Suikoden V resumed today with the trip to Stormfist, where we got to fight a lizard on board the ship along the way. That was only a tease though, as there wouldn’t be any more battle for a while yet.

In Stormfist we met Gizel Godwin, the other major noble competing to marry my sister, and learn that although he’s much more handsome and dignified than the other guy, he has a bit of a cruel streak. A spy hunt ensued a little while later, leading us into the sewers, where I could finally get some regular combat after 4.5 hours into the game. The spy was caught, some politicking followed (the Suikoden games are known for having rather intricate, political plots), and the Sacred Games began.

They started with a duel between myself and one of the gladiators we met, and although it follows the same form as duels in previous series entries, they’re harder this time because your response has a time limit, making it difficult to ‘cheat’ by looking up what the appropriate counter is. I forsee a lot of reloading over those in the future…