Welcome to the walkthrough for Genso Suikoden: The Woven Web of a Century!
Introduction[]
A few notes about the mechanics of this game.
1. Unlike in previous Suikoden games, there are no random encounters. You will see the enemies on the map, so if you wish you can try to dodge them. They will disappear after the fight, however, if you move to another area, or fight another enemy in the same area, they will respawn. Like Suikoden Tierkreis, you do not walk on the world map and instead move to the town or area you want to visit.
2. Go back to your headquarters as often as you like. You will want to check on the dungeon, maybe do hunting, as well as eat. Eating will increase your friendship levels which will give you the ability to have subskills later.
3. As soon as you get your headquarters, make use of the Dungeon. It is a great way to farm for crafting items and meat (as well as potch). You will also get weapons and equipment that you can sell. Always pay the highest amount for the traps since they are the most effective.
4. Hunting can only be done once a day, and some of the rewards are great, so make sure to start it as soon as you can. You can do the same mission over and over as well, so it is good for gaining experience (as well as items).
5. Items in the areas will respawn after some time. The ice stones that can be gathered on Mt. Orosk are available once a day, so make sure to pick them up as well.
6. There are no runes in this game. Instead, characters will have different skills based on their class. There are several classes, and each character starts with one. Most characters will be able to learn a sub-class once they increase their friendship level with a certain character. Each skill uses a certain amount of energy. You will gain a certain amount of energy each turn, or your medic can use Energy Replenishment Medicine.
7. Skills are passed between characters of the same class or subclass. Recruiting characters from the past will also give you new skills. You can pass those skills to other characters as well.
8. In order to do magic, you will need to create magic stones at the Magic Stone Workshop in your headquarters. As you recruit more members you will learn new stones. Each skill will use between 1 and 3 stones. The same is true for medics who will need medicine from the Medicine Workshop, and shamen who will need curse stones from the Curse Stone Workshop. Archers can use regular arrows (unlimited), or special arrows made at the Arrow Workshop.
9. Unites are also completely different in this game. Grouping certain members together will give you certain bonuses, such as increasing strength or intelligence. Grouping characters together will also open up the command to work together, which is similar to free will in previous games. Having characters together will give you a bonus if the next character also attacks the same enemy. You can group the characters together in any way, but some combinations will give extra bonuses. Increasing the friendship level between characters will also increase the attack bonuses.
10. You are not able to move around towns or your headquarters freely. You will instead select from a list, or move the cursor to the place you wish to enter. Your headquarters will have some mini-games, workshops, and shops. Once you enter your headquarters, it will be night and you cannot leave until you have had dinner. Eating will increase your friendship levels, and depending on the menu, may increase stats. It is recommended to do this often as higher friendship levels give you a lot of bonuses (and open up subclasses).
11. Some of the choices you make in the dialogue will increase your friendship level with some characters. Those cases will be noted.
Finally, the contents of this walkthrough are based on my own playthrough of the game, combined with the information found in the Japanese guidebooks (Genso Suikoden Tsumugareshi Hyakunen no Toki The Master Guide and Genso Suikoden Tsumugareshi Hyakunen no Toki The Complete Guide). The titles used for the contents come from the Complete Guide.