Infinite Space - RPG from Nude Maker & Platinum Games! - OUT NOW

Cao Cao

CAGiversary!
Infinite Space @ Amazon

Infinite Space [Wiki], a collaboration between Nude Maker (Clock Tower, Steel Battalion) and Platinum Games (MadWorld, Bayonetta). Being set in outer space, fights largely involve ship-to-ship combat in 3D, though your characters are apparently able to board enemy ships. There will also be some anime cutscenes created by Production I.G. and Gonzo. It was released in June for Japan, and Sega confirmed in a dubbed anime webisode that it will be released in the US in Spring 2010.
US Launch Trailer
US Trailer

Anime Webisodes (Dubbed versions will be added as they release):

--------------

Info for 7th Dragon, another RPG published by Sega in Japan, since I'm turning this into a topic primarily for IS:
First up is 7th Dragon [Wiki], an RPG created by the director of Etrian Odyssey. As such, it has some resemblance to EO (The cutesy art-style, class system), though it seems to go more of the route of a classic Phantasy Star or Dragon Quest, rather than EO's Wizardry-style design. It's already out in Japan, so we'll probably need to wait for Sega or Atlus to localize it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-DPMg4unJI
 
Last edited by a moderator:
[quote name='LeafPanda']Cool
Infinite Space smells like Star Ocean.[/quote]

Nah is more like Mass Effect. You control where you go instead of giving you a linear path.
 
I think Sega is taking advantage of Square-Enix's weakness on DS. SE spread themselves too thin trying to support all consoles.
 
[quote name='rothgar24']more ds rpgs = win.[/QUOTE]

Unless they're mediocre and/or targeted towards distinct audiences like almost all of the RPGs on the system...
 
They really need to start coming up with some better titles for these games. Infinite Space is almost as bad as Infinite Undiscovery.
 
We've known about Infinite Space for a good while now; it's one of the games that's being developed by PlatinumGames in their agreement with Sega. This is just the first time that we've actually gotten real media on the game.

Its previous name was Infinite Line.
 
New 7th Dragon video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5-2jiKkUD0&fmt=18

Producer: Rieko Kodama (Skies of Arcadia, Phantasy Star pre PSO)
Director: Kazuya Niinou (Etrian Odyssey)
Composer: Yuzo Koshiro (Etrian Odyssey, Actraiser, Streets of Rage, contributions to Shenmue, Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin and Smash Brothers Brawl)

The faces are SO horrible. Battle looks decidedly EO except that your character sprites get in on the action.
 
Still annoyed that we don't have a fixed date on Sands of Destruction, the longer this takes, the longer it'll take for 7th Dragon to come over. :(
 
It's been 5 months since World Destruction released in Japan, and still no fixed date for us. I really don't think 7th Dragon will make it here this calendar year. :(
 
fap.gif
 
[quote name='Dead of Knight']When the fuck are these gonna be announced for the US?[/QUOTE]

7th Dragon: Don't know. Depends on whether Sega decides to localize it themselves, hand it off to Atlus, or just not take it out of Japan.

Infinite Space: It's listed on Platinum Games' English official website, but not with much information. I'd imagine that they would make an announcement at e3.
 
Gamestop has Infinite Space up, its listed as a July 7th release but I'll believe it when I see it. Either way, I've got my pre-order in
 
[quote name='fart_bubble']Gamestop has Infinite Space up, its listed as a July 7th release but I'll believe it when I see it. Either way, I've got my pre-order in[/QUOTE]

It's not likely, since the game was released in Japan only three days ago. Even the other rumored release window of Q3 2009 seems too soon, though Amazon's March 2010 filler date sounds like a more likely date, but who knows, Sega could surprise us.

As it has been released in Japan, there's been more information for Infinite Space (無限航路) lately, like the Famitsu reviews (9/9/8/8; 34/40 Gold Award). As the 1up article says, the Famitsu reviewers had plenty of kind words to say about the game:
Sega and Platinum Games' Infinite Space has had the worst luck spreading the word about itself. A spacefaring RPG for the Nintendo DS, it had the misfortune not only to be outshone (outgored) by Platinum's balls-out first release MadWorld, but for its Japanese debut in stores to coincide with E3 week, all but guaranteeing that few will notice overseas.

