Sadly, this test of endurance plays a big role in Suikoden V's big tragedy. With a story and characters as strong as this game has, it could have been something truly phenomenal. After all, role-playing plotlines seem to be carbon copies of each other these days, with payoffs that are rarely worth the 40 to 60 hours you put into them. Suikoden doesn't have that problem at all obviously, but instead suffers from a number of questionable design choices that keep it from ranking among the PlayStation 2's RPG greats.Luckily Suikoden V's list of disappointments is nothing too derogatory. Instead, the game's big enemy is that apart from its excellent narrative, it runs into several nagging issues in multiple categories. These hitches range anywhere from small (no progressive scan support, despite the fact that the last two titles included it) to large (the first 30-40% of the game provides almost no challenge or need for strategy). Perhaps the most obvious problem, though, is that there's a ton of loading everywhere you turn. Moving from one area to another means 2-5 second loads; initiating a battle means 7-10 second loads; winning a skirmish brings 4-6 second loads afterwards. When you consider how often you'll be fighting and / or exploring your surroundings, this extra wait can definitely get bothersome. Another noticeable problem is that sometimes, Suikoden V is too big for its own good. Towns, castles, and other areas are absolutely enormous and it can take as long as 45 minutes to explore each of them thoroughly (and that's not even counting dungeons). This is all fine and good in theory, but a lot of that extra space goes unused, and it makes me wonder why there was a need to make the environments so massive if they don't serve a purpose (other than scale). This added size can also result in occasional framerate issues as well, and in areas with tall structures, the fixed isometric camera can prove irritating.Clearly Suikoden V isn't the complete package by any means, but in spite of all my qualms, it still manages to do plenty of things right that makes it a lot of fun to play. To start, the returning six-member parties of Suikoden I & II make the 108 Stars of Destiny a lot more useful than the three-person teams of more recent installments. Players can now incorporate various kinds of formations during combat too, and they'll allow you to enjoy special benefits (like Attack +2, Defensive bonuses, etc) if you use them. As an added plus, the formations even allow characters that were previously incompatible in other games (like six short-range fighters) the ability to work together all at once. It's a cool strategic inclusion to be sure. The good news is that the use of these formations and the return of the six-member team doesn't come with any penalties -- you can still learn skills (that sadly, can only be equipped two at a time), can still equip runes for various magical powers, and can still select from a plethora of equipment and items to customize your characters with. Suikoden V also has all the usual extras associated with the franchise as well, including Fortress Building, window and sound sets, character investigations, and more.
Two other nice additions to Suikoden V are improvements to the Duel and Army Battle sequences. The one-on-one confrontations have only been slightly altered yes, but a time limit given between actions adds a much needed sense of urgency to combat. Having different animations and reactions depending on your opponent is a nice touch, and the interface is a lot more intuitive to boot. In other words, the Duel's overall presentation is much better than that of Suikoden IV.But it's the large-scale warfare that's really different. Executed in real-time, the major battles are a sight to behold. Almost a dozen brigades of varying unit types can be controlled by the player at one time (with six categories, including combat ships, archers, and Calvary). These sequences look pretty cool to say the least and, while the strategy isn't as deep as implied, it's still a solid diversion between smaller-scale battles. Oh and before I forget, I'm also a big fan of Suikoden V's soundtrack. Though I still prefer the earlier games in terms of overall quality, there are still several very memorable tunes in here and the track selection is definitely varied. Unfortunately, I can't say that I like the voice acting quite as much, but it gets the job done and does compliment the game's theme rather nicely.