Genso Suikoden II

In a time long ago, an unjust ruler by the name of Emperor Barbarosa took control of a peaceful land with an iron fist. Tired of his tyranny and oppression, a woman named Odessa Silverburg rose up and formed a revolution to end Barbarosa's evil reign. Son to one of Barbarosa's generals, Teo McDohl, joined with Odessa and headed up the Liberation Army. Together they gathered recruits to amass the 108 stars of destiny and overthrew Barbarosa. They forged a land of unity and peace and for the time everything was calm.

Such was the setting for Konami's sleeper RPG triumph, Suikoden. Now, three years after the fall of Barbarosa, a new war threatens the peaceful land. The Highland Empire, ruled by the Blight family, has instigated a war with the peaceful city-state Jowston. After much fighting a peace agreement is finally formed between the two sides. The main character and his childhood friend, Jowy, are soldiers in the war and are sent to oversee the treaty talks. Overjoyed by talks of the end of the war, all the two can think about is finally returning to their hometown, Kyaro. But something goes terribly wrong and the two are cast off, branded traitors to their country. After being exposed to treachery, power, greed, everything that come with war, the two must struggle with their own destined path. You must once again bring together the 108 stars of destiny and put an end to the war.

And so begins the epic saga that is Suikoden II, the next episode in Konami's amazing Suikoden series. New features to the game not found in the original include: New tactical, turn based war battles which offers total control, upgraded graphics and new special effects on spells and animations, 108 characters to help you in your quest, each with a different ability and purpose, the option to use your Suikoden data from the first game to unlock hidden storylines and an improved and unique “castle building system” exclusive to Suikoden.

CHARACTERS:
The protagonist of Suikoden II (whose name is decided by the player at the start of the game) goes from being a member of a youth brigade in the Highland Kingdom to being the leader of its opposition, the New Alliance Army. In acquiring one half of the Rune of the Beginning, he is destined to become leader of the newly rebuilt Jowston Army, and also to oppose the holder of the other half of the Rune of the Beginning, Jowy Atreides.

The antagonist for the majority of the game is Luca Blight, heir to the throne of Highland. Luca is a bloodthirsty madman who developed a strong hatred for Jowston at a young age after witnessing his mother's rape by thugs hired by City-State capital Muse to attack the Highland royal envoy.

A variety of characters from the original Suikoden appear in Suikoden II. Some such as Viktor play major roles in the story, while others only appear in cameos (such as Kage who is briefly seen talking to Jowy before Mayor Anabelle is killed). If the player has a completed save data from the original Suikoden in their memory card, then the protagonist of the previous game's can be recruited and Gremio will appear briefly (if the saved game did not have all 108 characters recruited, Gremio will not appear). List of recurring characters in Suikoden has a comprehensive list of all characters who span multiple parts of the series.

Source: TheGamesDB