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Extensive Sudeki Preview Preview
Chris Leyton
05/05/2004
We play through the latest build and discover everything you need to know...
The story of how Donkey Kong changed his name from Monkey Kong has been a well documented tale within the videogame industry; however a lot of you may be thinking what on earth this has to do with Sudeki.
When tasked with the dream of creating whatever game they wanted to regardless of time or resources, the talented team at Climax came up with a design sheet for an RPG, taking on many influences and inspiration from other franchises and amalgamating them within the unique concept that would ultimately result in Sudeki.
However before that it was entitled Symphony of Light and in development for the Dreamcast (as you can see from the accompanying montage of original artwork); little to the developers knowledge that it clashed with an existing game series. A list of alternatives was drawn up before Suteki was suggested, being the Japanese for the biggest, best thing. Somewhere between the regular correspondence between Climax and Microsoft during the ensuing years and change to Xbox, the t was changed into a d and Suteki became Sudeki.
In its five years of development, Sudeki has changed radically from its initial conception. Originally making use of a heavy anime style, Microsoft were keen to change the visual style to one that Western gamers would appreciate more; hence the over-proportioned heads and big eyes were replaced with the more muscular physique that Western gamers expect from their heroes - I suspect the comments suggesting that the main male character looked like a cool chick had something to do with it.
Having finally rested upon a name and a format, work began on Sudeki and hype has slowly begun to rise since its official debut at X02; however many changes have come since that first glimpse, gained in our extensive playtest from the latest build to be released before the final version ships.
The story is a tale of two worlds, Haskilia and Akloria that are at war. You play the role of four Haskilians, as they set forth to do the bidding of their Empress in order to win the war once and for all. They must travel across the land in order to build a machine that would grant Haskilia the power to utterly defeat Akloria.
As you progress through the game however, the characters learn more about the darker side of their own seemingly benevolent world; they must make difficult choices between loyalty and truth.
The four characters offer two distinct combat styles, with two opting for ranged combat and the other two preferring melee. Naturally certain characters are primed for combat whilst others are stronger in the skills of magic. In addition each of the four characters offer a distinctive skill, ranging from moving heavy objects with Tal to detecting hidden secrets with Ailish, or flying with Elco and scaling walls with Buki. As youd expect the characters evolve as you progress through the game, learning new attacks and magic spells as you level up through gaining experience points.
Beginning with a beautifully crafted flyby to show off the delights of Illumina Castle, players begin by taking control of Tal “ the powerful swordsman “ and begin the adventure by exploring the town and getting accustomed to the basic combat system.
You can tell from the moment that Sudeki begins that it has been a labour of love for the development team, quite simply weve not seen locations and characters brought to life with such charisma outside of Japan; as you wander through this first location, traders spout lines to catch your attention, kids play around in the background, butterflies flick around to catch your attention “ many people will have a tough task believing that this has come from the UK.
Its not long before youre being scolded by the towns military governor and forced to display some of your fighting skills before a Royal visit, leading in to a nice introduction of the games combat system. Thankfully Climax decided to opt for real-time combat as opposed to turn-based favoured by many Japanese developers, however the team were keen to ensure that this didnt descend into just another button-basher and wanted to incorporate some of the traits associated with turn-based combat.
The result is quite simply magnificent, merging the best of both worlds into a combat system that is both enjoyable and tactical; looks fantastic but has a suitable level of depth and complexity.
In particular combat is an area that has changed significantly since we last laid eyes upon Sudeki last year. Now two of the four playable characters (Elco & Ailish) revert to a first-person shooter perspective whenever a battle occurs, presumably as a means of pleasing the gun-happy western gamers out there and further to unlikely endure this to Japanese gamers. Its an experience that certainly takes a while to get used to; however it suits the context of the game surprisingly well and provides some much need respite from the RPG heavy aspects that make up the majority of the game.
Thankfully the two other characters make use of melee combat during battles, which introduces a fantastic rhythm dynamic to the combat system. Although its entirely possible to wade through button bashing between the two types of attack on offer, youll probably find yourself not getting very far; instead a combo indicator at the bottom left of the screen alerts you to which buttons are being pressed, successfully timing the action of a three-button command allows you to pull off a variety of impressive attacks. Theres a great sense of satisfaction to be gained from getting into the correct timing, linking timed combos together and unleashing devastating combos of various attacks.
However the game also features a rather cool slow-mo effect in the hope of merging the tactical depth of turn-based combat, with the excitement and action of real-time combat. Simply by tapping the Y button brings up your inventory and slows down all the on-screen action, providing the player with a brief moment to calculate their strategies and work out the best way to progress through the battle. Whilst your inventory is displayed you can perform the usual variety of tricks such as using items, however its main use comes in the form of the magic system. As you progress through the game certain characters learn new magic tricks, which can all be launched from the inventory screen and include a wide variety of effects from curses to healing potions. In addition all characters learn a Spirit Strike quite quickly within the game; having charged up a meter with successful attacks the Spirit Strike can be unleashed to create a wide variety of special moves such as devastating attacks to powerful shields. Although this build cut out before we had much opportunity to check it out, earlier chats with the team seemed to suggest that characters can link their Spirit Strikes; so for example a forceful Spirit Strike can be linked with a healing strike to both attack your opponents whilst healing your fellow party-members at the same time.
Having successfully entertained the Royal visit, Tal is sent on a quest to ensure the safe return of Princess Allish, introducing us to the first proper dose of combat. In most RPGs small battles usually diminish into an element merely to pad out the time and earn you a few experience points; however due to the sheer number that attack you and the variety of attacking formations and high level of AI that Climax have incorporated, Im happy to say that combat remained as enjoyable six hours in as it did right at the beginning.
Its not long before youre venturing into the first dungeon and find yourself grouped together as a four for the first time within the game. Switching between characters is handled effortlessly with the black and white buttons, whilst the game allows you to set the type of AI you want from your fellow heroes “ be it defensive or aggressive.
Having solves some pretty straightforward puzzles, youre faced with taking on the mother spider that has graced numerous Sudeki screenshots in the past “ only theres one problem, due to her animalistic background Buki insists on her being the only one to eliminate the spider. Trying to take the spider out with brute force will quickly get you an arse-hiding and the Game Over screen, so its a couple of turns before you realise the Spider uses an age-old Boss technique “ without wanting to spoil the experience, having finally destroyed the Spider we were left with the disheartening message that we had completed the preview build and that we look forward to sending you the finished version later in May “ bastards :)
In between the obvious missions, we were free to explore the various locations on offer, chat to the locals and embark on various sub-quests located within the first few areas. This is one particularly area that Sudeki follows the traditional RPG formula, by offering players a huge variety of side-quests and mini games to compete in when the main task is too difficult or you fancy a little diversion.
Sudekis visuals are without doubt some of the most amazing weve seen to come from the Xbox this year. Its not that theyre particularly technically amazing, but that everything comes together to create a solid yet charismatic offering. Taking a close look at things often reveals blurry textures and doesnt reveal the game in its true light, instead its the question of scope and the larger picture that Climax have created.
However special note must go to the games breathtaking lighting system that casts shadows on all objects and results in a very believable experience, whilst bump-mapping is used to good effect throughout the game.
Although some of the locals sound dubiously like some of the cider-swigging yokels from near us, we have to say that the number of voice lines recorded for Sudeki is quite simply unbelievable. Every character within the game has had their lines recorded regardless of whether theyve got a major role or not, whilst chatter is continuously going on in the background.
