Video Game Vintage Title: Infinite Undiscovery

Infinite Undiscovery

Infinite Undiscovery is an action role-playing video game developed by tri-Ace and published by Square Enix exclusively for the Xbox 360. The game was released during September 2008 in Europe, Japan, and North America.

Infinite Undiscovery Gameplay

Infinite Undiscovery envelops the player in a real-time world where individual decisions can unveil numerous discoveries and affect other encounters, without the need to transition to another screen and can occur at anytime, even while the player is going through inventory in the menu. The action based battle system allows up to 4 characters to be on the field at once. The player controls the main character Capell from a third-person perspective while the other 3 characters are controlled by AI; however, with connect actions Capell can use another character's skill. Faced with a variety of episodic situational battles, the player is meant to try various methods to defeat the enemy, where the most obvious solution is rarely the right move. Certain battles require the player to divide the whole of the cast (said to be up to eighteen characters) into teams due to the sheer size of the situation.

The game was meant to transition between day and night about every 10 minutes and the player was to use this to their advantage. For instance, at night the player might have had a better chance of infiltrating an enemy base stealthily as opposed to barging in during the day. However, this system was later found to be removed from the final product. Light stealth elements like this are hidden throughout the game, director Hiroshi Ogawa explains: �As an example, when you�re running away from a hunting dog, you can distract him by dropping apples from the trees. However, the guards may catch you when they hear the thud of the apples.�

Reception
As of September 30, 2008, Infinite Undiscovery has shipped 120,000 copies in Japan, 200,000 copies in North America, and 90,000 copies in Europe. In Japan, the game sold 96,000 copies by its third week.

In Japan, Famitsu gave Infinite Undiscovery a total score of 32 out of 40 from four reviewers (9, 8, 8, 7). Abroad, Infinite Undiscovery has received mixed to positive reviews from the critics, with an average of 67.98% on GameRankings and 68/100 on Metacritic. IGN gave it a 7.1 saying "This isn't a game marred with horrendous bugs or unplayable combat. And it's not boring. It's just misguided. The story is intriguing enough that RPG fanatics should at least give this a rental." 1UP.com gave it a B saying "Undiscovery is absolutely worth playing through at least once, with the regrettable caveat that it really could've been so much more." GamePro gave it a 3 out of 5 saying "In the end, Undiscovery isn't a bad game but it is seriously flawed. I'd recommend renting it before you invest your hard earned cash on a purchase, especially if you're new to the RPG genre." GameSpot awarded the score of 6.5 ("Fair") but felt it was too flawed to reach its potential. GamesRadar gave it a 7 out of 10 saying "When it�s acting like a run-of-the-mill JRPG, it feels clich�d, but reasonably enjoyable. When it tries to be innovative, however, its unsatisfying combat, superfluous subsystems and wasted ensemble cast make the whole experience feel half-hearted." X-Play gave the game a 4 out of 5, praising its addictive and fast paced action and multi-party battles, while criticizing its "ridiculous" name, its annoying protagonist, and slow story line. X-Play explained that while the story is slow at the start of the game, once you push through for a few hours, the game and story are actually very entertaining.