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[Baron Aloha]

Good old Gantz recently created a thread that asked this question but I'm afraid that a conversation between myself and Kabuki Waq derailed the thread. I feel bad about it, so with Blackace's permission (thanks Blackace) I've created another thread so that Gantz can hear some more impressions. Here are the pertinant posts from the other thread.

decent. Wait till price drop to buy.

B+

7.9 if you ask me.

If it wasnt for story and possibly worst voicework in a western game EVER,it would have been much better.

The art later in the game is great actually,unlike main characters,the character in puppet theater(intro) are made very cool too.
Also enviropments are very original and beatiful through all the game.

I think the game is really beautiful. The look of the game reminds me of Skies of Arcadia mixed with Beyond Good and Evil, great stuff. The story is meh, but games like this and Star Ocean/Tales games rely just as much on the fighting as the story, and the fighting is awesome.

So if you've played Sudeki please post your thoughts in this thread and help Gantz out.

 

[open_mouth_]

http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/562275.asp

80%

 

[akascream]

C-


/me runs away

 

[Tabs]

My affinity for the combat is quickly dying off. I don't like this new trend of only controlling one character in real time while only tweaking the rest. There's not enough reason to use your skills other than to heal, and it's feeling more and more like button mashing (timing the combos is super easy) is the easiest way to get through these battles.

 

[levious]

I thought you could switch on the fly between who you control?

 

[Tabs]

Sure you can, but then it's the same thing with you controlling another character. The other three are still acting on their own. Anyway, I'm moving on to Tales of Symphonia for now to see how that, somewhat similar, battle system stands up. An hour into it, I'm getting the same feeling. Maybe it's not for me and I just need to stick with my old-fashioned turn based games.

 

[levious]

ah, I just misread what you wrote... still, as long as you don't compare it to a turn based rpg, it seems better to me than merely controlling one character.

 

[u_neek]

When will GS review this fucking game?!

 

[IJoel]

I beat the game last night and the running timer was at about 20 hours (the whole thing probably took 21 hours if I count the retries, which weren't that many.

That said, I loved the game. My 2 main complaints about it are that it's strictly linear during many times. This means that while you're doing a quest, sometimes, you can't do anything else, but that quest at hand.

My other complaint is that it's too short and feels rushed. It almost feels as if Climax had tons of content in mind, but had to reduce it to make the scheduled date.

The graphics are fantastic and I loved that they didn't bother with a stupid 'world' map with an oversized character to get to the different areas.

The character art wasn't that awful, with the exception of the leading guy art. His face is plain awful looking. Ailish (the princess with the blue hair) looks fantastic and Buki (the feline-like character) looked ok. Elco looked quite cool as well. I can see, however, how people might be turned off by the character designs world inhabitants. It certainly looks like a mix of japanese and western inspired characters, and it doesn't look too good.

The environments are nothing short of fantastic. Easily one of the best looking environments in recent RPGs. They range from colorful and vibrant, to dark and sinister.

The music was quite good overall, with some melodies being really great, while others being underwhelming. I'm considering getting the OST. The sound, on the other hand, was really great, making full use of DD5.1 surround sound and bringing the world alive with ambient sounds. It made a huge difference, in terms of immersion factor, turning my DD receiver on and off.

The story was generic. What was really bad about it, was the dialogue. It felt rushed, and thoughtless at times. The only thing I sorta liked was the unpretentiousness of it, as most Japanese RPGs have this aura of pretentiousness when presenting a story, which does work at times (see Xenosaga).

Finally, the combat was kickass. This was the highlight of the game without a doubt. You could pretty much choose how you wanted to play the game: shooter (Ailish-magic, Elco-gun shooter) or melee/combos (Tal, Buki. The First Person view for the shooter portion was excellent and felt like Halo. Also, the menu accessing scheme (slowing down the gameplay matrix-like) was really great and served both to strategize, as well as a great way to access your inventory and skills.

Overall, I really loved the game, though I was disappointed in the length. The game engine sure has a lot of potential.

Ask any questions you have and I'll try to answer them the best i can.

 

[akascream]

I loved that they didn't bother with a stupid 'world' map with an oversized character to get to the different areas.

Hehe, I hate that too. Trying not to let that bother me in ToS right now.

 

[demon]

I pre-ordered Fable yesterday and it came with the disc with a Sudeki demo. I played it, and I was unimpressed from the start. The controls/animation feel sloppy, and it just seemed to have boring design. I can't imagine actually playing through this game, let alone buying it.

 

[Kabuki Waq]

Ijoel: was there a decent payoff, i mean i know the story was generic but i would still like a coherent ending.

 

[IJoel]

I pre-ordered Fable yesterday and it came with the disc with a Sudeki demo. I played it, and I was unimpressed from the start. The controls/animation feel sloppy, and it just seemed to have boring design. I can't imagine actually playing through this game, let alone buying it.

It's an RPG. You just played through a portion of a dungeon that's quite underwhelming.

Battles happen both inside dungeons and in exterior environments.

That demo really did more bad than good as you need to play at the very least a few hours before you can 'get' the combat engine.

Hehe, I hate that too. Trying not to let that bother me in ToS right now.

