Traveling between the Island Nations was considered overly annoying by some; GameSpot wrote that "a horrible seafaring travel system and an often outrageous enemy encounter rate detract much from the experience." The long time gap also meant that "Suikoden IV" was rather unconnected with the first three installments, with only a very few characters returning. The new four-person battle system was not well received by long-term fans of the series, as with the huge number of playable characters, there was less ability to experiment with different character combinations. 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. This simplified battle system was criticized as being too easy.