It's once time to take a look at an RPG from an unlikely source.
I've already talked about this, but the XBox consoles have never really been known for the genre. While I do think this was initially by design, I think it was also something that Microsoft realized was something of a mistake. I'm sure there were plenty of bro gamers that wanted to delve into a title with a dense narrative between finishing Tony Hawk levels and binging on Mountain Dew. In all seriousness, I think Microsoft eventually made a conscious effort to bring more RPGs into their eco system, particularly during the 7th generation. While there weren't a huge number of entries in the genre on the XBox 360, the few the console did have tend to have something of a reputation as cult classics.
Last year, I looked at one of those games, the absolutely exceptional Lost Odyssey. I am going to reiterate now, you should believe the hype surrounding that title, especially if you are an old school RPG fan. It was my game of the year last year for a reason, and it very much shocked me to find such quality in an RPG on a system that really wasn't known for them during a generation where they were struggling. While Lost Odyssey was great, it actually sort of fell into my lap while I was searching for another game, a title that I had been trying to get my hands on for a long time.
Despite it's idiotic name, Infinite Undiscovery was absolutely a game that I had very much felt like I missed out on for a long time. This XBox 360 action RPG was published by Square and developed by Tri Ace and, well, that's kind of all you need to know. Putting either of those names on an RPG are going to draw attention, so putting both was sure to make it stand out. Everything about this game, from the art style to the character design to the box cover just screamed "Final Fantasy meets Star Ocean" and I was instantly bought in. At least I would have been had I owned a 360 at the time it came out. This was yet another XBox excluisve, inaccesible to me with my PS3. When I finally did come to own a 360, this was the first game I started looking for. Not Lost Odyssey, not Blue Dragon, not Last Remnant, this one. I wish I could say it was worth the wait, that this effort from two titans of the genre hit the mark that I excpected, but unfortunately, that wasn't the case.
As usual, I am going to start with the story and characters this week before moving on to mechanics next week. IU certainly had the bones of an interesting story, but in actuality there was very little meat to be had. There were some good ideas here, but the pacing, tone and delivery are, to put it kindly, compeltely off. You play as a young man named Capell, who starts the game in a very percarious situation. You see, Capell has been thrown in the dungeon at Graad Prison, where he is listening to the guards brag about how they have captured such a great warrior and leader of men, and did so with relative ease. This is incredibly confusing to Capell, because he is not, in fact, a great warrior. He's a womanizing musician that has absolutely no intention of leading anyone to anywhere other than a tavern. He insists that the guards have the wrong man, but his pleas fall on deaf ears.
As the guards retire for the nigh Capell's luck begins to change. A young woman named Aya emerges from the castles ducts, her dangerous search and resce mission nearly complete. She addresses Capell as Lord Sigmund, and informs him that she is here to come to his rescue. Capell continues to insist that she has the wrong man, though he doesn't resist too hard, for fear she will just leave him in his cell. Aya considers doing so, but decides breaking Capell out of the dungeon will be a benefit to the resistance, of which she is a member. The resistance, led by the man whom the guards have confused Capell for, is battling a group called the Order of the Chains. Led by the Dread Knight Leonid, the Order has attached the world to its moon by a series of giant chains. It is unclear what exactly the purpose of these chains are, but it is obviously not good. Any area where they are attached sees its crops wither and its animals die. As you might expect, only one person can destroy these chains; the aforementioned Lord Sigmund.
With nowhere to go after their successful escape, Capell agrees to go with Aya and help the resistance. He finally meets Sigmund and quickly understands why both Aya and the Order guards where so confused. The two look identical, almost as if they could be twins. It seems as though the similarities are only skin deep. Sigmund is a mighty warrior and Capell is a weakling bard. Sigmund is driven and strong willed, while Capell is lazy and complacent. Outside of Aya and Sigmund, the resistance members immediately dislike to Capell, who they find to be more a burden than an asset. That all changes when the group reaches the chain in Castle Prevant...where they learn that Capell can break chains as well. While convenient, this leads to far more questions than answers, both for Capell and for Sigmund's followers. All of this will lead to a journey of self discovery where Capell comes out of his shell, comes of age and comes to learn just how closely connected he is to Sigmund.