ToS kicks ass! I stopped playing it to get through Sudeki, so that should tell you how much I liked Sudeki. I'm 26 hours into ToS and will resume today.[/quote]

 

[IJoel]

Ijoel: was there a decent payoff, i mean i know the story was generic but i would still like a coherent ending.

This is another thing. The ending SUCKED big time. I won't say how it ends, but

Spoiler

it's a very short cutscene that chooses the cheapest way to finish it.

 

[siamesedreamer]

IJoel, I just got to Transentia. How much is left? Also, did you bother with the totems - ie, is it worth the trouble?

Anyway, I really like the game. I've only played KOTOR, 3-4 hours of FFTA, and 1 hour or so of FFX. So, my RPG experience is very limited. However, I prefer this kind of RPG to any day of the week to anything FF.

My one main complaint is that while the skill attacks are very powerful, the players cannot use them on their own when you are not controlling them. You have to manually change to that character and use the skill strike. If you haven't played the game then you probably don't know what the hell I'm talking about. They should have made it where determing that character ai was a lot more in depth.

 

[IJoel]

IJoel, I just got to Transentia. How much is left? Also, did you bother with the totems - ie, is it worth the trouble?

Anyway, I really like the game. I've only played KOTOR, 3-4 hours of FFTA, and 1 hour or so of FFX. So, my RPG experience is very limited. However, I prefer this kind of RPG to any day of the week to anything FF.

My one main complaint is that while the skill attacks are very powerful, the players cannot use them on their own when you are not controlling them. You have to manually change to that character and use the skill strike. If you haven't played the game then you probably don't know what the hell I'm talking about. They should have made it where determing that character ai was a lot more in depth.

I didn't bother with the totems at all. I actually didn't even fully used my skill points by the end of the game. I imagine the game would've been much easier if I had done so. I also saved a lot of money which I didn't use by the end of the game. For the end boss, I used all the orbs and skill points and kicked its ass. BTW, it wasn't too easy that bastard.

About the AI not using the skill attacks, I sorta understand both sides, since there are times when you will need that 'mana' and if it was used up, you'd be in trouble and cursing at the AI. But, I agree that there should've been an option with the AI to set it to use skill attacks or not.

As for how far you're into the game, you are probably at 65% or so. I think i got to Transentia at hour 12 or so. Don't recall precisely. Just expect the game to last you for 19-21 hours and you should have a good estimate of where you're at.

 

[belgurdo]

I devote equal time to both Symphonia and Sudeki, since the stories of both drive me nuts, if that means anything

 

[siamesedreamer]

OK, I'm about 9 or so hours in.

Let me ask you this:

SPOILERS - taken out

 

[IJoel]

OK, I'm about 9 or so hours in.

Let me ask you this:

SPOILERS

Spoiler

After I get the crystal from Transentia and the final crystal from where ever, is that the end of the game?

Use [spoilr][/spoilr] (add the e) tags for spoilers.

The answer to that is 'sorta'. The thing is that there are tons of things that happen in between.

 

[siamesedreamer]

OK, thanks.

 

[Sinatar]

I'm really really enjoying it so far. Its just a fast paced, entertaining game. Ya the story is pretty generic (FF 4's plot basically) but most console RPG's have crappy plotlines so there is nothing new there.

 

[Musashi Wins!]

I'm going with Xbox retail for $10 It must be worth that.

 

[IgeL]

11 hours in, loving every moment of it. (Well except that castle part where you had to use Elco, Tal, Ailish AND Buki once in the courtroom, walking them individually to the place. It got old fast). I'm just starting Transentia with Ailish/Buki.

Have you guys done much of the side quests? I think I've done all (except the Gnat Stinger - if someone's just starting, DON'T SELL your Gnats, they're hard [impossible?] to come by later on. Not that it matters that much but it nags me that I've missed one quest). I was surprised by the amount of quests, because the first five hours or so didn't promise much quests at all.

The combat is cool. I think it has a lot of hidden depth, too - using Elco's other pistol is super-efficient (especially when doubled!) because it goes through enemies and throws them back. I'm a little disappointed in the skills, though, not much variation. Seems like they just renamed the skills for each character (almost). I'm quite disappointed in the weapons, too. Most of the new weapons I've gotten are WORSE than the current ones.

The graphics are obviously fantastic, although some shadows in Shadani-Mo look too sharp (heh). The LOD is good but not perfect. Framerate ok too.

Story and dialogue are Sudeki's weakpoints but they don't spoil my enjoyment. Ailish's red eyes are weird, though.

 

[Prince of Space]

Everything about Sudeki ranges from average to plain awful. The combat system for the most part is pretty decent; nothing groundbreaking, but not too bad either. Dungeons are short and feel dumbed down when compared to most other ARPGs out there, but again it's not too bad.
From an aesthetic standpoint, the environments are some of the prettiest yet seen, but the characters walking around in them are damned ugly. Voice-acting is terrible, especially from Ailish, who sounds like someone forced a girl to inhale about 5 tanks of helium, then stumble through the script. Music is nice, but forgettable.

Overall, Sudeki is one of those games one of those games worth $20 if you've got nothing else to play and you're still curious enough to try it. But with Symphonia out now, and Star Ocean and Fable on the way, it's not really worth it right now. IMO of course.