Suikoden II

Suikoden II is a role-playing video game developed and published by Konami for the PlayStation video game console and the second installment of the Suikoden video game series.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) It combines both role-playing and strategic elements, with those gameplay options pertaining to large scale confrontations, such as between two armies.
 * 2) Over 100 recruitable characters.
 * 3) The player can also recruit new characters to his cause, often involving a short side-quest to do so.
 * 4) The game´s battle system involves six-person parties.
 * 5) A grid and unit based tactical battle system, akin o Tactical RPGs.
 * 6) The game features three different types of combat: Regular battles, Combats and Duels (which are reminiscent to that of Fire Emblem).
 * 7) Magic can be used by using Runes, which are upgradable to allow for more magic usage.
 * 8) Exciting story of war, friendship and revenge.
 * 9) Multiple endings.
 * 10) Balanced difficulty (it is easy, but still provides a good challenge).
 * 11) The game features Luca Blight, who is regarded as one of the best RPG villains of all time.

Reception
The game was generally well received by the media, with GameRankings website giving it a score of 81% based on 23 sources, and Metacritic an 82% based on 8 sources.

GameSpot granted a lower rating of 7.6/10, praising its innovative gameplay but criticizing its similarity to the original Suikoden.