The Suikoden series is one of the best I have ever played. I have yet to play III, but I heard it wasn't as good.

Anyway, in Suikoden I. You play as the son of one of the five great generals of the Scarlet Moon Empire. A little ways into the game, you ( I doubt this counts as a spoiler, but just in case (SPOILER)learn just how corrupt the emperor has become and end up joining the liberation army. You are also given the task of finding the 108 stars of destiny. So yes there are 108 characters, but not all of them are combat. Some are shopkeepers, a couple are gamblers, etc. On a scale of 1-10 I rate this one a 7

Suikoden II was the best of them in my opinion. You start out as a soldier in the Highland army's youth brigade, but there is a raid on your camp and you're forced to escape. You later find out that this was orchestrated by (SPOILER)Prince Luca Blight of Highland so he could start a war with the city-state. Once again you must find the 108 stars, but for the most part they're different people. Anyway, the story, music, etc. is much better than the first. I give this one a 9.