Dynafire has 132 chronicles

1. Infinite Undiscovery review
   

   Player Chronicle -- Posted on Jul 16 2009

   Infinite Undiscovery is one of few current RPGs that had any interest in, so when Best Buy had it on sale for $10, I went for it. Unfortunately, my local store didn't have any available when I got there, so I left empty handed. However, Silent Bob (aka Chris, the owner of Cyber Ops here in Iowa) was kind enough to hook me up with an extra copy. Thanks for that, Chris!
   
   The story starts out with the main character, Capell, being held in a prison for reasons that are never explained to us. He's liberated by a girl named Aya through a case of mistaken identity. She thinks he's a man name Sigmund, who is the head of a force that is trying to cut the chains holding the moon to the planet and liberate the world. This all happens in the first hour, and none of what goes on is ever explained in detail. (How did she hear that Capell was in jail? Is the Force's communication so bad that they couldn't tell her that Sigmund was not actually in jail? Why is the moon being connected to the world a bad thing? Etc.) Stuff happens, and Capell simply rolls with it. For all we know, Sigmund is actually harming the world by cutting the chains - Capell never once asks about it, killing and fighting just because he's told to, like some mindless automaton. But anyway, throughout the story, some stuff happens, and Capell suddenly finds himself as the leader. From there, it's more of the same, really. Capell talks to everyone like he knows exactly what he's doing, even though he hasn't really been told or knows much about any of it.
   
   This leads me to the characters. None of them have any personality. Capell, in traditional JRPG form, is a whiny tart for most of the game. I have to admit though, that after a certain point, he becomes somewhat less annoying. His voice changes when he does his special moves and stuff, which I thought was a pretty good indicator that his personality had changed, yet I still didn't find him a compelling character in the slightest. Aya is the obvious love interest from the start, and even though they hardly talk to one another during the entire game, Aya and Capell somehow fall in love, and blah blah blah, cliche cliche cliche. There are more than 20 characters you can acquire, though this only serves to convolute the story since at least a half dozen of them are unusable in combat. They appear in cutscenes, however, which is somewhat confusing since you never see them otherwise. They help out in a few boss battles from time to time, but a lot of these characters are not necessary.
   
   The combat is something I truly didn't like about IU. It plays like a hack and slash game, which is okay when you're expecting it. I got into this game thinking that I'd have control of my entire party, much like RPGs have traditionally been for the last umpteen years. Unfortunately, that is not the case here. The allies in your party are controlled by AI. Artificial "Intelligence". I emphasize the word intelligence, because the AI in this game is dumber than a bag of hammers. You can supposedly give them orders that will change their behavior, but of the six options, I only noticed a difference in behavior with three orders. Tell them to wait, and they will. Tell them to save MP, and they will. However, every other order seems to do the exact same thing. They will take every opportunity to use the most MP possible, and never use the spells you want them to.
   
   For example, say you want to heal your entire party. You issue the command by pressing the Y button, and they fire off a healing spell, but never the one you want. If they have a multi-target spell, and a single target spell, they will almost always use the single target spell first. To get the spell you want, you have to go into the menu, block all the spells that you don't want cast, cast the spell, then unblock everything again. It's a pain in the arse. What compounds the issue is that a lot of the time during fevered battles, it takes forever for the healing command to take effect. During the final boss fight, for example, I was hitting the button every 10-15 seconds, yet no one would heal anyone for at least a full minute. Therefore, I ended up having to sit in the item screen tossing potions around because the AI controlled allies would not freaking heal each other. That's an epic final battle, right? (sarcasm) Ultimately, the game feels like it's just you versus everything. The only thing the allies do is take hits for you, and that's about it.
   
   On top of the less-than-stellar combat, there are a lot of features in the game that are completely unnecessary or useless. For example, the flute. Throughout the course of the game, you will find different notations to write different songs, each with varying effects. The only one I ever used though, was the one you have to use to see vermified enemies. They're invisible to everyone else, so by playing this one song, they're revealed. Enchanting is also completely unnecessary, unless you want the achievement for it. There are tons of different enchanting effects, but not once did I find that I had to use it. The only enchantment I ever used was for EXP bonuses, and anti-instant death stuff because of stupid trapped treasure chests that can kill your whole party instantly. For the most part, cooking and other alchemy is useless too. Food offers healing for multiple party members, which can be advantageous. However, the AI never uses food, and to use food, you must go into the menu and find which specific item to use. During combat, this is usually impossible to do without getting killed, so I didn't even bother with it. Weapon and armor creation are about the only things you need to work with. With a few hours of grinding, I had created weapons and armor for my party that lasted for the rest of the game, (by that I mean it was better than most equipment I could buy) which thankfully meant that I didn't have to waste time coming up with money for new stuff.
   
   The world is also very, very linear. You know, I always liked the RPGs with open worlds and random encounters, but maybe that's just me. When I look at some of my favorite RPGs, each one has one thing in common: an open world. Well, not necessarily an "open world" in the sense of Oblivion or Fallout, but a world that you can walk around in, visit towns, maybe find some hidden stuff, etc. Instead, IU just pushes you down a series of corridors, and I never once felt compelled to explore or interact with the world or its inhabitants.
   
   As for what I liked, there isn't a whole lot.
   
   I liked the music. I can give the game that one. The scenery in some locations is also very neat and sets the atmosphere well. Most of the cutscenes look great too, and that's where I think the game placed all it's effort. Ultimately, I felt the game placed far too much emphasis on looking good rather than playing well, and as a result, I didn't care for it. If you like RPG's, you can do better. At least I assume so, because IU is the only RPG I've played on a current generation platform.
   
   It could be that the RPG genre as I know it has changed, and I just can't adjust to it, but I didn't enjoy Infinite Undiscovery very much. To its credit, the game never really felt like a chore to play, but it still left a lot to be desired.

   
   

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Dynafire has 2 comment s on this chronicle.

1. Seripha
   Posted On Jul 21 2009

   Excellent review! This definitely hit home with me as I have completely exhausted the ins and outs of this game. The review that I gave focused more on the achievement aspect of the game as opposed to the playability, and while I think I would be easier on the game than you, I cannot say that I disagree with any of what you said.
   
   This game is definitely not one of tri-Ace's best works. I really got the feeling that it was a quick throw together attempt at an RPG before Star Ocean: The Last Hope came out. Which leads me to my next point. You need to get Star Ocean: The Last Hope. Your faith will be redeemed in tri-Ace. Most notably I would reckon that the combat system would be just the thing you are looking for. I wrote a VERY lengthy review on TLH. I promise you that I spared no detail. If it is a game you are interested in, I might suggest you have a read, or at least skim at your will.
   
   You are very accurate, however, when you say that the RPG genre has changed. I, too, come from the same age of video games as you, and I have also seen them evolve over the years. Some changes are for the better, and some for the worse. Sadly, it seems to be more of the latter. Nonetheless, I remain hopeful that developers will remember their roots and focus on the game experience as a whole once again.

2. BEN
   Posted On Jul 16 2009

   I'm not a huge fan of these types of games, they just seem like too much of a time investment, but when I saw this game at E3 2008 it too did not impress me much...even though it was only a 5-10 minute demo, haha.
   
   Great review though...I love your thoroughness man!