Hah, today was a good day to come home from work, because there was a nifty little package for me waiting =).
I finally got my imported Suikoden for the PSP.
So, of course I was more than eager to test this out. Luckily for me I speak a little bit of Japanese and I am able to read the Katakana and Hiragana and considering most of the text is either of those two, I can read what is said. Not being able to understand most of it can't bother me because I have the English versions of the games and I do not need the text to guide me through the game anymore.

Anyway, the first thing that you'll notice is the beefed up graphics. It is really an improvement over the old dated (yet still attractive) graphics of Suikoden I and II.
Also, the diffirent opening of Suikoden I is something you'll find a nice surprise. I assume it is the Sega opening.
I haven't played much yet and was mostly just looking around a bit. I also wanted to see if there were namechanges from the Japanese versions of the game, but none so far. Quite surprising actually because in most games the Japanese names differ from the English ones.

Another thing I noticed that was diffirent was the Buddy ATK in Suikoden II. It is much faster than the original and the faded frames that were left behind when Riou and Jowy made the circle is gone as well, or at least less visible. I am curious as to what other changes are in the game as well.

There was also an entire option menu but I have yet to figure that out, might be unlockables or something. I have no idea yet as I only looked through it breifly.

But the best feature so far without a doubt is the possibility to walk diagonally. We all know Suikoden I and II had only up, down, left and right movement but in this game they added the diagonal pattern with it as well, including new sprites for the points of view.
I have yet to really start this game and such, but me as a fan of the series won't take long to actually do so.

Shucks. Got my hopes up, thinking it got translated and was heading for the US/Europe. XD
Luckily for you, indeed.

Enhanced graphics sounds nice. The first game's graphics, I didn't find all too attractive (well, particularly, the character portraits), but I always loved the second game's graphics. It's got that kind of old-school feel to it, thanks to the use of 2-D sprites, but they're probably the best sprite graphics I've seen in a game, and they blend well with the surroundings throughout the game. The 3-D graphics used in FMV's weren't too impressive, but they were rare anyway, and the 2-D graphics' quality, the games still had an overall nice appearance. So, it's good to hear that they slightly tweaked the graphics, while keeping the original concept with the sprites and all.

Diagonal movement's new? Could've sworn you were able to in them to begin with, but it just didn't have different sprites for the diagonal directions.

Haha, I am sorry. So far there is no news about any overseas shipment. I still believe that there will be one someday.
Anyway, no there is no diagonal walking in the first two Suikoden games. I am 100% positive on this matter.

And about the extra options thing I could check. I checked it out and they are unlockables, like the soundmode, movie player and also event viewer, which sounds interesting.

Yeah, I keep hoping and wishing and praying that it'll be released outside of Japan.
After the PS2 games, the series seems to have gained popularity somewhat, and most of the gamers new to the series can't play the first two due to their rarity/value, so I think it'd make sense to release them like so. I imagine there are several more people interested in them now than there were back when they were first released.

And now that I think about it, you're right -- there wasn't any diagonal movement in the first two. I wonder what game I was thinking of, then...

My thoughts exactly. So many new gamers got introduced to the series thanks to the fifth installment of the game. Unfortunatly all they can manage to get are Suikoden III and IV and possibly Rapsodia.
Considering the first two are so rare and expensive it is allmost impossible for them to obtain these, so a PSP port would make perfect sense.
Alas, crappy sales in Japan make this thing to unlikely to happen.

No idea what you were thinking of, quite some 2D games were released on the PSX during those years.

what is a good site to import this game?
and buy a cheap psp?
i love the two original suikoden games im thinking of buying a psp just for that game.

I imported mine from ebay, so that could be your choice as well. You can also try online import shops.

The only problem with Suikoden I and II on the PSP, is that you either should know the game fully by heart, or be able to read Japanese.
I can only read a little bit of Japanese (as in Katakana and Hiragana), but luckily I know the game's story by heart, well mostly of it, so I don't need to read all of the text anyway. Basically I am reading the words I can read =P.

The only reason I'm playing Xenosaga DS (which is entirely in Japanese) is because I've already played the two games on the Playstation, otherwise I would just give up. Personally, I think unless you've played some incarnation of the game already or your Japanese is really quite good, there isn't much point to importing. It's easy to learn gameplay (seeing as how a lot of gameplay is in English katakana anyway) but you lose out on the story in a big way.

If you've played through Suikoden I & II before then I say go for it, but if not you'll probably be glued to an FAQ, make wrong choices (And have to reset) and basically miss out on the whole story. Sorry, but this isn't the best choice for first time players, even if it is the cheapest.

Developers seem to be against re-releasing popular games(see FF7 and PE3 ->For a freaking mobile). If and when they decide to be "nice", watch it be for a phone or something.

I don't recall Ninty and Square having any problems with that. Besides, with Suikoden it is a different story. There wasn't enough copies to be sold in the first place, which is something Konami can be accused of.