More than any other game I've played, Suikoden V makes me see the gulf between my altruistic avatar and my greedy, egomaniacal self. Twists in the story nudge me in this direction. The hero recruits a tactician, and we find out that she's worked for the enemy at one time. But she eventually turned against them, and the villains wonder if she'll do the same to the prince.

The game's most obvious failing is in its very design. While previous Suikoden games have been relatively short by RPG standards, they've always managed to tell epic tales. In a lot of ways, this was a plus—the older games always told grand stories without the narrative fat that's become so common in the genre. Suikoden IV attempts to continue this tradition; it doesn't have any narrative fat, but that's generally because it doesn't have much of a narrative at all. Earlier titles in the series gradually ramped up in terms of action, but Suikoden IV is content to spend the entirety of the game languishing in second gear. It presents moments where it seems like things are going to rev up and finally go somewhere, but they never do. Because of this, the game never really achieves a sense of urgency.