Before I even say anything, let me remind everyone reading that reviews are just the opinion of the reviewer. You aren't obligated to listen to any of them and if you like a specific game that has been getting mixed reviews then that is perfectly fine. That very point is the foundation of this upcoming review of a game that has been getting mixed reviews across the board. I'm just here to give my honest opinion on the game and if you don't agree with that opinion then that is perfectly fine with me.
In the world of the 360, JRPGs don't exactly roam free among the shooters and the mature games. In that little 360 JRPG click there sits a game by the name of "Infinite Undiscovery". Does the title tell everything you could possibly wanna know or is there something gold hidden underneith?
[Story]
Infinite Undiscovery stars a young minstral named Capell. Capell is busted out of jail by a young girl named Aya, who mistakes Capell for a famous warrior named Sigmund. Aya learns that Capell isn't Sigmund but she decides to keep Capell with her. Capell soon learns that he is an exact look alike for Sigmund when he meets up with Sigmund and his crew, who are travelling to liberate the moon from its prison by cutting giant chains that hold the moon captive. Capell ends up joining Sigmund's crew and travels with them to sever the chains the bind the moon to the earth.
The story of Infinite Undiscovery isn't the greatest one i've heard but it does get the job done. The character that is Capell is a good character and I did grow to like him after the first few hours. That doesn't mean all the characters are golden. While most of the characters are good, there are a few that aggrivated me to all ends. There are two characters in particular named Rico and Rucha, two little kids who have set the bar very high for annoying rpg characters. Those two characters will make you want to murder children just by the sight of them. The rest of the characters, with the exception of Edward, are good.
[Sound Design]
The sound design of Infinite Undiscovery could go either way.
On one hand, the music is pretty good. While the music in the various areas sounds pretty generic, the flute music that Capell plays sounds beautiful and it might be the first time that i've heard flute music in a video game that sounded this good (Link doesn't play a flute, he plays an ocarina. It isn't exactly a flute).
The voice acting is alright. The people who voice the characters could do a lot of great things with the voice acting. The voices aren't really the problem. It's the voice synch. Characters will be speaking and their mouths will move but the words won't ever match the mouth movements. There are even sometimes when the character's mouths aren't even moving and yet they are still talking. I'm aware that it is a japanese role playing game, but there isn't a japanese voice track so it couldn't be the translation.
Now, not all the voice acting is solid. Going back to Rico and Rucha for a second I realize that one of the biggest reasons why I hated them was their awful voice acting and dialog.
On the other hand, there is the writing. The writing for Infinite Undiscovery is absolutely ABYSMAL. Characters will spew some of the worst writen dialog i've ever heard in a game. The voice actors aren't to blaim when the script they are forced to read blows harder than a hurricane.
[Presentation]
Infinite Undiscovery sports some pretty good graphics. The environments look pretty good while the characters could have been given better graphics. The effects given off by magic and special attacks look flashy but they also take a tole on the game. Everytime you land a chain of attacks, the game will slow down and stutter like crazy. It isn't exactly a game halting bug but it is very distracting when you are trying to kill a boss who is tearing your party apart.
[Gameplay]
Infinite Undiscovery sports some very satisfying and down right fun combat. You have two buttons for attacks, a light attack that is faster but does smaller damage and a power attack that does good damage but is slow. You can learn attacks that can be swaped in and out from the skills menu. You can create combos by chaining together certain attacks to rack up high combos that yield very nice rewards.
When you rack up a high combo, whether it be an aerial, ground, or downed combo, you are given a boost in a certain field. When you pull of an aerial combo, you are given extra experience. When you pull of a ground combo chain, you are given extra AP. Combos help the player by giving them that little boost they will need in a tight spot.
You have a lot of strategy to deal with when it comes to combat. An interesting feature that Infinite Undiscovery uses is the connect system. Capell has the ability to connect with his party members to use their abilities to his advantage, give his party specific orders, and even to take control of them for a special attack. Connect isn't just limited to combat either. You will connect with party members in non combat situations when talking to people around towns, buying items, or even solving non combat puzzles. You might need to find a creature and you will have to connect with someone who can communicate with animals.