It's a bit of a shame, because apparently the game's a corker. Famitsu magazine rated it 9/9/8/8 for a total of 34 points in this week's issue, earning it a Gold award. "From the ship customization that reflects the player's tastes down to the tiniest detail to the battle difficulty (you are killed instantly if you let your guard down) to the vast and complex SF story; every aspect of this game is deeper than I imagined," wrote one reviewer. "The sheer volume is also overwhelming, and I applaud their efforts. There are some unkind parts of the game, but they are easily overpowered by the game itself."

Several other reviewers were similarly "overwhelmed" by the "vastness of the setting," which one found "simply staggering." High marks were generally given to the ship customization: "Customizing your ship doesn't seem very flashy, but it's highly addictive, and the customizations stick out pretty well from each other."

All this adulation came to Infinite Space despite the game's high learning curve. "The battles present a pretty high hurdle, and you can't even let your guard down in regular fights," one wrote. "It takes time to learn the tricks to battle, but the game stands up to extended play." Another agreed: "The game can be severe, with seemingly insignificant decisions having effects on the entire game situation. It seems complex at first glance, but the interface is easy to use and the game's simple to get into."

The US version of Infinite Space is due out later this year.

GameFAQs user 99enbandit has also been posting his impressions of the game at this topic, and according to the topic, RPGfan should have their impressions up eventually.
99enbandit | Posted 6/11/2009 1:22:45 AM | message detail
Hey, I was just in Akihabara yesterday... getting kebabs. I like the kebabs from the van by the station. They are bigger than the ones in Ueno and have better sauce variety. 100 yen more but worth it. But the guys in one of the the doner kebab shops in Ueno know me, so I usually go there.

Anyway, I just played this game for about an hour. It is really good so far. The battles are pretty easy (but that's to be expected this early in a game). I like the little screen you can see inside the ship during battles and en route to other planets.

The battle system works well, but seems pretty simple. In addition to attacking, you can move forward to get the target in range or backward to get out of range of their weapons.

There's nothing too complicated as far as gameplay so far. You go to a planet, visit the bar, and talk to the bar-tender, people from your ship and locals. I got 300g for doing a mission for a bartender. When you want to move on you just tap departure and select the next destination.

The reading level is not too bad. I would say about 5 th to 6th grade elementary school. Some of the options are in English and Japansese.
-------------------------------
99enbandit | Posted 6/11/2009 5:33:36 AM | message detail
Holy ****. I just got the first planet with ship customization. You can buy new ships, customize and up-grade your ship, assign crew members to different sections of a ship. The insane amount of customization is awesome, but I think I need to go searching for a guide for this tomorrow.
-------------------------------
99enbandit | Posted 6/11/2009 4:04:06 PM | message detail
EchoNull. Yes, I would say that this game is kind of like Sid Meier's Pirates meets Firefly. But the game is more detailed in the sense of ship customization. There is also a lot more involved with the crew (instead of just recruiting new crew, like you would in Pirates, you have to place your crew on the ship in different areas). And it looks like you can have a fleet of 5 or 6 ships (6 I think, but I can't remember). It has some freedom of travel, but certainly not as much as Pirates does (at least not yet, with only 5 locations to travel between right now). It is also much more story oriented. So while you can travel around to any available location, there is a goal along the story line to be achieved.

I finally fought my first challenging fight last night. It takes a lot of thought and ship maneuvering to survive those. I lost 2 times before I figured out their tactics and was able to beat them. It's a good kind of challenge though (not so frustrating), because you know you CAN win. It's just a matter of figuring out how.
-------------------------------
99enbandit | Posted 6/12/2009 7:00:54 AM | message detail
Yeah. I just got there. That opened up quite a few new planets and locations. This game just gets better and better.

Finally, I've been having some difficulty finding some direct gameplay footage on Youtube, but luckily Nico Nico Douga has one user video up, where the player messes around in the navigation screen and later gets into a battle:
http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm7314511
 
Might also be worth pointing out that Akira of RPGFan has also been posting his impressions of Infinite Space:
http://www.rpgfan.com/boards/index.php?topic=6073.0

I've been working on it for a few days now and I'm impressed so far. The level of ship customization is astounding. You buy blueprints and designs from companies, then you can trick out your ship's weapon, recon, and armor systems, and add shit like recreation rooms and libraries to make your crew more comfortable. Some of the designs are really cool. There are scores of crew members to find, all of them with unique skills and proclivities. You assign people to all sorts of posts on your ship, everything from commander, to security officer, to gunner, to cook.

