Suikoden IV

At its best moments, Suikoden IV sits right up there with the most outstanding RPGs ever created. [Feb 2005, p.114]

Not exactly a bad RPG but not a particularly good one, either. On the plus side, the story is OK and has a couple of interesting characters, but the overall atmosphere is bland and uninspired. [Apr. 05]

Gameplay usually isn’t the most important feature in an RPG, but in Suikoden IV it just drags an otherwise "great" RPG into the realm of "slightly above average."

Suikoden IV’s unimpressive graphics, generic audio (except for the voice-overs), infuriating battle frequency and watered-down strategy (less party members = less variety of attack combos) aren’t going to cut it in 2005.

A very mediocre Japanese RPG's, which unfortunately in this day and age that's just not good enough.

After 2002's "Suikoden III," with its excellent story told from three perspectives, I am disappointed with this incarnation's uninspired paint-by-numbers approach.

An uninspired, unnecessary chapter in the Suikoden series. The game’s greatest failing is its incredible mediocrity.

Played on PlayStation 2. Gameplay: GOOD. Story: GREAT. Graphic: GREAT. Music/Sound: GOOD. Dialogue: GOOD.

I'm going to give Suikoden IV it's flowers. By flowers, a "7" rating is being generous. Especially in light of today's standards when it comes to RPGs. Note, I'm writing this review in the summer of 2026. Suikoden IV is a decent RPG with some flaws. It is known for being the weakest in the Suikoden franchise, and some can easily see why. Some may say that the combat compared to previous Suikoden titles is an upgrade. For me it was only an upgrade compared to Suikoden 3, and still a backstep for the series in general. I am sure nobody asked for the party size to be decreased from six down to four. This takes away from the numerous possibilities and creativity for teamwork attacks. What I appreciated about the first two Suikoden titles was the possibility of experimentation, with the number of characters you can have in a party. Having a front and backrow in battle allowed for alot of customization, as you could have mages, archers, swordsman, and berserker types wherever you wanted. In Suikoden 4, all four characters in battle are technically on the front line. Whether you are any of the aforementioned types does not matter. Everyone has the same equal opportunity of getting physically attacked by enemies, which is the biggest con for the four-person battle system. This doesn't work very well for squishier archers and mages. In previous titles you could protect archers and mages with weaker physical defense by placing them in the backrow. In Suikoden 4 there isn't a 'back row' per se, so you cannot. Map navigation takes forever, even if there is a way to make your ship "run". This is especially tedious in the beginning, with earlier recruiting as going back and forth between different towns and islands is quite tedious. Also, the encounter rate seems to be a tad higher on the world map compared to most dungeons. If you're merely just trying to get somewhere fast, this can be quite frustrating having to fight 10+ random battles between Obel to Nay or Na-Nal. The environments and art in the game are devoid of detail and rather bland in appearance. It isn't necessarily bad, just boring to look at. The only thing really telling recruitable characters apart from regular NPCs is a portrait of them during a dialogue exchange. This is disappointing for a game that's supposed to take place in a Mediterranean-esque environment, in the middle of the seas. One would hope for the beauty of the islands to be a little more captivating. The soundtrack is okay, but forgettable compared to the first Suikoden title. One of the biggest pluses for Suikoden 4 were the naval battles. We didn't have enough land in the game to conduct full-scale battles like in Suikoden 5, so the game gave us battles where opposing ships squared off against each other using rune cannons and melee battles in the middle of the ocean. These were alot of fun, required some basic strategy, and rather simple to navigate. The game improved on the duel battles, with an easy-to-understand 'rock-paper-scissors' interface. This was later adopted and improved upon by Suikoden 5. All things considered, Suikoden IV isn't a bad RPG overall. In comparison to other Suikoden titles however, it is a slight step backwards and a little bit of a disappointment.

It's not bad, but it's not good. I would say there is no doubt it is the worst game in the Suikoden series, but that doesn't mean it's a bad game. For some reason the developers thought it would be a good idea to make the protagonist's rune really **** and sometimes self destructive and the cast of characters are the worst of the series. If this game were a Steve Miller song it would be "Abracadabra"; not a bad song, but not what we want to remember him by either.

It's not that Suikoden IV is a bad game it's just that it's very mediocre. When comparing it to Suikoden 2 or 3 you can see that it's worse than it's predecessors. The characters are less interesting than in previous games, the battles are pretty much the same and the way that you move around in the game (using the ship) is just annoying. All in all Suikoden IV is just a let down after playing Suikoden II and III. If you're a fan of the series I'd suggest buying it but if not get Suikoden II or III.

I don't think I could make it through this one (admittedly, the only Suikoden I played all the way through before being done with it was 3), there were just too many off-putting aspects within the first few hours. First the animations in combat looked like slapstick. With the story being somewhat serious, this did not mix well at all. Plus the battles and game overall just felt much easier than other RPGs, and even other games in the Suikoden series. A step backwards for the RPG genre can be found here.