Good but not as great as Suikoden 3. Suikoden 4 really takes a turn for the worse but it is not as bad as they say.
User Rating: 7.5 | Genso Suikoden IV PS2
Come on Gamespot, it's not as bad as u think. I will make this review short and to the point. The graphics r a little sub-standard, the gameplay and battles are less engaging and complex than the last outing, the game is satisfyingly long and has a decent replay value(u will play it atleast twice). That about summarises everything. And now for sea faring and random encounters. I dont know whythese reviewer and other people bash random encounters so much? Whats wrong with them!? I have been playing games for 15 years and have played numerous RPGs with turn-based battle systems and random encounters and I say this is the best form f RPG battle mechanic. Anyway the encounters in Suikoden IV arent as troublesome as the reviewer at Gamespot has said. The encounter rate is high but it seems that the reviewer didnt discover that by pressing R1 the ship moves a lot faster and the escape command is almost always succesful so the encounters dont bother u much. As for the hero's "run" he also runs a lot faster by pressing R1 too and a little later early on in the game u get a certain character in ur roster that makes him run like wind without even having to add him to ur active party. So again the encounters dont bother one much. I wish the reviewers would play the game a little more extensively before pointing out it's faults... The final verdict? Suikoden fans buy it! Those who have never played any suikoden, dont buy it. It will only give u bad impression of the series. Instead buy Suikoden III, it's great and can be recommended to anyone. 
