Suikoden is very Final Fantasy'ish(that was my first impression)...
 large colorful graphics, excellent orchestrated score,  Huge battles,
and an all-around good time.  You play the hero whose father has gone up
north to fight in some wars, and you are stuck in town to do
errands for an Imperial guard ( who is a real ass).  Once you meet up
with the Liberation(rebel) army leader, Odessa, you become a member to
stop the corruption of the Imperial army.  Soon, after tragic events,
you take over the Liberation army and a castle is built as your
headquarters. Your characters are tall and skinny, which is tons better
than the short, fat characters in Beyond the Beyond ( let that game
never be mentioned again!).  You play from a top-down display, and
controls are easy to get used to.  Battles occur less frequently than in
BtB (ugh! sorry), and when they do appear there is a smooth transition,
as the floor melts away and gives way to the battle screen.  There is no
load time for the battles, thankfully.  Load times are almost
nonexistent!!  When you go onto another screen, it turns black, and a
second later the next locale appears.  I was very pleased by that, after
having seen the loading time in BtB, Legacy of Kain, and (to a lesser
extent) Persona.  Dialogue is fine, translation seems right on.  The
story shapes up in epic style.  The music is fantastic!! I can't get
over that.  The music ranges from symphony style pieces, to acoustic
guitar melodies, to the music of rain and thunder.  This is a game that
truly deserves to be played in stereo sound.  I wear headphones while
playing it, and am ecstatic about the sound quality.  This is one of the
best RPG's I've played since Final Fantasy 3, and I can honestly rank it
up with that game.  Everything is extremely polished and Konami should
be commended for their wonderful handling of this game.  While it may
look cutesy, the story is quite sad with many deaths, and tragedies. 
Fighting against your father is one particularly poignant scene.  Truly
worth a purchase.  Here's the breakdown:

Graphics 
8.5/10 (Big and colorful but seen before.  Some amazing special effects,
especially in the battle scenes)

Sound
10/10 ( Truly excellent score.  Great sound effects.)

Story
8.75/10  (Very sad, and triumphant at the same time.  Plays with your
emotions like no other RPG has done since Final Fantasy 3.  There are
deaths of main characters.)

Gameplay
9/10  (Very easy to get into; not frustrating, and the battle scenes
come at perfect times.  Loading time is almost nonexistent)

Replay value
 ?/10  (Haven't beaten it yet, but I'm sure I missed a lot of stuff. 
With 108 characters to add to your group, I'll be going back to find
some that I missed.  It has been told that there is a special ending if
you have all 108 characters!)

Fun
9.5/10 (We've all played RPG's and this is as fun as they get!)

Overall
9.5/10  (Get it! Get it! Get it!)

Also try Persona, which is much more complicated, darker, and different
than Suikoden.  These two games are on the opposite end of the spectrum
of Playstation games.

Comments?  Questions?
E-mail bdally@erols.com