After the ceremonial Kindling Ritual and a night of feasting, the Hero awakens the next morning for his first duties as a new knight, including the task of escorting a man named Ramada to the neighboring island of Iluya.

Snowe abandons the ship after being fired upon by "rune cannons," while the Hero decides to brave the attacks and stay, thus inspiring jealousy in his cowardly comrade.

Katarina, who assumes command in Glen's stead, believes Snowe's story and sentences the Hero to exile from the island.

Troy catches the Hero eavesdropping, draws steel and easily defeats him in a fight, but then allows the banished knight and his friends to flee.

The ship's crew inspects the Hero, recognizes the Rune on his hand, and sends him to meet with Lino En Kuldes, Obel's young and capable king.

Lino En Kuldes hires the Hero, putting him in charge of recruiting new talent to help shore up Obel's defenses in the event of a Kooluk invasion.

The Kooluk forces, with the backing of the arms merchant Graham Cray, conquer Obel with ease, establishing a foothold for their planned southern expansion.

In need of help, the Hero and company join forces with the pirate queen Kika, who suggests the recruitment of the tactician Lady Elenor Silverberg.

That leaves only Kooluk's regional base of operations, El Eal, where the threat remains of the giant rune cannon that destroyed the city Iluya.

Elenor devises a two-pronged attack, and the night before it is to be executed, Lino En Kuldes tells the Hero the story of how his wife died using the Rune of Punishment against pirates to save her two children, Flare and her little brother, who was lost to the sea after that event.

During his final vision of the Rune's memories the Hero sees an image of the deceased wife of Lino En Kuldes, presumably his mother, who seems to recognize him.

I don't think there's another character like him in an RPG to date - and watching his ups, downs, and movements in-between, will likely be most people's driving force towards finishing Suikoden IV's storyline.

An RPGFan review said, "If one just played the game straight, getting only the characters they earned through story events, Suikoden IV could arguably be beaten in 15 hours - and it would only take that long because of the sailing and frequent random battles.

Additionally, the return to a silent protagonist after Suikoden III did away with the tradition was considered unwise by many, with the hero remaining mute and unresponsive even when falsely accused of murder.

The skill system from Suikoden III was removed as well, rendering characters less distinct, and the number of equipable runes were reduced from earlier installments.