I just absolutely adore this series. However, unlike most veterans of these games, my Suikoden experience began on the PS2 with number 3. The way Konami weaved together the three different story perspectives into Suikoden III sucked me in like no other RPG had ever done. Plus the six person battles were incredibly refreshing. The "large scale" war battles were large in theory, but not so much in practice. It really seemed a bit like they just didn't have enough time to come up with something that actually felt epic.  

Fast forward a few years, and IV becomes a day 1 buy for me. Gone were the 6 person parties, gone were the main characters that were actually full of... well, character. About the only thing they really improved on was the war battles, which were actually fun naval strategy games. Overall, the game was a disappointment. 

A year late V came out and I hesitated to jump in. I made sure to read up on a bunch of reviews, which gave me some comfort. However, the game seemed to be reviewed better than IV but still not at the level of III. Why this was, I don't completely understand, b/c IMO this was the pinnacle of the series. 6 person parties were back with more strategy through the awesome formation system, the story and main characters were actually interesting and full of life, and the war battles were properly epic with a host of different units and the use of both land and sea. 

Finally this summer, after spending years looking for a copy of II at a reasonable price, I just went ahead and downloaded an ISO and threw it on my hacked PSP. Best decision I've made. Again, I absolutely adored it. I plowed through the game in 45 hours, got all 108 stars, and had a blast. This is the game in the series that seems to get the most hype. I think I can understand why. It just hits that perfect balance of always having interesting things to do without being overwhelming. The battle system too manages to be complex with all the customization it offers, yet simple in the way the fights are executed. And the story.... It might have the most memorable characters out of all the games in the series (although I haven't played I). I also thought it was particularly brilliant to have the stereotypical psycho villain Luca, but then also have Jowy who turns out to be the real villain, but with much more subtle intentions.

Anyway, my feeling is that V just pulls everything off the best from top to bottom, but I can understand why at the time II came out people were so enamored with it. 

What do you guys think. What was your favorite in the series? Is there anyone out there that can defend IV? Is it worth playing I? What about geting a DS for the new game?

Awesome game, glad you liked it. I think 2 is the best, most emotional. It's the second game that made me really feel for characters, the first one being Phantasy Star 2.

I really need to get into this series ...I only own 1&4, unfortunately 4 may have damage the series beyond repair

Suikoden II is a fun game.

"What about geting a DS for the new game?"
Suikoden Tierkreis is a great game, but I don't think that it makes justice to the series, if you are thinking about buy a DS to play Suikoden Tierkreis because you love the series, forget it. If you are a RPG/Puzzle/Adventure fan, Nintendo DS is a must-have this generation, it has MUCH better RPGs than Suikoden Tierkreis. Suikoden Tierkreis is not a bad game but when I played this game I thought I was playing a generic RPG, and not Suikoden.

You can play Suikoden Tierkreis if you want to play a good RPG game, but not if you want to play a Suikoden game, it's worth buying IMO.

I loved the first one and the second one. Why? Because they were connected and the fact that they made you remember some of the characters and events from the first one was...awesome. Also, you could have Suikoden 1's protagonist in your team in suikoden 2! Amazing.

I really got into RPG's when I played Suikoden 1 & 2, and Final Fantasy 9.

You should play the first, although it may not impress you that much because you played the sequels...( it still has a good story line).

If you followed the series( Like you played the first game, second game then third,fourth etc...) You'll notice that after playing Suikoden 1&2, the others won't just feel as good.

Yet again, I beg Konami to bring a HD suikoden on the ps3...

Yes. Suikoden II is amazing. Its my 2nd favorite game ever (it only loses to FFVI). The story is so emotional and the characters so well-developed, it is truly a masterpiece. I wish games today were this good.

Ask zexen_lowe about Suikoden. Hes a huge fan and he also thinks II is the best one.

Suikoden II is indeed the best game in the series (it's also the best game ever made, but that's another story). Its story and characters are simply unrivaled.

I'd gladly defend IV. It's not a bad game by any stretch of the imagination. Yes, it's a big disappointment, and a "bad" Suikoden, but it's still worth two playthroughs, and it still has its moments. I've never regretted playing it.

Tierkreis, as someone said, is a great RPG and a bad Suikoden at the same time. On one side, you know you'll be getting a great game, with a better-than-average storyline, huge cast of characters and excellent music. On the other hand, the story is not a good Suikoden story, the gameplay is oversimplifie, the character development is lacking and the lack of connection to any other Suiko is disappointing. But it's still worth playing, that's for sure

Man, you really need to play the first game. I played it after beating II, and I still recognize it as an excellent game, very much worth playing

Although the newer games won't let you have the previous main character in your party, they do have a lot of connections to the older games as well as to each other. You have Luc from II show up and play a role in III, you have Georg from II show up in a much younger form in V, and you have all of the different countries and territories featured from one game getting in the way of countries in the other game each other's way. It's one of the things I love about the universe.

Get Suikoden I from PSN it is only $5.99 and is a steal at that price.

I agree with Zexxen Lowe for the most part. I would rate Grandia just a tad bit higher for the awesome battle system. Overall Suikoden (series) is more mature and (the story) is better told.