"Time certainly isn't money. But that's okay!"

Sudeki, a long-awaited RPG for the Xbox. In fact, the ONLY party rpg for the Xbox...Sudeki is indeed a somewhat short game, but has many positives to make up for its negatives. Let's just get to it.

Graphics: 8/10
Ok, graphics, the first thing you see in the game obviously. Sudeki features very polished graphics that glimmer, quite literally. From the armor you wear to the swords you wield to the items dropped by your enemies, everything has a nice, shiny finish to it. The characters move quite smoothly throughout the game, and the colors are very extraordinary for each individual place. Though a bit blocky, the graphics are almost on-par with FInal Fantasy X's (being that the characters' emotions don't seem to match well with their moods).

Sound: 7/10
Sound, the next thing you get to feel inside this RPG wonder. The sound is quite good. The soundtrack offers nostalgic music and I found myself humming some tunes subconsciously in the car. The sound effects are great as well; you'll hear the swing of the sword make contact with an enemy, or the gunshot of Elco's gun echo off into the distance as he pummels his enemies to death with heavy fire. The ONLY place this part falls short is the...VOICE ACTING. The WHOLE game is VA'ed...Though not the BEST VAing I've heard, I found myself enjoying the conversation between Tal and Ailish quite often. However, we still have to get rid of Elco's Jean Claude Van Damme issue...

Gameplay: 10/10
Moving around, fighting enemies, buying things, customization, etc, etc all fall under Gameplay in my book. So how is it? The characters all move smoothly to the commands you issue them. People find that they experience delays in their attacks, but I find that it is almost impossible to fit a DMC style of gameplay for combat in this type of game. It makes it easier to connect combos in battle with these "delays" or "breaks".
Customization seems to be a big issue here. Though most people don't bother with it, customization can be quite helpful in a boss battle (which you fight with only one character....). Who wouldn't want to start a battle with double damage and hallving how much the enemy does to you right off the bat? You can also add status effects to your weapons. This makes it nice to slow your enemies down, poisen them, halve their damage AND their armor while you whomp away with your DOUBLE damage attacks that now do 1600. Goo djob.
Another part of the gameplay imples you having to go into first person mode in battles with your ranged fighters. Pretty much, it's Halo all over again...with spells...

Story: 8/10
The story in Sudeki takes a LONG time to actually understand the point in the game. However, once you reach a certain point, you understand why you've been doing such mediocre tasks for your queen. It all ties together and, though it may be short, you will feel accomplished in knowing that YOU'VE been taking control of the story all along and that YOU'VE been the one to create your world and make it the way it is. Good job, you've doomed us all. Are you happy now?
Many people complain that the story is too short, but I believe it was just long enough for you to have a good time with the battling and leveling up and getting to see the great visual effects with the game. The story fits perfectly and you WILL feel accomplished at the end of the game. Trust me.

Buy or Rent? Buy it. 50 bucks is more than worth this game, and you might find yourself trying to turn Tal into a sorceror your second time around and AIlish into a good and decent fighter. If you get bored with it, anyway.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/27/04