Is this game as disappointing as its name?
Infinite Undiscovery is a brand-new action adventure RPG exclusively for Xbox 360 from tri-Ace, developer of the Star Ocean and Valkyrie Profile series.
The power of Xbox 360 brings to life a world that changes in real time, in which players can make far-reaching decisions that will result in amazing new discoveries. Experience an epic story set in a lovingly crafted fantasy world overflowing with detail, drama and possibility.
Infinite Undiscovery for Xbox 360 Features:
The game starts out with your character being rescued from a prison by a female warrior, who has mistaken you for another person called Lord Sigmund, Capell is literally a double of Sigmund who you come across after you both escape and find refuge in the woods. Sigmund is famous for destroying the chains that are wrapped around the moon that are tied to the planet, which has created and unleashed darkness to the world. The whole story of Infinite Undiscovery revolves around that and breaking the chains that bind the two together, While it doesn’t exactly pack a punch like the stories in a Final Fantasy title, the story of Infinite Undiscovery is fairly good, if a tad predictable.
Combat is in real-time, so it’s more fast paced and fluid than that of a turn-based system. Capell and co are surprisingly strong to begin with and while you can’t control each party member, you can issue commands to them so they can help you with a target, do their own thing and so on. There are instances where you can use other characters’ abilities like a crossbow, but Capell tends to stand still when this happens and so it leaves you completely vulnerable to attacks from foes.
Capell is a flute player and using it will open up hidden areas that must be located to progress, it’s always obvious when you have to use it though…so don’t expect any surprises there. I would have liked to see it used in other ways, which is one of a few disappointing moments that Infinite Undiscovery will give you. The lack of any real challenge is one of them, combat is fierce but I never really struggled with anything. The game lasts only around 20-30 hours, which is rather short for a Japanese RPG and it’s paced out so you don’t have to grind to be able to win the later battles.
The game comes on 2 discs, which is a small nuisance but at least it isn’t a 4 disc game like Lost Odyssey was. I would have liked for the game to last a bit longer than it did, but it doesn’t feel that it ends too soon. There’s never any real indication where you have to go and going the wrong way doesn’t get you rewarded like in most RPGs, where you would usually find a rare item or boss battle. When you do know where you are going, the game goes fairly quickly.
Fighting is perhaps the game’s greatest asset, while exploration and story are somewhat lacking. Some fights require some extra strategy but work well. The real thing that lets down Infinite Undiscovery is its presentation, while it has some great visuals…the lack of voice-work in some cutscenes is odd, while the lip-syncing and actual voice-work can be downright terrible, its acceptable most of the time…but it becomes more noticeable as you play through the game.
The Verdict
Infinite Undiscovery has an interesting story and a great combat system, but it doesn’t really add anything new to the genre and truth be told, there are much better RPGs out there. A few bad presentation issues hold it back even more, making the game with the worst name ever to only appeal to those RPG fans who can’t wait for Star Ocean or the next Final Fantasy game.
