Capell and Aya's first task is to escape from the dungeons - which of course requires you to overcome the guards who are there to - well, to guard them. Here you experience your first taste of the game's tutorial system, which is detailed to the point of being slightly boring. But pay attention - you'll need to know this stuff.
Seasoned players of JRPGs will also take note that at this point the game features real-time battles, with arcade style combat. That is to say hacking and slashing button mashing such as you might find in a game like
Devil May Cry or
Ninja Gaiden. This represents a step forward for JRPGS in general, and certainly for Square Enix - who's venerable
Final Fantasy series has laid down the guidelines that every other game in the genre has sought to emulate. The result has been a niche genre - a BIG niche to be sure, but a niche nonetheless.
The problem with the genre is that they are often seen by non-believers as lacking in action.
Infinite Undiscovery attempts to address this criticism, and bring the ADHD-suffering children of the MTV generation into the RPG fold by genre bending action into the swords and scorcery mix. It does so with some success. the game certainly gains from the interactive combat sequences when compared to endlessly watching the same animation over and over again.
There has been a good deal of speculation as to why the 360 has not been successful in Japan, and why the
Final Fantasy games have not been even more successful in America. Some people have concluded that this is because Xbox owners like arcade action games.
So,
Unfinite Indiscovery is an attempt to bridge the gap, and give 360 users a gateway game to tempt them onto more hardcore RPG use. A lead in to the much vaunted release of
Final Fantasy XIII on Xbox 360?
Another main complaint of critics of the RPG genre remains intact in the game - random battles. As you wander round territory that you have already discovered, backtracking to talk to someone or find something vital to your quest, you will have to engage in battle countless times. These battles are variously seen as unnecessary and repetitive or a useful way of earning credits and experience points and levelling up your characters. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle.
They ARE a useful way of skilling up, but once you are skilled they ARE boring and repetitive, especially when you need to be somewhere in a hurry. But in
Intimate Fundiscovery, because the battles are real time and action based, you can see the enemy lurking, and you can try and stealth past them, or simply outrun them.
If you decide to battle, if you creep up on your opponents, keeping out of their line of sight you can launch a surprise attack, which gives each of your blows critical damage. Equally, if an enemy springs a surprise attack on you, their blows are similarly amplified.
One way to prevent an enemy gaining the upper hand in a battle is to initiate the skirmish by performing a range attack on them - this will give you the advantage of a surprise attack and enable you to then complete the battle quickly by performing critical blows on the enemy.
