Infinite Undiscovery (360)

[jfsolo]

Re: Infinite Undiscovery (360)

I'm not saying that it's not going to be real time but it's just weird seeing the typical japanese rpg stuff in the corner(like Cyros said) and the whole look of the game but with real time combat.

You probably haven't played any of the "Tales" or Star Ocean games, or Radiata Stories among others. They all have similar real time fighting mechanics combined with all the usual JRPG gameplay elements.

As much as I loved Lost Odyssey, it did confirm that I'm burned out on turn-based fighting. So it will be good to have traditional JRPG art, story and character development with a more dynamic combat engine.

[Cyros]

Re: Infinite Undiscovery (360)

You probably haven't played any of the "Tales" or Star Ocean games, or Radiata Stories among others. They all have similar real time fighting mechanics combined with all the usual JRPG gameplay elements.

As much as I loved Lost Odyssey, it did confirm that I'm burned out on turn-based fighting. So it will be good to have traditional JRPG art, story and character development with a more dynamic combat engine.

Tales of Vespeira here I come!

[Flawless]

Re: Infinite Undiscovery (360)

New trailer:

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[Flawless]

Re: Infinite Undiscovery (360)

Infinite Undiscovery Dated

Square Enix sent out a surprise announcement today of the release date for Infinite Undiscovery in North America and Japan. RPG fanatics will be able to get their hands on the tri-Ace (makers of Star Ocean and Valkyrie Profile) developed title on September 2, 2008. Yes, you read the year properly. The game is coming out in just a few months.

"With the simultaneous release of Infinite Undiscovery, Square Enix is entering an exciting new period of delivering great gaming experiences to our fans all around the world at the same time, creating new global communities," said John Yamamoto, president and chief executive officer of Square Enix, Inc. and Square Enix, Ltd. "This is something that we have aimed to do for a long time and we look to continue to deliver worldwide gaming experiences across all platforms well into the future."

Infinite Undiscovery promises a real-time world where "every decision you make leads to a myriad of discoveries and affects every encounter." Stay tuned for more.

New Screens

[CMH]

Re: Infinite Undiscovery (360)

I hate, hate, hate Japanese RPGs. But I hate them because of turn-based fighting. The only turn-based games I liked were Mario RPG and Earthbound.

The real-time fighting will get me to give this game a long look especially since I do enjoy Japanese RPG stories.

[burnwood]

Re: Infinite Undiscovery (360)

I hate, hate, hate Japanese RPGs. But I hate them because of turn-based fighting. The only turn-based games I liked were Mario RPG and Earthbound.

The real-time fighting will get me to give this game a long look especially since I do enjoy Japanese RPG stories.

blasphemy!

[Flawless]

Re: Infinite Undiscovery (360)

Infinite Undiscovery Dated For North America, Europe, Japan, Asia

Square Enix published, tri-Ace developed Xbox 360 title Infinite Undiscovery has been dated for North America (9/2), Europe (9/5), Japan (9/11) and Asia (9/11). The North America and Europe dates are ship dates, but presumably the other dates are actual in-store dates.

From the conference:

After a lengthy event scene, they're showing a battle. The main character grabs a sword during the event, and the game jumps instantly into battle. Seamless. The battle doesn't last too long before jumping back into the event scene.

A character joins your party and you head off. He notes that the game world continues in real time even when you use items and go into menus. You have to make sure you're in safe quarters when preparing for battle, for instance.

The gameplay demonstration has the characters running around through a dungeon. He's explaining the Connect Action system. You control just Capel, the main character, but using Connect Action, you can make the other characters use their special moves and attacks. He shows how Capel makes Aya use an arrow to get past an enemy guard.

Next, an explanation of situation battle system. Alarms go off in the dungeon and a giant ogre appears to stop them. They can't possibly win, so they have to run away. As you run away, you have to face off against enemies, clear obstacles and so-forth. You're escaping by climbing a long flight of stairs. The ogre will climb up the side of the stairs to catch up to you even if you manage to get ahead of it.

