Poor use of characters flaw Suikoden, but it is a fine, albeit average, role playing experience regardless.
Suikoden's plot has a lot of twists and turns and there's plenty of memorable scenes. There are plenty of human characters driving the plot, but the issue here is that Suikoden is rather plain, bland and cliche. Its major flaw is that it introduces more than it can handle. Very few of the stars of destiny are adequately characterized and many simply adapt a basic personality. Whilst playing, I began to think of this game as I would when playing a Pokemon game. After a while, Gotta Catch 'Em All instantly sprang to mind with how the recruitment process was handled. Only a handful of characters had any real purpose for joining the army and a few lines of dialogue was enough to convince most to make a life changing decision. Introducing so many characters is certainly rewarding and allows you to form a party unique to you, but it is certainly disappointing the way it was handled, especially considering a great deal of the characters are lacking and overshadowed by others in battle. While there are plenty of characters that get a lot of screen time, it becomes a little discouraging having so many characters at your disposal that simply sit on their hands for the majority of the plot. Nonetheless, Suikoden has a tired-but-true type of plot; if you like the typical RPG fare, it is likely that you will like Suikoden all the same.
Combat is done by having two seperate rows in battle. Three characters stand in the front row, while three characters stand in the back and it's the same with the enemy. Front row characters have the advantage of hitting higher, while the back row is generally reserved for protecting characters who specialize in magic based attacks. Powerful runes imbue characters with special, sometimes devastating, attacks that can be utilized in combat. Other than that, Suikoden's combat is the typical type of style that is used in most role playing games. Other than often forcing story two or three story related characters into your part at a time, limiting the ability to be unique with characters of your own, there is little wrong with it.
The graphics can take a lot to get used to. When I first started, I believe them to be atrocious, but grew used to it later on. The art is detailed and some look great, but it can be inconsistent now and again. The sound is similar in quality, with some of the soundtrack being fantastic while others are not all that great. Some sound effects can be very annoying in battle due to the frequent and usually repetitive nature of it.
Suikoden is an average role playing game that will likely entertain, but not really impress, players. It's a great, unique game in and out of itself, but it's run of the mill plot and paper thin characters doesn't make it stand out all that much.