Himemori Luna Plays Suikoden Star Leap, Where a Crest Turns a Village to Animals

HOLOLIVE — Himemori Luna of Hololive played the opening chapter of the mobile RPG Suikoden Star Leap on Monday, following a village attack through to a twist in which most of the cast was turned into animals. The 78-minute stream was a sponsored play of the game, which has been out since August.

Luna opened with a primer on the Suikoden series, which has run since 1995 and spans 12 titles, each built around a cast of 108 characters. She said she had played Suikoden II and liked its music. The game’s trailer then ran, and she was struck by the news that all 108 recruitable characters are voiced.

“I really want to know what happens in the story. It’s fully voiced, and it’s really interesting.” — Himemori Luna, as she wrapped up the game segment

In the game, she entered her own nickname as the hero’s name and followed a hunt for a boar with her character’s father, a chance meeting with a wandering swordsman named Georg, and then a village burned by masked raiders. The raiders took villagers hostage and demanded the father’s crest, a source of special power. He offered his life in exchange for the villagers’ safety and was shot. Then a household maid, Hisui, unleashed a crest power that changed nearly everyone present into animals, while Luna’s character stayed human.

The second half of the tutorial found the survivors, now squirrels, a goat and a wolf who could still speak, planning a trip to find a missing ally and restore everyone. Luna said she was thrown by how calmly the characters took the transformations. She praised the auto-travel button, which she said suited her tendency to find moving by hand tiresome on a phone, and said the pixel art and full voice acting stood out.

She stopped just short of the gacha feature, which the game unlocks after the tutorial, and spent the rest of the stream on the game’s battle modes, mini-games and an anime collaboration event featuring the hero of Suikoden II. She told viewers about a start campaign that gives away currency for ten-pull draws, then closed by urging them to try the game themselves.

In chat, viewers cheered the villain’s over-the-top acting and the sudden change in the story, and asked whether the villagers could be returned to normal.