Yeah, I'm a HUGE Suikoden fan. I am more in love with that series than Final Fantasy, honestly. That definitely is saying a lot too.

A lot of the characters are well done. What makes this game so great is the amount of character depth. I would rank this game near II in overall greatness. It beats 1 because Suiko 1 had a lot of flaws in it, like too many in battle characters, the development of characters was minimal, it just had a damn god story. III and IV were good in their own right, but V really blows them out of the water.

As for Lucretia, the game's strategist, I know a lot about her, as I've beaten this game 3 times. (SPOILER)Lucretia is Karayan, but left the Karaya tribe when she was young and studied strategy in Harmonia for a long time. This is revealed in the cutscenes with Cathari late in the game. Also, it is rumored that she is not into guys, as she hints several times in the game that she and Lelei have a side fling. Nowhere did anyone say the game;s strategist had to be a Silverburg. Shu of II wasn't a Silverburg, Nor is Apple, Salome or Dios. The Silverburgs are elite when it comes to strategy, but the Series does not revolve around them, and this game established that.

Has anyone else here finished the game? I have seen all the endings, gotten all the characters so I'm a veritable master of this game, and of this series. The only game in the series I haven't beaten more than twice is IV, and thats because that game was terrible. But V makes IV better because of the references to the Island Nations found all over.

If there are questions, I'll be happy to answer them as well.