Sudeki is a 2004 action role-playing game developed by Climax Studios. It was originally released for Xbox by Microsoft Game Studios. A Microsoft Windows port was released in Europe by Zoo Digital Publishing in 2005, and worldwide via Steam and GOG.com in 2014 by Climax. Set on the splintered world of Sudeki, divided into the twin planets Illumina and Akloria, the storyline follows four characters chosen by the god Tetsu to prevent the return of the dark god Haigou and reform Sudeki. Gameplay follows the four protagonists as they explore various environments, with different characters fighting enemies using third-person melee or first-person shooter combat.
The concept of the game began in 1999, originally as a Dreamcast project. After multiple platform changes, production proper started in 2000 as an Xbox exclusive. As Climax's first role-playing game, the team wanted to emulate Japanese RPGs, though the art style was adjusted from its earlier anime-inspired aesthetic to appeal to a Western audience. The game saw mixed reviews from journalists; praise went to its graphics and combat system, but there were mixed thoughts on the narrative due to its pacing and generic content. It also met with low sales in all release regions.
Gameplay
Sudeki is an action role-playing game where players take control of up to four characters, exploring a variety of locations including towns, rural areas and roads, wilderness, and underground temples and mines from a third-person camera perspective. The world is split between the main world Haskilia, the mirror world Akloria, and the Realm of Shadows. During exploration, the party can interact with non-playable characters (NPCs), break containers to find items, interact with local merchants and blacksmith characters, and discover treasure chests. Each character has a dedicated health bar and skill point bar which powers magic and special moves.
While in towns, the party can visit shops to purchase materials and items for healing and status buffs, sell materials and merchants, stay at inns to rest and recover character stats, and use the local blacksmith to upgrade weapons. During exploration, each protagonist has unique abilities; Tal can push and pull heavy objects, Ailish can reveal hidden objects including chests and pathways, Buki can climb some surfaces, and Elco can use his jetpack to cross otherwise-impassable gaps between areas. In addition to the main story-driven quest, talking to certain NPCs leads into side quests which can be completed for different rewards. Save points are found throughout the game.
The combat system is a combination of real-time fighting action, and menu-based item and ability selection which slows time. Combat takes place in specific arena areas within locations outside towns. The characters have different combat styles and perspectives. Tal and Buki fight in third-person using timed button combos to execute different melee attacks, being able to move or dodge around them during combat. Ailish and Elco switch gameplay style to first-person shooter, moving freely around the arena and using assigned weapons to fire projectiles at different rates. Characters not under the player's control have customisable behaviour patterns, such as attacking directly, keeping distance, or focusing on providing support. There are different status buffs (health regeneration, attack boost) and ailments (poisoning, slowed movement) which play a role in battle for both the party and enemy groups. Items are accessed from a shared inventory.
As they progress through the game, defeating enemies and completing quests, party members are rewarded with experience points. After raising a level, they acquire an ability point to invest in one of a character's four statistics (health, skill point pool, attack power, skill duration and effectiveness), or purchase new combat abilities. All characters have access to standard skill strikes, which can buff the party or be used against enemies. When skills are selected and used, time slows down. Cinematic spirit strikes, which are unlocked by progressing the story, can be activated once a special meter is filled by killing enemies, taking damage, or performing successful combos. Similar to skill strikes, they can either deal damage to enemies or buff the party.
Synopsis Setting and characters Sudeki is set across three locations; the light world Haskilia, the dark world Akloria, and an intermediary plain dubbed the Realm of Shadows. In the game's backstory, the deity Tetsu governed the world of Sudeki, and in his loneliness created a twin from his own being. This split also divided Sudeki into two worlds, and Tetsu's twin took the name Haigou and overthrew his brother. Tetsu chose four heroes—Kariston, Olivitess, Mo, and Lebius—who banished Haigou from reality. One thousand years later in the game's present, the Aklorians are attacking Haskilia, which is united under the Bright Empire ruled by Queen Lusica; Lusica's past was marred by the debilitating illness of her mother. Among the game's locations are the capital Illumina, the Anthropomorph settlement Shadani Mo, and the technology-based city of Transentia.
The lead protagonist is Kariston's descendant Tal, a soldier on the Illumina Castle guard who is estranged from his father General Arlo and focused on revenge against the attacking Aklorians following the death of his other family during early attacks. The female lead is Ailish, descendant of Olivitess, daughter of Lusica, and one of the most skilled magicians in Haskilia. Buki is from the Anthropomorph people, a descendant of Mo and famed hunter for her tribe living around the Temple of Mo. Elco is a Transentian scientist and descendant of Lebius, a friend to both Tal and Ailish; he lost his arm in an accident and was granted a clockwork replacement by Lusica, putting him in her debt.