You can't physically control your allies in battle or out of battle, but you can give them orders during fights. The AI on your allies is actually really good in that they will always follow your orders. You can give your party one of many orders like Focus, save MP, spread, and combo. What is great is that you can hit the Y Button, instead of going through menus even though you can still do that, to tell your healers to heal the injured people in your party.
JRPGs usually feature a lot of grinding to defeat certain enemies like bosses but Infinite Undiscovery doesn't have this problem. You will kill lots of enemies just trying to get from point A to point B, eliminating the need for going back and killing more enemies to grind your way to a higher level.
[Major Flaws]
Like a lot of other reviewers have been saying, Infinite Undiscovery has a lot of problems. I'm not disagreeing with them when they say that because the game does have lots of problems that hinder the experience.
For starters, you play as Capell and only Capell. Sure, there are moments when you'll connect with Aya to control her and shoot her bow, but other than that you will never control the other characters. I would have liked to have been able to control the other characters like I can in Tales of Vesperia, another JRPG for the 360. Like stated earlier, when you land chains of combos the frame rate will slow and stutter, distracting you from the combat.
If you've played this game then you know that the first 2 hours of the game are horrible. The beginning of the game moves along so slowly and awkwardly that it may turn you off to the whole game.
The biggest problem with Infinite Undiscovery is that it doesn't really tell you where you need to go and how you are supposed to get there. You pretty much have to listen to the dialog during the cutscenes otherwise you won't know where you are supposed to be going. Once you figure out where to go you'll have to figure out how to get there. The game doesn't tell you how you are supposed to get to the next area so you'll have to wander around looking for where ever you are needed to be. This will lead players to get lost very easily. If you end up in the wrong place, the game doesn't even tell you that you've gone the wrong way. You'll end up wandering around in circles before you actually figure out where to go, even then the chances of finding you way are slim. This aspect made me resort to the act of using internet guides to my next destination, which isn't cool.
[Final Verdict]
Overall, I actually really like Infinite Undiscovery and am enjoying playing through it. The story is alright, most of the characters are good, the combat is fun, and things usually work out in your favor. In the mind of a lot of reviewers, Infinite Undiscovery is an average attempt at bringing a JRPG to the 360 and I have to disagree with those people.
I give Infinite Undiscovery a 7.5 out of 10. It's a solid experience with some nagging problems that can be overlooked in favor of the overall experience
In the world of the 360, JRPGs don't exactly roam free among the shooters and the mature games. In that little 360 JRPG click there sits a game by the name of "Infinite Undiscovery". Does the title tell everything you could possibly wanna know or is there something gold hidden underneith?
[Story]
Infinite Undiscovery stars a young minstral named Capell. Capell is busted out of jail by a young girl named Aya, who mistakes Capell for a famous warrior named Sigmund. Aya learns that Capell isn't Sigmund but she decides to keep Capell with her. Capell soon learns that he is an exact look alike for Sigmund when he meets up with Sigmund and his crew, who are travelling to liberate the moon from its prison by cutting giant chains that hold the moon captive. Capell ends up joining Sigmund's crew and travels with them to sever the chains the bind the moon to the earth.
The story of Infinite Undiscovery isn't the greatest one i've heard but it does get the job done. The character that is Capell is a good character and I did grow to like him after the first few hours. That doesn't mean all the characters are golden. While most of the characters are good, there are a few that aggrivated me to all ends. There are two characters in particular named Rico and Rucha, two little kids who have set the bar very high for annoying rpg characters. Those two characters will make you want to murder children just by the sight of them. The rest of the characters, with the exception of Edward, are good.
[Sound Design]
The sound design of Infinite Undiscovery could go either way.
On one hand, the music is pretty good. While the music in the various areas sounds pretty generic, the flute music that Capell plays sounds beautiful and it might be the first time that i've heard flute music in a video game that sounded this good (Link doesn't play a flute, he plays an ocarina. It isn't exactly a flute).
The voice acting is alright. The people who voice the characters could do a lot of great things with the voice acting. The voices aren't really the problem. It's the voice synch. Characters will be speaking and their mouths will move but the words won't ever match the mouth movements. There are even sometimes when the character's mouths aren't even moving and yet they are still talking. I'm aware that it is a japanese role playing game, but there isn't a japanese voice track so it couldn't be the translation.
