Customer Reviews

Crimson Sea

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Gameplay:
Basically, this game plays like a combination of Dynasty Warriors and the aforementioned Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance. The game basically has two segments: Quests and Hubs. Quests are the action portions where the real gameplay comes in, and Hubs are the various places you go in-between missions to train of purchase items or just chat with NPCs. These various play types do a great deal to spice up what could have otherwise been a rather repetitive game. There are some rather interesting facets to these levels that make them deeper than they appear.

In-between Quests you spend your time at the hub. Most of the time this is a large spaceship. In this hub there are NPCs that you can talk to, vendor droids that you can buy supplies or weaponry from, and training rooms that you can use to increase your fighting abilities. The hubs are the most "RPG"ish areas of the game, and much of the game's depth is exhibited in these areas. For instance, the game has a detailed weaponry system. Basically, you buy three weapon parts from the vendor, parts which you can combine to make different weapon effects: barrels, effectors, and generators. These various parts change how you gun fires (machine gun, bazooka, guided missiles, etc.), as well as how long you can use it for and what bonuses you get for using it. This system adds quite a bit of strategy to the Quests, as there is no really all-powerful weapon. Items, such as health kits, HP and BP (MP, basically) enhancers, and various other tools of the trade, can also be bought. Also, the hubs are the places that you learn new neo-psionic attacks.

Controls:
Control is actually one of this game's biggest problems. Control is sort of done in the style of Resident Evil. Left/right rotates you, up is forward, down is back. This may sound clunky, but it isn't, since the camera is rigidly attached to you back (ala MDK). Besides basic walking/running, you can jump, strafe, circle-strafe, turn 180 degrees, and dash. The circle-strafing, however, is all but useless, since to do it you must lock on to an enemy. The problem is, the lock is lost whenever you are attacked or the line-of-sight between you and the part of the enemy you're locked onto is lost. This makes locking on all but impossible unless you are fighting only a single enemy (something that will probably never happen) in a large, open space. Also, the 180 requires you to be standing still, which makes it all but useless. I assume this was done because the same button is used for dashing, which occurs when you move; but this could have been remedied by changing the 180 button to black, which is unused. However, these two problems are not all that bad, and you really won't even notice them after a while. Besides movement, you have three attacks: ranged, melee and neo-psionic. Ranged fires your gun at the enemy closest to the center of the screen within range. Melee causes you to swing a beam sword at enemies, and can be done in a 4-swing combo. Neo-psionic powers are the "magic" of the game. These are either super-strong attacks, attacks with wide damage radiuses, curing you and your allies, or shielding your party. These powers are bought similarly to weapons, and like weapons they become stronger and more energy efficient the more you use them. While in the hubs you cannot jump, dash or use attacks; but there's no reason to, so it's not a problem.

Graphics:
Graphics in Crimson Sea are very good. The main characters are of Final Fantasy quality (and look), with NPCs and minor models less detailed but just as well skinned. Enemies are extremely detailed and often have complex models with antennae or metallic, reflective skin. The enemies are even more impressive when you realize that they often attack in the hundreds or thousands, with several different types of enemies attacking at once and slowdown only appearing very briefly when the screen is full of enemies shooting weapons at you and you use a neo-psionic attack. The environments are varied and well-detailed. Towns and cities are usually filled with people and props, and natural settings are organic looking and smooth. Also, there is no draw-in, and the Dynasty Warriors "enemy fade-in" problem seems to be much less apparent or even gone altogether. Weapons give off large, colorful explosions. Neo-psionic powers are lightshows to behold, and seeing a ball of energy throwing a few hundred man-sized bugs around is a glorious thing. Boss characters are extremely large, sometimes filling the screen, and very well animated. There are a few liquid-metal bosses, and these bosses actually do look like animated liquid. They undulate, wave, splatter and change shape and size. Also, on a less technical note, general artistic direction is very good, with a strong Asian theme running through both the character designs and the architecture. All of the various planets in Theopholis are very different in appearance and have their own distinct styles. Overall, the production values seem very high. If you've played Dynasty Warriors 3, think of those characters with lasers and much, much more detailed environments. Crimson Sea isn't the best looking game on the XBox, but it's definitely no slouch, and the sheer size of the enemy forces make up for almost all of its shortcomings.

Sound:
I'll make this one brief. Sound is pretty good, with lively, accurate sound effects, good music, and decent voice acting. The only problem I found was that sometimes the music was too calm or quiet for the scene, and this seemed to dull the action a bit. Overall, though, pretty good. Also, the game supports Dolby Digital, though I didn't have a chance to try it.

Story and Other Factors:
Unfortunately, the story of Crimson Sea seems to be a combination of genuinely well-designed characters with the occasionally well-written script, and typical Japanese-style caricatures. The story is decent and much more effort was put into it than most action games, but you can tell that Koei doesn't have much experience outside of historical settings. Also, the strong theme of sound in the story seems ham-handed and ill-conceived. On the bright side, however, voice acting is usually quite good, though the only recognizable voice is that of Liquid Snake from Metal Gear: Solid. Characters seem slightly two-dimensional, but not so much that they're unbelievable for the most part. While the story isn't great, it'll keep you coming back, and definitely doesn't detract from the experience.

