"Saturn finally gets a great RPG that was on the PS"

Storyline-10/10
This game has one of the best storyline for an RPG. The storyline is so well designed that you will marvel and wonder how did they manage to have so many characters in one single RPG and still manage to give quite a significant number of them a decent background.
Well you a are a son of a Imperial general and you really wanted to be a loyal citizen. Anyway I will not spoil it for you here but just be warned that there are plenty of plot twists here and there. Personally the storyline of this game is one of the best in the whole series. You will really feel upset at some point of the game. But do know that this game was smart enough to have 2 endings. One is happy and the other is sad.

Graphics-7/10
The background and the characters are average at best. The combat graphics are also average. But this game still looks better than most 3D graphics when they are badly done. Yes 3D graphics did not looked good in the beginning and this game certainly shows how 2D graphics also can look decent. But if you are a guy who plays games based on graphics you really must look past the graphics or you will miss this great RPG.

Soundtrack-10/10
Yes the theme of Gregminister is my all time favourite music. The suikoden series have always have great music in their battles and towns. This one may be the first but its music is really nice and unique.But hey I have to admit that suikoden II is better. As for soundeffects well there is nothing really special or unique though.

Gameplay-10/10
Firstly you get to use over 80 characters from the 108 stars that you can use. Yes and you can have 6 characters in each party.Yes 6 characters at a time when most RPGS have 3 characters. 6 gives you more variability and flexibility in battles. Anyway those 80 over characters that you can use are so different and unique that you really need to try all of them. Yes the suikoden series are the only games that let you have so many characters to choose from.

Secondly there are not just your standard RPG battles are also duels as well. Yes leveling up your characters will also allow your characters to do well in duels. Also duels are very important in this game. Yes do note they are very important and actually affect the storyline.

Thirdly there are also army battles. Yes army battles where 2 armies fight it out. Okay I actually prefer the army battles in this one since in suikoden 2 they take too long. In suikoden III they place too much emphasis on leveling up for army battles.

Another cool aspect of this game is that you must go and recruit the 108 stars of destiny. This is where the game can be fun or very irritating. Yes but most of it is fun as you struggle to think of how to fulfill the requirements to recruit some of the characters.

Anyway I would recommend that you play this game twice.
Yes twice I would suggest you do not use a FAQ when you play it the first time. Then use a FAQ when you play it the second time. Trust me on this one. You will get a greater satisfaction when you finally get the happy ending on your second try.

Conclusion - This is one of the most unique and best RPG that has ever come to the Sega Saturn. The only reason why you should not play this game is that this game is so good that you really want to buy a PS just to play suikoden II. Yeah and you would need a PS2 just to play suikoden III.
In fact I would really recommend the suikoden series since they are one of the best RPG series I have ever played.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 06/19/03, Updated 06/19/03