Suikoden V goes back to it's roots and does a great job of still maintaining the next gen feel.
With that said let me point out it's not actually your kingdom your fighting for! Your a guy afterall and this would be a Queendom. But you get my point. You begin to recruit people who have some of the same goals such as yourself. Unlike the past two Suikodens where some characters just joined you because you asked them, which didn't really make sense... You actually have to go through events and complete certain objectives before you can recruit most of the characters in the game. Basically you have to work to gain your characters... Something that has been missing in the last two installments and something that really defines the Suikoden series.
I really liked the way it went back to the old type rpg top-down view. The fixed camera can be annoying at times but otherwise it's done pretty well. The battle system is amazing. The best I have seen in any Suikoden game.The load time sometimes makes you want to kill something but can easy be looked past. It really feels like they took suikoden 1 and 2 and added better graphics and a different storyline. I have to say good job Konami! Maybe other games will take a lesson from this! You don't have to make every rpg a 3rd person action rpg, which unfortunately quite a few major rpg developers are doing *cough* Final Fantasy XII *cough*
But as for Suikoden V, play it! If your a fan of the old rpg styles or a rpg fan regardless you should give Suikoden V a try. It may feel overwhelming at first but once you get used to everything this game has to offer; real time strategy war scenarios, awesome 6 man formation style battle system, and a very clever Duel system that keeps you on your toes and requires you to think fast. Pick up a copy of Suikoden V and enjoy the game!