List of characters in Suikoden IV
| Suikoden IV | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Developer(s) | Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo |
| Publisher(s) | Konami |
| Director(s) | Masayuki Saruta |
| Artist(s) | Junko Kawano |
| Writer(s) | Junko Kawano |
| Composer(s) |
Masahiko Kimura Michiru Yamane Norikazu Miura |
| Series | Suikoden |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2 |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Role-playing video game |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Aggregate score | |
|---|---|
| Aggregator | Score |
| Metacritic | 63 of 100 |
| Review scores | |
| Publication | Score |
| Edge | 4 of 10 |
| EGM | 6 of 10 |
| Eurogamer | 6 of 10 |
| Famitsu | 30 of 40 |
| Game Informer | 8.5 of 10 |
| GamePro |    |
| Game Revolution | D+ |
| GameSpot | 6.7 of 10 |
| GameSpy | |
| GameZone | 8 of 10 |
| IGN | 7.9 of 10 |
| OPM (US) | |
| Detroit Free Press | |
Suikoden IV (Japanese: 幻想水滸伝IV Hepburn: Gensō Suikoden Fō, 
(listen) ) is a role-playing video game developed and published by Konami for the Sony PlayStation 2 video game console and is the fourth installment of the Suikoden video game series. It was released in August 2004 in Japan, and early 2005 in North America and Europe.
Suikoden IV takes place approximately 150 years before the events of the first Suikoden game, and relates the story of a young boy living on the island of Razril and the Rune of Punishment, one of the 27 True Runes. The Rune of Punishment governs both atonement and forgiveness, and is unusual in that it consumes the life of the bearer with use; once the previous bearer dies, it immediately jumps to someone nearby. Meanwhile, the Kooluk Empire seeks to expand into the nearby Island Nations.
Konami later produced Suikoden Tactics, a spinoff that serves as a direct prequel, side-story, and sequel to Suikoden IV.
Suikoden IV retains many of the gameplay concepts pioneered by it predecessors along with changes. It is the first game in the Suikoden series to feature voice acting for most characters, except the hero. Suikoden IV is the first game of the series to be set at sea; travel on the world map is accomplished by ship. In contrast to Suikoden III, where the six person party was divided into three controllable groups, Suikoden IV's party consists of four individually controllable characters. During combat, characters can combine effort in the form of physical "Unite attacks" or runic magic combinations. As with previous games in the series, there are individual battles (duels) as well as battles between customizable naval forces. The naval forces can be customized to use particular runic elements through choice of captains and commanding officers; each element has a weakness and strength over another element. There are several mini-games contained within the game, unrelated to the main storyline. On the first play through the game, only a fraction of the world map is viewable, a feature not seen before in a Suikoden Game.
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