After the dungeon, they're switching to another save file. This time, they'll show a massive dragon fight. Aya and Capel are running through a green field. Aya appears to be injured. A giant dragon swoops down. Capel, carrying Aya, has to some how get passed the dragon. The dragon breathes fire at you. But the fire actually helps you by carving out a path for you to escape.

He notes that while the demonstration today seemed very heavily action based, the game has an RPG approach as well. It can be enjoyed both as an action title and as an RPG. Like Vesperia, they will have demos for us to play today.

[Flawless]

Re: Infinite Undiscovery (360)

Wired: Hands-On: Infinite Undiscovery is Action Packed

TOKYO -- I'll come right out and say it: Square Enix and Tri-Ace's Infinite Undiscovery was what got me the most excited at Microsoft's RPG event today.

Following the demo that was shown as part of the event's main presentation, we were then able to play though the same portion, which takes place at the very start of the game.

The first thing to say here is that this is a very action-oriented RPG title. Everything in the game happens in real-time, not only the combat, but anytime your characters sit down to rest, or even when you access items. This means that you need to make sure you're not in any danger while resting, and that you don't go opening chests when there are enemies nearby that can jump you.

After selecting either easy or normal play -- the producer of the game made a point of saying that the easy mode is there for players who aren't used to dealing with a lot of action in their RPGs -- the story kicks off with you, as Capell, in jail. A girl, Aya, pops in and tries to rescue you thinking that you are Sigmund the Liberator, who you apparently resemble -- well, not apparently, if you've already seen the trailer for the game.

After a few cut scenes, which you can skip through by pressing the right button, you are slowly guided through your first combat. Fighting can be as easy as just hitting the A button, but you can also achieve nice combo hits by chaining A and B button attacks.

Later on, you find that Aya can be accessed through what is called the "Connect Action" system, which gives you control of some of her special abilities. She can shoot a bow, which you use on exploding barrels to get rid of enemies. You access it by keeping the left button pressed, and then in this case pressing the X button to use Aya's ability, but as other characters join your party you'll have access to more abilities.

The next sequence has you trying to escape from a giant ogre, which you can't kill. So it turns into this hectic chase as you run up stairs, facing guards and obstacles, as the ogre gets closer. At times it'll jump up and hang on the railing, and you can attack his hands to make him drop.

Even though this may sound like it's more an action game than an RPG, it still adheres very closely to that genre's standard elements, like frequent cut scenes, leveling characters and item management.

All of this is presented with stunning visuals; not just the cut scenes, but throughout gameplay, which you should be able to see for yourself from the included screenshots.

Infinite Undiscovery has turned into one of my must-play titles of the year, and I'm really looking forward to its release come September.

[highheatkingsb]

Re: Infinite Undiscovery (360)

Wow, can't wait for this one. On disc 3 of Lost Odyssey now, so I should have it finished before this hits.

[Methlab]

Re: Infinite Undiscovery (360)

This game looks awesome. I HATE turn based RPGs, I'm an action guy. Are there any games out like this currently for 360?

I was really into phantasy star online for the dreamcast for example.

[Cyros]

Re: Infinite Undiscovery (360)

This game looks awesome. I HATE turn based RPGs, I'm an action guy. Are there any games out like this currently for 360?

I was really into phantasy star online for the dreamcast for example.

Lucky for you this isn't tun based, nor will Tales of Vespeira when it comes out this fall. Too Human looks to be in the dungeon crawler vein (rpg and action elements). Also, may I direct you to last years Mass Effect?

[Spectre]

Re: Infinite Undiscovery (360)

Yeah, there are a bunch of non-turn based RPGs on the 360.

I don't discriminate- I'll play any RPG. I thought I wouldn't enjoy turn-based as much after Mass Effect, but then I played Lost Odyssey

[Cyros]

Re: Infinite Undiscovery (360)

Lost Odyssey = Truth.

[Flawless]

Re: Infinite Undiscovery (360)

Team Xbox Hands-On

At first peek, Infinite Undiscovery looks like it’ll follow the traditional Japanese RPG style of young protagonists fighting evil with steely resolve and similarly steely weapons of enormous size. And there’s always a story of intrigue that evolves from in between the massive battles that come at nearly every turn; no shocker, this game seems to have that as well.

