Infinite Undiscovery Comments by Dan Whitehead

FFXII cries? That's more emotion right there then than the whole 16 hours I put into before dumping that boring piece of shit.

Persona 3 is fun though:p

/really enjoyed Enchanted Arms

*baiting*

Everyone who didnt like FF12 just aint clever/intelligent enough to be able to appreciate it.

@anomagnus

you do understand what the word opinion is dont you?

may be he didnt like it same with heavnly sword crap review but i enjoyed it

Its not the gameplay mechanic of FFXII that got to me, its the lack of involving characters and story. I quite liked the size/gameplay.

@Widge

I agree. The game was fine. But I just couldn't be bothered playing through something I had no involvement in what soever. Kept thinking, what the hell am I doing this for anyway. Who is this guy again I'm talking to, where the hell are we heading now, why the fuck did we enter this cave, etc.

@krelle: you mispelled it: it's FFXII, not FF12. Heretic!

Eurogamer isnt the only site to give IU a bad score y'know. I'm sure metacritic will be happy to point you to other less-than-glowing reviews.

Anyway, bit dissapointed that it turned out bad/mediocre. Even more dissapointed that Tales of Vesparia is being delayed till spring. Still, this slight gap in RPG's has allowed me to return to my enormous PS2 and DS RPG pile and start making some progress with them.
I'm hoping to get Atelier Iris 3, Shadow Hearts 3, Devil Summoner and Summon Night: Twin Age done and dusted before the year is out.

Glad I didn't buy this POS.

'the bad guys have tethered the planet to the moon with giant chains in order to steal its lunar power'

'The story is cookie cutter stuff'

sounds like i've been reading the wrong books...

'Eurogamer isnt the only site to give IU a bad score y'know. I'm sure metacritic will be happy to point you to other less-than-glowing reviews.'

Good point and looking at that, the average score is 72/100.

I only really have one question - why is that seemingly every Japanese game (Metal Gear Solid being an exception) has a child protagonist (or several)?
I've tried my best playing perhaps six or seven JRPGs over the last few years (PS2 and XBox 360), but even the few where I actually rather enjoyed the gameplay, I was seriously put off by the whole androgynous emo teenager aspect (or in a few cases I think, equally androgynous and childlike emo immortal).
I do seem to recall reading somewhere that they have a bit of an obsession with youth in Japan, but really? Teenagers and little kids as warriors and army generals? And few or none of them looking Asian for that matter.

i didnt have too much of a problem with the ff12 story, thought it was pretty cool actually, nethicite, judges, big airships, it was cool! having said that it definitely could have been a lot better with more cut scenes and interaction between the charachters. Their relationships never seemed to develop much.

@Miths

Well, DMC, LO, Ninja Gaiden, beg to differ:P

It's mostly the anime style game which do this. And thta's because the target anime market is probably exactly that age.

why is that seemingly every Japanese game (Metal Gear Solid being an exception) has a child protagonist (or several)?

Probably because teenagers are the target audience for JRPGs. It's also why most anime protagonists are young 'uns.

@ muftak

i am well aware of the word opinion. however, with something as arbitrary as came score reviews, where an entire opinion is summed up in a single digit, more time and effort should be out into a review

at the very least, what i want from any review are multiple points of view, not one person that looked at a game, and said 'nah, i dont like it'

and quite frankly, their track history of late has been less than steller, its come to the point where i simply dont trust it anymore

okay, go away then.

anomagnus
"and quite frankly, their track history of late has been less than steller, its come to the point where i simply dont trust it anymore"

Or to put it another, more honest, way...

"Eurogamer's reviews are rubbish because they don't give the score *I* think they should".

Look, JRPG's are much like fighting games. It's been done. Lots of times. Way too many times and the genre is dead. There's simply nowhere else to go.
IU has 'fail' written all over it from day 1. It has nothing to offer over Eternal Sonata, Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey etc and the last-gen graphics seal it's fate as pure failage. (BTW, I'm not a graphics whore, but I expect people to at least make an effort when I've spent £1000 on my HD gaming setup).

(Disgaea isn't a JRPG, it's a turn-based strategy game)

What the hell!?

An RPG from Japan = JRPG

ARPG (Action) and SRPG (Strategy) are sub-genre's within the genre's, if you just look at JRPG's at stuff just turn based of course you're going to see them stuck in traditional ways.

not one person that looked at a game, and said 'nah, i dont like it'

You know, he did provide plenty of reasons why he didn't like it. Perhaps you should address the points in the review that you disagree with rather than making silly statements like "the entire review team should be replaced".

@Steroyd:

What I meant is that Disgaea is different. It doesn't feel like a JRPG, it doesn't play like a JRPG, so shouldn't be classed as one. I enjoy Disgaea, but the last proper JRPG I enjoyed was FFXII. Even Blue Dragon, that I had hopes for, turned out to be shite (played the demo, didn't like it)

I hear Persona is a good 'un, so will likely play that too. Let's hope Star Ocean doesn't suck so hard though, I have fond memories of the series.

