Has anyone played any of the games in the Suikoden series? If so, which ones? Which is your favorite? And when did you first play the series?

For those who don't know the games, they are RPG's loosely based on the Chinese Legend called the "Water Margin" or "Outlaws on the Marsh", which is about a band of people (made outlaws) standing up against their corrupt goverment for the better of the people. I know Suikoden I and II definitly play on that. You can play the game right through or you can do all the little side "quests" so to speak - finding all 108 characters for a special ending and what not (I know in Suikoden II, if you can run really quickly though the game and hit specific points with a certian cahracter in your party you learn the history of that character).

I've only played Suikoden I and II fully, but I can say both were masterfully put together. The story is seamless and the characters are memorable.

I own all the ones brought over to the US (except the newst one... can't remember the name at the moment). I've partically played 3, 5 and Tactics. The later ones just aren't as good as the first two for me. Suikoden II is my absolute favorite game of all time, never mind as just part of the series. haha.

I was first introduced to series... geez... like ten or eleven years ago O__O Wow, time sure flys. I got Suikoden II for Christmas that year and became addicted. Two or three years later I got Suikoden I for my birthday (I got both while they could still be found in stores, which I now know is amazing because, for whatever reason, back then they didn't sell well).

Luca Blight is my favorite character in all the games and my favorite villian of any video game. There's just a quality about him that is both realistic and bad-ass. And once I learn about his past I really felt bad for him (and his past is what really makes him realistic because you understand his motives and why he's so utterly hateful).