So, it seems like there is a lot to unpack. It only took three extensive paragraphs to fully explain what is going on here, which you would think would indicate a complex JRPG plot with a variety of twists and turns. Unfortunately, that isn't really the case here. While it takes time to set up, the plot becomes fairly straightforward once it gets going. You learn a little bit about Capell and Sigmund, or ocasionally Aya, you complete a menial task, you break a chain, rinse and repeat. It's going to be the first time I say this, but it certainly won't be the last time I say I like the idea here but the execution was horrific. The general plot of an evil warlord chaining the planet to his fortress to drain its power is interesting. Capell's journey of growth and self discorver is a tried and true RPG tale. But neither is fleshed out well enough for the actual story to land. Much of this is down to a bloated cast of characters that I found to be uninteresting across the board.
IU has a huge cast of recruitable characters, with up to 18 able to join your party. That's a lot for a non-Suikoden RPG, especially an action RPG. This would be fine if any of them were actually interesting, but unfortunately that isn't the case. Most of the characters fit in to one of three categories: boring, annoying or stupid. In the former you have your generic, stereotypical RPG trope characters. Edward is the typical party jerk, Eugene is the quiet and stoic mage, Balbagan is the big, dumb guy with a hammer, you get the idea. Using these tropes are okay if the characters behind them are well written and designed, but these guys are all incredibly boring. Most of their development stops at them being introduced, Edward has a bit of an arc but you can see the result of it coming a mile away. On the annoying side, you have characters like Michelle, who has a schoolgirl crush on Sigmund and frequently hangs all over Capell as she always confuses them for one another. You also have Rico and Rucha, they are typical RPG children, 'nuff said. As for the stupid, there's Gustave, who is Aya's pet bear. I'm all for RPGs not taking themselves too seriously, but this just doesn't fit the vibe of the game. This is a pretty serious story, and having a big, goofy bear in your party breaks the immersion. That he is introduced at a fairly heavy point in the story doesn't help. As a whole, it's a pretty weak cast filled with shallow characters that do very little to stand out amongst other groups in the genre.
While the cast is pretty poor overall, there is some positive in the character departement. Most, if not all of that, comes from Capell, who is written and developed far better than anyone else in the cast. Honestly, that's probably what pulled me through the game, if you are going to only have one good character it certainly helps if its the main character. He's not amazing or anything, but at the very least he sees a lot of real meaningful growth throughout the game, transforming from a whiny, self centered drunk to a true hero. His relationship with Aya, also an okay character in her own right, isn't a geat romance, but at least it starts and builds logically and doesn't feel forced. His connection to Sigmund is a bit more interesting, they have a nice big brother/little brother dynamic that actually feels deep and real. As for the reason for that connection,well, we will get to that later, but it was my primary reason for continuing to play through the first half of the game.
Unfortunately (by the way, spoiler warning), RPGs were still in the throes of the "need to kill a main character" phase that started in the late 90's when IU came out. The first half of the game ends with Sigmund's death at the hands of one of Leonid's generals. I wasn't a huge fan of this, though it did mark a major moment in Capell's growth. Capell, realizing how much Sigmund means to the revolution, decides to assume his identity to continue the drive towards breaking the chains. It's an admirable sacrifice and one of the games better moments, but it leads in to talking about another one of the game's major problems: its largely nonsensical twists and plotholes. IU has voice acting, which we will get back to next week when discussing the technical aspects of the game. But its relevant here because it shoots a massive hole in what was supposed to be a major plot point. You see, Sigmund has what may be the deepest voice in the history of video games. Capell, on the other hand, sounds like a 12 year old girl. At no point does he ever try and change his voice to go along with the charade where he was supposed to be Sigmund. It may seem small, but I found it massively emersion breaking...and that wasn't even the biggest plot issue I found.
