A solid RPG. If only we didn't have to spent much time with sailing and frequent random-battles.
A friend of mine said to me that he's a really big-fan of Suikoden series (whereas i was a big-fan of Final Fantasy series). According to him however, Suikoden 4 was the worst of the series. I agreed on him on that one.
In my point of view, the main attraction of the Suikoden series was the 108-stars-of-destiny. Storyline aside, i enjoyed traveling all-over the world asking everyone to join my cause. Therefore, when i saw that in the 4th installment, i had to use a ship to travel all over the world which largely consisted of water (there were only small islands scattered around the surface, and there were pretty far apart from each other) i got bored just to wait my ship to arrive to its destination and the frequent random-battles that occurs added more to the boredom. True, we had Viki who could instantly-teleported us everywhere. But, some events required us to get to the island manually (i.e by boat). Also, there was also this fishing mini-game that for a purist like me would require a significant amount of time in order to obtain some certain items (read: those items that actually unnecessary to finish the game).
Another attraction to this game (for me) was Treasure Hunting mini-game. I found that i liked it even more than Character Hunting. It was simply interesting and required some thinking which is a pleasant vacation from those mindless battle that had the frequency like those of a grandfather clock.
All in all, the latest installment of the Suikoden series was indeed the weakest of the serie. Apart from the fancy graphic, there was nothing more to expect from this RPG just those old-school RPG. Though it retains some of its series' specialty, it offers almost nothing new. And aw, those long sailing, "row, row, row your boat".... The thought of playing it again after i had finished it for the first time, really never crossed my mind. I would even sell it if i had the chance.