Suikoden 4

The good: well it bears the Suikoden name
The bad: boring battles; much too short quest
The Suikoden series is one of my favorite RPG series of all time so its no secret that I was eagerly anticipating this latest installment. I quickly ignored the Dreamcast-quality graphics in hopes of an epic, and long quest (as the Suikoden series is known for) as well as looking for the 108 characters as usual.

But the battles quickly halted my excitement as you only get to use 4 characters at a time instead of the usual 6 which limits use of the many characters you'll assemble not to mention the chance of finding character combos which is a gameplay mainstay of the series. The world map is the biggest offender though requiring you to haul your slow as molasses ship across huge expanses of water battling random encounters every 5 seconds. Its good that battles with the unimaginative enemies are quick and easy. Naval battles which serves as the army battle of the game also disappoints with its overly simple mechanics and too-easy bouts.

However, all this could have been forgiven if the quest was longer. This is the shortest Suiko ever taking only only about 25 hours if you don't take time to complete all 108 characters. This wastes the majority of your playable characters as you get to recruit the majority of them in the last stretch of the game when you won't have the chance to use them anymore.

This is one of the most disappointing games, RPG or not, that I've ever played and it saddens me that one of my favorite series is tarnished in this way. The sequel better be explosive. (3/5)