"A beautiful, superb, interesting ride.. while it lasts."

Sudeki is the long-awaited ‘first Japanese-style RPG' to hit the Xbox. Whilst the console has already played host to three superb RPGs, in the form of Morrowind, Knights of the Old Republic, and the much-overlooked Arx Fatalis, Sudeki is a welcome addition to the excellent-if-sparse Xbox RPG lineup, and a great game to boot. The game's taken a lot of criticism from the ‘professional' reviewers at Gamespot, IGN, and other ‘reputable' sources, however they seem to have made Sudeki out to be something mediocre, when it simply isn't. It isn't better than Morrowind, it isn't better than Knights of the Old Republic, but, simply put, it is a great game.

Graphics – 10

Well.. starting somewhere very nice here. The graphics of Sudeki are, in my opinion, some of the best ever seen on the console. Beautiful and varied textures across the game's varied towns, dungeons, caves, countryside, and wastelands, detailed and interesting characters and NPCs, fearsome enemies and bosses.. it all adds up to a great visual experience. The load times are good, maybe ten or fifteen seconds on loading an entire new world, and two or three loading individual areas in the worlds, such as a city or a countryside area. The frame rate is excellent too, I only noticed slight slowdown when using teleporters, due to all the visual stuff going on at the time, I suppose. I saw none in-game though, or in the cut-scenes, which, by the way, look as gorgeous as the rest of the game.

Sound – 9

First off, the soundtrack for Sudeki has been released, I believe it was given away free with the game at some retailers. I wouldn't say the music is anything amazing, but it's pleasant, some of it's catchy, and none of it made me want to turn it off. The music which pipes up nearer the end of the game was pretty great, I'm not a fan of techno, but it went well with the whole ‘We're gonna kick the final boss' ass' scenario. I never really pay much attention to sound effects in video games, but, some of the magic sounds were nice, and, overall, it all fitted with the situations in-game well, which is what it's supposed to do. The voice acting has received a lot of criticism, but I have no idea why. One particular review seemed to think that the game's developers had simply recorded the voiceovers at the last minute, this is just plain wrong. Tom Baker, of Doctor Who fame, plays the character of Tetsu; there are also lots of other famous actors and video-game acting talent found, some voices from the Broken Sword series of games, praised for their superb voice acting. The accents are varied and interesting, and the vast majority of voices fit their characters or NPCs very well.

Gameplay – 9

The game is split into two sections, as most RPGs are, a combat engine, and an exploration engine. However, Sudeki's combat engine is further split, into the two melee characters, Tal and Buki, and the two ranged characters, Ailish and Elco. When controlling the two melee fighters in combat, the X and A buttons are used to create devastating combo attacks, much in the way of a standard beat-em-up. Timing is essential, buttons need to be pressed at the right time, so button-bashing will end up getting you killed. Ailish and Elco use a first-person-shooter viewpoint, and their weapons, a magical staff and a gun, are fired as you would in an FPS. This is a nice variation, and keeps the combat interesting. The game's Summons and Magic take the form of Spirit Strikes and Skill Strikes respectively. Spirit Strikes will call forth one of four powerful demons, one assigned to each character, to help fight the enemy. Skill Strikes perform such tasks as damaging enemies (either individually or in groups), healing or protecting the party, curing status effects, and so forth. As for the exploration engine, it's typical RPG fare really, save points are plentiful, puzzles are far too easy (as in all RPGs really, simple block-moving affairs), quite a few lovely cut-scenes explaining the common-yet-still-interesting storyline, with a few twists and turns along the way.

Lifespan – 6

No, Sudeki is not the longest game in the world. Depending on your gameplay style, it'll take you somewhere between ten and thirty hours to beat. I spent around twenty-five hours the first time through, taking my time, doing a few side-quests. I could have spent longer doing more of these, levelling up, and so on, but I feel I got my rental's worth out of the game. There are quite a few side-quests, and although the game is short, it's a great ride while it lasts. It does seem to end rather abruptly, I won't mention the storyline at the end, but.. it somehow feels unfinished when it's all done.. sequel in the works, perhaps?

Rent Or Buy?
Hmm.. it's a tough question. I rented it, I think it all comes down to whether you like to replay RPGs. If you're going to play this once and that's it.. just rent it, beat it, and take it back. If you're like me, and will come back to a game a couple of months later with a bored weekend to spend on it, then buy it. It'll make a nice addition to your Xbox RPG collection, sat alongside Morrowind, KOTOR, Arx Fatalis, and that empty spot reserved for Fable!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/31/04