The Suikoden series was originally based on one of the four most famous classic Chinese novels -- By Shi Nai’an -- "The Water Margin". It was based on folk tales involving a group of bandits from 12th century China. The subsequent instalments of Suikoden have consistently added depth to the lore of the world, which boasts many empires and an epic history. The main fixture of the story that is used is the "108 Stars of Destiny".

In the first game, released in 1995 -- in Japan -- you followed a young man named McDohl, whom is a skilled fighter that soon learns that he is destined to become the "Tenkai Star." This prophesied man united the 108 Stars of Destiny under his command to bring about a new age of prosperity. Upon his travels the young McDohl came into contact with 27 mystical runes, which held great magic power. It was a fantastic step in game-play, which supported a great storyline.

The second game followed it up a few years later, as is still regarded as one of the best role playing games in existence, with Suikoden II. This game follows the main character Riou as they go from being a member of a youth brigade for the King of Highland, to being a leading figure in their opposition, the New Alliance Army. This game was drastically better than the original, involving many improvements, and it was very enjoyable to play. It even sported one of the most evil villains in video game history in Luca Blight.

The third game was quite the delight to play, but it did not have the shine of the second one. This one was no slouch, and provided a unique storytelling experience, telling the story threw the views of three different people. Hugo, Chris Lightfellow, and Geddoe. For each chapter you play as a character of your choice, where you can then rotate them for the following one. This game was followed up by the forth one, where you follow the story of a young boy named Lazlo. This is where the series seems to run out of steam, and the fan base of the Suikoden franchise for largely shuns the game for over simplifying the battle system, and producing a generally boring experience.

That concludes the brief history of Suikoden, allowing you to know the history of what had transpired, so we may move onto the meat and potatoes of this tactics game. It begins several years before the events of Suikoden IV, and establishes why Kyril is trying to destroy the Run Cannons. It ties up how Suikoden IV came to be, and fills in a lot of the storyline leading up to the game. Kyril begins his investigation on the Run Cannons, which eventually leads him north into the Kooluk Empire.

As per most tactics games, there is a system of elements that arrange a damage adjuster, which is heavily emphasized in the game. The cycle runs from Earth - Lightning - Water - Fire - Wind -> Earth. There are a few other modifiers as well, as when some supporting characters can be called to the field, they have no offensive values, but rather have supporting effects. They can change the field to involving stealing, digging, stat buffing, and healing, which does help out quite a bit.

The elemental runes make their return with weapon runs, as per pervious games. The elemental runes all have their level one spell that turns the playing field into a particular element. Weapon runes operate work significantly different from the other Suikoden’s, where instead of a single attack with limitless uses, the weapon runes impart three separate attacks, which operate quite like spell runes. Each attack becomes defined by the number of charges it has, before it no longer can be used, although the MP will be recharged upon a level up.

This is their major change of the game, and their freshest take on a tactical game, which is not much to say. The game also supports a co-op feature that allows you to partner up and drive for massive attacks during a game. The gaming intelligence is quite good, as enemies will collectively team up on a single character, trying to wipe them out quickly, but that is essentially all that it offers. The system seems to be stripped down to bare bones, with only a bit of flair used to add their own special touch to the genre. The game-play is also quite slow, so you lack the energetic rush of battle.

The game’s graphics are not fantastic, but then again they are not horrible. They come off trying to be overly protective of their tried and true style, clinging to it as if it were the last standing card in their once great empire. The environments are lacklustre, and do not have strong qualities to them, while subtracting to the ambiance of the game. If you are zoomed out everything will look good from a distance, but when you are zoomed in when the characters talk -- which you will do constantly -- you will notice that everything is colourless and washed out. Perhaps this was done to juxtapose the flare in the special attacks, but it does not work for the overall interest of the game. The character models are not very detailed as well, and as such felt very rushed, and over all it appears to be designed for the Playstation One, instead of the Playstation Two.

Much like the storyline of the one that it prequels, it is fairly uninspired. It seems like they tried to throw whatever they could together, to relate it to the previously uninspired game, but it continued to only make the game worse. It does do a good job of filling in the bits and pieces, but it is far from fulfilling. The plot highlights are easily overshadowed by the tactic battle system, which is not saying much for the lacklustre title. The storyline is only a candle in the wind compared to its predecessors, which is where the heart of the game really is.