Indeed Mr Ds, it's a Suikoden.
Good Characters - I really found most of the charecters very entertaining, and likable. Their were a few I was very iffy about but pleasantly surprised by the way their stories and personalities played out. The new races in the game were very cool, and I think the porpo-kin may just pull all the slack off the beavers *shifty smile* And theirs a good handful that I would love to see in future installments.
WiFi - Okay, I'll be honest. GREAT IDEA. I just don't think it lived up to its potential. Maybe I just haven't gotten to see it all at this point, but if anything changes I'll retract this statement.
Graphics/Cutsceen - They were all very well done, I didn't think I'd like the character models, but the little chibi pixels were charming, and pleasantly detailed. The cut scenes were stunning, I was sitting with my gaming group playing tonight and they were all very awed by the graphics, I may have even recruited a few final fantasy fans away Plus super pretty environments.
Battle System/General Gameplay - Alright, no runes, the weapon system was changed up, no skill trainer. Eh if it was in the main suikoden world, I'd have been upset. But new playing field, and it worked very well for the game. It worked for the game. I'm a diehard for this series and a huge combat fan, so all the blow hards that are gonna cry about the lack of runes etc, I guess you need to excepts a little change now and then eh? The controls were very easy, both with buttons and the stylis (sp?), Easy to play one handed, for those of us who can't devote two hands to the DS lol.
All and all. It's definitely worth a play through if not a buy (don't be a loser, support the best rpg out their, c'mon!). I'm not sure how this holds up as a starting game for the series, I could see it being almost overwelming to start with this and then play five. Maybe. Stand a lone, fan boyism aside. It's a solid rpg, with a fair amount to play with. Check it out if your into rpgs, or you know have good tastes in games