Suikoden IV

Suikoden IV
Developer(s)Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo
Publisher(s)Konami
Director(s)Masayuki Saruta
Producer(s)Junko Kawano
Artist(s)Junko Kawano
Writer(s)Junko Kawano
Composer(s)Masahiko Kimura
Michiru Yamane
Norikazu Miura
SeriesSuikoden
Platform(s)PlayStation 2
Release
  • JP: August 19, 2004
  • NA: January 11, 2005
  • EU: February 25, 2005
Genre(s)Role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player

Suikoden IV (Japanese: 幻想水滸伝IV, Hepburn: Gensō Suikoden Fō, (listen)) is a role-playing video game developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo and published by Konami exclusively for the PlayStation 2 video game console and is the fourth installment of the Suikoden video game series. It was released in August 2004 in Japan, and early 2005 in North America and Europe.

Suikoden IV takes place approximately 150 years before the events of the first Suikoden game, and relates the story of a young boy living on the island of Razril and the Rune of Punishment, one of the 27 True Runes. The Rune of Punishment governs both atonement and forgiveness, and is unusual in that it consumes the life of the bearer with use; once the previous bearer dies, it immediately jumps to someone nearby. Meanwhile, the Kooluk Empire seeks to expand into the nearby Island Nations.

Konami later produced Suikoden Tactics, a spinoff that serves as a direct prequel, side-story, and sequel to Suikoden IV.