Sudeki
Posted August 29, 2004
Making an RPG is hard, I know. Being such a fan of the genre, about a decade ago in high school I tried to create my own. There I was, programming the stat system, the combat system, the locations, the items, and... wait, I know I'm forgetting something here. Oh, right, the story. The story... hmm... I know! I'll unintentionally make it an amalgamation of every RPG cliché ever! Perfect. But to my utter disappointment, I discovered that while technically well-made, the game didn't live up to its potential. It was the story, but I only realized its faults after everything came together.
Climax Studios, best known for action games, has taken a big chance in attempting their first-ever RPG (more specifically, an action-adventure RPG), and while the story for Sudeki isn't remotely as bad as my humble teenage effort, it still suffers from many of the same problems my long-lost creation did years ago. The gameplay is fun, but the characters are underdeveloped, dialogue is sometimes painful, and the ending is, to put it mildly, unsatisfying.
In a genuinely creative introduction that I wish was indicative of what would follow, we learn that it's been over a thousand years since a war between the gods ripped the world of Sudeki into the separate planes of Haskilia and Akloria. As the game begins, recent Aklorian invasions into Haskilia have resulted in the construction of a magical defense shield. Four crystal shards are required to power it, so four heroes -- Tal, the soldier; Ailish, the sorceress; Buki, the huntress; and Elco, the pissy German scientist -- are sent to seek them out. Along the way they'll uncover the reason for the Aklorian attacks and their own place in a much greater scheme.
Unfortunately, scenes that never seem to have any weight muddle the promise of this story. I'll give an example. Tal (he's the main character, by the way, but he's squeezed out of the spotlight on the cover in favor of sex appeal) and his father have had a bad relationship most of his life, and especially after Tal's brother died. After Tal's initial exploits land him a position as a royal guard, dad bursts into his room in a drunken rage and plays the sneering villain, clearly jealous of his son and blaming Tal for his brother's death. A little later in the game, his father comes into the room and apologizes for everything, Tal forgives him for years of this abuse in a couple minutes, and they share a drink. The entire subplot comprises two scenes in the whole game, has no bearing on the game whatsoever, and seems like it's included expressly as a trite attempt to make Tal seem more complex than simply the two-dimensional soldier who has a crush on the princess. As it exists currently, it's notably out of place.
Gameplay:
But enough about that. Where Sudeki (and Climax, presumably) feel most at home is in the combat system, which is a lot like playing a real-time version of Grandia. Players can instantly switch between the four characters at any time to use their special skills. Tal and Buki are brawlers, Ailish and Elco are gunners, and there is a real difference between the two. The melee fighters are viewed in third person, and, in a wise move, you must string together combos for maximum damage. There's almost no button mashing here, as it tends to leave you open to attack. The shooters, on the other hand, are viewed in first-person mode and have no combos, but can stay back from the fray and provide support. Characters that are not in use at the time can have their AI set to attack (attack to achieve maximum damage), defend (attack, but block whenever appropriate), or retreat. The AI generally works well, provided it's used effectively, but there are cases where it can be frustrating, such as the rescue of Elco's wife Tilly late in the game, where she tends to run towards the enemy, not away. Success in the game depends on using each character to their full potential in battle, especially since Climax likes to change up the team early and often throughout the game.
As in many other games, players gain experience points from battles with which they can purchase new skills or upgrades to health, skill points, power, or essence (magic power). You can also imbue your weapons and armor with runes, similar to Record of Lodoss War, that allow you, for example, to regain some health or skill points depending on the amount of damage you dole out.
Battles can be fast-paced and intense, primarily because you can't execute special attacks or access the item list when paused. That's reserved for the quick menu, and when in this mode action only slows down instead of stopping entirely. You can assign four inventory items to the d-pad, but on occasion you will have to quickly scan through your inventory list for something specific. Enemies can and will hit you if you take too long. On one boss battle in particular versus a kill-all-humans robot, taking longer than a few seconds to fumble for the right item almost always ended in death, resulting in frantic searches and sometimes accidentally using the rare item I was saving for later. Early in the game, when you rely almost exclusively on potions, this can be frustrating, but combat becomes easier after the first dungeon, once you get enough money together to buy some runes and enough levels to survive a few hits.
