lol well this is kinda one sided if you play the second one, but this is how i rate them.
Suikoden Has...
Graphics, Storyline, Gameplay, Music, and Minigames and Major Battles. Yeah minigames are the best part..

I'm not gonna rate suikoden I, just cuz i forgot alot of things, and suikoden tactics, cuz it was really different from all the other series yknoe?

Suikoden II:
Graphics: 7/10 (i actually really liked it.)
Storyline: 10/10 (so sad 8(. )
Gameplay: 8/10 (addictive..)
Music: lmfao i love this. 11/11 (south window!)
Minigames: 9/10 (cooking and fishing)
Major Battles: 9/10 (WHATTT??? it was fun.)

Suikoden III:
Graphics: 8/10 (i like the rune attacks. reaaallly flashy 8). )
Storyline: 8/10 (it was reall deep, if you really understood things)
Gameplay: 8/10 (nothing special, but it was unique)
Music: 7/10 (nothing great..sry guys..)
Minigames: 4/10 (just horse racing..)
Major Battles: 6/10(Not really... ARMY feel, yknoe?)

Suikoden IV:
Graphics: 8/10 (The rune attacks now stink... but grafix are better.)
Storyline: Not gonna bother. This practically copied strait out of suikoden II. JOWE AND SNOWE BETRAYING?!?!
Gameplay: 6.5/10 (it got boring real fast.
Music: 8/10 (nothing memorable bout this either.
Minigames: 9/10 (i like the minigames in this one. really addicting to play some mahjong n beyblades..)
Major Battles: 7/10 (It was.. really weird. it was cool ... but still weird..)

Suikoden V:
Graphics: 8/10 (i like this one)
Storyline: 7/10 (it was OKAY. like the beginning was really boring..)
Gameplay: 8/10 (unless you figure out my trick)
Music: 7/10 (the music kinda scared me in the dungeons)
Minigames: 7/10 (some are addicting.. like the bluffing game, i was like WHOA o.O)
Major Battles: 9/10 (Best one of the series)

So the best one is suikoden II 8). Suikoden 5 is good, but i mean, theres nothing really SPECIAL about it yknoe? I loved the major battles though, its like a BIG BAD BATTLE , and i lost like 50 men, thats really fun 8).

I can't say that I can rate all of them at this MOMENT, but I'm gonna have to say Suikoden 2 with Suik 3 as a close favorite. I loved Suikoden 3 (mostly because of the manga. The manga is what the game SHOULD have been). But Iloved the main characters, how a lot came from Suikoden 2, and how there were TONS of runes competeing at the same time.

Suikoden 2 has the best storyline ever, so that's definitely #1 but i've yet to finish it, unfortunately.

SUikoden 5 is definitely right in par with them, but it's basically a standalone game, not much relation to the other 2 in terms of characters or story, so it's tough for me to really put it in the same category, but Suik V was amazing too.

My rating would be:

1. Suikoden II
2. Suikoden V
3. Suikoden I
4. Suikoden III
5. Suikoden IV

Suikoden II is simply the best, because it has everything what makes a RPG so great. A great story with many plottwists, as well as a good supporting cast to develop the story.
The biggest and most important characters in the story really go well with the story and that doesn't mean just Nanami, Riou and Jowy, but also Viktor, Flik, Apple, Shu and the various other characters that are part of the story.
The soundtrack of Suikoden II is the best out of the entire franchise and one of the best soundtracks I have ever heard.
Suikoden II also has a nice variety of minigames. I mean we all love the cook-off and we all are upset that Konami hasn't brought it back in any other game at all.
I mean other mini games reappear, but not the cook-off. I had hope with Retso and Shun Min, who appeared in the cook-off in Suikoden II and were stars of destiny in Suikoden V, but alas.

Suikoden V is a close second, because it reminded me so much of Suikoden II. Not to compare the games in any way, but when I was playing Suikoden V, I saw many things similar to Suikoden II, starting with for example the DoReMi Elves and certain other things.
The thing I didn't like was the tactician. When I first saw her, I thought she looked good (still do), but once she predicted something before we even talked about anything, yet her being in that prison for several years I thought it started to be farfetched.
Then when you usually get defeated on several occaissions, or have to withdraw, she had you win every battle, even with the odds is a major disadvantage, it wasn't right.

I'd say my thoughts are pretty close to Pes'.