Now, not all the voice acting is solid. Going back to Rico and Rucha for a second I realize that one of the biggest reasons why I hated them was their awful voice acting and dialog.
On the other hand, there is the writing. The writing for Infinite Undiscovery is absolutely ABYSMAL. Characters will spew some of the worst writen dialog i've ever heard in a game. The voice actors aren't to blaim when the script they are forced to read blows harder than a hurricane.
[Presentation]
Infinite Undiscovery sports some pretty good graphics. The environments look pretty good while the characters could have been given better graphics. The effects given off by magic and special attacks look flashy but they also take a tole on the game. Everytime you land a chain of attacks, the game will slow down and stutter like crazy. It isn't exactly a game halting bug but it is very distracting when you are trying to kill a boss who is tearing your party apart.
[Gameplay]
Infinite Undiscovery sports some very satisfying and down right fun combat. You have two buttons for attacks, a light attack that is faster but does smaller damage and a power attack that does good damage but is slow. You can learn attacks that can be swaped in and out from the skills menu. You can create combos by chaining together certain attacks to rack up high combos that yield very nice rewards.
When you rack up a high combo, whether it be an aerial, ground, or downed combo, you are given a boost in a certain field. When you pull of an aerial combo, you are given extra experience. When you pull of a ground combo chain, you are given extra AP. Combos help the player by giving them that little boost they will need in a tight spot.
You have a lot of strategy to deal with when it comes to combat. An interesting feature that Infinite Undiscovery uses is the connect system. Capell has the ability to connect with his party members to use their abilities to his advantage, give his party specific orders, and even to take control of them for a special attack. Connect isn't just limited to combat either. You will connect with party members in non combat situations when talking to people around towns, buying items, or even solving non combat puzzles. You might need to find a creature and you will have to connect with someone who can communicate with animals.
You can't physically control your allies in battle or out of battle, but you can give them orders during fights. The AI on your allies is actually really good in that they will always follow your orders. You can give your party one of many orders like Focus, save MP, spread, and combo. What is great is that you can hit the Y Button, instead of going through menus even though you can still do that, to tell your healers to heal the injured people in your party.
JRPGs usually feature a lot of grinding to defeat certain enemies like bosses but Infinite Undiscovery doesn't have this problem. You will kill lots of enemies just trying to get from point A to point B, eliminating the need for going back and killing more enemies to grind your way to a higher level.
[Major Flaws]
Like a lot of other reviewers have been saying, Infinite Undiscovery has a lot of problems. I'm not disagreeing with them when they say that because the game does have lots of problems that hinder the experience.
For starters, you play as Capell and only Capell. Sure, there are moments when you'll connect with Aya to control her and shoot her bow, but other than that you will never control the other characters. I would have liked to have been able to control the other characters like I can in Tales of Vesperia, another JRPG for the 360. Like stated earlier, when you land chains of combos the frame rate will slow and stutter, distracting you from the combat.
If you've played this game then you know that the first 2 hours of the game are horrible. The beginning of the game moves along so slowly and awkwardly that it may turn you off to the whole game.
The biggest problem with Infinite Undiscovery is that it doesn't really tell you where you need to go and how you are supposed to get there. You pretty much have to listen to the dialog during the cutscenes otherwise you won't know where you are supposed to be going. Once you figure out where to go you'll have to figure out how to get there. The game doesn't tell you how you are supposed to get to the next area so you'll have to wander around looking for where ever you are needed to be. This will lead players to get lost very easily. If you end up in the wrong place, the game doesn't even tell you that you've gone the wrong way. You'll end up wandering around in circles before you actually figure out where to go, even then the chances of finding you way are slim. This aspect made me resort to the act of using internet guides to my next destination, which isn't cool.
[Final Verdict]
Overall, I actually really like Infinite Undiscovery and am enjoying playing through it. The story is alright, most of the characters are good, the combat is fun, and things usually work out in your favor. In the mind of a lot of reviewers, Infinite Undiscovery is an average attempt at bringing a JRPG to the 360 and I have to disagree with those people.
I give Infinite Undiscovery a 7.5 out of 10. It's a solid experience with some nagging problems that can be overlooked in favor of the overall experience
