Excepting Suikoden III, the main character never talks. And you get far more options for him to respond in V than the others, too, so be grateful.

I've finished it, though only with about 85 to 90 Stars of Destiny. I'll be playing through it again sometime soon, and happily doing so, because it's a damned fine game and was fully worth the money.

As for what I think of it? I think that only Suikoden II in the series is better, and that puts it up there with games like X-Com, Civilization III, and FFVII/X as "One of the best."