Project Sylpheed: Arc of Deception—Xbox 360
Publisher: Square Enix
Developer: Game Arts
Release date: 7/10/07

The old school shoot-‘em-up Project Sylpheed brings Square Enix back into the shooter fray after creating King’s Knight for the NES in ’86 and Eienhander for PlayStation in ’97.

Aside from the fact that it’s a Square-published shooter (yeah, they do non-RPGs every now and then), the other unique characteristic of this game is that it’s an Xbox 360 exclusive title—not exactly a common thing for the Japanese game maker.

Eurogamer’s review made it a point to explain the sheer amount of frustration that comes with the game’s difficulty level, and the subsequent desire to keep on trying to pass a section again and again. Fans of arcade shooters will likely appreciate the difficulty, but mainstreamers will probably be turned off.

“Project Sylpheed is surprisingly tough, requiring repeated attempts at some levels not only to destroy all of the targets in a level, but also to do it within the strict time limits imposed upon you,” wrote Eurogamer’s Simon Parkin, who gave the game a 7/10. “…The core game is, given a little time and concentration, excellent, if repetitive. Since Sony seems to have long left the Colony Wars series for dead and Nintendo likewise with Rogue Squadron, this game ably fills a gaping whole in one of gaming's most pure and heady genres.”

360 Gamer Magazine UK offered up the same 7/10 score, stating (via Metacritic), “Project Sylpheed is a very decent shoot-'em-up, full of spectacular set-pieces and blessed with tight controls, but it lacks real depth.”

Developer Game Arts, known for the RPG series Grandia and the mech franchise Gungriffon, crafted Project Sylpheed.

On GameSpot, Project Sylpheed is the 68th-most popular game on Xbox 360 (285th overall), 65th on the console at IGN’s GameStats.com (177th overall) and 67th for Xbox 360 at 1UP.com (448th overall).

On Amazon.com’s top sellers list, pre-orders for the game rank 55th for Xbox 360.