Suikoden III
This game is pretty awesome. This is the first time I've played a Suikoden game, but it really drew me in. The cultures for each of the major players, not to mention many of the smaller nations/villages, is well defined, down to the architecture and style of dress. On top of that, each of the three main characters is well rounded, with a decent background and good description of their own motivations.
Starting with:
Chris Lightfellow: She's the tank on the three main characters. It's breaking convention just to make a female the main fighters, but she's also relatively fast, coming in at the mid-high speed range. He magic mostly sucks, except for water magic. The captain of the Zexan knights, Chris embodies chivalry and honor, she is loyal first to her people.
Hugo: He starts much lower level, and more poorly equipped than the other two. Actually, the story seems to expect him to become the flame champion, even though you can choose any of the three main characters. He's the dex-bitch of the group, and easily the speediest person in the entire army. He can also fight riding his griffon Fubar.
Geddoe: THe grizzled mercenary captain. He starts with a hodge-podge of new/old equipment, and a diverse range of skills. Despite appearances, he's the closest the main characters come to a dedicated magic user. His speed is low, but he had high skills in a range of different runes (especially lightning), and he can learn the magic repel ability.
There are 105 other characters, and each is fairly unique (expect the five dogs). There are also three battle systems: random encounters, which will include six characters is two-person units. One person takes a special action, and the other will guard him/her, or they both attack/guard; battles: you can form 4-person squads from your army, and manuever them over a battlefield; and skirmishes: when squads attack. This is similar to a random encounter, but the battle is limited, and a surrender can be forced without killing all units on the screen.
The plot is mostly pretty good. Good characters, and realistic politics. Except for one thing, which seems to be a sticking point for a lot of a lot of fantasy rpgs -- the evil for the sake of evil group. Zexan and the Grasslands have been at war for decades, it seems reasonable for hostilities to exist, and for misunderstanding to occur, even tragic ones. One side may have a reason, one side may be more right in the latest set of circumstances. But no, the entire war that starts the game was all the plot of a third party, who is causing the war for... well, they're just jerks is all. It's not as simplistic as a lot of these games make it, but the meme gets old after awhile.
Graphics: 8
Gameplay: 10
Character: 10
Game Mechanics: 7
Story: 7
World: 9
Total: 51/60