For starters, this third Suikoden bucks the singular narrative style of its predecessors in favor of the “Trinity Sight System,” which allows players to pursue the intersecting stories of three characters: Hugo, the semi-naïve son of a Grassland tribal chief; Chris, the uptight, dutiful, and involuntarily popular commander of the Zexen Federation's Six Mighty Knights; and Geddoe, a reticent soldier-for-hire who leads his team of bickering mercenaries under the orders of the Holy Harmonia Empire. Each of their perspectives sheds light on the rising tensions between the imposing Zexen “ironheads” and the loosely allied clans of the Grasslands, with Chris questioning her loyalties and her honor, Hugo confronting the unforgiving reality of war, and Geddoe observing things with a suspicious depth of interest.

A promising idea, the use of multiple perspectives divides a player's sympathies with a refreshing lack of the Manichean overtones that most RPGs prefer. Yet it also creates much repetition as players cover the same plot points and game territory with different parties. The constant backtracking is all the duller due to the lack of a free-roaming map. Like Final Fantasy X, Suikoden III allows only limited movement from Point A to Point B, and the game's first ten hours are spent going in circles and plodding through dull, linear dungeons and plains.

Tedious as it can be, Suikoden III eventually gets somewhere. Chris, Hugo, and Geddoe each gain allies and unearth secrets, revealing the local conflict to be far larger in design than it first appears. The game pulls punches every now and then, but its last stretch holds some unexpectedly powerful moments, among them a priceless revelation for longtime Suikoden fans.

And while it lags at times, the Suikoden formula is still here, giving you a castle to build and the expected wealth of 108 Stars of Destiny to discover. Including influential characters as well as entirely optional recruits, this massive supporting cast is as likeable as those of Suikoden I and II. It's hard not to grow attached to a headstrong knight and his overstressed squire, a bratty Tinto Republic princess (last seen as a child in Suikoden II), a pair of silent and vindictive ninjas, Chris's amusing complement of loyal knights, a narcoleptic martial artist, a troupe of musicians, an elevator lady (five points if you've started singing the Pixies' “Levitate Me”), a league of lizard folk, and a grim, war-wise duck named Sgt. Joe. Oh, and Mel, a young woman who talks to herself through a hand puppet and beats said puppet when it insults her virtue. Mel is great.

It's odd that Suikoden III's dullest characters are its three protagonists. Previous Suikodens grouped entertaining misfits around heroes who had few lines and less personality, but the developing plotlines rarely felt vapid or underwritten. Conversely, the leads of Suikoden III never enjoy the same drive and don't grow as they should. Hugo doesn't form many interesting relationships with others, Geddoe only shows some vestige of spirit at the game's end, and Chris, despite being the most refreshingly dignified RPG heroine since Valkyrie Profile's Lenneth, never quite gains the independence that she needs. Another potential lead, a reluctant castle steward named Thomas, has his own tale cut curiously short. Suikoden III isn't really about the heroes as much as it is the villain's story, though you'll only discover that if you collect all of the Stars of Destiny.

Suikoden III is further hampered by an unpolished transition from hand-drawn 2-D visuals to a fully 3-D game engine. Though the character models are detailed, they have little animation or variety of expression, and it's often hard to get a sense of drama from their simple faces and unconvincing mannerisms. The environments show a similar ambivalence, coming through as both clean and empty. In truth, the greatest impact is found in an opening animated sequence, which resonates with a lush, awe-inspiring beauty that rarely sees its equal in the actual game. Even so, Fumi Ishikawa's character portraits are as gorgeous as they were in Suikoden II, the soundtrack is decent, and voice-acting celebrity Lani Minella and Audio Godz have assembled a stiff yet coherent translation.

While the Suikoden series has always relied on quick and infrequent combat, battles are both simpler and more frustrating here than they were in previous games. Instead of issuing separate commands to each of six party members, players command pairs of characters, and the resulting battles are more efficient, but less satisfying. The selection of enemies is also boring at first; though Chris, Hugo, and Geddoe will eventually face demons and fire-formed unicorns, they start off by fighting boars, living leaves, and the nefarious, axe-wielding “BladeBunnies.” Horrors.

Two-character duels and large-scale clashes of armies are also less satisfying in the third Suikoden. While the former is the same rock-paper-scissors guessing game that it was twice before, the duels are rarely used to any dramatic effect. The massive military conflicts have been changed to accommodate a basic map screen and more detailed fights between units, yet the strategy is still basic, and players have little control over the attacks that their troops use.

As if to counterbalance the broader strokes of the battles, the game's additions to traditional Suikoden character management are time-consuming. As you keep track of equipment and magic runes, you'll also have to boost individual skills by visiting training shops and picking through ponderous menus. It's a task that could easily have been hastened, or eliminated altogether, without lessening the game's depth. I'd say things are complicated enough with dozens of possible party members and more than three developing plot threads.

Suikoden III is too sluggish in pace and tedious in play to rank alongside its predecessors, perhaps due to series creator Yoshitaka Murayama quitting before the game was completed. It's a credit to the franchise that its weakest installment is still engaging, but Suikoden III's solid, subtly unconventional style can't hide its numerous flaws or turn a frequently dull RPG into a good one.