A great RPG with a good storyline and great combat steers you through the story of the Rune of Punishment.
With Snowe leading your ship you patrol the seas fending off monsters until you get a real mission from Glen. You set out on your mission to protect some merchants transporting good for the Cray Trading Company. Suddenly your ship is attacked by pirates and Snowe flees scared, you take command fighting them but are eventually boarded. After fighting the pirate Brandaeu almost defeated he unleashes a terrifying power that turns everyone hearby friend or foe to ash. You miraculously survive and Glen shows up to help and after you defeat Brandaeu a rune passes from him to Glen and he collapses.
This rune marks the start of your adventure in the Island Nations. The storyline of Suikoden IV although a little smaller than the other Suikodens is well done. It follows the story of the Rune of Punishment, a rune that consumes the users life as its power is used. With this power you try to protect the Island Nations from its foes.
Like the previous Suikoden III, IV has a different combat system than the first 2 games. It uses 4 people in battle and unlike the previous Suikodens you don't have to equip items you can use them from stock. You use physical attacks, combo attacks, and rune magic to defeat your enemies. Runes are the source of all magic in Suikodens. There are runes for magic, ones that give special traits, and also other unique runes. Dependent on the person you can equip 1-3 runes on your left hand, right hand, and on your head.
In the Suikoden games you collect 108 Stars of Destiny to join your team most of which are battle useable. Collecting them all and all the cameos and returning characters adds a lot of fun to the game. The graphics of Suikoden IV are very nice with smooth animations and good models. They took the graphics to a more serious direction in IV from III, with more realistic models and great looking animations the game looks more like the first 2 with more high-tech graphics.
The music of Suikoden IV is fairly good, with a wide variety of themes used in various places. There are different songs for towns, battles, bosses, and other encounters in the game. Although it has less of the nostalgic feel with fewer returning songs from its predecessors. There is even a secret character in this game that has the Soul Eater rune from the first Suikoden. Ted gives more insight into the story of the Soul Eater rune and its previous owners.
Suikoden IV although a great game it doesn't quite live up to the previous Suikoden titles. With a new slightly different battle system and all new storyline following the Rune of Punishment it makes a very entertaining RPG. I would rate Suikoden IV a 9.5 out of 10 for a very fun and very entertaining game worthy of its series. Any RPG fan should play it and try it out but make sure you play the series in order to further understand and enjoy the Suikoden storyline.