Sudeki Survival

Sudeki™ is not your typical roleplaying game (RPG). Part action-combat, part RPG, part fantasy, part science-fiction, and 100-percent fun, Sudeki takes you on an adventurous ride through the world of Haskilia and beyond. We’ve been playing through the game from the gamer’s perspective and culled these handy strategies that you can use in your own adventures.

Juggle, Not Jiggle
Yes, this game is rife with the anime hotties, but don’t spend too much time ogling your fellow heroes, or you’ll end up as aquaticlaw food. When playing as Tal or Buki—your two melee-heavy fighters—your survival depends on the combos you can make using the combo meter. (That’s the little string of three dots under your health bars.) Just press X or A when the empty circle turns blue and … bam! You’ve got an instant combo. But, if you want to inflict serious melee damage, keep those combos going with the juggle move: When your combo is complete, repeatedly and deliberately tap the last button of your combo to get hit after extra hit. It also helps to be moving toward your enemy, since some combos will knock the enemy back and prevent you from pulling off this trick. This series of extra hits can add loads of damage to your total and finish even the toughest creeps.

Ailish thinks of a number between 1 and 20.

Switch-Hit a Little
Are you finding that you’re getting whacked by the same enemy too many times while playing as your favorite character? Try a new perspective. Let the A.I. control Tal, for example, while you switch over to Elco for a few powerful spirit strikes or pinpoint ranged shots. You have four different viewpoints and weapon sets to fall back on at any time (after a certain point in the game, that is).

Skill Strikes Aren’t Always “Strikes”
Many of a character’s most potent skill strikes don’t necessarily do heavy damage against the enemy. Instead, they’ll add boosts in strength, defense, or health to your comrades. At the top of any serious fight, it’s handy to turn on Tal’s Iron Warrior strike (a shield that can protect Tal and other party members), Elco’s Nano Enhancement (doubles the strength of the party’s regular attacks), Buki’s Spirit Wind (a mighty skill that regenerates the health of all party members throughout the combat—well worth the 50 SP), and Ailish’s Gaze of the Wind (boost everyone’s speed in combat).

Spawn, Respawn
Many areas in the worlds of Sudeki are pretty clearly defined combat arenas, and often times, you’ll finish a massive fight, step through a door to save your game, and wander right back into another fracas. If the fight took a lot of your health last time, that can really be annoying, but usually, it’s a perfect way to build up lots of experience, as you already know the best way to beat these enemies. Brightwater Beach, for example, pretty much demands that you wander through repeatedly, as you collect special items for various quests.

A farm full of re-spawning bugs and scarecrows.

The Shadow (World) Knows …
At a certain point in the game, you’ll learn that all those mysterious blue circles are actually gateways to the Shadow World, a freaky alternate universe where you’ll face some truly vicious foes. Worst of all, there aren’t exactly a lot of inns to heal your party, especially at first. There is a nifty little trick you can use to power up one hero at a time, however.

At key junctions on the map, you’ll have to go over ghost-infested bridges, where the heads of the dead float past and do their best to damage your living heroes. But, if you pick up the floating ghost orb before you walk across the bridge, these ghosts will actually restore your health and skill points! You can just stand there and get one hero (out of four) back to full strength. Just make sure your selected character is the one who needs the boost before you head over the bridge. You can’t switch leaders while on the bridge, and the ghost orb is a one-use-only utensil (at least, until you pick up the next one).

Anyone Seen the Shadow Inn?
As described above, you might find yourself in the Shadow World and really need some healing. You’ll need to take advantage of tricks like the Ghost Orb as well as skill moves in combat that can recharge your team’s spirits (and health). And, when you absolutely have to, you can use your healing items—though you should really try to save those for big boss battles. Fortunately for you, once you find Buki’s destiny, that ol’ vulture Hexam will let you rest up at his place. But, until then, watch your health carefully.

Tal provides added protection during combat.

What Kind of Fighter Are You?
Sudeki has a hero to appeal to everyone. If you’re not into the whole switching characters on the fly thing, you can always just stick with your favorite character and only switch over to others when you need to use their skill or spirit strikes. And, don’t worry. Their A.I. play is generally more than strong enough to fight without you. If you’re an FPS fan, for example, you’ll love playing Elco, who also (for my money) has some of the most useful skill strikes. Fans of action games like Ninja Gaiden® will want to go with Tal or even Buki, who’s certainly easier on the eyes. Of all the characters, cover girl Ailish is probably the weakest in combat, but she also ends up with some serious skill strike mojo—perfect for the RPG gamer that always plays the cleric or mage.

By Danny Chihdo