Joystiq

For those of us who thought Konami had shown it all, boy were we wrong! From out of nowhere, the company whipped out a new Suikoden game today, exclusive to DS, drawing the attention of handheld role-players everywhere. Suikoden: Tierkreis, while not the easiest title to pronounce, is easily in the running for the best Konami has to offer this holiday (unless you're a soccer fan -- or just a sucker, man).

Series veterans will be pleased to know that Tierkreis "again follows the story of the 108 Stars of Destiny as they challenge the almighty One King, who intends to create chaos in the universe." (Everyone else, well, we think you get the gist: gang of heroes takes on one, big baddie.) But the most intriguing aspect of Tierkreis is an online mode that let's you entrust characters to other players over the Nintendo WiFi Connection, essentially leaving the grinding up to a complete stranger. "This provides a new way to level up your characters, which helps create a sense of community." What's that? You fancy yourself a loner, you say? Well then, fancy leveling up 108 characters all by yourself!