Overall:
I give this game 4 stars.

+ Great graphics.
+ Well-designed weapon system and deep combat.
+ Good acting and mostly well-written plot.
+ They weren't kidding. Thousands of enemies. Damn.

- Sometimes iffy controls.
- Occasional bad lines or wooden characters
- Supposedly short (though I can't really say yet.)

Get this game if you liked Dynasty Warriors or if you liked Dark Alliance but would appreciate less emphasis on RPG elements. A definite action game with a bit of RPG on top.

Also, there is no XBox Live play.

I'm an avid gamer and rpg's are my focus. After picking up the Xbox, my next goal was to aquire a rpg worthy of attention and detail... along comes Crimson Sea. At first glance, the artwork is wonderful, the levels are beautiful, and the characters actually have character. The hardest part of the experience was adjusting to the first person shooter feel. There are enough baddies to keep both you and the Orkin man quite busy. The game play is quite linear, and once a quest is completed, you can't go back to the area. You do have the option of selecting which quest to complete, but there are no side quests or freedom of movement within the game. There are a few annoying quests that deal with a timer, invisible critters, and a pushy IGA guard chasing you around... it gets old quick.

Over all, this game was fun to play, however it was quick to finish and is definitely a rental. I do look forward to more titles by KOEI and this gives me hope for future rpgs for the xbox

This game is 50 dollars, its a good game to play to be honest very fun. But this game has many downfalls, its only 5-7 hours long and it doesnt have much of a plot, and the ending isnt very good either, this is an awesome rental game but not worth 50 dollars.

Beyond the wonderful architecture, great voice acting, great graphics and controls, theres the wonderful and way cute Sho! I love this game more than anything in the world, and sit down in my basement calling it "my precious". Anyway! A great game! And that's ALOT when coming from a girl gamer!

Crimson Sea,has so far,been a great game to play. At its core its really just a Phantasy Star clone,or to put it in not-so-harsh terms its the Xbox's Phantasy Star (the Xbox was supposed to get PSU,but it was canned and brought over to the 360 instead.)

Story wise you start out as a 'man for hire' named Sho. Sho gets a job from a mysterious lady who's willing to pay him big bucks to do it. Sho accepts and soon finds out he was tricked into joining a type of military force trying to eradicate an alien force,See sounds Phantasy Starish haha, The icing on the cake is that it uses an upgradable hybrid gun and sword that's laser powered.

Graphics wise this game looks pretty good,It was released in 2002 so don't expect the game to look like FF12 or Otogi 2.

Gameplay wise its Phantasy Star Universe meets Dynasty Warriors you get the PSU gameplay with the hoards of enemies like DW,surprisingly there is no slowdown that I have noticed.

All in all if you still own an Xbox,and have yet to play this game,I recommend you do! This game never received much attention in 2002,I think it deserves a second shot.

PS: I only say its been a good game so far because I have only played it for 2 hours ^-^.

There isn't much more than I can add to other reviewers. If you liked Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Dead To Rights, Buffy, Max Payne, Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance, Baldur's Gate, Dynasty Warriors 3, or like Japanese games, definitely at least give this game a rent. Controls do get in the way a little, but not enough to make the game bad. I can't be overstated how fluid battling hundreds of thousands of enemies at once feels.

On the personal note. This was off the hook for me, and exceeded my high expectations. However, I don't feel everyone will have the same impressions. If you were interested initially, you probably won't go wrong picking up this game.

This game has it all. Non-stop action, great graphics, a good soundtrack (I love the main theme), cinematic story segments, a wide selection of cool guns/blades to buy and a great cast of characters. This is definitely one of the better Only on Xbox titles. My only problem is the controls could have been a little more tight and the camera can get a little annoying sometimes (Most games have some camera issues). Otherwise there's no reason not to play this game.

This is an absoulutley great game. you have more weapons than in Halo so no one can complain about that. heres the lay down. It is discovered that the world was created by sound. you are sho. you are one of the only people in the universe (you and like 4 achemologists that cant attck with it<at start of game>) the galaxy is being invaded by SUPER bugs that destroy sound and life. so you get a team at a space station, get a big gun, and start shooting basically anything that moves on a mission (there are about 5000 bugs per mission after the first 2). Now im not saying this is the best game ever (halo/ halo2 anyone) but it is a good game that you should atleast rent or then you are missing out. thats all from shadowy-killer for now.

I would definitely rent this game next time you have a chance. A lot of people don't seem to be able to get into it, but I definitely had fun. The graphics are great! And the cut scenes in between levels are HILARIOUS! (Not on purpose, just translated from Japanese I imagine...) Admittedly I had to get used to the controls but really, isn't that the case for all games? The monsters are varied and imaginative. Taking care of up to a 5 person squad was fun too. I wish it had 2 player mode as well... It kind of reminded me of Gun Valkerie, but I didn't like that game....

this game is freakin tight. I have not played a game that alows you to battle tons apon tons of cretures at once. when i first took a look at it in a review i thought it was goin to be a knock off of the FF series but after i got a chance to read the artical (while sittin on the throne) my thoughts about Crimson Sea totally changed. Come on what game alows you to attack an insanely amount of enemies? so i give this game the highest score I can.