Infinite Undiscovery is a new RPG
developed by tri-Ace and Square Enix. Usually when two superpowers of the RPG
gaming community come together, gamers expect greatness to follow. Many times
player’s expectations are met, but there are times when a game really
disappoints. The most common thread among these “could have been more” games is
the developers never realized the full potential of its creation or they do not
give it enough polish. Unfortunately for gamers, Infinite Undiscovery is a game
that falls under the “could have been more” category, due to many different
facets. The point is that if players are looking for the next epic RPG, they
will have to wait a little bit longer or check out what is currently on the
market.
The story for this game is
interesting, but still relies heavily on this genre’s stereotypes. Deep in the
forest in one of “The Orders” prisons, a young boy named Capell is being held
captive. The guards call him “Liberator” and he has no idea why. One day a young
girl named Aya comes and rescues him calling him Sigmund the Liberator. After
their short meeting she realizes he is not Sigmund, but still helps him escape.
Soon they run into the real Sigmund, and he is shocked to realize that they look
identical. It is from this meeting that Capell has the chance to save the world
as well as his life.
3 Hit combo!
Unlike most JPRG (Japanese RPG)
games, Infinite Undiscovery combat is in complete real time. Even though players
will love the freedom of real-time combat it is a double edged sword. For
instance, when players enter the item screen, the game does not pause. This
means that it is nearly impossible for players to actually heal themselves
during the course of a battle. Thankfully the computer-controlled characters
will always be casting healing spells and throwing healing items towards
players. There is even a button where players can call out to get healed.
Since the game is all in real time,
there is no direct way for players to tell their party members what to do as in
turn-based RPGs. In order to overcome this obstacle there is a way to “connect”
abilities with the other characters. This allows players to tap into the other
characters abilities and use those abilities solve more complex situations. The
problem with this is that it does not perform effectively most of the time. Many
times players will swell with rage as they try to connect to the person,
thinking they have done so, but in the end die. Another outcome is having to
retry that particular problem multiple times.
Like all RPGs there are many side
quests for players to embark upon. The main problem is that most of these
missions turn out to be nothing more the “fetch” quest. A fetch quest is where a
NPC will ask the player to find their missing dog or give a certain letter to
another character in another town. These missions are redundant and extremely
disappointing, especially since the rewards are not that impressive.
Meet someone who actually went to his
music lessons
One of the biggest annoyances in
this game is the amount of characters players will have to keep track of. This
is made even more noticeable since the game is really short in length.
Throughout the game, players will add around 18 additional party members. This
is not bad in itself; the problem becomes apparent when there is no easy way to
manage them. Unlike most games that have numerous characters, there is not “auto
configure” option to give them the best weapons, armor, magic stuff, and more.
Players will have to manually go through all the characters and equip them with
the necessary items. This is made even worse since players will have to purchase
a ton of items if they want to make sure their characters are properly equipped
to take on the enemy. This was a very poor gameplay decision by the developers
and will really frustrate many “RPG perfectionists”.
The graphics in this game are
decent, but they are nothing to get overly excited about. Everything has a very
generic feel to it, where nothing really stands out. The character models are
nicely done as are the various locations players will go through, but there have
been games released previously that look much better than Infinite Undiscovery.
One thing that really hampers the graphics even more is the framerate issues
players will have. At times the game gets almost unplayable, and it is during
this time where players can actually have the time to really look at the
graphics and see how average it looks.
Players will also be shocked by the
lack of presentation that this game has. Square-Enix games are known for the
wonderfully crafted CGI sequence that really carry the story forward. Strangely,
Infinite Undiscovery is really lacking in this department. There are a few CGI
sequences placed throughout the game, but not as many as players expect, and
they do not have the “pizzazz” that other Square-Enix and tri-Ace games possess.
At least she is faithful
The musical score in this game is
great! While it may not stand toe to toe with the likes of the Final Fantasy
series, this score will find a special place in the player’s hearts. The sound
effects the developers used are very good and flow well with the rest of the
game. This helps during the course of the many fights players will get into. The
voice acting on the other hand leaves something to be desired, as there are two
things wrong … To being with, the English dialog is not very great. The voice
actors are just above average in their delivery, which makes some of the key
scenes lose its impact. Since the English delivery is poor, players might expect
to just switch over to the Japanese dialog, but they will be surprised and
disappointed that the option isn’t even there.
Another huge issue players will have
with the voice acting is the consistency of it. At times players will be
listening to a cut scenes, and then players take control of the action. Five
minutes later there will be another one with no voice acting. The strange thing
is the characters mouths are moving with no words coming out. It would be
understandable if the talking cut scenes had more story impact, but they really
don’t; it appears to be randomized which segments get the voice-over treatment.
In the end players will never really adapt to the inconsistency of it, and
become more annoyed each time one actually takes place.
Infinite Undiscovery is rated Teen.
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Gameplay: 7.5
The real-time combat is really enjoyable and a
nice break from the normal RPG combat. The day-and-night cycle was also really
nice addition to this game. The game falters with the numerous characters
players have to keep up with, but no easy way to manage them.
Graphics: 6.5
The graphics are decent, but easily forgivable. What is shocking is the lack of
abundant CGI movies that Square-Enix is known for. Players will really have the
time to get a good look at the detail in the graphics with the frequent slowdown
they will encounter.
Sound: 7.3
Players will love the musical score in this game. The downside to the
sound is the American voice actors are pretty lame, with no option to enable the
Japanese voices.
Difficulty: Medium
Like all RPGs this game ranges in its difficulty level, and making sure
the players can keep their levels up to deal with the tougher enemies they will
face later in the game.
Concept: 7.5
Players will enjoy the real-time combat and the ability to link up with
the other characters in order to deal more damage to the enemies.
Overall: 7.2
Infinite Undiscovery is a decent game that has the potential to be more
than what it is. This is a great weekend rental game, but nothing more than
that.
