Sudeki

"Uh, I don't think so."

Before I even start, let we explain giving this game a 6. In my rating scale I do believe that a 5 is average. So in my opinion it is above average however the game received the lower mark mostly by not living up to the standard that rpg's have slowly become. The 6 is on a game scale. The game rates better than average on all games but below average on an rpg scale. Make sense?

I was very excited for sudeki. The game showed lots of potential and the X-Box is lacking on party rpgs. So like any good rpg fan I reserved this game in advance. The game had good looking graphics, a unique combat system, and the interesting concept of a light and shadow world that parallel each other. A good start. But even through the original thought and potential that this game has it falls apart due to some minor and major flaws.

Story:
The story could have been something great, instead it becomes a repetitive treasure hunt. You are a party of four, a soldier (Tal), a princess (Ailish), a scientist (Elco), and a wolverine want-to-be (Buki). The characters are not memorable in any sense. For example, (Minor Spoilers) There is an instance early in the game in which Tal and Ailish are being flirtatious with each other. During the short cutscene the gestures of the animators and the horrible voice acting show the characters to be apathetic and boring. The story itself, instead of throwing in cool twists in very straight forward. We need four crystals so go to different regions to collect them. And it doesn't get any better.

Sound:
Annoying. That is the word that comes to mind. The voice acting can be best compared to nails on a chalkboard, and the music... Well, I'd advise you to turns off the sound and put on some of your own music. And while your at it, say the lines that come up. You're probably better than the voices they hired. The music isn't even an annoying that you end up humming an hour later. You just want to shut it up.

Gameplay:
The reason this game got as good of a score as it did. I'm going to split this up into two sections, Advancement and gameplay.

1. Advancement- Simplistic yet in depth. You level up much like any other rpg, by defeating enemies and finishing quests. When you do level up you get so many points to assign different attributes or skills. For example, I have one point that I can assign so I assign it to Hit Points or Health. I get so many more Hit Points. Or I can assign it to a Skill Strike which is just like a special attack that can kill larger amounts of enemies. Your Armor and weapons have to different kinds of slots, square and circle. Different attributes can be assigned by taking these items to a blacksmith.

2. Gameplay-Also unique, but flawed. Two of the characters fun around with melee weapons in third person. The other two switch into first person view to fire projectile weapons. The weapons are hard to fire and aim do tyo some clunky controls. The third person characters have combos but aren't really an addition to the game. You'll use them, but they aren't anything notable.
My biggest gripe in combat is when you switch to a character in first person in the middle of the action. You'll normally be facing a wall and when you turn around, Bam! There is four baddies attacking you. But over all I though the combat was different and something to experience at least once.

Buy/Rent:
Rent. It is a good rental. You might not play the whole way through the game, but you will have fun with the Gameplay aspects of the game. The story just doesn't hold interest to play through the whole thing. You'll go through the game kicking and screaming. But the combat is worth experiencing at least once.

So this concludes my review. The game is decent. Better than most, but your better off saving your money for some of the other rpgs that are coming out this year and early next year.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 08/04/04