Oh boy, now it's time to talk about the game's big plot twist. We might very well have a new "worst gaming plot twist ever" champion on our hands, at the very least its a contender for the title. What is that twist? Well, first we need to back up and talk a little bit about the world building in IU. You see, the moon is very important in this world and each of it's denizens are born with something called a lunarglyph, embuing them with certain powers. Everyone has one that corresponds to the phase of the moon under which they were born...unless of course they were born during a new moon. These folks born glyphless are referred to as "unblessed," and are considered second class citizens. Some people even refuse to look at or speak to the unblessed, believing them to be lesser. Capell is among those unblessed, which goes a long way in shaping his cynical world view. It is nearly impossible for these people to move up the social strata, something Capell is acutely aware of. One of the bigger moments in his growth comes when he realizes that Sigmund, as respected and beloved as he is, is also unblessed. But that isn't the problematic plot twist, its actually one of the better ones. But it is essential to understand before discussing it.
So, how did Sigmund become unblessed? And why are both he and Capell both unblessed? They are twins right? Both born under a new moon? Separated at birth? No, that would be too easy. You see, Sigmund was once the ruler of a powerful kingdom. He and his wife were expecting a child, an heir to the throne to carry on the family legacy. All is going to plan...until the child is born under a new moon, and thus unblessed. That child? Capell. So, Sigmund is Capell's father, ok, makes sense. But then why are they the same age? Well, Sigmund decides that he doesn't want his son to face the hate and discrimination of being unblessed. At least not alone. So he decides to undergo a ritual to remove his lunarglyph. This ritual successfully removes his glyph, but it has one major, unfortunate side effect...it turns Sigmund back into a baby. No, I didn't make that up. This isn't a time travel plot, or an alternate reality twist or anything like that, the key plot twist here is that a guy gets turned into a baby. And it's made even sillier because the game establishes pretty quickly that you can perform a ritual to give someone a lunarglyph if you rare rich and powerful enough. As a king, I'm sure Sigmund could have had said ritual performed for his son. I was about done after this, it makes the orphanage twist seem like top end plot and character development.
For better or worse, a lot of this plot and character development comes through in the gameplay. IU offers a huge world with a lot of characters, so it was bound to. It may not have been the best in the story departement, but this is an action RPG at the end of the day. These games can sometimes get away with nonsense plots and poor character development if the gameplay is good. But was it here? Tune in next week to find out.
I've already talked about this, but the XBox consoles have never really been known for the genre. While I do think this was initially by design, I think it was also something that Microsoft realized was something of a mistake. I'm sure there were plenty of bro gamers that wanted to delve into a title with a dense narrative between finishing Tony Hawk levels and binging on Mountain Dew. In all seriousness, I think Microsoft eventually made a conscious effort to bring more RPGs into their eco system, particularly during the 7th generation. While there weren't a huge number of entries in the genre on the XBox 360, the few the console did have tend to have something of a reputation as cult classics.
Last year, I looked at one of those games, the absolutely exceptional Lost Odyssey. I am going to reiterate now, you should believe the hype surrounding that title, especially if you are an old school RPG fan. It was my game of the year last year for a reason, and it very much shocked me to find such quality in an RPG on a system that really wasn't known for them during a generation where they were struggling. While Lost Odyssey was great, it actually sort of fell into my lap while I was searching for another game, a title that I had been trying to get my hands on for a long time.
Despite it's idiotic name, Infinite Undiscovery was absolutely a game that I had very much felt like I missed out on for a long time. This XBox 360 action RPG was published by Square and developed by Tri Ace and, well, that's kind of all you need to know. Putting either of those names on an RPG are going to draw attention, so putting both was sure to make it stand out. Everything about this game, from the art style to the character design to the box cover just screamed "Final Fantasy meets Star Ocean" and I was instantly bought in. At least I would have been had I owned a 360 at the time it came out. This was yet another XBox excluisve, inaccesible to me with my PS3. When I finally did come to own a 360, this was the first game I started looking for. Not Lost Odyssey, not Blue Dragon, not Last Remnant, this one. I wish I could say it was worth the wait, that this effort from two titans of the genre hit the mark that I excpected, but unfortunately, that wasn't the case.
