The Xbox has always been a console cursed in the adventure and role-playing genres. Remember the launch one-two punch of Azurik and Nightcaster? The two games that promised to knock the Legend of Zelda off of its lofty perch? The only thing that either of those games delivered was an apology. Seriously. Before Microsoft’s E3 2004 press conference, the screen at the front of the theatre had humorous faux-movie trivia. One of the questions was “What was the deal with Azurik?” The answer? “Sorry. Our bad.”

The time for joking is over. With the holiday season, and, more importantly, Fable on the horizon, Microsoft needs to prove that they’ve upped their game, so to speak. Sudeki is, unofficially, the transitory game between the old Xbox jokes and the serious new promises. It’s lacked the exposure of Big Blue Box’s blockbuster, (it was a non-entity at this year’s E3), and the pedigree as well, (developer Climax has yet to create any major hits) but it’s the last big first party game before Fable. Putting a playable demo of Sudeki on the Fable pre-order DVD is a more serious vote of confidence than one might think. Microsoft has basically acknowledged that Sudeki is a game on par with their biggest adventure game ever. Another New Legends will set Fable back before it even reaches the starting gate. A return of the Old Republic will give gamers hope.

Story
Sudeki is world filled with worry. Invaders known as Aklorians are making life miserable for men, women, children, and bipedal, talking animals alike. Little is known about the world from which the Aklorians are borne; no one from Sudeki has ever seen it and many doubt it’s existence. Four destined souls have found it. They are: Tal, a young, headstrong soldier, Ailish, the independent young daughter of the Queen, Buki, an animal woman in touch with nature, and Elco, a scientist often dismayed by that which he cannot explain.

While on a journey to find crystals for a machine created by Elco that will repel Aklorians from Sudeki’s capital, the four young adventurers stumble across an alternate dimension, a “dark world” if you will, that houses many large crystals, as well as some terrible secrets. The four sons and daughters of Sudeki must keep the peace between the contentious universes and stop those who wish to see chaos reign over their homeland.

If the story seemed a little dry and generic, that’s because it is. While the game’s developers did their best, offering up a few twists along the way, Sudeki has a pretty dull story that clings to the most tired of RPG cliches. While surveying the empty, “dark world” equivalents of the bustling towns your characters called home is a bit frightening and unsettling, it’s also pretty hackneyed and unoriginal.

The characters of Sudeki are also pretty bland. For all the time you’ll spend with them, you never really get to know Tal, Ailish, Buki, and Elco. Sure, you’ll find out a secret of two about each character (it’s an adventure-RPG requisite) but those are just as bland as the story. The game also lacks many interactions between the characters. With all the splitting up that is done during the game, you’d expect some unique relationships to develop, but it just doesn’t happen. I’d settle for some lively chatter between the different groups, but you rarely get that.