My best and lovely game
The named "hero" chosen by the player at the beginning of the game is actually the Flame Champion, the Grassland leader who upheld the independence of the Grasslands against a Harmonian incursion decades ago. Unlike other Suikoden games, which generally feature a silent protagonist, the Flame Champion and the other main characters all have personalities and dialog.
Gameplay
Suikoden III shares many elements with other console role-playing games. The player controls the current protagonist and travels with them around the world map, advancing the plot by completing tasks and talking with other characters. In towns, they can gather information, sharpen their weaponry, learn new skills, and buy equipment; wilderness areas generally feature random encounters with monsters. Aside from the main plot, after a certain point in each main character's chapters, they may recruit new characters to go to Budehuc castle. Recruiting a character often requires a short sidequest or other mission. Unlike Suikoden II and Suikoden V, Suikoden III has no "time limits" for character recruitment; assuming certain plot decisions are made "correctly," it is always possible to recruit all 108 Stars of Destiny.
Like other games, characters in Suikoden III possess a variety of statistics that determine in-game combat ability. Characters also can learn skills; for instance, the "Parry" skill allows a character to defend against attacks more often, while other skills may increase damage output or hasten the casting of spells. Different characters have affinities for different skills, and their own maximum limit on the number of skills they can learn. Parties may consist of up to 6 characters who participate in combat and one "support" character who adds a special skill to the party, such as minor healing after battle. If all 6 characters lose all their hit points (and are thus incapacitated), it is game over and the player must restart. Exceptions exist for certain plot battles in which winning is optional; the player can lose and the plot continues on, albeit in a slightly different fashion.
Battles in Suikoden III take place on a continuous field of battle, unlike the front and back rows of earlier Suikodens. Characters are controlled in groups of 1 or 2, with 3 pairs maximum, and a single command is issued to each pair, a somewhat unorthodox choice. It does speed combat, albeit at the expense of being able to carefully manage each character's actions.
Runes, the source of all magic in the world of Suikoden, are handled similarly to other Suikoden games. Characters have a certain number of spell usages per "spell level;" for instance, a character with 4 level 1 spell slots and a Water Rune could cast "Kindness Drops" (the level 1 Water Rune spell) 4 times. Other runes offer different benefits, and some may be used as often as desired. Since Suikoden III's combat takes place on a free movement field, some of the rune effects were reinterpreted from other games to strike areas. For example, some Fire rune effects that only struck enemies in earlier Suikoden games now strike a generalized area, meaning they could affect allies who moved in too close.
At certain points in the game, armies clash and a strategic battle system is used, similar to those seen in military turn-based strategy games. These are set on a graph, a set of connected vertices. Certain places on the map offer special advantages for units occupying them, such as a defense bonus for a forest or castle ramparts, or automatic free healing for a base of operations. When attacking, units in other nodes adjoining the attacked space can aid, giving a bonus to the attack. When army units engage in combat (generally by one unit moving into a space occupied by a hostile unit), the standard Suikoden III battle system is used, albeit an extremely sped-up variety in which no orders are issued and characters act on a simple AI. Leaders can aid their army units with a variety of special abilities and rune magic. Each side also requires a strategist; the better the strategist, the more moves that side can take before their turn is over. Strategy battles end when the pre-set mission objectives are completed, generally either to take a node on the map for offensive missions, or to successfully hold a node or escape for defensive engagements. Alternately, they can end in failure if a main character is defeated.
Suikoden III also features a number of minigames, such as gambling on dice, card games, and horse racing. These minigames are generally accessible from Budehuc castle.
Setting
Suikoden III is set in IS 475, roughly 16 in-game years after the events of Suikoden II. The game takes place in the diverse Grasslands region, an area to the northwest of Dunan from Suikoden II (which itself was to the north of the Toran area from Suikoden). Politically, the Grasslands are mostly controlled by the Six Clans, a loose coalition between the Karaya, Lizard, Duck, Chisha, Safir, and Alma Kinan clans. The clans are considered rather backward and barbaric by neighboring powers, and the clans have comparatively smaller towns than the cities seen elsewhere in the Suikoden universe. On the western coast, the merchant nation of Zexen thrives. The Zexens were an ignored offshoot of Harmonia long ago, and have since grown to be powerful and independent. Their architecture, politics, and citizenry are similar to Renaissance Western European civilizations. To the east lie imposing mountains and eventually Harmonia, a gigantic and populous nation. Harmonia maintains outposts along the border, notably the submissive, conquered town of Le Buque and the trading citadel Caleria.
All magic in the world of Suikoden comes from Runes. Any person can have a rune inscribed on them, although some people are more talented in their use, and others can inscribe more than one rune (with three as the general maximum). In turn, all power from individual carved runes ultimately descends from the 27 True Runes, which created the world in Suikoden's mythology. Bearers of a True Rune gain tremendous power and do not age; these Runes are thus hotly contested.
Around 50 years prior to the start of Suikoden III, Harmonia attempted to extend its control over the Grasslands, and eventually invaded. Resistance was fierce, and eventually a successful leader known as the Flame Champion emerged from among the clans who was said to bear the True Fire Rune. His followers - considered bandits by the Harmonians - raided the Harmonians constantly and became known as the Fire Bringer. Eventually, a titanic clash was fought between the combined armies of the Grasslands and Harmonia. In it, the Flame Champion unleashed the full power of the True Fire Rune, and both sides suffered tremendous casualties in the resulting raging fire. The battle was a draw, but Harmonia withdrew nevertheless, unwilling to pay any more lives for the land, and a truce was signed.
Plot
The Trinity Sight System contains three chronological chapters per character. Players have the ability to switch characters and point of view after the end of each chapter.