As the "adventure" in "action-adventure RPG" implies, there are also puzzles in this game. Each character has a special skill to help solve them, and, oh boy, Tal's is block-moving. There's not much to say about these seemingly obligatory inclusions. Early on the puzzles are insultingly easy, and although they never become a challenge, later ones fair a bit better.
As you might expect from the story, there are four dungeons that the group must complete, each ending in a boss battle. These battles are always contrived in such a way that only one character is able to fight the boss, with each getting a turn throughout the game. After working to level up your team, you may find it disappointing to only be able to use one of them. However, it works, allowing boss battles to become Zelda-like affairs, where pattern recognition is key and simply bashing it repeatedly in the face is (at least, by itself) a sure-fire way to fail miserably.
Having only four dungeons, though, means that the game is short. Most players will breeze through Sudeki in a brisk 15-20 hours.
Graphics:
The backgrounds are gorgeous, and the lighting effects in particular are amazing in places. Sure, towns only have 15 people, but the environments are well-realized and detailed. Climax has managed to keep the load times short, but this graphical complexity clearly taxes the Xbox every now and then, as there is occasional frame-rate drop. It's clear that Sudeki would be less refined on the GameCube and impossible to port to the PlayStation 2 in any recognizable way. Characters don't fair quite as well as the worlds they inhabit, but they are by no means bad. The game also supports 480p.
Audio:
You know, they're selling a soundtrack, but not once did I notice the music. Admittedly, I am just happy if the soundtrack doesn't actively annoy me in RPGs, so count that in Sudeki's favor. On the other hand, I was very aware of the fantastic sound design. Some of the locations later on are genuinely creepy almost exclusively due to the sounds of their environment, especially since the game supports Dolby Digital 5.1 surround.
On the other hand, the entire game is voice-acted, the quality of which is a mixed bag and can vary wildly from character to character. Some, like Ailish, Elco, and Buki, are pretty good. Others, like Tal, are frequently cringe-inducing. Apparently, Climax was also trying to incorporate every possible accent in the world into the game. This ultimately hurts the experience, as some of the attempts are just bad. Despite these problems, the voice acting overall is acceptable and never feels "phoned-in."
Conclusion:
Although this review is a bit harsh, I really did enjoy Sudeki. It's like cotton candy. Fun while it lasts, but not terribly filling or memorable. Recommended, but wait for a price drop.
Climax Studios, best known for action games, has taken a big chance in attempting their first-ever RPG (more specifically, an action-adventure RPG), and while the story for Sudeki isn't remotely as bad as my humble teenage effort, it still suffers from many of the same problems my long-lost creation did years ago. The gameplay is fun, but the characters are underdeveloped, dialogue is sometimes painful, and the ending is, to put it mildly, unsatisfying.
In a genuinely creative introduction that I wish was indicative of what would follow, we learn that it's been over a thousand years since a war between the gods ripped the world of Sudeki into the separate planes of Haskilia and Akloria. As the game begins, recent Aklorian invasions into Haskilia have resulted in the construction of a magical defense shield. Four crystal shards are required to power it, so four heroes -- Tal, the soldier; Ailish, the sorceress; Buki, the huntress; and Elco, the pissy German scientist -- are sent to seek them out. Along the way they'll uncover the reason for the Aklorian attacks and their own place in a much greater scheme.
Unfortunately, scenes that never seem to have any weight muddle the promise of this story. I'll give an example. Tal (he's the main character, by the way, but he's squeezed out of the spotlight on the cover in favor of sex appeal) and his father have had a bad relationship most of his life, and especially after Tal's brother died. After Tal's initial exploits land him a position as a royal guard, dad bursts into his room in a drunken rage and plays the sneering villain, clearly jealous of his son and blaming Tal for his brother's death. A little later in the game, his father comes into the room and apologizes for everything, Tal forgives him for years of this abuse in a couple minutes, and they share a drink. The entire subplot comprises two scenes in the whole game, has no bearing on the game whatsoever, and seems like it's included expressly as a trite attempt to make Tal seem more complex than simply the two-dimensional soldier who has a crush on the princess. As it exists currently, it's notably out of place.