@seaside

I know a lot of people who don't like BD, but that demo was one of the worst demo's in the history of demo's. Luckily the game is a lot better, if you like that kind of stuff. (I really don't know what's wrong with it, I enjoyed it, it may be a niche taste, but in know way is it a bad game)

@YeOldgamer

Seeing as SF4 is coming and SC already sold buckets I'd hardly say it's dead.

@seaside - How does it not feel like an RPG, exactly? How exactly should an RPG feel? If disgaea is an SRPG, it is by definition and name an RPG. Stop being weird.

I still haven't found what I'm not looking for.

I'm enjoying this at the moment, the slow down in battles is a pain in the ass but not a deal breaker for me (mind you, as I'm not that far in I'm sure it will get worse and worse).

Mind you, FFVII was the last JRPG I played before Blue Dragon so maybe I just haven't "burned out" on the genre. A lot of the reviews I've seen so far read more like reviews of the JRPGs genre and not this particular example; they end up slamming it because it doesn't change the formula enough. Now maybe that's fair, Square Enix apparently hyped this one up a lot and then failed to deliver. However, I somehow missed that hype so I'll leave 'em alone.

@FabricatedLunatic

Fine, some of his points-

1)- Yea, its slow to get started, all JRPGS are. But the ramp up time on this is FAR shorter than other games. Within one hour, the game will have progressed to a point where its engageable and enjoyable.

2) - his comment where the frame rate falls as soon as their is any activity is pure hyperbole bullshit. Yea, frame rate drops, but you need a lot happening. At the end of disc 2, there were 2 bosses, 7 playable characters, and 5 random enemies, and i experienced no slow down, despite special moves popping all over the place. His woeful review makes it sound like a sword swipe drops the frame rate which is untrue and unfair.

3) - His complaint that the game, despite its promises, doesn't shake things up, Having played JRPGS for 15 years, this is a very different beast to the majority of them. It is VERY accessible to those that don't like. Leveling all the party is no longer a chore, and despite his snide little comment in a picture box, inventory management is pretty easy

4) - Empty environments - i'm puzzled by this comment. There are enemies on all the maps, always within sight. I'm not saying its jammed packed with them, but if it was, you'd be going from the PAIN that is random battles, to the pain of not being able to move five steps without an enemy. If there are going to be real time battles, you can't FLOOD the area with monsters.

5) - Stealth elements = walk slowly - pretty much the same as almost every stealth game i've seen, and more to the point a minor and trival part of the games

6) - forcing you to play with characters he feels make no sense - they actually fit the story. nothing else to say about that, perhaps he didnt get the story

Now, i;m not saying its perfect, its not a 9/10, heck even an 8/10. The switch to silent cutscenes should be a thing of the past. Combat is repetative button smashing, and its short, MUCH shorter than most JRPG's. 7/10 would have been much fairer

All i;m saying is, when it gets going, this is far from a 5/10.

@ YeOldeGamer

They have been wrong on more than this. The review of Viking was criminal. Too Human has proven to be a revelation for me, i'm more than 60 hours in at this stage, and mercs on co-op is more fun than i've had in ages. Each of these games has flaws, yes, but of Eurogamer can't look below the surface, why bother reviewing. From a review, i expect more than an 'fast as i can' run through of the game. No time seems to be taken in appreciating the games, unless its a AAA platinum launch

I've also said that single person reviews are a bad idea. I expect a review that contains multiple points of view.

Anyway, all my criticism is from my point of view. So while you lot bleat on about how its their opinion, my opinion is they have review four games now, 3 in quick succession, and their review scores differ WILDLY from my play experience, which brings me back to my point of view, i dont trust their reviewers to do a good job, unless its a major release.

@menage: Cheers for the clearup about the demo, will get BD then next week, it's about a tenner now isn't it?

@malik: I can't help being weird ;) I just think my tastes have evolved slightly since playing all the SNES RPGs, and as such don't think that SRPGs necessarily fit into the RPG category. Just my opinion though ;)

This game even looks bad in the television commercials, where it should be easy to find a few pretty snips and cast things in a favorable - if misleading - light. Not a good sign. At least visually, this is a big step backward for Square Enix. Anyway, not my genre.

another 360 exclusive turns to be a shit

The last time I played and completed an RPG, they didn't used to have the J infront of the genre name.

Blue Dragon got 5 out of 10 and I thought that was shitting brilliant, so with any luck this'll be just as good. should be waiting at home for me...

@ anomagnus

I do like Eurogamer but sometimes I get the same impression of the reviews. The one that will always stick in my mind if the 8/10 for MGS4.

