Konami has finally announced a new entry in the Suikoden series after thirteen years, but Suikoden Star Leap might not be what you want it to be.
During a Suikoden news broadcast held earlier today, Konami revealed that Suikoden Star Leap will be a free-to-play mobile RPG, although it will be set in the main Suikoden timeline, so it won't be an alternate-history spinoff or anything like that.
The game will take place a few years after the events of Suikoden V, which itself served as a prequel to the original game. That, of course, also means that we might well see some of both games' characters appearing in Star Leap.
In fact, one of the screenshots shown on the official website for Suikoden Star Leap appears to show Viki, a recurring character who serves as your method of fast travel in every mainline Suikoden game to date.
Of course, Viki is heavily implied to be able to travel through time as well as through space, so her presence here probably shouldn't come as a shock. It does, however, reinforce that this isn't just a spinoff, but a game that wants to take its place alongside the main series.
The trailer for the game also appears to show Gregminster, the capital city of the Toran Republic and one of the key locations in the original Suikoden (as well as the site of a brief but memorable stopover in the sequel).
You can check out the debut trailer for Suikoden Star Leap right here. Honestly, I know it's a mobile RPG, but the art style and overall presentation has me cautiously excited for it.
According to Konami, Suikoden Star Leap will be a free-to-play game with "in-game purchases", although the studio doesn't say what form those purchases will take. I hate to say it, but Suikoden is ripe for some kind of character gacha mechanic, so that's probably what it'll be.
In addition to Star Leap, Konami is also gearing up to release remasters of the first two Suikoden games, which are due to land later this week, having been delayed beyond their original release window of 2023.
You'll be able to check out those remasters when they launch on March 6th across PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch. Suikoden Star Leap is due to arrive at some point in the future on iOS and Android, although we don't know when yet.
