Line #50 VideoGame/ProjectSylpheed


1	[[quoteright:325:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/PAL-Xbox_360-Project_Sylpheed.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:320:This is the ''least'' amount of [[MoreDakka dakka]] you can equip.]]
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4	''Project Sylpheed'' is a space shooter developed jointly by Creator/GameArts and [=SETA=] Corp, and published in 2007 by Creator/SquareEnix exclusively for the Platform/Xbox360 as part of their platform diversification program.
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6	The game takes place in [[TheFuture the 27th century]]. Earth, better known as Terra since their colonial expansion movement, has {{terraform}}ed and colonized over a dozen systems across a vast reach of space. However, because of the distance between Terra and her colony worlds, their is a strong movement in the outer colonies towards independence from the Terra centralized government.
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8	Tensions reach an all time high after the Acheron incident, during which Terra [[ColonyDrop sterilized a rogue colony]] and [[GovernmentConspiracy disguised the event as a terraforming accident]]. This event caused several other colony worlds to band together in a coalition dedicated to securing their freedom from Terra (naming themselves ADAN, after the first letter of each member colony).
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10	Players take on the role of [[RookieRedRanger Katana Faraway]], a cadet training to be a pilot in the Terra Central Armed Forces. During a routine training exercise his flight wing is attacked by ADAN fighters, which inadvertently spoils the ADAN surprise attack on Schlos Base, the in-system defense platform of the colony world Lebendorf. The carrier Acropolis is deployed with Katana's fighter squad to fend off the encroaching ADAN forces.
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12	Project Sylpheed suffered mixed reviews, with critics citing cliche characters and predictable combat as detriments, as well as the fact that there is a hidden time limit on missions and that the persistently hard to see targets took away from the dogfighting experience by forcing the player to rely on instruments. Alternately, people praised it for being an accurate representation of a space shooter, containing distinctive characters, voice actors, a deeper integration of gameplay and story, and an ''[[SceneryPorn extremely]]'' [[CoolStarship colourful]] [[{{Bishonen}} design]] ethic. While critically average, it did enough things right for enough people that it went platinum November 1st, 2007.
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14	Game Arts released a similar space-combat game, ''Silpheed Alternative'', some three years later for Android mobile phones. It is apparently a prequel to ''Project Sylpheed''.
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16	Please note that there is no project in which a "Sylpheed" appears in this game. Game Arts produced their own space shooter series named ''VideoGame/{{Silpheed}}'' and the name remains [[ArtifactTitle as a reference to the company's earlier productions]]. The fighter you pilot in this game is called the Delta Saber.
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18	!!Project Sylpheed provides examples of:
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20	* AcePilot:
21	** Katana's training squad destroys an entire fighter ''wing''. ''And that's only the first level''.
22	** Also [[WorthyOpponent Margras Mason]], whose piloting skill is even better than that of Katana.
23	* AlphaStrike: the level one ChargeAttack fires all three weapons systems all at once.
24	* {{Anime}}: Plainly (sometimes painfully) apparent in the art direction, characterization, plot, and combat. Pretend you're in a {{Shonen}} action series and you'll be okay.
25	* AnimeHair: Surprisingly averted, for the most part. Played straight with Sandra, whose blond-with-blue-streaks-plus-spikes would make [[Anime/YuGiOh Yugi Moto nervous]].
26	* AsskickingLeadsToLeadership: Played straight with everyone except Vice-Admiral Vieira.
27	** Katana Faraway, space cadet. [[spoiler:Singlehandedly destroys half the invading fleet. Is promoted to Lieutenant and becomes flight leader of the White Griffons.]]
28	** Commodore Higgins, commander of Schlos Base. [[spoiler:Left holding the bag after Admiral Viera bravely runs away; survives. Is promoted to Admiral and charged with the defense of Earth.]]
29	* TheAtoner: Margras Mason, after he witnesses the MoralEventHorizon crossed by ADAN.
30	%%* BittersweetEnding
31	* BlackAndGrayMorality: Both sides commit serious atrocities; the TCAF only come out as the good guys because you're playing as one.
32	* BoringButPractical: You can do some amazing flight maneuvers in this game, involving high speed turns and power cuts. However, the secret to finishing missions quickly is to [[MacrossMissileMassacre equip your missiles and fire them]] at [[NoKillLikeOverkill all of your enemies.]]
33	* BulletTime: The level three ChargeAttack gives the illusion of slowing down time by overclocking your ship's control systems and sensors.
34	* ChargeAttack: Three levels, an AlphaStrike, a ram, and bullet time.
35	* CutscenePowerToTheMax: Averted. Every awesome maneuver Katana and his squad mates execute can be done in game.
36	* EnergyWeapon: Usable weapon. This is the future, after all.
37	* EscortMission: Every single mission in the game requires that you keep certain capital ships alive, along with offering bonus upgrade points for keeping other ones alive. Considering that your capital ships are [[PointDefenseless apparently devoid of any point defences]] and the other friendly fighters focus on destroying enemy fighters instead of the attackers and bombers like they should this becomes even more of a [[ScrappyMechanic annoyance]] than it usually is.
38	* {{Expy}}:
39	** Margras is [[Franchise/{{Gundam}} Char Aznable]] the [[RedBaron Red Comet]] and [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeed Athrun Zala]], obviously!! The whole story is basically a miniature version of [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeed Gundam SEED]], and the gameplay is Anime/{{Macross}}!!
40	** And we have Doris Egan as [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ Haman Karn]] and [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam Gihren Zabi]].
