Shallow? Flawed? Are you sure you and I were playing the same game?
You are Capell. A young musician who is mistaken for the famed hero Lord Sigmund.
The backstory is that the Order of Chains are trying to bind the moon to the planet with magical chains. No one is sure why. But where the chains go, disease and monsters follow.
Sigmund is the leader of a band of fighters doing everything they can to break the chains. Thus begins the story.
That sounded so weird to me that I almost didn't try it at first. But this game is now my new favorite of all time, and I don't say that lightly.
The story, though it sounds odd at first, is very immersive. The characters undergo an incredible amount of development too. Capell in particular. I found it to be believable. It was hopeful, sad, and heart warming, and very happy. I was very impressed with it, and I am hard to impress with a story.
The characters themselves are diverse and each have their own quirks. Some make them endearing, some do the opposite. Just like real life. :)
The graphics are beautiful and kept me wanting to see more of the people and environments of the world of Infinite Undiscovery.
The music was great! From the background music, to the tunes Capell can play, I loved it all.
The sounds were very good as well, and I am amazed that the voice acting has been criticized the way I've seen!
Video games in general tend to have fairly bad voice acting. It actually has bugged me quite a bit in the past. But I was truly impressed with Infinite Undiscovery. Especially when it came to some of the more emotional scenes in the game, the actors did an amazing job!
Gameplay-wise, I love that Square made this a real-time combat game.
I have gotten pretty tired of constant turn-based games. They can be great fun, but I love to actually have more control sometimes. It makes for another kind of strategy when the enemy never stops fighting either.
The only issue I found with this game was the lip-syncing was off in some of the movie sequences.
All-in-all, I am shocked that Gamespot did such a disservice to Square, and to this game with their review. I am, admittedly, on the other side of the fence when it comes to most Square fans. I absolutely love the direction they are going, and dislike their old games...I'm not saying that to bash, or to upset anyone, just letting you know where I stand. This is a Square game after all.
Anywho, time for the break-down:
Story: 10, yes, 10. I don't really hand out 10's, but this one earned it!
Gameplay: 9, this is only a nine due to my confusion on the way healer's work in game. I've since worked it out.
Sound FX: 9.5, I loved it all, like I said above.
Music: 9, See "Sound FX" section.
Replayability: 9, I'd love to play it again soon!