Sudeki

"Ridiculous sexual innuendos aside... does Sudeki actually deliver?"

Sudeki was one of the few games on Xbox that RPG fans were looking forward to. Promising an original fantasy theme and fun combat, does it give us everything we'd hoped for?

STORY:
On paper, the Sudeki story is very interesting. You gain control of four characters (Tal, Ailish, Elco, and Buki) who go on a mission to uncover the strange truth behind an alternate "shadow planet." It is a clever concept, but the way it all plays out is a little disappointing. My biggest problem with the story was that we never even got to really know our four stars. Sure, Tal's got the "I'm an awesome knight!" role, and Ailish is the "I want to be free!" princess, but other than a very simple backstory, no one is really given the appropriate time for us to become close to. Even worse, there are many subplots with each character, the most obvious being the conflict between Tal and his father. But there's like one scene with the father, and after that he's barely even mentioned. How about some sort of resolution by the end of the game, Climax? A little closure? No? Okay, suit yourself.

Something that I did like was how the four heroes come together. Instead of them all just being like "hey, I'm going to join you in your fight, because uh.. yeah," it was more like they coincidentally ran into each other and just happened to get involved in this mission to save the world. Other than that, though, the way the story plays out is very sub-par. Oh, and the ending? Worst RPG ending you'll ever see, and it will make you will feel totally screwed.
STORY: 6/10

GRAPHICS:
Perhaps the best part of Sudeki is in its visuals. Everyone is given beautiful colors, excellent detail, and fluid animations. The environments are insanely vibrant and the colors are extraordinary, making this one of those games where you just want to stop and look around. Reflections, shading, and other physical aspects of environments also are top-notch. One of the prettiest games you'll ever see on the Xbox.
GRAPHICS: 10/10

SOUNDS:
The music in Sudeki is beautiful. Fading in and out at the perfect times during the game, you will hear some very pleasing tunes in many of the areas you venture to. Voice-acting was also excellent. Everyone has his/her very own voice, even common townsfolk. One of the best features of the game is when you're running through a town and hear the citizens talking, as if it were a real city.
SOUNDS: 9/10

GAMEPLAY:
Some parts of the gameplay are exceptionally well-done, while others fall way too short. Among the better parts is the combat system, which is just plain fun. If playing as Tal or Buki, you use their close-range weapons to create series of attacks against enemies. A neat little innovation that was added involves fighting as Ailish and Elco--when you switch to these characters, the game will turn into first-person, where you shoot enemies with that character's weapon. Very clever, but I preferred fighting as the two close-range characters. It gets especially entertaining when you get into the thick of things, when all four characters are present, and the battles get very intense. Sudeki also gives each of its characters their own special attacks, called Skill Strikes. To use them, you enter the menu in battle (which doesn't pause the game but rather greatly slows down time), select, and aim. Each character's special moves are very entertaining to watch, especially since the graphics are so amazing in this game.

Along with the Skill Strikes, characters also gain Spirit Strikes, which are Sudeki's "limit breaks." Only available when a meter is filled, these are basically enormous attacks that will be used more for the pretty animations than the insane amounts of damage they cause. I actually often forgot I even had these, but they don't hurt the gameplay in any way.

There is one huge problem with the combat, though, and that is the boss fights. Why in the HELL do Climax make us fight these intense boss fights with ONE character? Sure, they're fun, but this is totally pointless. And what's worse, even the final battle only lets you use one character (can you guess which one?). Jesus, this is such a stupid idea.

Okay, enough hating (for now at least). Something else that makes each character unique is how they're used in the field. Similar to how Wild Arms's characters use tools, the four heroes in Sudeki each have a special skill that helps you uncover secrets and solve puzzles. Tal moves boxes, Buki climbs, Elco has a jetpack, and Ailish can dispel...stuff. I really enjoyed using all these except for Tal's, because his involves the box puzzles, which NEVER fail to frustrate gamers in pretty much every game they're put in. Elco's is really fun though, because you, like, fly! That's so cool!

Other than some fairly innovative field ideas, hanging around in fields and towns is pretty lame. The sidequests that are given to you by NPC's are 99% fetch and return, which gets old after the second time. Something kind of clever is the greedy duck salesman, who has a general store with all your survival needs. While you could probably afford his stuff, the game lets you know that he's ripping you off, so it's kind of rewarding when you get items through other methods. I also liked how you can upgrade equipment to your liking, which is nothing really original, but still very fun (and necessary). Still, most of the time in the field will be running back and forth, which is usually pretty dull.

The gameplay's saving grace is in Sudeki's combat. Without the fun factor that it provides, this score would be much lower.
GAMEPLAY: 7.5/10

LASTING APPEAL:
For an RPG, Sudeki is very short. Taking a first-timer no more than 25 hours, there definitely could've been some additions to make it longer. How about some more scenarios involving subplots? Or more exciting sidequests? Perhaps the biggest thing that brings this score down is, again, Sudeki's ending. After all our hard work, do we really think a three-second puppet show is worth it? Hell no. The idiotic ending can quite possibly make you hate the game with a passion, and you may not want to play it ever again upon completion.
LASTING APPEAL: 4.5/10

OVERALL:
Sudeki is a beautiful game, exploding with attitude and color. Still, Climax aren't exactly experts at making RPGs, so this is understandably far from being any Fable or Jade Empire. We've got some fun elements here, but also some big drawbacks that should've been addressed.
OVERALL: 7/10

Thanks for reading =)

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 02/16/07