with the Army Battle card, and if they are enough to win the Battle, they win, if not, the card remains there until one person wins it. For example, I have three Characters in battle with troops numbering 1500, 1600, and 1000. My opponent has two Characters in battle with troops numbering 2500 and 500. The Mission requires 1200 to beat. I have a total of 4100 troops, and my opponent has a total of 3000 troops. When we charge, my opponent is whiped out, and I have to subtract 3000 troops from my side. Since I don't have one or two Characters that add up to 3000 exactly, I have to take out two Characters, in this case being the 1500 and 1600 troop Characters, leaving myself with 1000 troops and one Character. Unfortunately, this is not enough troops to win the Battle, so I have to wait until my next turn to add more Characters/troops to my side, to try to win the Battle. This also means, however, that my opponent gets another chance to play Characters, so the battle may end up starting over. If I hadn't had the 1000 troop Character in play, all of my characters would also be whiped out, and the Battle would be as if no characters had been played at all. ·Duels- Duels are one-on-one battles. Duels have zero for all three stats (Sword, Flag, Hammer), and usually the same VP for both players. Characters for the duel can either be chosen by the player or randomly selected (the Mission's description will state which), and whichever character has the higher Attack Strength wins the duel. This is the only time that you can play Unique Characters (see later), but their Attack Strength will automatically be 0. If the "Character" is randomly selected, and a Mission Card is selected, the "Character" is a single troop, with an Attack Strength of below zero. If two characters in a Duel have the same Attack Strength, other stats are taken into account (I'm not sure exactly what), to determine who wins, although you can also tie (in which the Duel card then disappears). ·Other Missions- Some Missions have both Sword numbers and Flag numbers. Sometimes these become Regular Battles, sometimes they become Army Battles. Look at what the number on either side of the Card is to figure out which one. ·Facility Cards- Facility Cards are similar to Missions, but instead of both players trying to defeat the card, the person who plays the Facility is trying to build the Facility, and the opponent is trying to destroy the Facility. Facilities have both Sword numbers and Hammer numbers. The Sword tells you how much Attack Strength the opponent needs to destroy the Facility, and the Hammer tells you how much Craft Skills you need to build the Facility. The total Attack Strength or Craft Skills vs. the total required is shown beside the card the same as with Mission Cards. Facility cards don't give you VP, but, if you successfully can build a Facility, the Facility may give you and your Characters bonuses (described in the description of the card). WINNING THE BATTLE To win a Card Battle, you must earn your required number of VP. The amount of VP you need to earn is shown by small, darkened dots underneath your name on the main Battle Screen (in the upper left corner in red for you, the lower right corner in blue for your opponent). When you or your opponent earn VP, one (or more) of your VP slots lights up. The more VP you need to earn, the higher "level" you are. The less your opponent needs to earn the harder the battle. UNIQUE CHARACTERS Characters are unique. This means that only one of each character may be in play at a time, no matter which player has it in play. If a character is already in play, the text "unique" displays over the card. The text is green, and looks like this: _ /___ | -- / / --- ---- / ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ GENERAL MENU GUIDE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There are many menus in the game. Here is a rough guide to the in-town menus. NOTE: All options except for "leave" and "dungeon" have the same 3 characters at the end. Inns- Inns will always be the first option in a town, if it has one. The option for inns has 2 kanji at the start that have a lot of lines in them. Within the Inn, you will find the following options: Deck- Lets you create and adjust your decks Save- Lets you save the game Talk- Lets you talk to the innkeeper Exit- Lets you leave the inn Card Shops- Card Shops are always the second option in a town, if it has one. The option for card shops has 3 kanji at the start, and the first one has the fewest lines of any of the starting kanji. Within the Card Shop, you will find the following options: Buy Cards- Lets you buy cards Sell Cards- Lets you sell cards Card List- Lets you see a list of all of your cards. Rare Finds- Lets you buy rare cards Exit- Lets you leave the card shop Deck Helpers- Deck Helpers are often the third option in a town, if it has one. The option for deck helpers have two kanji at the start, but not quite as many lines as the kanji for the inn. Within the Deck Helper, you will find the following options: ? Card List- Lets you see a complete list of all of your cards, and how many are in use in a deck. Deck- Lets you create and adjust your decks Exit- Lets you leave the deck helper Card Files- Card Files are always after the Card Shops, and the Deck Helper, if the town has them. It is usually the third or fourth option. The option for card files has 3 kanji at the start, and the third one is the same as the second kanji for an inn. Within the Card File, you will find the following options: Card File Completion- Lets you see how close you are to completing the set of cards, and lists them in order. If you have a card and trade or sell it, it is still listed as you having had it. Card List- Lets you see a complete list of all of your cards, and how many are in use in a deck. Talk- Lets you talk with the card file keeper. Exit- Lets you leave the card file Trading Post- Trading Shops are always after all of the other options except for Dungeons and the Leave option. It has 3 kanji at the start, and the first one as a box with 4 