As usual, I am going to start with the story and characters this week before moving on to mechanics next week. IU certainly had the bones of an interesting story, but in actuality there was very little meat to be had. There were some good ideas here, but the pacing, tone and delivery are, to put it kindly, compeltely off. You play as a young man named Capell, who starts the game in a very percarious situation. You see, Capell has been thrown in the dungeon at Graad Prison, where he is listening to the guards brag about how they have captured such a great warrior and leader of men, and did so with relative ease. This is incredibly confusing to Capell, because he is not, in fact, a great warrior. He's a womanizing musician that has absolutely no intention of leading anyone to anywhere other than a tavern. He insists that the guards have the wrong man, but his pleas fall on deaf ears.
As the guards retire for the nigh Capell's luck begins to change. A young woman named Aya emerges from the castles ducts, her dangerous search and resce mission nearly complete. She addresses Capell as Lord Sigmund, and informs him that she is here to come to his rescue. Capell continues to insist that she has the wrong man, though he doesn't resist too hard, for fear she will just leave him in his cell. Aya considers doing so, but decides breaking Capell out of the dungeon will be a benefit to the resistance, of which she is a member. The resistance, led by the man whom the guards have confused Capell for, is battling a group called the Order of the Chains. Led by the Dread Knight Leonid, the Order has attached the world to its moon by a series of giant chains. It is unclear what exactly the purpose of these chains are, but it is obviously not good. Any area where they are attached sees its crops wither and its animals die. As you might expect, only one person can destroy these chains; the aforementioned Lord Sigmund.
With nowhere to go after their successful escape, Capell agrees to go with Aya and help the resistance. He finally meets Sigmund and quickly understands why both Aya and the Order guards where so confused. The two look identical, almost as if they could be twins. It seems as though the similarities are only skin deep. Sigmund is a mighty warrior and Capell is a weakling bard. Sigmund is driven and strong willed, while Capell is lazy and complacent. Outside of Aya and Sigmund, the resistance members immediately dislike to Capell, who they find to be more a burden than an asset. That all changes when the group reaches the chain in Castle Prevant...where they learn that Capell can break chains as well. While convenient, this leads to far more questions than answers, both for Capell and for Sigmund's followers. All of this will lead to a journey of self discovery where Capell comes out of his shell, comes of age and comes to learn just how closely connected he is to Sigmund.
So, it seems like there is a lot to unpack. It only took three extensive paragraphs to fully explain what is going on here, which you would think would indicate a complex JRPG plot with a variety of twists and turns. Unfortunately, that isn't really the case here. While it takes time to set up, the plot becomes fairly straightforward once it gets going. You learn a little bit about Capell and Sigmund, or ocasionally Aya, you complete a menial task, you break a chain, rinse and repeat. It's going to be the first time I say this, but it certainly won't be the last time I say I like the idea here but the execution was horrific. The general plot of an evil warlord chaining the planet to his fortress to drain its power is interesting. Capell's journey of growth and self discorver is a tried and true RPG tale. But neither is fleshed out well enough for the actual story to land. Much of this is down to a bloated cast of characters that I found to be uninteresting across the board.
IU has a huge cast of recruitable characters, with up to 18 able to join your party. That's a lot for a non-Suikoden RPG, especially an action RPG. This would be fine if any of them were actually interesting, but unfortunately that isn't the case. Most of the characters fit in to one of three categories: boring, annoying or stupid. In the former you have your generic, stereotypical RPG trope characters. Edward is the typical party jerk, Eugene is the quiet and stoic mage, Balbagan is the big, dumb guy with a hammer, you get the idea. Using these tropes are okay if the characters behind them are well written and designed, but these guys are all incredibly boring. Most of their development stops at them being introduced, Edward has a bit of an arc but you can see the result of it coming a mile away. On the annoying side, you have characters like Michelle, who has a schoolgirl crush on Sigmund and frequently hangs all over Capell as she always confuses them for one another. You also have Rico and Rucha, they are typical RPG children, 'nuff said. As for the stupid, there's Gustave, who is Aya's pet bear. I'm all for RPGs not taking themselves too seriously, but this just doesn't fit the vibe of the game. This is a pretty serious story, and having a big, goofy bear in your party breaks the immersion. That he is introduced at a fairly heavy point in the story doesn't help. As a whole, it's a pretty weak cast filled with shallow characters that do very little to stand out amongst other groups in the genre.
