<s>
is	O
a	O
role-playing	O
video	O
game	O
developed	O
by	O
Konami	O
Computer	O
Entertainment	O
Tokyo	O
and	O
published	O
by	O
Konami	O
exclusively	O
for	O
the	O
PlayStation	B-Device
2	I-Device
video	B-Device
game	I-Device
console	I-Device
and	O
is	O
the	O
fourth	O
installment	O
of	O
the	O
Suikoden	B-Application
video	O
game	O
series	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Suikoden	B-Application
IV	I-Application
takes	O
place	O
approximately	O
150	O
years	O
before	O
the	O
events	O
of	O
the	O
first	O
Suikoden	B-Application
game	O
,	O
and	O
relates	O
the	O
story	O
of	O
a	O
young	O
boy	O
living	O
on	O
the	O
island	O
of	O
Razril	O
and	O
the	O
Rune	O
of	O
Punishment	O
,	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
27	O
True	O
Runes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Konami	O
later	O
produced	O
Suikoden	B-Device
Tactics	I-Device
,	O
a	O
spinoff	O
that	O
serves	O
as	O
a	O
direct	O
prequel	O
,	O
side-story	O
,	O
and	O
sequel	O
to	O
Suikoden	B-Application
IV	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Suikoden	B-Application
IV	I-Application
retains	O
many	O
of	O
the	O
gameplay	O
concepts	O
pioneered	O
by	O
its	O
predecessors	O
along	O
with	O
changes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
the	O
first	O
game	O
in	O
the	O
Suikoden	B-Application
series	O
to	O
feature	O
voice	O
acting	O
for	O
most	O
characters	O
,	O
except	O
the	O
hero	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Suikoden	B-Application
IV	I-Application
is	O
the	O
first	O
game	O
of	O
the	O
series	O
to	O
be	O
set	O
at	O
sea	O
;	O
travel	O
on	O
the	O
world	O
map	O
is	O
accomplished	O
by	O
ship	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
contrast	O
to	O
Suikoden	B-Application
III	I-Application
,	O
where	O
the	O
six	O
person	O
party	O
was	O
divided	O
into	O
three	O
controllable	O
groups	O
,	O
Suikoden	B-Application
IV	I-Application
's	O
party	O
consists	O
of	O
four	O
individually	O
controllable	O
characters	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
the	O
first	O
play	O
through	O
the	O
game	O
,	O
only	O
a	O
fraction	O
of	O
the	O
world	O
map	O
is	O
viewable	O
,	O
a	O
feature	O
not	O
seen	O
before	O
in	O
a	O
Suikoden	B-Application
Game	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Suikoden	B-Application
IV	I-Application
begins	O
its	O
tale	O
with	O
a	O
training	O
session	O
where	O
the	O
Hero	O
and	O
his	O
best	O
friend	O
Snowe	O
Vingerhut	O
face	O
off	O
against	O
their	O
Commander	O
and	O
Vice	O
Commander	O
,	O
Glen	O
and	O
Katarina	O
respectively	O
,	O
out	O
at	O
sea	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Masahiko	O
Kimura	O
composed	O
the	O
music	O
to	O
Suikoden	B-Application
IV	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
soundtrack	O
was	O
released	O
on	O
2	O
CDs	O
as	O
Genso	B-Application
Suikoden	I-Application
IV	I-Application
-	O
Original	O
Soundtrack	O
on	O
June	O
1	O
,	O
2005	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Genso	B-Application
Suikoden	I-Application
IV	I-Application
Music	O
Collection	O
~	O
Another	O
World	O
~	O
,	O
an	O
arranged	O
version	O
with	O
11	O
tracks	O
arranged	O
by	O
Yuji	O
Yoshino	O
,	O
was	O
later	O
released	O
on	O
February	O
23	O
,	O
2006	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Suikoden	B-Application
IV	I-Application
sold	O
reasonably	O
well	O
in	O
Japan	O
,	O
selling	O
303,069	O
copies	O
by	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
2004	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
was	O
down	O
from	O
the	O
377,729	O
Japanese	O
sales	O
of	O
Suikoden	B-Application
III	I-Application
,	O
however	O
;	O
Famitsu	O
also	O
gave	O
it	O
a	O
score	O
of	O
one	O
eight	O
,	O
one	O
seven	O
,	O
one	O
eight	O
,	O
and	O
one	O
seven	O
for	O
a	O
total	O
of	O
30	O
out	O
of	O
40	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
did	O
not	O
sell	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
Suikoden	B-Application
III	I-Application
in	O
North	O
America	O
and	O
received	O
"	O
mixed	O
"	O
reviews	O
according	O
to	O
the	O
review	B-Application
aggregation	I-Application
website	O
Metacritic	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
I	O
do	O
n't	O
think	O
there	O
's	O
another	O
character	O
like	O
him	O
in	O
an	O
RPG	O
to	O
date	O
-	O
and	O
watching	O
his	O
ups	O
,	O
downs	O
,	O
and	O
movements	O
in-between	O
,	O
will	O
likely	O
be	O
most	O
people	O
's	O
driving	O
force	O
towards	O
finishing	O
Suikoden	B-Application
IV	I-Application
's	O
storyline.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
RPGFan	O
review	O
said	O
,	O
"	O
If	O
one	O
just	O
played	O
the	O
game	O
straight	O
,	O
getting	O
only	O
the	O
characters	O
they	O
earned	O
through	O
story	O
events	O
,	O
Suikoden	B-Application
IV	I-Application
could	O
arguably	O
be	O
beaten	O
in	O
15	O
hours	O
-	O
and	O
it	O
would	O
only	O
take	O
that	O
long	O
because	O
of	O
the	O
sailing	O
and	O
frequent	O
random	O
battles.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
Additionally	O
,	O
the	O
return	O
to	O
a	O
silent	O
protagonist	O
after	O
Suikoden	B-Application
III	I-Application
did	O
away	O
with	O
the	O
tradition	O
was	O
considered	O
unwise	O
by	O
many	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
hero	O
remaining	O
mute	O
and	O
unresponsive	O
even	O
when	O
falsely	O
accused	O
of	O
murder	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
long	O
time	O
gap	O
also	O
meant	O
that	O
Suikoden	B-Application
IV	I-Application
was	O
rather	O
unconnected	O
with	O
the	O
first	O
three	O
installments	O
,	O
with	O
only	O
a	O
very	O
few	O
characters	O
returning	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
skill	O
system	O
from	O
Suikoden	B-Application
III	I-Application
was	O
removed	O
as	O
well	O
,	O
rendering	O
characters	O
less	O
distinct	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
number	O
of	O
equipable	O
runes	O
were	O
reduced	O
from	O
earlier	O
installments	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Konami	O
seemingly	O
acknowledged	O
some	O
of	O
the	O
criticisms	O
of	O
Suikoden	B-Application
IV	I-Application
,	O
as	O
most	O
of	O
the	O
changes	O
to	O
the	O
battle	O
system	O
were	O
reversed	O
in	O
Suikoden	B-Application
V	I-Application
.	O
As	O
for	O
plot	O
complaints	O
,	O
the	O
spinoff	O
Suikoden	B-Device
Tactics	I-Device
was	O
released	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
set	O
in	O
the	O
same	O
rough	O
time	O
and	O
place	O
as	O
IV	O
.	O
</s>
