Suikoden V has the same nice, clean graphical presentation as the previous Suikoden games. Characters are well detailed, and for the most part unique. The only models that look a bit generic and repetitive are the enemies, not the special, major characters of course, but the ones you face in random encounters.

The various locations also look good. From the highly detailed Field Map view, to the pulled back, but still distinctive World Map, the feel of each environment comes off well.

Musically, Suikoden V is very pleasing to the ears. Background tunes are soothing and peaceful, until the battles kick up, that is. When the action ramps up, so does the music and it really helps to get you into the feel of the fight.

Suikoden V takes place in and around the Queendom of Falena. There, a small band of adventurers will uncover many secrets, the least of which is the power of the Sun Rune.

Queen Arshtst is the ruler of what once was a peaceful land, but civil unrest threatens to tear the queendom apart. As the prince of Falena, you and your shipmates will travel to the origins of the revolt and begin to uncover the source of the warring faction.

There are many elements of the Suikoden series that have carried over into this game, but there also a few differences. Both the standard RPG-group battles and the one-on-one fights return, but the sea-based battles of IV have parted ways for a scaled down RTS-style war scenario.

The war battles start off with you setting up your units and then deploying them to the field. From there, you move your units around the map trying to achieve whatever the victory goal is. If your units encounter the enemy army, then the two fight and the victor of that skirmish is automatically determined. Thankfully, you don't really have to deal with resource management or anything that makes an RTS really time consuming.

The winner of the skirmishes is determined in a rock-paper-scissors fashion (similar to that found in the one-on-one battles). There are three types of land units (Infantry, Cavalry and Archery) and three types of sea units (Combat Ships, Archer Ships and Rams). What type of unit you have is determined by the captain you choose for your unit.

Another change is the use of Party Skill Points. Skill Points are earned during various battles and can be used to enhance or upgrade various abilities that each character has. But if you have a character that you are desperate to level up and he/she/it doesn't have enough points, you can have another character move their points to the party and use those party points for the other character. Of course, there is a loss; when you move points to the party, you have to pay an extra 10% in points. So in order to move 100 points, your character has to have at least 110. This was a nice feature that really helps to keep your team balanced, so now, even if you do seem to level up one or two characters more than others, you can still spread the love around some.

Suikoden V starts off easy with simple encounters to help teach you how to use the game's various mechanics. But once you get past the initial tutorials, the action really picks up, and so does the difficulty. Fights weren't so hard that I would have to retreat or bribe my way out of every encounter, but when I came out of a fight, I was typically the worse-for-wear. Even with this increased toughness, Suikoden V never feels impossible.

Like the other areas of Suikoden V, the game's mechanics are very similar to the previous titles in the series. In battles, you can use physical attacks, parries, items and of course runes (after all, it wouldn't be Suikoden without them).

Group battles take on the standard turn-based, RPG menu system of selecting whether you want to fight, defend, use an item or magic, and then selecting the appropriate follow-up action. Anyone familiar with the genre should be able to jump right into one of these fights without any problems.

Suikoden V's one-on-one battles continue the trend set by the previous titles. During your turn, you tap either the X, Square or circle buttons to guard, attack or use your special ability respectively.

What really differs in this version of the game are the RTS elements apparent in the War mode. Unfortunately, I couldn't really get used to the control scheme for this part of the game. Maybe it's just the fact that I have always had issues with RTS games that don't use a mouse and keyboard.

Suikoden V is a great game that any RPG fan will want to pick up. With its incorporation of RTS elements, the series is trying to reach a broader audience. Hopefully more people can get the hang of this mode's scheme better than I did.