Jerkpop Review: Infinite Undiscovery

So, I finally decided to get off of my lazy ass and write this review (also, there was some difficulty pulling me away from it). Yea, I know it’s been almost two months, but I’ve been busy, so shut it.

Infinite Undiscovery is the latest game by Tri-Ace, developers of the legendary RPG franchises Valkyrie Profile and Star Ocean. The question that must be asked is whether or not it lives up to its predecessors or not. Check after the jump as I undiscover what this game has to offer.

Overview: Infinite Undiscovery is a game that follows the story of the main character, Capell. Capell is an average person, not of great renown, great strength, great charisma, etc. The one remarkable thing about him is his extremely close resemblance to the world’s greatest hero Sigmund. Unfortunately for Capell, who’d rather continue to live his normal life, his resemblance to Sigmund pulls him on a quest he is more than reluctant to join (be prepared for some Tidus moments. Don’t worry though, they don’t last long.

When the game begins, the world’s crisis immediately becomes clear: the moon is chained to the world, and The Order (bad guys) are harnessing its power to wreak havoc across the world. Sigmund is the leader of the Liberation Force, a renegade force with the objective of cutting the chains, therein freeing the moon. Capell is mistaken for Sigmund, arrested, and then rescued by the Force, mistaking him for Sigmund. Capell’s life changes forever due to this mistake.

Story: The story of Infinite Undiscovery is stronger at some times than others, but is not a bad story by any means. The story unveils at a good pace, despite the game only taking about 20-30 hours to beat (I did it in 19 with no sidequests). One complaint many people have about the game is that there is very little character development, but I don’t really see this as a fault. Would it have been nice to see? Sure, why not? I’m fine with only getting really good development on Capell, however, since the game plays as though you are Capell, and not just controlling him. Very rarely will you see things that Capell is not there to witness. Character development is handled in a very strange way though, that I still found enjoyable. Throughout the game, different characters traits will chang, and checking their personal skills will give you a short list on the traits Capell notices in each character.

The story has its shares of ups and downs, but spends much more time being awesome than not. If you hear otherwise, I can almost guarantee they only played the first few hours.

Gameplay: Ah, the gameplay, the shining gem of Tri-Ace’s legacy. Infinite Undiscovery is no exception. The battle system you’ll encounter in Infinite Undiscovery is one of the best I’ve seen in recent memory. The way I explained it to people was to combine Final Fantasy XII, Star Ocean 3, and Dynasty Warriors. Yes, Dynasty Warriors. The world is completely open like in Final Fantasy XII, skills are used by holding attack buttons like in Star Ocean 3, and depending on how many normal attacks you’ve made before you push the strong attack button, you’ll do a different strong attack, like in Dynasty Warriors. Battles flow very well, with your AI controlled allies doing a VERY good job on their own. You have your standard attack button, a strong attack button which does different attack depending on where you place it in the combo, a button to play your flute, and a “Heal Me!” button. The “Heal Me!” button on your controller might break because you’ll be using it a lot. The reason you’ll use it so much is because there is no pausing the game when you open the menu. Many people have complained about this, since you’re given virtually no time to heal on your own, but cursor memory easily fixes this. I find it to be a good addition since it forces you to rely on your allies, very much like an MMORPG (this game feels heavily like one when in battle). Other than battles, however, the game plays just like any standard RPGwith one exception: Connect. In towns, you can connect with your various teammates to acheive various results. For instance, connecting to Rico gives you the ability to talk to animals. It sounds a little stupid, and you probably won’t use it outside of crafting too often, but it’s still a nice little addition. P.S. Don’t let the first 2-3 hours of the game make you hate it, as they suck. It gets much better after that.

Graphics: The graphics are damn amazing. Nothing more needs to be said about the quality of them. Many people complain about a slowdown when the action gets hot and heavy, but it is very minimal, and I never really noticed it.

Sound: The sound is solid, with a few tracks that are exceptionally good. While many may think that Capell is a puss since he plays the flute, he is damn good. When he plays, gamers that truly pay attention to the sound will be very pleased. Other than that, I’ll simply say that the music fits very well into each environment/scenario that you’ll encounter. Downside to sound is that the lip-synching sucks hard in the game, but you ignore it after a while.

Conclusion: All in all, I would say that Infinite Undiscovery is a very worthwhile game. Many people have frowned upon it because A) It can get pretty hard, and B) the first 2-3 hours kinda suck. The graphics are top-notch, the sound design is solid, gameplay is incredibly enjoyable, and the story, while short, is rewarding. Give it some time yourself, and I promise that you’ll wish that the game never ended, and was indeed infinite.