The game's development was led by project head Osamu Komuta, who had previously been a planner for Suikoden Tactics, with a music staff composed of Norikaku Miura, Yoshino Aoki, Masaharu Iwata, and Kaori Komuro.

The game features the opening and ending theme songs "Tears in the Sky" and "Tierkreis" respectively, each performed by Japanese pop idol Satomi Takasugi.

Following the game's main theme of "the infinite possibility of future", players must assume the role of a young protagonist who gathers the combined forces of 108 heroes to attempt to defeat a powerful entity known as The One King, leader of The Order of the One True Way, who seeks to control the world by spreading his doctrine that all fate is predetermined and all people have no control of their lives.

Suikoden Tierkreis is a traditional JRPG where the player must navigate through three-dimensional environments and complete story-based objectives to advance the narrative.

While advancing through the game, the player must interact with non-player characters to move the story forward and allow new scenarios to become available for play, as well as to discover new items and areas.

When a player defeats a group of enemies, they are awarded experience points that go toward increasing their party member's levels, thereby making them stronger and able to use more special skills in battle.

By using the DS' Wi-Fi function, two players each with their own game card can connect to each other to exchange characters and items, as well as gain access to unique battle scenarios.

The protagonist is an energetic young man from Citro Village who eventually ends up fighting a mysterious organization that preaches a fatalist philosophy in which the future is predetermined.