I've never thought that I'd have to say this about any PS2 Suikoden title,; Suikoden V just may be the best in series.
Suikoden V, however, I'm sure shocked many fans of the series with a truly great game with limited flaws; save for insignificant loading time annoyances for those who little to no patience. The only other flaw that it ascertained was the inventory system that it has incorporated. It was mildly troublesome the way equipment and items were in the same slot with you having to go through all of them when trying to equip; and the inability to "Stack" your items to save you from dumping old ones for ones you acquired in battle became rather tedious. We're just lucky that they included that "Equip Best" options and allowed equipped items to no count as items in your total inventory; it would have really became messy at that point.
Suikoden V is without a doubt one of the most elaborately constructed games of the series in both length and style. The characters all looked unique, had different personalities, and contributed to the story here and there when necessary. Not only that, but the duel, war, and partying systems were all given new and more entertaining styles that were both slightly reminiscent of Suikoden games of long past, and new as a whole. The real time war system was a definite improvement from the "Move Ship Here or troops here; fire something to counter their element" ordeal that was in the previous two Suikodens.
The storyline itself within the game lives up to the RPG expectations that have been formed over the years, and gives its own unique yet "old school" feeling in terms of game play mechanics and styles. Another problem was, however, the fact that not all your characters were always open or available to you when you wanted them to be. Although I did not look thoroughly into the this matter, not that I think about it you also lost access to the items that character had equipped; an annoying trait to add to the inventory dilemma is already possesses.
My main peeve in terms of control and game play is that the game camera was more restrictive than I am used to, with you only being able to zoom in. While this has made hiding items easier, it became a small but frivolous problem to contend with during the first play through of the game.
Despite its minor fallacies, nothing overly aggravating has been put into this game in comparison to the previous titles. It is perhaps the first true "Next Gen" successor to the first Suikoden games in terms of playability, characters, and story. That is not to say that Suikoden III and IV did not possess such things themselves, but they just suffered from too many things that either required you to read a book or just put your TV on "mute" to bear playing through.
The Graphics are very finely implemented for the settings, and used to their fullest extent in terms of PS2 capabilities with no noticeable glitches or fallacies to make mention of. The environment themselves while in towns could have been made slightly more powerful in terms of graphics, but still fit quite well with everything else; but not enough for a perfect. The water animation and reflect came to a surprise to me, however, as PS2 titles usually lack such detail when it comes to water reflections in a game.
Releasing the game with a soundtrack and art book usually means that the game possesses sound that it is proud of. The midi-like music was well placed and varied from town to town, the voices of the characters were relatively nice, and the battle sound was acceptable. Overall it was done with superb quality if you aren’t one to stress over every single little frivolous detail here is in this category as a whole.
It's been a very long time since I gave anything a "10" in any category, and never have I gave it as a whole. But the way Suikoden V was implemented surprised me and gave me that "oh dang, I don't want it end" feeling that I have not felt since Xenogears or Grandia II (DC) of days long past. The game is very long and worth the money, and the addition of the art book and soundtrack was a nice little gift for it being on $39.99. Its value cannot be measured in dollars as many other wanna-be RPG games out there generally are.
Difficulty: This game is rediculously easy to beat if you implement your tactics wisely. The "True Men" tactic that you get early in the game does 3,000+ damage to all enemie son the field even at such low levels, and pretty much "one Shots" every random battle you get into. Once mastered, the formation skill can also be used an unlimited amount of time; making even boss battles a senseless, player casualty-less massacre. To avoid any future conflicts, yes, once you used "True Men" enough times you get to use it more than once in battle. While obvious to many, there are always people who try to correct you since they are only able to use it once.
All in all, the game is superbly crafted in many ways. From story, to characters, to longevity, and gives something to many different types of gamers. From hardcore RPGer to someone who enjoys a good game or story. This game is surely to become one of the "top 10" favorites for many people out there, including yours truly.