Infinite Undiscovery

"A game worth looking into."

Let me start by saying this: I got this game, having been a fan of previous Tri-Ace games, and I can say I thoroughly enjoyed this title, despite some of it's minor flaws, which tend to add up. Let me also say that I think it's worth renting first, and that no judgements on this game should be made before investing 5 hours or more in the straight storyline gameplay. That is to say, without doing sidequests, or Item Creation, you should plug a minimum of five hours into the game before putting serious thought into it being a poor or an outstanding game.

Onto the review!

Story/Development of Cast: 7/10
The game starts out very...slowly, very uninterestingly. You have little backstory happening, and are thrown moments further into the game into a race for your life from a hulking red ogre. A quick-witted gamer will immeadiately triumph through the initial 15-25 minutes of the game with few problems, but for someone new to the RPG Genre or near completely Active battles, you may have some trouble. Get past this, and a couple more hours of what's nearly filler material, and you'll find this game has a lot to offer on the table as far as story and development of the cast of characters is concerned.

The main character, Capell, goes through a series of changes from what he initially was. He starts out as a sort of fearful, yet earnest young man, wanting to do the right thing, but not one to be in a position to risk his life to achieve his goals, and moves on to become something more, and even more changes ensue. The fact that Capell was such a humanistic hero, I think, is a great appeal to audiences large and wide, and there are many moments where he blurts out quite the hilarious line, making him a worthy main character in every aspect in this reviewers opinion.

This, however, does not come without it's penalties. Only a couple other characters share Capell's luck in development of their persona. It's a sad truth, but many of the characters you acquire along the course of the game tend to be very static, or even bland, which may lead some players to feel put off towards using them.

The story in itself feels very linear, as many RPG games of the past, but contains enough twists put in at the right times that it's not too lackluster, despite the fact that it feels a bit rushed, or forced on you at times. This however, does not detract to how well the game plays out.

Gameplay: 8/10
This is one of the aspects of the game that truly shines. This game offers a lot in terms of gameplay allure. This game features a fully active battle system, where even access into your menu doesn't stop the flow of time in the game! This leads to very thrilling battles if enemies are hot on your tail and you're in need of some healing, but at the same time, can be quite frustrating when you're constantly getting interrupted while trying to revive a member of your team or you're simply trying to throw out some healing.

Also, in this game, you only control the main character, Capell. While this might make some of you sigh, it's not an altogether bad thing. Capell's moveset, as well as the "Killer Moves" he learns are quite varied and balanced as a whole, so in the long run, you won't feel too constricted in using him.

However, despite this, you can set up through the "Connect" menu, skills your other characters will use when you hold down the Right Bumper and hit the corresponding button to a character in your party for, turning your X and Y button into commands for your party members. There are skills unique to the Connect system, in that without connecting, they otherwise will not be able to use such skills. One of the flaws with the Connect system is that your characters will fail to use spells or skills while connected to you, and follow you very closely in combat, but I suppose that's part of you being 'Connected' in the first place.

Healing in this game is either done by you, the player, by accessing the Menu mid-battle or outside of a battle and using a restorative item, or done automatically by the AI controlled characters. Many of them are tweaked enough that they heal when your life starts dipping below 50%, but if you're the frantic healing type, then you can press the Y button while not connected to a character to request healing, the AI prioritizing the lowest health member, and a fine line between a Spell or an Item being used crossed here and there.

Overall, the AI performs quite admirably, but there are times when the characters in your party will seem to be absolutely oblivious to the plights of your team losing health, and this can lead to frustratingly long, and even losing battles. However, if you take the better part of valor in discretion, this should not be a deterrent to you, as frequent use of the Y button can lead to this being a mere side note of gameplay.

Also, in this game, there are multiple parties at certain storyline segments of the game, where you choose a party for yourself, and choose members for up to two other parties. This is a very fun system to play around with, and it's simply amazing seeing three teams of four characters start rampaging in a boss battle(as is evident in some of the later storyline battles), but for about 50% of the time this system is in place, the other parties will not be anywhere near you.

One of the downsides to this, is that your other parties just can't die. While I find it's a nice thing to watch(unkillable characters fighting a killable boss is a strike for justice), it can also make the game a lot easier than it should be at the times when this tends to happen, however, it all depends on how you play the game.

Sound: 7/10
This game has a pretty good music score, straight from Motoi Sakuraba, one of the chief composers for all of Tri-Ace's games, and the score in this game closer resembles the music in Valkyrie Profile: Silmeria, than in other titles Motoi worked on, which to some gamers, may be a relief. The orchestral tunes are often times over-used(you'll hear the boss fight song a multitude of times), but they still retain a high level of quality. I myself never bored of the music, but for some less-attentive players, the repetition of the music may be a let-down to you.

The voice acting done for the most part is far from perfect, it could use improvement. However, in most of the scenes where there are voices(as there is occassionally a blurred line for when there is and when there isn't), the lines and tone of the speaker seem to fit quite well, and some outstanding parts still stick out in my head. However, improvement of vocal talent and application is something many games need, so it would be a far cry to lower the value of this game based on decent voice acting, rather than horrible voice acting.

Also, in many cases, the lips of the character will move while speaking, however, this just doesn't synchronize at all. I myself tend to ignore this, but it is proof of a poor localization of the game, and will be looked down on by many players expecting an epic and/or flawless title.

Controls: 8/10
There is little to say here beyond that the controls are pretty easy to memorize, though there is some very noticable lack of reaction when using a combo in a battle, which often times, realizing the potential of Aerial or Down combo's can be hard with this, though, with the correct Tactic in play for your characters, this can be patched up by your other team members.

Graphics: 9/10
All in all, the overall graphics of this game, as well as the models of the characters, towns, and skills/spells are quite pleasing to the eye. The only complaint I have is a lack of more movie sequences, but otherwise, the game just looks and feels right in how it is presented visually.

Overall: 7/10
I thoroughly enjoyed the game, and although some flaws weren't listed above, many are easy to overlook, and the game is appealing to the eyes, ears, and for the most part, mind. At the end of the game, you will feel a sense of accomplishment in having cleared the main story, and there's more to it than just the story driven gameplay. There's Item Creation to update your armor and assortment of your healing/accessory items, and even a post-game dungeon(a staple of Tri-Ace gaming) for you to fill your time with when you want something different to do with the game.

It's not the best game on the market, but it does what it set out to do, and that's entertain and keep you hooked with another innovation in general gameplay from Tri-Ace. You could expect a great deal from this game and be let down a bit, or take it for what it's intended and thoroughly enjoy this title, ignoring what minor and mostly insignifcant flaws the game has, but most RPG gamers, new and old alike, can find something good in this that appeals to them.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 09/09/08

Game Release: Infinite Undiscovery (US, 09/02/08)