I played Suikoden III on the PS2 back in the day, but never finished it. I'm almost done with the first game, looking forward to starting #2 soon. After that I may go through and try to restart #3 again.
Just finished Suikoden 2, got the good ending following some tips cause I ain't got time for garbage. It was much better than the first game. Characters were better fleshed out, the antagonists were ruthless and strong. The plot was pretty good. While they still at times force you into taking certain party members with you, it wasn't as often as the first game, nor were you tied down to as many characters. The addition of the Convoy section was a nice way to alleviate that too, if there was a vital character that had to join you for plot purposes you could stick them in the Convoy so they didn't tie up a battle spot...a very nice addition. Still enjoy the combat, it's simple and yet can be complex based on Unites, Rune configurations, etc. If there was one thing I think was lacking it's the Major Battles. It's like they tried to expand on the system from Suikoden 1, but most of these battles end up being predetermined and are really a waste of time. It would have been better served in those scripted battles just to not even go to the major battle screen, just do it like a regular dialogue screen with the characters there. Only a few of the major battles require any kind of strategy or effort, it felt like an afterthought at times.
Other than that minor caveat Suikoden 2 is a real gem, I can see why people love this game as a cult classic. I'm not sure where I'd rank it among the PS1 RPGs since there's some stiff competition in that area. I think I'd still put FF7 and FF Tactics ahead of it. I think I'm going to jump right back into Suikoden 3 next. It was the first one in the series I played, but never got around to finishing it. Going to start from scratch and see how the story ties into the first two games.