Plot Tal is sent out from Illumina to defeat a raiding party of Aklorians. As he fights an ogre, Tetsu contacts him, warning him of future dangers; Tetsu appears to each protagonist in turn over the course of the narrative. Tal is then sent to retrieve Ailish from a neighbouring village, and sent with Elco to recover a large crystal from Shadani Mo which can power his defensive shield. Ailish and Buki follow so they can prove themselves to Lusica, and the four help clear the Temple of Mo of its infestation of mutated spiders. Retrieving the temple's crystal, they are transported into the Realm of Shadows, watched by the Aklorian assassin Lord Talos. The party escape using an ancient portal and return the crystal to Illumina, then are sent to Elco's home of Transentia to recover a second crystal. They recover it, and Elco's mentor Professor Hayton detects another crystal present in Akloria. The party are sent through a nearby portal, while Lord Talos kills Hayton and retrieves the crystal.
In Akloria's version of Brightwater, the four first defeat a siren monster tormenting the town, then are taken by dark versions of themselves to meet Lady Caprine, Akloria's ruler. She reveals that something in Haskilia is draining Akloria's light and driving its inhabitants mad, though Elco refuses to believe her. While Tal helps quell an uprising in Caprine's troops, Elco is forced by Talos to steal the Alkorian crystal. It is revealed that Talos and Lusica are working together to summon Haigou using Elco's machine, which is a generator siphoning light from Alkoria; Talos will become Haigou's vessel, with the price being immortality for the death-fearing Lusica. Elco realises this and sabotages the device, escaping with his wife Tilly and rejoining the others. Caprine sends the four and their Aklorian counterparts to the Realm of Shadows, where Tetsu merges them together. Talos then appears, having become Haigou's champion and killed Lusica. Tal fights and defeats Talos, and the four combine their powers to destroy Haigou, allowing Sudeki to reunify.
Development The first concepts of Sudeki were proposed by a small team within Climax Solent, a branch of Climax Studios. At this time, it was titled Symphony of Light and was being planned for the Dreamcast. By April 2000, it had changed platform to the PlayStation 2. At some point after this, it changed platform again to become a high-end title for Microsoft Windows. After its first year of production, the title attracted the attention of Microsoft, which was preparing to enter the console market with the Xbox. Describing the company's choice, Microsoft manager Peter Connelly said that Japanese developers were failing to deliver RPGs for the Xbox, so Climax Studio's project gave them an entry in an under-represented genre. The current form of Sudeki began development in September 2000, at the time as a console exclusive overseen and published by Microsoft Game Studios. Under Microsoft, the title was changed due to potential confusion with a similarly-titled series. The final game was planned to be called "Suteki", which roughly translates from Japanese as both "beautiful" and "great". Due to confusion during communication between Climax Studios and Microsoft, the title became Sudeki. The production team consisted of between 50 and 70 people, over half the staff at Climax Solent. At the time, Sudeki was described by Climax managing director Joe Cavalla as the largest project ever handled by the company, and it was their first RPG project.
The game was directed by Jason Avent, produced by Mark Simmons, and the programming team was led by Stewart Lynch. Designer Tuomas Pirinen described the entire design process as very hard, as they wanted to create both functioning gameplay and extravagant graphics to show off the Xbox hardware's capacities. The most challenging element was setting the difficulty so casual and experienced RPG players could enjoy the game. The game design was strongly influenced by Secret of Mana and Star Ocean: The Second Story. Its combat drew additional inspiration from Devil May Cry, the Dynasty Warriors series and Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny. Real-time combat was chosen as the team felt turn-based combat was overused in the genre. There was also a noted rarity of real-time combat systems with any depth and care in RPGs. The first-person combat was a relatively late inclusion, with the team needing to alter enemy AI so it would approach differently and allow players to see and fight them with the altered perspective. An early problem was the special moves and quick menu, as if kept in real-time enemies would have an advantage of either attacking a vulnerable character or moving out of range. Drawing inspiration from the slow-motion action sequences in The Matrix, the team implemented a slowing of time, allowing players to maintain an advantage and strategise without the combat losing its real-time style. It was designed from the beginning as a single-player experience, as multiplayer would have significantly delayed its release.
The storyline and cutscene concepts were created once the gameplay ideas were solidified. Sound designer Eamon Murtagh also acted as scenario writer. He wanted the cast to respond like real people rather than comic book stereotypes, and with that aim in mind the actors recorded together in the same studio, with their performances playing off each other. The overall aim was for the story to appear clear-cut and standard for players, then ask questions about the morality of different factions. So as not to dilute the plot, the narrative was kept linear and fixed. The storyline changed several times during production, with there being so much background lore that the opening cinematic was a compromise to communicate it to the player as concisely as possible. The plot's "creative energy" was fuelled by multiple sessions of Dungeons & Dragons. Each character was created with a character flaw that needed to be overcome, such as Ailish's sheltered mannerisms and Elco's over-questioning nature.