Yeah, I love the XP system in the games. I also forgot this entry introduced Rune Affinities so definetly experiment with that. Basically while you are free to equip any type of elemental rune on a character barring ones they have absolute terrible affinity with, most characters tend to gravitate towards one or another so if you want to keep your mages damage up, play with that.


Del - The first game is pretty good but its not spectacular either. There are SNES titles that have deeper gameplay and plots than Suikoden I but Suikoden I introduces the multiple battle systems like duels and the giant army battles, as well as the overall recruit 108 stars and build your castle mechanic. It still has a fairly good story and interesting battle system but its not going to win people over with any of that. If you intend to play Suikoden II though, I highly suggest beating Suikoden I cause nearly a third of the cast returns and SII doesn't really bother with keeping the player up to date about some of it.