Suikoden: Tierkreis is one of those DS RPGs that somehow flew under the radar, which is a shame because it’s got that classic Suikoden charm—just portable. You start as this village kid who stumbles onto a crazy prophecy book, and suddenly you’re recruiting warriors, mages, and weirdos (seriously, one guy’s whole thing is being a professional whistler) to fight an empire that wants to erase free will. The usual.

What I love is how your home base grows as you recruit more of the 108 Stars of Destiny. At first it’s just a dusty fort, but by mid-game it’s packed with shops, mini-games, and random NPCs arguing in corners. Battles are snappy turn-based affairs where positioning matters—archers in the back, tanks up front—but the real hook is how many party combos you can try. I wasted hours swapping teams just to hear their battle banter.

Fair warning: the voice acting’s a bit… enthusiastic. But the story goes places, especially once the multiverse stuff kicks in. If you miss PS1-era JRPGs with chunky rosters and political drama, this one’s a solid play.