While the cast is pretty poor overall, there is some positive in the character departement. Most, if not all of that, comes from Capell, who is written and developed far better than anyone else in the cast. Honestly, that's probably what pulled me through the game, if you are going to only have one good character it certainly helps if its the main character. He's not amazing or anything, but at the very least he sees a lot of real meaningful growth throughout the game, transforming from a whiny, self centered drunk to a true hero. His relationship with Aya, also an okay character in her own right, isn't a geat romance, but at least it starts and builds logically and doesn't feel forced. His connection to Sigmund is a bit more interesting, they have a nice big brother/little brother dynamic that actually feels deep and real. As for the reason for that connection,well, we will get to that later, but it was my primary reason for continuing to play through the first half of the game.
Unfortunately (by the way, spoiler warning), RPGs were still in the throes of the "need to kill a main character" phase that started in the late 90's when IU came out. The first half of the game ends with Sigmund's death at the hands of one of Leonid's generals. I wasn't a huge fan of this, though it did mark a major moment in Capell's growth. Capell, realizing how much Sigmund means to the revolution, decides to assume his identity to continue the drive towards breaking the chains. It's an admirable sacrifice and one of the games better moments, but it leads in to talking about another one of the game's major problems: its largely nonsensical twists and plotholes. IU has voice acting, which we will get back to next week when discussing the technical aspects of the game. But its relevant here because it shoots a massive hole in what was supposed to be a major plot point. You see, Sigmund has what may be the deepest voice in the history of video games. Capell, on the other hand, sounds like a 12 year old girl. At no point does he ever try and change his voice to go along with the charade where he was supposed to be Sigmund. It may seem small, but I found it massively emersion breaking...and that wasn't even the biggest plot issue I found.
Oh boy, now it's time to talk about the game's big plot twist. We might very well have a new "worst gaming plot twist ever" champion on our hands, at the very least its a contender for the title. What is that twist? Well, first we need to back up and talk a little bit about the world building in IU. You see, the moon is very important in this world and each of it's denizens are born with something called a lunarglyph, embuing them with certain powers. Everyone has one that corresponds to the phase of the moon under which they were born...unless of course they were born during a new moon. These folks born glyphless are referred to as "unblessed," and are considered second class citizens. Some people even refuse to look at or speak to the unblessed, believing them to be lesser. Capell is among those unblessed, which goes a long way in shaping his cynical world view. It is nearly impossible for these people to move up the social strata, something Capell is acutely aware of. One of the bigger moments in his growth comes when he realizes that Sigmund, as respected and beloved as he is, is also unblessed. But that isn't the problematic plot twist, its actually one of the better ones. But it is essential to understand before discussing it.
So, how did Sigmund become unblessed? And why are both he and Capell both unblessed? They are twins right? Both born under a new moon? Separated at birth? No, that would be too easy. You see, Sigmund was once the ruler of a powerful kingdom. He and his wife were expecting a child, an heir to the throne to carry on the family legacy. All is going to plan...until the child is born under a new moon, and thus unblessed. That child? Capell. So, Sigmund is Capell's father, ok, makes sense. But then why are they the same age? Well, Sigmund decides that he doesn't want his son to face the hate and discrimination of being unblessed. At least not alone. So he decides to undergo a ritual to remove his lunarglyph. This ritual successfully removes his glyph, but it has one major, unfortunate side effect...it turns Sigmund back into a baby. No, I didn't make that up. This isn't a time travel plot, or an alternate reality twist or anything like that, the key plot twist here is that a guy gets turned into a baby. And it's made even sillier because the game establishes pretty quickly that you can perform a ritual to give someone a lunarglyph if you rare rich and powerful enough. As a king, I'm sure Sigmund could have had said ritual performed for his son. I was about done after this, it makes the orphanage twist seem like top end plot and character development.
For better or worse, a lot of this plot and character development comes through in the gameplay. IU offers a huge world with a lot of characters, so it was bound to. It may not have been the best in the story departement, but this is an action RPG at the end of the day. These games can sometimes get away with nonsense plots and poor character development if the gameplay is good. But was it here? Tune in next week to find out.
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