Sudeki

"Exactly the same; only different!"

~Sudeki~

Sudeki (pronounced sue-deh-kee), is a breath of air into the workings of the traditional real-time RPG; and a welcome expansion to the XBOX RPG library. However, is it worth adding to your collection? Or is it just a failed experiment you'll find in the bargain bin all too soon?

Sudeki's GRAPHICS: are probably the highlight of the game, and are truly an admirable rival to most XBOX games. Environments were given particular detail, and are rendered extremely well, giving even the fantastic area of the game (i.e. the Shadow Realm) a very down-to-earth and realistic look. You can look up into a tree and see the individual leaves, or watch the ebb and flow of the waves at New Brightwater Pier. However, the characters don't look up to snuff with their surroundings when in close-ups. Overall, though; impressive and well done. 9/10

The STORY: in the world of Sudeki, is pretty much typial fare. Good and evil argue, evil's winning; and so good enlists the 4 heroes: the “muscle-bound swordsman' Tal, the “kinda bratty, kinda flirty royal magician” Ailish, the “technologically-inclined” Elco, and the “wild, tradition-bound” Buki. Character development is serviceable at best, and the plot isn't anything surprising- “Save the kingdom so you can… oops! Guess you need to save mankind instead- heh!” 6/10

MUSIC & SFX: are a half-and-half affair- the music is excellent and helps add to the overall cadence and feeling of the game, but the voice acting suffers badly. The main characters voices are uninspired; and some of the bit parts (the single line that repeats over and over) are much better than anyone else! They also tried to give characters accents, but in a fantasy world (and done as poorly as they are) they only serve to further subtract from the gaming experience. 7.5/10

The area that tries to distinguish Sudeki is the GAMEPLAY:, and for the most part, Climax did an admirable job. I have to say that ever since Secret of Mana, I've had a special something for real-time RPG's, so I have to give Sudeki props for that. Slowing, but not freezing, time when calling up the items/ options menu is a neat idea that serves to quicken the pace of combat and give the game a more “real” feeling. The quickshot feature (the ability to map items to the D-pad for quick use) isn't anything new, but helps combat progress smoothly. The camera works relatively well in most situations, and can be controlled by the player, so there isn't a lot to gripe about there. Slowing down time while executing Spirit Strikes and other special moves has also been done before, but it was one of those things from others that you said, “Oh yeah, that's pretty cool…” about. They also come with the added strategic bonus of the character being invincible during their use. All in all, it's not anything terribly new, but rather most of the things you liked from other games put together in a fashion that works well to enhance the overall feeling of the game. The only gripe I have here is the really poor AI; you're supposed to be able to change the AI's patterns (Attack, Defend, and Retreat), but they're all just “Roll over and Die”. Sudeki would have benefited hugely from the ability to allow other players to control the other characters. 8.5/10

CONTROL: is executed pretty well, but definitely takes some getting used to. I think that the default button settings are mapped out pretty well, but the combo system should take most gamers a bit of getting used to, as it's not explained that combos are “timed”; that is to say that you can't just mash buttons to pull them off. I didn't have any problems here, but I've seen mixed reviews about the controls. 8/10

Worry or Hurry? I'd worry about buying it only if you don't like RPGs or don't have the patience to finish an RPG. Otherwise; go get it!

Did I enjoy it? For the most part, yes. Even though the plot was uninspired, the gameplay made it fun to get through. +4

Overall: 43/50= 86% (87.5% or better=9), so 8 out of 10. I'm waiting for Sudeki 2!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/26/04