Crimson Sea

"Not Dynasty Warriors, but it's good anyway."

*Story*
Rating: 9/10
Sho, a detective with little cash in his pocket and no food in his belly, and his rather annoying sidekick Yangqin, are both hired by a voluptuous beauty by the(rather odd) name of Live-D to save the solar system from a nasty bunch of aliens called Mutons. Along Sho’s quest lies a bunch of plot twists, and I will not reveal them here, so sucks for you. (Hah!)
Story is good and consistent, but some of the “twists” weren’t as surprising as I would have hoped them to be, and I found myself confused at a few things. However, with a few of the characters, you won’t be sure if they could be trusted or not, or if they’re really on your side. I liked that and it kept me determined to find out just what the hell was going on.
Bottom Line: Characters are interesting enough, and the story isn’t as clichéd as most

*Gameplay*
Rating: 7/10
I liked how you could run around on the ship, talk to people, and buy stuff ala Phantasy Star Online, but the ship was too small for my tastes. As for buying equipment and weapons, I found money hard to come by once I spent too much of it. I ended up starting over because I was broke and I had weak weapons. There is no other way to score money aside from quests, and once quests are completed they cannot be replayed. There are training quests but I wish there were more of them and that they gave you good stuff for beating them. Quests were varied and they did have something new for you to do in each one. As for weaponry…I liked how you could customize your gun/saber and enhance it using parts. Weapons are also balanced pretty well, and you have your standard gun, spread gun, and powerful, huge, but slow gun. When actually playing the game, I started to compare it to Kingdom Hearts, due to the ally partying and pickups the enemies drop after death. What Kingdom Hearts doesn’t have that Crimson Sea does is the sheer number of enemies coming at you. Let me tell you folks…this is something that has to be seen to be believed. Luckily the ones that swarm you can be taken out easily in one or two hits. Chaining multiple kills will also heal Sho, so it’s as useful as it is fun. Using your Neo-Psionics(magic) can be useful too, but some of the powers are useless and won’t find much use. Party member AI is decent, but some characters (I won’t call any names here) seem to like dying, and it’ll get annoying having to cure them as well as fending off Mutons. You’ll want them alive especially if you want a good ranking at the end of the quest.
Good Rank = Mucho dinero.
Bottom Line: Quests are vaired; but money is hard to come by and the AI can get annoying

*Graphics*
Rating: 9/10
The graphics were, overall, great. I didn’t think they really did the Xbox hardware any justice, but I guess the enemy count could make up for that. Some edges looked a little rough, but they weren’t all that noticeable. Water-based enemies looked like actual water and shimmered. Very nice.
Bottom Line: The only thing here that takes advantage of the Xbox is the enemy count, but good nonetheless

*Sound*
Rating: 8/10
Ahh…this is quite a mixed bag. Voice acting wasn’t god-awful like in Dynasty Warriors and characters actually sounded as they looked(“Don’t pursue Lu Bu!”). That doesn’t mean that some characters weren’t annoying, or sounded off. There were some good humor and I chuckled a bit but that’s about it. Music was alright, but it was quickly forgettable and nothing you’d find yourself humming to afterwards. The real thing that was great about the sound was that in the heat of battle, it actually sounds like you’re there! Swarms of enemies could be heard somewhere around you, and you could actually tell how far away they were from hearing their noisy chatter. Ahh, the wonders of Dolby Digital.
Bottom Line: Voice acting isn’t horrendously bad(coughdynastywarriorscough); Dolby Digital makes it seem as if there are Mutons in your living room

*Replay Value*
Rating: 5/10
There isn’t really much to do after beating the game, but you can play harder difficulties or replay completed quests. Replaying quests doesn’t give you anything except a rank, so there’s really no reason to replay them except for your entertainment. You can’t replay some quests either. There is also a monster bestiary, a cutscene viewer(not all of them are in there), and..well…the quest replay feature. Not much unless you count the sound test. After you’ve done everything in the game, you’d best move on to something else.
Bottom Line: Not much, unless you want to stare at cutscenes and monsters all day

*Final Verdict*
Rating: 8/10
Overall, I liked Crimson Sea. You just won’t see me putting a lot of time into it now that I’ve completed the game. The game isn’t terribly hard, and you can shoot through it in a few hours on the easiest difficulty. There aren’t many unlockables, and most are unlocked during the game. Though if you’re into space shooters and hack and slash games, then this game is for you. I’d recommend you rent it if otherwise. Good thing Dynasty Warriors 4 is due out this September.
Bottom Line: Buy if you’re a Koei fan, rent if otherwise

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/08/03