lines over it on the left and 3 vertical lines on the right. Within the Trading Shop, you will find the following options: Battle- Lets you have practice battles for extra cards and potch. Trade- Lets you trade your cards for new cards. Each trading post has 5 trades that it can make you (in order), after which it will give you a reward, and have no further trades. Exit- Lets you leave the trading post. Dungeon- A Dungeon is always the second to last option in a town. It has 2 kanji at the start, and two kanji at the end that are different from the kanji in other options. See the DUNGEON MINI-GUIDE for more information. Leave- The Leave option is always the last option in a town. EVERY town has a Leave option. Other- There are other options that may appear in the city menus. These are areas that you go to further the plot. In your castle, this is usually the Great Hall, although it occasionally changes to somewhere else. You may also run into these areas in other towns. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DUNGEON MINI-GUIDE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dungeons are controlled with sprites, and are really the only areas in the game that you have complete control of the characters. Here are the important things to keep in mind when in a dungeon: 1. Allies- Allies give you cards. This is very good, since often they're rare cards that can't be gotten elsewhere. 2. Lorelai (2)- Lorelai is a card shop. She often has rare cards. 3. Ghosts- Ghosts fight you. Sometimes they're hard, sometimes they're not. Either way, they usually give you standard cards for that area. 4. Highland Characters- Highland Characters usually fight you, and you get their card if you can beat them. 5. Rowd- Sometimes Rowd will fight you (see above), other times he'll just give you a card. Very useful. 6. Random Battles- yes, there are random battles. They're usually not hard, if you have a decent deck. 7. Chests- Some chests have cards, some have potch, and some have monsters for you to fight. 8. Stairs- Multi-level Dungeons have stairs that go down to the next level. The lower levels are usually a little harder. Note that there is no way to get back UPstairs. 9. Exiting- To exit a dungeon, no matter where in it you are, hit "Select" and then the first option. 10. Re-Entering- Everything changes when you re-enter; characters, ghosts, stairs, layout... EVERYTHING. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MAIN CHARACTERS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ These are the characters that have images during the game. I'm trying to keep it as spoiler-free as I can. Riou- The main character of the game, aka YOU. You were raised by the great hero Genkaku as a son, although your real parents are unknown. You grew up with your "sister", Nanami, and your best friend, Jowy. Jowy- Your best friend, the son of a rich family. You and Jowy joined the army of the Highland together, as part of the Unicorn Brigade, although were forced to leave when your group was attacked. Nanami- Your adoptive sister, who was also raised by hero Genkaku. Nanami is your constant companion wherever you go. Flik- One of the heroes of the Liberation Wars, Flik and Viktor find you and aid you in your quest to bring peace to the land. Viktor- Another hero of the Liberation Wars, Viktor leads a Mercenary Group, and finds you after your escape from the Unicorn Brigade. He and Flik work well together. Luca Blight- The prince of the Highlands, he is orchestrating the war for reasons only he knows. Annabelle- The mayor of Muse, who knows hero Genkaku, and the truth of what happened 30 years ago. Apple- A young strategist who participated in the Liberation Wars with Flik and Vikotr. Shu- A former classmate of Apple's he becomes the main strategist for the Allied Army. Solon Jhee- A general of the Highland Army. Seed- A general of the Highland Army. Culgan- A general of the Highland Army. Sierra- The true bearer of the Blue Moon Rune, who wishes to defeat Neclord. Teresa- The mayor of Greenhill, who wishes to liberate her town. Neclord- A vampire who has taken over Tinto. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MISCELLANEOUS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is just for miscellanious things that I've noticed while playing the game. ·The icon used to notify you that text is continued and to press "A" is a card. ·For some reason, they make you press "down" to get to the first option in most areas. ·I usually just guess at what option to pick, but it seems that the first option usually furthers the story. ·If you're using an emulator, when the screen fades black, it will actually continue faster if you DON'T hold down the fast forward key. The fast forward key doesn't really do a lot of good in this game anyway. ~~~~~~~ CREDITS ~~~~~~~ This Guide was made my Dessa (dragessa@yahoo.com) for exclusive use on her own webpage, GameFAQs, and IGN. The text within it is copywrite 2003 Marie Morse, all rights reserved. Publication on any other site is strictly prohibited. If you would like permission to use this on your webpage, e-mail Dessa at the above address with your own e-mail address and your webpage address, and she will get back to you on if you can or not, and, if your site is approved, send you an updated version of the Guide that has your site included on the "approved" list. She will also send you any updates, so that you continually have the most current version. List of Approved Websites: Izzy's Palace (http://www.geocities.com/dragessa) GameFAQs (http://www.gamefaqs.com) IGN.com (http://www.IGN.com) Cheats.de (http://www.cheats.de) Thanks for this Guide go to... ...Konami for creating a great series. ...my boyfriend, for introducing me to the Suikoden games. ...Suikosource.com for having nice images and explainations of the different cards. Everything in here is mine, but looking at their stuff helped clear up a couple questions I had left. (Genso)Suikoden, Card Stories, and all chararacters and ideas related are copywrite of Konami. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~