Suikoden V

Completing the thematic u-turn, Suikoden V is the most magically involved entry in a series that once prided itself on mature war narratives. In spite of this, the work remains deeply personal and character-focused, as if the developers tried to update the original Suikoden to the modern JRPG generation. The overall story may be the most refined in the series, while hardly revolutionary, it borrows familiar concepts from previous entries and contains a dynamic flow from start to finish, complete with strong character moments enhanced by great voice acting and cutscene direction.

Although the story upholds the series' consistent quality, the gameplay is a downgrade, owed to its now-seemingly outdated combat system dotted with frequent pauses, terrible dungeon and town design, and tactics minigames that are entertaining on paper, but end up frustrating as ever, due to their mixture of real time movement interrupted by jarring, annoying lapses.