再补篇IGN的preview
TGS 2007: Infinite Undiscovery Preview
A detailed look at Square and tri-Ace\'s upcoming RPG.
by Erik Brudvig
September 21, 2007 - PlayStation fans have enjoyed the work of tri-Ace and Square Enix for years. In the not too distant future, Xbox 360 owners will get to do the same. Today, IGN got a glimpse of that future in a meeting with two of the people behind Infinite Undiscovery. The game\'s director, Hiroshi Ogawa, and Producer, Hajime Kojima, sat down with us for over an hour to help lift the veil on this game that should be pretty high up on your list of anticipated role-playing games.
If you\'ve played tri-Ace\'s past games such as Radiata Stories or Star Ocean: Til the End of Time, then you know that the company prefers to keep its RPGs on the action side of the spectrum. Infinite Undiscovery stays on the same path, but with one important distinction - this time around there won\'t be a separate battle screen. All of the real-time action happens without a seam. That may seem like a no-brainer, but this is a pretty big step for a JRPG. Even with the world as your battlefield, though, the game will still control similarly to Star Ocean: Til the End of Time. However, you\'ll have to be on the lookout for obstacles coming from all angles that can affect the battles. Natural phenomenon such as a tsunami was one of the examples we were given, though the other (traps) seems much more likely to be a regular occurrence in the game.
Since Infinite Undiscovery is a real-time game, you won\'t be able to control every party member at once. The group can number up to four on the battlefield at a time, and you\'ll be able to swap characters in and out of that party from a larger pool of companions, but you\'ll only actively control the main character. The other three party members can be directed using an as of yet undisclosed system. How you choose to manage the party is key to the battle, we\'re told.
So what exactly does the title mean? As it turns out, the game is all about making discoveries. Things that haven\'t been revealed yet are undiscovered, get it? Some of these are major while others are less important, but we were told that they would have an impact on other things in the game and can carry a ripple effect out that changes the course of the game. An example we were given was the discovery of a dragon. What you choose to do, be it fight, run or hide, will have an impact on the rest of the game. Run away and the dragon might permanently damage a wall which can, in turn, lead to something else happening down the road.
One such discovery ties into the main character. The story we know so far is this: The moon provides power to the people on the planet of Infinite Undiscovery. A dark force has bound the moon in chains to take its power and so the world loses the light. A hero rises up who wants to cut the chains, free the people, and vanquish the darkness. You don\'t play as that hero.
The main character is actually a guy who looks just like the hero. The peculiarities aren\'t just of the visual nature either. This guy has something special about him. That special thing is one of the discoveries that he makes along the journey that motivates him to fight. The other motivation we were given is that he meets a heroine who changes his life. How romantic. Anyway, the look-alike eventually fights alongside the hero himself.
Where the troupe goes and how they defeat the evil that has chained up the moon remains to be seen. Given the development studio behind the game, one could probably assume that Infinite Undiscovery will have multiple endings. However, the Producer and Director could not confirm that to us. Whether it will have a branching story has not yet been decided.
The music is being done by the same composer as Star Ocean 3, though the style will be less futuristic and more orchestral so as to fit in with the setting which will apparently be decidedly less futuristic.
Right now the team at tri-Ace is in the middle of their production schedule. We were given an estimate of 30-40 hours of gameplay, though nothing is set in stone. Also up in the air is how many discs the game will fit on. The two developers told us that it wouldn\'t fit on one disc, but just how many it would fit on is to be determined. They also told us that the team would like to include some kind of Xbox Live support, but aren\'t sure how or if they\'ll do it just yet.
Infinite Undiscovery has been in active development for two years, with a good portion of the work going towards the original engine the game is using, but still has enough left to finish that Square Enix and tri-Ace can\'t comment on a release time frame.