Gameplay:
But enough about that. Where Sudeki (and Climax, presumably) feel most at home is in the combat system, which is a lot like playing a real-time version of Grandia. Players can instantly switch between the four characters at any time to use their special skills. Tal and Buki are brawlers, Ailish and Elco are gunners, and there is a real difference between the two. The melee fighters are viewed in third person, and, in a wise move, you must string together combos for maximum damage. There's almost no button mashing here, as it tends to leave you open to attack. The shooters, on the other hand, are viewed in first-person mode and have no combos, but can stay back from the fray and provide support. Characters that are not in use at the time can have their AI set to attack (attack to achieve maximum damage), defend (attack, but block whenever appropriate), or retreat. The AI generally works well, provided it's used effectively, but there are cases where it can be frustrating, such as the rescue of Elco's wife Tilly late in the game, where she tends to run towards the enemy, not away. Success in the game depends on using each character to their full potential in battle, especially since Climax likes to change up the team early and often throughout the game.
As in many other games, players gain experience points from battles with which they can purchase new skills or upgrades to health, skill points, power, or essence (magic power). You can also imbue your weapons and armor with runes, similar to Record of Lodoss War, that allow you, for example, to regain some health or skill points depending on the amount of damage you dole out.
Battles can be fast-paced and intense, primarily because you can't execute special attacks or access the item list when paused. That's reserved for the quick menu, and when in this mode action only slows down instead of stopping entirely. You can assign four inventory items to the d-pad, but on occasion you will have to quickly scan through your inventory list for something specific. Enemies can and will hit you if you take too long. On one boss battle in particular versus a kill-all-humans robot, taking longer than a few seconds to fumble for the right item almost always ended in death, resulting in frantic searches and sometimes accidentally using the rare item I was saving for later. Early in the game, when you rely almost exclusively on potions, this can be frustrating, but combat becomes easier after the first dungeon, once you get enough money together to buy some runes and enough levels to survive a few hits.
As the "adventure" in "action-adventure RPG" implies, there are also puzzles in this game. Each character has a special skill to help solve them, and, oh boy, Tal's is block-moving. There's not much to say about these seemingly obligatory inclusions. Early on the puzzles are insultingly easy, and although they never become a challenge, later ones fair a bit better.
As you might expect from the story, there are four dungeons that the group must complete, each ending in a boss battle. These battles are always contrived in such a way that only one character is able to fight the boss, with each getting a turn throughout the game. After working to level up your team, you may find it disappointing to only be able to use one of them. However, it works, allowing boss battles to become Zelda-like affairs, where pattern recognition is key and simply bashing it repeatedly in the face is (at least, by itself) a sure-fire way to fail miserably.
Having only four dungeons, though, means that the game is short. Most players will breeze through Sudeki in a brisk 15-20 hours.
Graphics:
The backgrounds are gorgeous, and the lighting effects in particular are amazing in places. Sure, towns only have 15 people, but the environments are well-realized and detailed. Climax has managed to keep the load times short, but this graphical complexity clearly taxes the Xbox every now and then, as there is occasional frame-rate drop. It's clear that Sudeki would be less refined on the GameCube and impossible to port to the PlayStation 2 in any recognizable way. Characters don't fair quite as well as the worlds they inhabit, but they are by no means bad. The game also supports 480p.
Audio:
You know, they're selling a soundtrack, but not once did I notice the music. Admittedly, I am just happy if the soundtrack doesn't actively annoy me in RPGs, so count that in Sudeki's favor. On the other hand, I was very aware of the fantastic sound design. Some of the locations later on are genuinely creepy almost exclusively due to the sounds of their environment, especially since the game supports Dolby Digital 5.1 surround.
On the other hand, the entire game is voice-acted, the quality of which is a mixed bag and can vary wildly from character to character. Some, like Ailish, Elco, and Buki, are pretty good. Others, like Tal, are frequently cringe-inducing. Apparently, Climax was also trying to incorporate every possible accent in the world into the game. This ultimately hurts the experience, as some of the attempts are just bad. Despite these problems, the voice acting overall is acceptable and never feels "phoned-in."
Conclusion:
Although this review is a bit harsh, I really did enjoy Sudeki. It's like cotton candy. Fun while it lasts, but not terribly filling or memorable. Recommended, but wait for a price drop.