1. Suikoden II (easily)
2. Suikoden V
3. Suikoden + Suikoden III (tie)
4. Suikoden Tactics/Rhapsodia
5. Suikoden IV

I can't really decide with much certainty between the first and third, so I'll just throw 'em into a tie.
Pretty much everything Pes said about II, I agree with entirely.
Couldn't agree more with you there. I, too, had my hopes up over Retso and Shun Min. ^^; The cook-offs not only were a great minigame, but they gave much more of a reason to bother collecting recipes. Many of the extra recipes that you obtained through the cook-offs were pretty great items, too. The whole thing even added to the background of the army's chef, Hai Yo. Most of the chefs from the other games really lacked a background, which is why Hai Yo is still my favorite chef in the series.
Another minigame I enjoyed in Suikoden II was the rope climbing game (got some handy items from it, too, including accessories that affected unite attacks, which I thought were really neat), and the Whack-a-Mole game was pretty intense. (Not to mention nearly impossible on harder difficulty settings.) XD

Honestly, I think my main (and almost only, if not for loading times) beef with Suikoden V is the difficulty level. As Pes pointed out, it has a similar feeling to the kind of feeling you get while playing Suikoden II. The story and characters were both very refreshing after Suikoden IV, and the soundtrack made the environment that much more enjoyable. (On this note, Moroon's battle theme remix rocks.) The group battles were great, especially with the new formation system (which I pray makes a return in the following games) and the entourage. The duels were very pleasing, visually, and the time limit was a very nice touch (even though you could input your command during the dialogue). The large-scale army battles were a huge improvement, and were much more fun than in previous titles. I was also glad to see that the game went into a bit more depth with the equipment sets (Guardian, Prosperity, Windspun, etc.), and brought in more of them. The skill system was also a nice feature, returning from Suikoden III, albeit changed a bit. (Another feature that would've been much more useful if the game's difficulty was a bit higher, though.)

The first and third games aren't too fresh in my memory, unfortunately, but I'd like to point out that although Suikoden IV is at the bottom of my list, I wouldn't say it's an awful game. It's my least favorite of the Suikoden series, but on its own, I think it's a decent game, if not slightly more than decent. Suikoden Tactics was much better, I thought, even if it was still lacking many of the same things that IV was. Due to the return of many characters from IV, it had that sort of nostalgic feeling, and some of the characters even got some additional background (not to mention a handful of the characters were much more useful than they were in IV). On that note, it was nice finding out some particular details, like about the Rune Cannons, the Giant Tree, and Warlock. (Also, based on the sidequest with Simeon, I get the feeling his discoveries led to the creation of the Blue/Pale Gate rune. Could be wrong, but if I'm right, then that's a neat detail, I think.) Not much else to say about it, though. It was basically a supplementary installment to Suikoden IV, but I think it did its job well enough.

Suikoden II. By far.

I say by far. I love the whole series, most likely my favorite RPG series around. Yet Suikoden II is on its own level of epicness. The game was perfect back in the day. I could play it time and time again, and have more fun each time. The story was (is) fantastic. Never has a better set of characters been compiled.

And I'm not simply blinded by nostalgia (although nostalgia always seems to play a role in how 'good' something really is//was). I can still play through this game almost 10 years later and enjoy it just as much as that first playthrough.

On a side note, I would like to play through V again, as I liked that one a lot, but I think the game suffered a lot from the loading. If that game didn't take as much time as it did to load different screens, battles, and cutscenes, I could see myself liking it almost as much as II.

A common answer indeed. II for me as well. It was just.. awesome, then and now. The story, characters, the ending. (There was an ending other than crumbling ruins!!!)

I was awesome as well. But it dosen't quite compare.
III was going good, but the ending seemed so rushed.
IV's only good story aspects were the rune parts.
V was good too, it reminded me a lot of Suikoden II, but I'm glad it was still it's own great game.

I may be in the minority here, but I liked IV. Not because it was an amazing game, it was just fun to play through, and didn't take too much time. Plus the New Game+ feature was great.

When Tactics was released, it made IV seem a bit more important. Tactics Kind of 'completed' IV in a sense. IV and Tactics combined make for fun times.

If Tactics were never released, I probably wouldn't think quite as highly as IV.

Did that make any sense? lol

I have to agree on pretty much everything you've said, honestly. I enjoyed IV quite a bit, though it's just not my favorite. I also agree that Tactics did a lot for it. As I've discussed with LW before, IV had it really rough, since it had to cover material that took place so long before the other games, some of which is actually rather important. The overall product wasn't as great as the other games to begin with, but the fact that it took place so long ago didn't really help. Because of that, they had to come up with a lot of original material, I'm sure. (Basically, what I'm saying, is if the game's plot was based on an event closer to the other games, it probably could've been better, especially since it'd likely have a lot more links to the others.) As far as its importance in the timeline of the series goes, though, if you pay enough attention, you can find quite a bit, and Tactics reveals even more.
Anyway, I'm sure people like you and I will remain in this minority, regardless. ^^;

Yeah after hearing the points Chalryn mentioned more in depth in separate convos, it seems IV was actually more important than it seemed, but there seems like, one big difference between how u define "important". It was "important" to the Suikoden history/timeline and events, but as for like, "Cosmological" importance, as in how relevant it is to the True Runes, the destruction of the world, and Hikusaak's quest to collect them, and Leknaat's direct influence in anything at all, IV was pretty lacking.

ANd frankly, I'm more concerned bout the cosmological importance of Runes and how things are gonna turn out, not necessarily the actual history of it all.