41	** Katana is [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeed Kira "Jesus" Yamato]], in that both have the quality of MessianicArchetype.
42	* GuideDangIt: The sub-objectives. The game barely tells you about them via hints, as you need a guide to find them all. Some of these sub-objectives are so obtuse that, even after five years of this game being released, some objectives are still missing.
43	* HeroicSacrifice: Margras throwing his own life and his fighter ahead of Katana inside the core of the superweapon, kamikazeing the core itself.
44	* HotLibrarian: Captain May Crichton is ''fiiine''.
45	* IdiotBall: In how many ways...
46	** It's really hard to see a small fighter in space. Wouldn't it be a great idea to try to cover up those HUGE glowing exhaust trails?
47	** There's a frigate in the Lebendorf missions who comes under fire from bombers. After you save it, it deploys its fighters to assist the main fleet. ''Why did you not use said fighters to repel the bombers?''
48	* InNameOnly: Has nothing to do with the ''Silpheed'' ShootEmUp games.
49	* ItsUpToYou: After pulling the Acropolis and TCAF fleets out of trouble the first time, the White Griffons are called upon to solve every problem in the war. It's starts relatively small: "we're going to destroy this space station, so you fighter pilots destroy their ''cruiser defense line''", but rapidly escalates beyond control.
50	* MacrossMissileMassacre:
51	** You ''can'' track down individual fighter planes and shoot them with nose cone gatling guns. ''Or'' you could simply lock on to all of them and shoot them with missiles.
52	** Some missiles shoot ''[[RecursiveAmmo other missiles]]''.
53	* MoreDakka: You can mount railguns designed for ''warships'' on your fighter.
54	* NoKillLikeOverkill: There is a gun that shoots gravity wells. It is twice the length of your fighter.
55	* OldSchoolDogfight: Played straight sometimes, averted at others. You yaw, pitch, bank, and [[BuffySpeak stuff]], but some maneuvers allow you to do things that just wouldn't be possible on a planet. Like flying ''sideways''.
56	* PointDefenseless:
57	** Averted. Point defense systems ''can'' kill both you and your ship killing missiles.
58	** Also played straight. Point defence systems on friendly capital ships can't seem to take down a single one of the attackers that are quite rapidly tearing them apart, forcing you to save them.
59	* RammingAlwaysWorks: The level two ChargeAttack focuses your shields over your nose cone and supercharges your afterburners.
60	* RankScalesWithAsskicking: Subverted: Vice-Admiral Vieira, commander of the flagship Caliban. Responsible for the defense of Schlos Base and Operation Nebula Blaze. Bravely runs away at the first sign of real trouble. Handled quite reasonably: the good Admiral is [[ReassignedToAntarctica demoted and transferred to the farthest and coldest reaches of space by the end of the game.]]
61	* RuleOfCool[=/=]RuleOfDrama: The cast are slaves to these rules. Half of the idiocies and deaths in this game are due to these rules. Half of the visuals and cutscenes are due to these rules.
62	* SceneryPorn: To its credit, when the game is busy ignoring the fact that [[SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale space is really big]], it fills that space with colourful and beautiful nebulas, clouds, and starscapes. And for some reason, fighter engines leave [[RuleOfCool glowing exhaust trails behind them for hundreds of meters.]]
63	* SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale: At times both averted and played straight. In most engagements that involve ship to ship combat you can barely see the enemy warships, and computer guided targeting systems are a requirement to engage the enemy. However, during the defense of Hargenteen (in which the enemy's goal is presumably to occupy the planet), the Terra fleet decides that the best defense against [=ADAN=] is to line up in a row across a tiny area of the planet and wait for them to show up. [=ADAN=] in return decides that the best way of taking the planet is to charge the defenders head on.
64	* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: unlike its expy anime series, Franchise/{{Gundam}}, ''Project Sylpheed'' lies firmly on the idealistic end in spite of being as dark as Franchise/{{Gundam}}.
65	* SpaceIsAnOcean: Cruisers, Destroyers, Carriers, Battleships, Commodores, and Admirals are all present here. Friction is apparent (targeting ships engines reduces their speed to zero). Very little of any ship to ship engagements involve exploiting the Z-plane. And by [[StealthInSpace turning off your engines and hiding behind an asteroid you are effectively invisible]]. [[spoiler: This is subverted in Mission 11, during which an enemy carrier surprises the Acropolis by flying above it and shooting down at its vulnerable profile. However, this mission takes place ''in atmosphere''.]]
66	* SpaceOpera: Insomuch that the Franchise/{{Gundam}} and Anime/{{Macross}} series' are also space operas. ''Project Sylpheed'' bears a remarkable resemblance to those two series'.
67	* StandardSciFiFleet: Fighters, [[CallARabbitASmeerp Attackers]], frigates, destroyers, cruisers, battleships, carriers, ''[[MoreDakka super battleships]]'', [[spoiler:[[ThatsNoMoon horrific doomsday device]]]].
68	* StupidSacrifice: [[spoiler:Raymond]]. You were obscured by a dust cloud, and your opponent was oblivious to your presence. Why not use your advanced targeting computer to [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim shoot him]], rather than [[spoiler:charging into him at full speed kamikaze style]]?
69	* SuicideByCop: [[spoiler:Once the MoralEventHorizon occurs, [[spoiler:Margras]] realizes he has made a horrific mistake and becomes notably depressed.
70	* WaveMotionGun: Present in many of the warships in both fleets, but most notable on the [[spoiler:planet destroying KillSat]].

Context VideoGame / ProjectSylpheed