The latest installment in the renowned RPG franchise, Suikoden III offers ground breaking features including the Trinity Sight System, which allows gamers to view the storyline from 3 characters' perspectives. The tale of Suikoden III unfolds from multiple character points of view as players strategize and maneuver through complex battles in a rich 3D world.

"Three truly is the magic number in Suikoden III," said Dennis Lee, Product Manager at Konami of America. "Gamers can look forward to a stunning 3D world, 3 battle systems, 3 styles of combat and 3 heroes."

The adventure begins 15 years after the concluding events of Suikoden II as players follow the intertwining stories of Hugo (son of the Leader of the Karaya Clan), Chris (a virtuous Knight of Zexen) and Geddoe (a mysterious unit commander). Fate brings these three unlikely heroes together as they seek to destroy the source of political dissension and ease the unrest that threatens the entire land.

Once again, the Suikoden series raises the bar in storytelling and gameplay. Suikoden III offers many gameplay features that create an epic adventure. For the first time in an RPG, the Trinity Sight System enables players to experience the game's events from the viewpoints of all three main characters to gain a larger view of the rich story. The ability to recruit and control over 100 characters, various storyline twists and multiple endings further enrich the gameplay experience and add replay value.

The battles in Suikoden III feature an unprecedented amount of depth and detail with the introduction of ground breaking combat systems. The new Battle Pairing System allows party members to either join forces with one another and attack in unison or mount fierce beasts to gain power and strength. The Free Positional Combat System is a free-roaming dynamic in-game camera that positions itself in the heart of the action during battle. Suikoden III also features three styles of combat, including Party Battle, Army Battle, and One-on-One duels.

Delivering a larger-than-life adventure with all of the intensity and emotion of past titles with a rich 3D world, 3 enhanced battle systems, 3 unique styles of combat, and 3 dynamic heroes with 3 individual storylines in an epic quest to battle evil, Suikoden III promises to be the most innovative Role-Playing experience to land on the PS2.
It's been a little crowded in the PlayStation 2's role-playing game market this October, what with the release of no fewer than four such games. Yet Konami's entry, Suikoden III, rates at the top of the heap, thanks to an incredibly fleshed-out setting and a huge cast of characters in a tightly woven and relatively contrivance-free plot. Strangely enough, Suikoden III manages to distinguish itself from its contemporaries by not straying too far from common fantasy set pieces and themes, instead opting to focus on the execution of the storytelling. While it has a few minor problems, they are dwarfed by the sheer amount of enjoyment the game will undoubtedly offer to anyone who enjoys a good RPG.



Suikoden III rates at the top of the heap of recent RPG releases.Suikoden III begins on the verge of a peace agreement between the upstart Zexen Federation and the Grassland's Six Clans, with both of the warring factions lying in the shadow of the Harmonian Empire. You assume three main roles: Chris, the newly appointed captain of the Zexen knights; Hugo, the son of the Karaya clan's chief; and Geddoe, the leader of a mercenary band acting as part of Harmonia's frontier defense force. Their storylines are interrelated and even have a few points of intersection. This chance to see a few plot points from different perspectives is grandiosely named the "trinity sight system," but thankfully, the mechanic works much better than its gimmicky name, as each character's story is fairly independent of the others. The shifts in viewpoint help make things very interesting, as political intrigue renews the Zexen-Grassland conflict and new threats arise.

This installment in the Suikoden series takes place 15 years after Suikoden II, though in a neighboring region of the continent. It's not necessary to have played Suikoden II to understand the unfolding plot in the game, though one scene late in the game will not have as much of an impact on newcomers. The writing otherwise does an excellent job of couching back story in the dialogue and avoiding blatant and lengthy exposition. Those who have played Suikoden II do get to transfer their save data at the start of the game, but the bonuses this provides are just that--bonuses. However, Suikoden III's accessibility to those new to Suikoden does not mean that the gameworld is thinly developed or that it exists in a vacuum. The gameworld is rich with history, politics, and culture, and Suikoden III just does a great job of showing instead of telling, inspiring the imagination of the player to round out the detail. The gorgeous opening movie is illustrative of that. While it's only a montage of unrelated scenes featuring some of the game's more prominent characters, each scene is evocative of a larger story.