Just finished Suikoden I over the weekend and just got a couple of questions about the transfer of game data to Suikoden II. I'm guessing this topic has been done to death already but i'm a bit wary of spoilers at the moment, so thought i'd start a new thread to be on the safe side.

After finding out there wasn't a completed game save I checked on the net and I already know that you can only carry over data from the save point in the final dungeon - though not 100% if that is accurate or not. Do the characters being transferred over have to be in your party when you save (and hence limited to how many can be included) or are all of the reoccuring characters automatically carried over regardless of them being in your party or not?

What actually does get transferred over exactly? I doubt levels do but what about runes and equipment?

And one final question, by transferring over the save file do i effect the characters that can be recruited in the second game, similar to Eresh in Suikoden V, in other words a character from the first game replacing another from the second?

You don't have to worry about your party's condition when you make that save file. Just that you have the save file is what counts. And yes, it has to be at the last save point in Suikoden 1.
However, I think one thing does matter thougj, and that is if you have all 108 stars or not when you make that save file. I'm not 100% positive on this one though. But if that's the case then it will make the difference of only one character appearing or not appearing in Suikoden 2 through the transfer system.

Otherwise, the only thing that carries over is McDohl (But the first letter of his name will be the same first letter you gave him in Suikoden 1, so if you named him Tir, then his name in Suikoden 2 will be TcDohl.)
And another person is with him as well, although he's not a playabble character. I think he might not be there if you didn't get all 108 stars in Suikoden 1, but I'm not sure.

The letter glitch is not in the PAL version, so if you named him Tir, he would still be Tir in Suikoden II.
I can tell you this, because I named him Tir in Suikoden I and in Suikoden II, after I transfered the file (though 100% complete), his name was still Tir and not TcDohl.

On the equipment note, the McDohl transfer is slightly affected by what you have equipped at the end of the first game. If he has a Master Garb equipped, it will be transferred (as the Suikoden II version of it, that is); otherwise, he'll have Dragon Armor equipped when you recruit him. (You can swap it once he's recruited, though.) Also, I believe if he has Earth Boots equipped, he'll be transferred with Winged Boots equipped in Suikoden II. (I forget what he's got if not. Maybe just normal Boots.)

Other than the McDohl stuff, there are some special scenes that pop up here and there, if you have uploaded data.

Thanks for the info guys. I managed to get all 108 stars so I've got a good idea who that one character might be. Tbh i found the recruiting to be a lot more forgiving in this one than in Suikoden V, though saying that it was by sheer dumb luck that i managed to stumble across the very last character.

Had the Master Robe equipped to Tir at the end but i'm almost certain that i had the Earth Boots on Viktor, shame as a pair of Wing Boots would have been a bonus - dont think you could equip them to him in Suikoden I.

Ah well, i have the NTSC version but the name glitch isn't too bad - aslong as nothing major is messed up.

So overall not that much actually gets transferred over? No stat bonus, runes or anything? A bit dissappointing - but a few extra scenes is enough to make it worth while.

Is it similar for transfer of Suikoden II to III? I just hope my PSOne memory card is compatible with the PS2 for that one - read that Sony blocked some of them in the later slimline PS2s - and am waiting till i've got a back-up of my save files before i try it out.

You get stat bonuses for some characters for transfering the file from Sui 2 to Sui 3, and the name of your nation is kept. Other than that, I don't think you got anything else in Sui 3 for transfering the file. No returning bonus character this time I'm afraid.

And to transfer from 2 to 3 I believe you simply move your PS1 save file from the PS1 memorycard to the PS2 memorycard in the PS2 browser before you start the game. In other words, both files should be on the PS2 memorycard before you start your game.

Actually, you fo get stat bonuses.
For example, in the beginning of Suikoden II you meet two characters, which in case of spoilers I won't mention.
Now their level, without the updated save file, is level 20.
If you do upload the savefile from Suikoden I, their levels will be 25, or at least one of them.
This goes the same for some other characters, they'll be at higher levels than they would be originally in the game, as well as some equipment getting transfered and maybe some other things, not sure on that.

Another thing that carries over a small scenes, most notably when you meet Tir. If you have a character that fought alongside Tir in Suikoden I, he/she will say a line asking how he was, or anything in that sense.

If your charactername is the same as the name you used for Tir in Suikoden I, say for example Billy in both games. Ridley will at some point make a reference of the identical names.
You will also get a reference of the castle name, if I recall correct.

So, all in all you get quite a few things for uploading the save data. Obviously they are not anything big, but just small funny little things.

See this is the problem, my PS2 will not recognize their is a PSOne card in the memory slot, it just refuses to acknowledge it - i go to the browser for the console and its just blank - so i can't transfer the data to the PS2 card. Its a bit annoying considering i went to the trouble to find a genuine Sony card and then it doesn't work. Ah well i'm importing a couple of games from the states in the new year and they've got the cards cheap so i'll just get one of them and hope that it works this time.



Well thats good to know - at least those extra hours of leveling up a number of characters wasn't totally wasted. Had quite a large group of favourites in Suikoden I and was unsure who i'd have in my final party, so trained a few to give me a selection, just to find your severely limited to the number you can actually choose.
Though so far though out of the returning characters only one or two have been from my chosen few - hopefully see a few more popping up sometime soon.

Yeah, the annoying thing in Suikoden I was, that even though you can select up to 5 party members to fight alongside, the last dungeon must be accompanied by Flik and Viktor, so you automatically lose 2 spots and can only select 3 others.
In this case, I usually find myself being extremely limited and because I want a magician in their, for when I need healing, I lose another spot, leaving only 2. Because I want my team to be as effective as possible, I usually use Grenseal and Alen as well, because they have the pretty boy attack with Flik which in this Suikoden is very destructive.
So, my line up is:

Alen - Grenseal - Viktor
Flik - Tir McDohl - Crowley

Flik can be in the backrow, because I use him for the Pretty Boy Attack and his rune and Viktor is equipped with the Killer Rune, which packs quite a punch.

In Suikoden II you have the option to choose 5 party members this time, so that was a relief.

Thought of doing a similar line up myself - the pretty boy unison definitely being one of the better ones in Suikoden I - but i had characters i preferred over Grenseal and Alen. Shame there weren't any opportunities to have a group lead by Flik - bringing the other two along and 3 of the elves in a single party could lead to some pretty heavy damage across the field.

My final line-up ended up as:
Flik - Viktor - X
Cleo - Tir - Kirkis
With Cleo and Kirkis acting as my main mages - Cleo providing the fire power, Kirikis with the Mother Earth Rune for support and Earthquake and X acting as the healer with a Flowing rune - not a particular brilliant team i know but Cleo and Kirkis had served me well and had to bring them along.

Definitely good to know there's no restrictions this time though - not that it's gonna help me much considering the sheer number of characters i'm using in Suikoden II atm - and i've only got about half of them up till now.

There are many characters that would make up a good addition to the party.
So far, the fastest way to beat the boss, was with the party I have. Simply because it deals the most damage per character, I have seen so far.

The Pretty Boy Attack does 2000-2700 dmg, Viktor with his Killer Rune can deal 1000 dmg, Tir with Judgement deals 1000+ and Crowley deals 600 dmg to each, plus heals the party, awesome.
I have yet to look up giving Alen/Grenseal a Killer Rune, or kick those two out and put other heavy hitters in the party, such as Pesmerga, to have another 1k hitter. It just has been a long time =P.