It took me 61 hours to do most of the stuff. The only thing I didn't get were secret items like medal sets, recipes, some books, etc. I also didn't play the minigames that much. So you're looking at 60 hours easily to do everything.
The story is awesome. Like BF said, you play through the story from 3 different point of views. Basically, Grasslands and Zexen are in conflict again, and there have been rumours of the Flame Champion returning, those are just the basics of the story, but it's awesome.
There are 108 characters (called the "Stars Of Destiny"), and unlike most other games with multiple characters (like Chrono Cross), the Suikoden series actually makes good use of them. You get to have your own castle and town, and some characters will set up shops, or do certain things, etc.
The graphics are pretty good. They're not FFX quality, but who really cares anyway?
I should also mention that there are 3 different battle systems in this game.
Overall, I'd give it a 9.7/10. It was the best game I played in all of 2002.
And..if you're looking for another good RPG, buy Legaia 2: Duel Saga. SquareSoft isn't the only one that can make rpgs, developers like Capcom (breath of fire), Sega (ps), Namco (tales), Enix (star ocean, dq, grandia, lunar) are all good with rpgs too. And if you're wondering, Konami makes Suikoden III