After getting some time with it, though, it’s obvious that the makers—Square Enix and developer tri-Ace—are going for a slightly different approach. For example, a couple of battles we engaged in weren’t really battles at all. In the first, which comes right after Capell’s jail break, he and Aya find themselves being chased by numerous guards, but also by a chubby, red and seemingly unbeatable ogre. This “Situation Battle” means you find Capell (and likely accompanied by others in a party) in a fix that you need to get out of, sometimes with typical RPG-ish brute force, but others requiring some inventiveness.

In the earlier demo at Microsoft’s Xbox 360 RPG Premiere 2008 event in Tokyo, Hajime Kojima, the game’s producer, showed a segment in which Capell is trying to carry an unconscious Aya out of danger, all the while being attacked by a ravaging dragon shooting fire at the fleeing pair. In most RPGs, she’d be lying on the ground while Capell flourished his weapons and magic, but in Infinite Undiscovery he’s relegated to simply running and hiding, while his arms are otherwise occupied carrying his friend toward whatever safety he can eventually find.

The ability to utilize your party members’ skills takes on a different form in Infinite Undiscovery. You’ll primarily control Capell, but “Connect Action” means that you can link to a party member and trigger something from that person’s arsenal—such as Aya’s archery. This manifests itself in many ways during the game, as Kojima hinted at when we spoke to him at length after the presentation and our own tryout. This introduction to the gameplay also tells us that RPG fans will find themselves in the midst of a lot more action, while the gameplay mix might cause those who normally shun J-RPGs to try this one out.

Producer Interview

Is that the theme for all Situation Battles—is there always a non-combat way to resolve the situation?

Hajime Kojima: Of course, there’s lots of different situations, and it’s not just running away from enemies—but maybe since both of the demos that were shown this time around were about running away, you might have gotten that impression. There are definitely Situation Battles where you’re prompted to fight. One example is one situation where there’s a field where, while you’re fighting a monster, there are a whole bunch of tsunamis coming your way, and the situation there is to try to avoid the tsunamis as you try to defeat them.

[Flawless]

Re: Infinite Undiscovery (360)

Site updated with new info.

More details about the combat system.

Tactics:

There are 6 party AI commands that can be active at any given time. Move freely, Split up and attack, Concentrate on one enemy, Stay behind and wait, Combo, and Conserve MP.

The Attack Point (AP) system is also explained in more detail, along with the Force system. You have two normal attacks (normal and heavy) as well as 2 battle skills that can be equiped at any time. Battle skills takes up MP, but normal attacks do not. At the same time, the heavy normal attack and most battle skills have "additional" physical attack properties. This can come in 3 possible forms - "knock back", "lift" and "knock down". This is when AP comes into play. The AP bar on the right has a "target" indicator which shows you how full the AP bar has to be, at least, before the targeted enemy you're locked on to will suffer those effects when you use a heavy attack or battle skill.

What does this mean? Say you have a battle skill that can lift the enemy into the air. If your AP bar is currently below the "target" indicator, you can use that skill to attack, and it'll take up MP as usual, but it will not lift the enemy into the air. If your AP bar is high enough, it will. So, why do we care if enemies are lifted in the air, knocked back or knocked down? Well there are obviously advantages in gameplay as it's an action RPG and in these circumstances the enemy will be open to more combo attacks, but the Force system makes it even more interesting.

The Force system rewards the player for pulling off combos (it doesn't have to be the main character that pulls off the combo, anyone in the party can do it, hence the Combo AI setting) on enemies in different circumstances. If an enemy if comboed while in a normal state, you gain yellow Force which fills up your AP bar, and as your AP bar fills up, it allows you to pull off the additional attacks as stated above. When an enemy is lifted in the air, all aerial combos will result in red Force, which is extra experience for everyone. When an enemy is comboed when in a knocked down state, green Force will result, which replenishes HP and MP for everyone.

Box art




New Screens