The next game that'll get brilliant scores everywhere and get 6/10 or something like that on here will be Fallout 3. Unless Dead Space, Fable 2 or Saints Row 2 can get there first

I think SR will go down that way, spraying manure isn't my thing so wouldn't care anyway:P

Vesperia is going to be the one...not sure why it's 2009 though as it'll be the same as the US version which is already out..

the animation bits from production I.G look lovely, and the rest of it is nicely DQish in look..

Why why why. . . . Was hoping for a great JRPG or RPG.

Divine Divinity is no longer the worst title in gaming.

@des "Review is crap as usual,jrpg and western reviewer=disaster"

So you're saying that westerners shouldn't be allowed to review JRPGs? What do you suggest - that EG should bring in a specialist JRPG reviewer from Japan? (Or maybe just a foaming mouth otaku JRPG fanboy who desperately *wants* to be Japanese?)

I really don't understand this review. I'm eight hours in and loving it.

Like everyone else, I admit the first hour is pretty bad. In fact, I stopped after this hour and contemplated returning it. I'm glad I gave it a second chance, though.

I also enjoyed Blue Dragon but this is far better. Don't get me wrong, it's nothing ground-breaking but I'd give it a 7/10, based on what I've played so far.

Each to their own, I guess.

WOW you finally reviewed it EG?

well done :thumbs up: ......... :/

More anti-MS bias here at Eurogamer

;)

"since the enemies respawn almost immediately, in the exact same spot, you'll still end up grinding through too many battles just to get from A to B."

For the enemies to respaen you hae to move quite a distance from the area ctually, otherwise once you defeat an emey that's it, they will not respaen whilst you are there.

I agree with many points in this review also, in attempt to glorify the JRPG scene, some clumsy decisions were indeed made, but I will be seeing this one through to the end as the game has really started to pick up now. May even go at it again on the Hard difficulty too for the extra plot points.

Yeah, pretty much like Blue Dragon, this game is a 7/10 imo. Anyway, at least one of the 'next gen' systems is giving fans of the genre something to play (even if this title isn't anything amazing) it's better than nothing, I mean the PS3 is great if you only like FPS and racers but I prefer a bit of variety... Oh, and FFXII was a total bore-fest with a crap battle system, Persona 3 was the dullest JRPG I've ever played but both games received good reviews, it seems supposed 'innovation' is more important than fun these days...

[i]Such flaws are really only worth tolerating if you're so devoted to the JRPG genre that you'd settle for mediocrity rather than wait for the good stuff.[/i]

There arn't any other semi-big RPG's coming out this month, so yeah, I'll settle for it.
About 10 hours in and still enjoying it, not as much as expected, but still enjoying it.

Y'see this is where i disagree. Mostly Eurogamer reviews are spot on the money, but the only thing i read in this review that I agree with is the framerate issue, it does get quite bad in hectic situations. But as far as story goes, yes I guess it's been done a thousand times already, it's pretty cliche, but I love it. It's a hark to yesteryear, a return to "ye olde RPG". The storyline has a somewhat "Shadow Hearts" vibe to it, and Covenant was one of my all time favourite RPG's, if thats not your bag then fine, but don't bash on it just because it's not up there with conventional releases.

I'm throughly enjoying Infinite Undiscovery and I urge any JRPG fans out there that are big fans of the old skool genre to pick this one up, for all it's misgivings it's still a good game, if somewhat flawed in it's processes.

"Everyone who didnt like FF12 just aint clever/intelligent enough to be able to appreciate it."

FF XII is a great game but not suitable for people that have little free time. If you have the time to finish the game within a month or so it might make sense. But most of the time I drop in and out of games (not playing them for weeks or months) and that play style doesn't fit with FF XII. The gameplay is good though, although grinding is a chore. But after experiencing the SMT games I must admit that I like them much better than FF.

Framerate issues in a RPG GAME is already a fail for me lol..... I planned to buy x360 even in its shitest arcade version just for IU and Tales of Vesperia, but if the game is as bad as this review states than its only vesperia, which sadly isnt region free = gotta wait till march 2009 at least.....I wished that Namco wasn't behind tales games, they suck when it comes to publishing anything here in EU...

Anyway Ill keep waiting for tales, maybe x360 will get a price drop next year in PAL so I might get it for vesperia finally :/

I think the first hour wasn't great but then I can't think of many RPGs where the first few hours are that brilliant either. Dragon Quest 8 is one of my favourites and the first few hours in that were a real slog. FFVII was great from the opening tho

I'm 5 hours in and I'm loving it so far to be fair, it seems like a mix between Star Ocean 3 and Final Fantasy 12. Voice acting is a bit duff but again, can't think of many games (Metal Gear aside of course) where the voice acting is good throughout. in RPGs with speech bubbles coming from characters I always turn off the voices if I can anyway, unfortunately its just subtitles in this though so have to keep it on...