We all know this game is from early 2000's, from there, we expect some plain game with little to offer for today's standards,but it is completely the opposite.
Suikoden games have always been recognized for their mature and well made plots,with a deep background story that evolves with each release,the runes,and the gathering of the 108 Stars of Destiny, Suikoden III is no exception.
The events in Suikoden III take place 15 years after the events in Suikoden II,you play in the Grasslands region, tha't's about to be invaded by the Harmonia Kingdom after a series of confusing events involving all six Grassland's Clans that triggers the invasion,and the searching for a legendary hero that protects the country is the main goal (...)
Now,the way the game reveals the story is VERY original,it's called the "Trinity Site" what is it? well, it is like a menu where you choose the character you're going to play with,there are 3 Main Characters (Hugo-Karayan Clan Chief's son,Geddoe-Captain of the Twelfth Harmonian Southern Frontier Defense Force Unit, Chris Lightfellow-Captain of the 6 Knights of Zexen) 1 "Story Support" Character, and 2 secret ones.You will eventually play with all of them because the story is divided in Chapters and you'll have to play each chapter with each character in order to discover what's going on with the story and to understand it from different perspectives,sounds complicated?...well, it's NOT, the developers did a great job putting everything together and closing all events/chapters/stories at the end with great precision.
Let me tell you this is the main attraction because it keeps you interested in what's going on with the plot,you'll just want to know more of it.
The gameplay it's not of a big deal, it changed from the previous Suikoden games,but it's not worst or better, it's just something different from the classic RPG style, the main party consists of 6 players maximum grouped into pairs and 1 support character that doesn't take place in combat, but his skills do.
Options while in combat go from physical attacks to "Runes" (Magic) and some special techniques available if you pair together specific characters.
The most hardcore fans can spend a lot of time with this game gathering all 108 Stars (Characters).
Graphics...mmm most of the gamers consider a game for its graphics,personally I find it dump to do this in RPGs and several other game types,Suikoden Fans surely won't have this problem either.
Playing a full 3D Rpg back in 2003 was Top Notch, to this day the game feels like a regular 3d rpg, nothing great, nothing bad, there's no a real complain about it, it was great back then, it's OK now days. It actually keeps certain charm by looking at the character models "saying some funny text" and moving their heads trying to give expressions.
Sounds and Music Themes are not the strongest part of this game,most of the tunes while in combat and some while in cities are plain and don't do a great job getting you into the story for the first time, after spending some time playing the game you''ll get to appreciate some of them and avoid others setting the volume a bit lower.
I strongly recommend this game for the Suikoden fans,Rpg commons/newbies and for people willing to taste and get carried away in a good deep story.This title might no be recommended for GTA and Devil May Cry Hardcore Fans. Nonetheless I feel this game could please most of the gamers,I say it's a MUST try.
"It grows on you and drags you in"