Reviews// Infinite Undiscovery

Capell starts the game with no range attack skills, so you'll need to use Aya. Using group skills is another area where Implicate Undishflubbery strays from the time honoured traditions of Squenix RPGs.

In a traditional RPG, battle commands are handed out, and then the team member performs them when their turn comes up. Because this is a real time action game, to use another group member's skills you have to assume command of them, effectively switching the character you control. This is also used later in the game when talking to non-playable characters.

Some NPCs will reveal information to certain members of your team, but not to others, so you may need to talk to them using each different team member - this is a brilliant way of eeking extra play hours out of the game but it may not be the shot in the arm that is required to tempt attention bereft gamers to the genre.

Another aspect of the real time nature of the game is that even while you are in the menus, equipping weapons, choosing skills, or selecting items to use, time progresses in the game world. This is atypical of RPGs, where escaping into the menu system often pauses the game - giving you the opportunity to limit damage while you formulate strategy. As a result, you have to be much more decisive when accessing the menus (unless you choose a secluded spot to do so) because you may be attacked while you browse the extensive menu system.

The same is true in battle, you cannot buy time by accessing the menus - which is a very real problem when your health is running low. Infinite Undiscovery addresses this by enabling you to set default healing behaviours. Once these are set, group members will automatically use their healing skills to restore your (and other group members') strength during and after battles.

A similar approach is taken to group battle behaviour - you can choose from a set of options that tell your companions to attack freely or to select the enemy you are attacking, or to attack other members of the the enemy group. This all works very well, and overcomes some of the aspects that make RPGs too strategy-based for some players' tastes.

In the end, Infinite Undiscovery is a solid game, but it's clear that Squenix hasn't given it the same levels of love and affection that one of its AAA games would receive. The animation and modelling, while not shabby by any estimation, doesn't have the same level of detail we've seen in FFXIII screens. The storyline is an off-the-peg JRPG tale, and the incidental character dialogue is unimaginative.

On the other hand, Squenix has taken this opportunity to introduce some new game-play elements that I haven't seen from it before. While these elements may not have all the niggles worked out - this is an ideal chance for Squenix to gauge public reaction, and garner feedback before it integrates aspects of them into their big-money titles. So, if you don't mind being part of a giant paid-for public beta, this game gives a sneak preview of the way Squenix titles may go in the future.

So, I am left with just one question! That name - Untimate Indescribably, what is it all about? I like to think that it's an overly literal translation of a phrase that in Japanese is both poetic and timeless; a koan that is beautifully axiomatic while also being achingly paradoxical. In English of course, it is meaningless drivel that is as bland as it is unmemorable, but maybe that just exemplifies the difference between our cultures.


[b][i]SPOnG rating: 73%
Conclusion
By trying hard to appeal to newcomers to the RPG genre, Infinite Undiscovery possibly hasn't got enough to offer to enthusiasts of the genre. The result is a game that Square Enix fans will find interesting, but possibly not interesting enough for any but the most obsessive of them to buy an Xbox 360 - which is what Microsoft was hoping it would be. If you have a 360, and you love JRPGs, this game is well worth a look, otherwise... wait for Final Fantasy XIII.[/i][/b]