I first played Infinite Undiscovery years ago, when I borrowed it from a friend. I was not blown away by it, but it did have a few twists that I felt kept it from being completely blase to me (and I liked the premise of lunaglyphs and the connection to the moon in general). I also thought the multiple teams thing was cool, though I don't think it was really as utilized as it should have been (since I believe it got a lot of hype, too). After finishing it, I was, again, not blown away, but it was a good way to spend a few afternoons.
Flash forward to a few years later, when I decide to get it for myself. At this point, I've played some other next-gen JRP Gs, such as Eternal Sonata and Star Ocean The Last Hope. Though IU doesn't have the above-average voice acting of Eternal Sonata or the scope of The Last Hope, I find that it is a bit more competently written than ES and is less inane than TLH. Characters do not randomly break out into gratingly long monologues, nor are they so annoying that you're grateful that at least the main character is sane. I found that most of the party characters in IU were likeable (save for the the creepy twins), and though the voice acting was kind of mediocre in some parts (like anytime Vic decides to talk, or some of the voices for the bosses), most of the cast actually does an okay job (though you can tell Micheal Mc Connohie and Kyle Hebert were kind of phoning it in).
Now don't get me wrong, IU is full of JRPG cliches; but I feel like it's not offensively cliched and that the story is interesting enough (and not quite as nebulous as Eternal Sonata's) that I didn't really care about some of the lesser cliches present. In fact, I really only have three major problems with this game: 1) It is way too short for what I feel it was trying to accomplish (that is, I think the size of the cast suffers from the game's length); 2) the multi-party system was not used as much as I feel it should have been; and 3) many of the characters are incredibly underdeveloped—though with how short the game is, it's a wonder how Capell and Edward have as much Character Development as they do. However, it has many redeeming qualities: Capell isn't that annoying (or a Designated Hero), the story is interesting, the cast is mostly likeable, it's fun (and pretty), and the music is outstanding.
VideoGame 7.5 out of 10; or, a good way to kill a few afternoons
I first played Infinite Undiscovery years ago, when I borrowed it from a friend. I was not blown away by it, but it did have a few twists that I felt kept it from being completely blase to me (and I liked the premise of lunaglyphs and the connection to the moon in general). I also thought the multiple teams thing was cool, though I don't think it was really as utilized as it should have been (since I believe it got a lot of hype, too). After finishing it, I was, again, not blown away, but it was a good way to spend a few afternoons.
Flash forward to a few years later, when I decide to get it for myself. At this point, I've played some other next-gen JRP Gs, such as Eternal Sonata and Star Ocean The Last Hope. Though IU doesn't have the above-average voice acting of Eternal Sonata or the scope of The Last Hope, I find that it is a bit more competently written than ES and is less inane than TLH. Characters do not randomly break out into gratingly long monologues, nor are they so annoying that you're grateful that at least the main character is sane. I found that most of the party characters in IU were likeable (save for the the creepy twins), and though the voice acting was kind of mediocre in some parts (like anytime Vic decides to talk, or some of the voices for the bosses), most of the cast actually does an okay job (though you can tell Micheal Mc Connohie and Kyle Hebert were kind of phoning it in).
Now don't get me wrong, IU is full of JRPG cliches; but I feel like it's not offensively cliched and that the story is interesting enough (and not quite as nebulous as Eternal Sonata's) that I didn't really care about some of the lesser cliches present. In fact, I really only have three major problems with this game: 1) It is way too short for what I feel it was trying to accomplish (that is, I think the size of the cast suffers from the game's length); 2) the multi-party system was not used as much as I feel it should have been; and 3) many of the characters are incredibly underdeveloped—though with how short the game is, it's a wonder how Capell and Edward have as much Character Development as they do. However, it has many redeeming qualities: Capell isn't that annoying (or a Designated Hero), the story is interesting, the cast is mostly likeable, it's fun (and pretty), and the music is outstanding.