Infinite Undiscovery (Xbox 360, 2008)

First, my favorite games: Xenogears, FF6, FF7, King's Field 1 and 2, metal gear series. I love rpg's with great music and story, everything else is secondary.

After reading reviews, they ranged from bad to average. This is misleading. I have found that most reviews are based on mainstream people or other mainstream games. A good rpg cannot be reviewed that way.

This game has far more good points than not. It also has some outstanding features I have not seen before. #1 is that it has no random battles. That makes the exploration not only bearable but fun. To add to that, you can clearly hear where a secret item or wall is. Locate it by sound so you don't waste your real life searching every nook and cranny. (which in recent games has ended up being a real waste of life, I haven't played a game that was so fun to explore since FF6) Another standout feature is that there are a few times when you leave an area and cannot be sure what to do next....until one of your characters says it! In other games I would either run back and forth for 30 minutes to an hour or resort to looking a guide up online - which always led me to seeing things I did not want to know about the game. These things along with the great voice acting, music and story made this a lot of fun for me.

And while I keep hearing that the graphics are bad, I do not agree. They are not polished but they have a good look and many areas are really nice to look at.

The bad points: the first thing I noticed was the somewhat "puppety" appearance of the face movements. I quickly got over it due to the absolutely outstanding voice acting. One of the very few games I couldn't get enough of the characters talking. (not since hearing solid snake say anything) There are also, strangely, a few times when cut scenes do not have any voice work although these have subtitles. Again, not a problem considering you still get the story. But it does seem out of place.

All that said, it was a great experience with a very cool story. It unfolds well and keeps you wanting more all through the end. One of the best rpg's I have played on a next gen system, if not the best. I completed Lost Odyssey before this and while it started with a bang, it ended with me wanting to burn all 4 discs.

So if you like rpg's give this one a shot. Especially for the sub $45 category you cannot go wrong!