Project Sylpheed isn't going to blow anyone away, but by no means is it a bad game.
Platform -Xbox 360
Publisher - Square Enix
Developer - Game Arts
Release Date -July 10, 2007
Genre -3D Space Shooter
ESRB -T (Teen)
The 3D space shooter genre is pretty much dead in this generation. Star Wars is always there, but it's just not the same as playing an original space shooter (and Rogue Squadron III is the most recent one I can remember). The genre has never been huge, but I feel it's slowly drifting away from us. It's a real shame because it's an underrated genre. While plane simulators focus on flying a plane and having a slight change of vertical direction, 3D space shooters focus on all directions, so there's a lot going on simultaneously (and a lot to handle as well). While Project Sylpheed isn't going to blow anyone away, or revive the genre, it's still an enjoyable experience nonetheless.
I flew through Project Sylpheed in 2 or 3 days, so don't expect a ton of value here. Something I found odd was that I always felt like I was playing an RPG. The combat is far from what to expect in an RPG, but with the cutscenes and Square Enix's usual approach to their games, this very well could have been an RPG and I wouldn't mind. Speaking of cutscenes, they're very good, and a reason to stay intact with the story. The story is a somewhat typical sci-fi story, but I was entertained. It has a good cast of characters and some nice plot twists to keep you interested. I think the game's biggest strength is that everything is strung together nicely. As long as you view the concise briefings for every mission, you'll never get that feeling of "did I miss something". Some of the music is surprisingly strong and fitting as well.
As for the gameplay, it's pretty much the same as every past space shooter. There are some new things that I noticed, like the speed match, but it's more or less identical to previous experiences. The difficulty is all over the place though, and this can be a cruel flaw at times. Missions have no variety in objectives too. It's either destroy this, or protect that. Also, the control scheme is awkward for some commands, and could use some tweaking. However, it's easy to overlook Project Sylpheed's flaws when you're engrossed into the story, enjoying the pretty sights, and blasting your way through the enemy. In the end, it turns out to be a satisfying and memorable experience that's worth taking a look at.
I liked:
+the cast of characters
+the nostalgia of playing a space shooter
+the solid sci-fi story
+the nice variety of environments
+destroying a huge battleship and then flying through the explosion
+the fact that your teammates actually do something
+the good, if somewhat overly dramatic voice acting
+the epic and touching pieces of the soundtrack
+the clean blue interfaces
+the flat-out awesome cutscenes
I disliked:
-the roller coaster difficulty
-having to tell everyone to attack after each target is destroyed
-the unbalanced rankings
-time limits for every mission
-the lack of variety in objectives
-the small amount of weapons to make in your arsenal
-getting used to the control scheme
-the value (my time was around 4 hours according to the game, but that might not include losses and cutscenes)
-feel that there isn't much here (not bad, but not amazing)
Random Comments
~The ending is a little too predictable
~I don't know if having the main character's name as Katana is awesome or totally lame O_o
Obligatory (?) Score - 7.7/10
There isn't a lot of competition in a dying genre, so I suppose Project Sylpheed gets let off easy. I can't really complain when there isn't anything better out there in the current generation. Out of all the space shooters though, I highly recommend checking out the Colony Wars series, but you can't go wrong with PS either.
If you have any questions, feel free to send me a message.
Thank you for reading,
~Vari