One of the greatest strengths of the Suikoden series is that every adventure rewards players with a meaningful conclusion. While each game offers a satisfying Good Ending when you recruit all 108 Stars of Destiny and make the right choices, some finales leave a much stronger emotional impact than others.
Whether it’s long-awaited reunions, the fate of beloved characters, or the way each story concludes its journey, every ending has something memorable to offer. But which one stands above the rest?
In this ranking, I’m counting down my Top 5 Good Endings from the mainline Suikoden series, from a solid conclusion to what I believe is the most powerful and emotionally satisfying ending in the franchise.
Of course, this is a subjective ranking, and that’s part of the fun.
At number five, we have the original Suikoden I.
It ends all bad for our villain Windy because Barbarossa shows his true intent. He was never under the spell of Windy and thus he decides they’ve been defeated and we’re going to end it right there.
The four generals that are left hope to persuade Barbarossa to not jump, but then they do.
And how it ends, we do not know. What we do know is that this castle is about to blow up and we got to get the hell out of there.
That’s the end of the empire, which will set up the new future of the Scarlet Moon Empire. No longer being the Empire. The palace isn’t going to last and it will be rebuilt into something modern, something new, but not in that sense.
They all won. Everybody’s won. Everybody’s happy.
And Lepant says the Empire has finally met its end. Nobody could have foreseen what it actually did at that point in time for a possible Suikoden II, but later on we learned much more of course.
Tengaar and Hix are at it again as usual, which we would also see in Suikoden II. Many of them return with a reason to further a storyline progression in this universe.
But good to know is that Tir McDohl decided on something.
“Am I the one to lead this new country that’s going to come forward from it?”
Well, actually, he doesn’t. He leaves and the Scarlet Moon Empire becomes the new Toran Republic under the leader of President Lepant.
The story of Suikoden I ends as Liukan is unable to heal Mathiu Silverberg’s wounds. Mathiu has fought hard being our strategist in this battle, in this campaign, and in this war. He’s been responsible for the loss of countless of lives.
But he made the right decision in the end. And that is when it all ends because he silently goes to sleep forever.
Rest in peace, my friend, as Liukan says it.
Because of this quite softening but reasonably flat spot is why it has ended up for us in the number five slot.
In number four, it’s Suikoden III.
Luc has been called by the power of the Wind Rune. His destiny is sealed when he leaves Leknaat after having endured two wars.
He doesn’t want Harmonia or any country to get the power of all the true runes, because they only bring suffering to everything that exists.
His plan is to collect them himself and to then destroy these runes.
His eternal struggle and suffering is countered by his Earth counterpart, Sasarai, who seeks alliance with our Flame Champion to stop Luc and his consorts.
After seeing Sasarai after we defeated Luc’s Wind Rune, we have our mandatory collapse of the structure that we fight our final boss battle in.
And thus, we hope that Luc comes with us, hopefully, possibly. But Bright makes noises like, “No way. We got to go. It’s time.” And when a dragon calls, you go. And for Luc, it seems like, well, this is it. He doesn’t move at all.
Hugo walks away. and then tries to look back but then runs away. And Luc doesn’t go anywhere. He just lets everything fall down like nothing ever happened. And thus, after a few mediocre scenes of minor characters telling them to escape, we are out here back in Budehuc Castle.
We see Chris and Hugo saying goodbye and hugging, as Hugo becomes the Karayan Clan Chief, succeeding Lucia, if you chose him as Flame Champion.
Chris is happy, Hugo is happy. But we hear nothing in the ending scenes about Geddoe and his band of mercenaries.
Not even a slight mention.
With such a happy forever seen without too much information on its’ future, this deserves to be in place number four.
At number three, we have Suikoden IV.
For now, the giant tree has finally been destroyed and the rune cannons are no more.
Graham Cray faces off one final time with Eleanor Silverberg.
We learn that Cray once was Eleanor’s apprentice, plot twist!
We go out sailing and Lazlo defeats Troy and sends him to the bottom of the ocean.
But the mandatory explosion is inbound, and only Lazlo can stop its’ force with the Rune of Punishment.
He does so, and saves everyone! Because of the recruitment of all Stars of Destiny, he meets one final holder of this rune.
His mother, the Queen of Obel.
After that, we witness the birth of the Island Nations Federation, with Lino en Kuldes as its’ first ruler.
Lazlo turns out to be alive, having been saved by the Rune of Punishment for the right actions during this war.
What we do not know, is how Lazlo’s fate turned out to be as the ship sails away.
We do see him back in Suikoden Tactics.
We also learn more of the Island Nations in Suikoden V with related characters, like Ferid, Skald Egan and Bernadette.
That’s why Suikoden IV’s ending ranks in at #3!
After defeating the incarnation of the Sun Rune, Lyon finally collapses.
Her injuries sustained by Dolph earlier on, are too grave it seems.
As she passes away, a cloud forms around Freyjadour and Lyon. We enter a fever dream.
We see all kinds of people. Arshtat, Ferid, Sialeeds. Good people that helped us.
But then we see Marscal & Gizel Godwin, Zahhak & Alenia.
Why on earth would they be in this forgiveness and happy ever after scene?
It makes no sense to me. Lyon then pops in a cocoon-style cirlce and then comes back to life.
We saved her by recruiting everyone along the way.
Then comes the choice to make. Does Freyjadour stay and become the new captain of the Queen’s Guards?
Or does he go with Georg to discover the world, with Lyon by his side as always?
The canon ending is that he stays, though both options make perfect sense.
We then see Haswar and a runekeeper ensuring that the Three Runes (Dawn, Twilight & Sun) are all back in place.
Zerase smiles in the back and then disappears as fast as she seemed to appear in this world early-on in the game.
Emotional depth, concluding storytelling, but weirdness with enemies being friends in a fever dream.
For the above reasons, that’s why this ending is the second-best of the mainlime games!
Finally, we have the ultimate ending of the JRPG games of the 90’s in the opinion of many gaming fans.
After the war is over, Riou is asked to become the leader of the new Dunan Republic.
He refuses and decides to leave. He leaves to the one place he still has to go.
The starting point of our adventure in the Tenzan Pass. To the rock that both Jowy and Riou carved their names in.
As he arrives, Jowy’s already there. Riou doesn’t fight him. Then something magical happens.
The Bright Shield Rune heals the Black Sword Rune. The Rune of Beginning has come together again, as Leknaat explains further.
She tells them that this is only possible because they fulfilled their individual destinies first.
They then decide to leave together to explore the world. Only to be stopped by the man that always anticipates things. Shu, master strategist, tells them to go back to Kyaro Town.
Nanami removed herself from action to not be in the way of Riou. She became the bigger sister she could be to him.
They reunite, vistit Genkaku’s grave and Jowy’s home, and then venture off.
We see them at the gate of the home Jillia & Pilika stay in, and leave again for the big world.
A tearjerker of an ending, with an emotional rollercoaster of a game leading up to it.
What more could you possibly want?
This ending delivered from start to finish, and is the reason it’s #1 in this ranking!
Do you agree with my list, or would you order the games differently?
Be sure to watch the video above and let me know your own ranking in the comments.
After all, every Suikoden fan has their favourite ending, and there’s plenty to discuss.
I'm Amethyst, 31, and from the Netherlands. I've always had a passion for adventure in roleplaying games. Being able to immerse myself into these universes allowed me to escape the trauma's of my youth. Now I want to share my gaming passion with all of you!