The number of characters and the space battle remind me of Suikoden, especially the duels. The core mechanic for space battles (for the beginning of the game at least) is basically a rock-paper-scissors trio of commands: regular attack, evade, full-power attack. Regular beats evade, evade beats full-power, full-power beats regular. There are other commands as well as hand-to-hand combat on ships. It's not a cakewalk either. Usually you're outnumbered and outgunned, and if you aren't careful about how you advance and attack, you'll be blown away even in regular battles. I lost the first boss fight because I hadn't learned to read and anticipate enemy commands, but once you get a knack for it the combat becomes really fun. You really have to be careful you set up your formation and assign crew members otherwise you can lose battles before they even begin. There's also a versus mode.

So far the story isn't exactly Arthur C Clarke level. The protagonists are a bit too young for my liking (17 and 14 fer chrissake). Basically, you play as a teenage boy who hires a large-breasted pilot to take you off your boring planet. She then hooks you up with a ship, a space suit, a katana, and makes you into a space pirate. Pretty much every otaku's wet dream. There are lots of destinations to explore though, and now that I am in chapter 2 things are starting to get interesting.

So far it looks like this may be Sega's Valkyria Chronicles for DS. It is far deeper and potentially more interesting than most handheld RPG's. Sega needs to fire their marketing department. I know it has the same problem VC did in that the title does not include the words "Final Fantasy" or "Metal Gear" and as an original franchise it isn't getting much attention. But it could turn out to be one of the best releases of 2009. I don't get why there isn't more buzz.

I'm also working on Arc Rise Fantasia for Nintendo Wii if anyone's interested. Verdict on that so far: Classic JRPG in a good way.
Update now that I'm at the 20 hour mark.

This game is a bit of a slow-burner but it just gets more and more epic with time. The depth of customization is fuggin' psychotic. Let me break down some recent developments:

- I'm still commanding three ships, though I've gone through six and done a lot of upgrading and refining.
- Their names are "Mystery Machine," "Magic Schoolbus," and "Enterprise" for those keeping score.
- "Enterprise" has carrier function and can launch fighters to tie up enemy ships that they may be owned by my main guns.
- Installed some anti-aircraft guns on my main ships. Battles get a lot more complicated once small fighters get into the mix around chapter 4.
- Got about twenty people in my crew, though that isn't nearly enough to fill every job on the staff list.
- Finally got a decent cook though, so the crew's endurance is much sturdier for long missions with no time for stops at space stations.
- I also got this sweet android lady as my security chief. Hand-to-hand combat during ship raids is frickin' cake now, though enemies are usually smart enough to keep their distance or run from losing matches.
- The story has picked up. Lots of political unrest and intergalactic intrigue. Also a weird incest vibe going on with the MC and his little sister. Pretty sweet.
- The universe is HUGE. There are dozens of planets, systems, and space ruins to explore. It's hard to keep track of all of them. Lots of them are just a space station and a bar sadly, though you can get random missions from bars sometimes.
- Installing a decent laboratory on your ship is great if you have a science officer. They invent upgrades for your ship. A decent accounting office and cafeteria are handy too.
- My most recent boss battle took two days to figure out a winning strategy. Three battles in a row, 15 enemy ships total versus my three, and the last enemy mothership had tons of fighters on my ass. The challenge is pretty good but some of the battles feel like friggin' Ender's Game shit. You're just like, "Am I supposed to win this?"
- Right now I'm torn between continuing the story or just murdering a lot of pirates to farm experience and golds to further renovate my ships. I'm thinking about getting a new destroyer and naming it "Starscream."

Verdict so far: Really fucking addictive. It's a fun space sim for anyone who just dreamt of putting together their own ship, team, and just setting off having random adventures. It's great to have it on DS too. Simple, intuitive controls with the stylus and easy to pick up and put down for ten minutes at a time. With the ability to skip battle animations and cinemas encounters can finish in a few seconds. What is with Sega's recent fetish for making decent RPG's and not marketing them at all?
 
Good to hear people are having great impressions so far. What do you guys think of the first English anime short? (Voice acting, etc)
 
The game flopping is a forgone conclusion. Its releasing in proximity to pokemon, god of war 3, final fantasy 13, among others. Most people already have their money allocated and this game is way, way down the list of things to get.
 
[quote name='Dr Mario Kart']The game flopping is a forgone conclusion. Its releasing in proximity to pokemon, god of war 3, final fantasy 13, among others. Most people already have their money allocated and this game is way, way down the list of things to get.[/QUOTE]


This.

I'll pick this up in a couple of months when it's Amazon DOTD $20 or something similar.
 
This sounds like a good opportunity to buy one game that I can probably play for like 5 months. I think I'm just going to have to give up on playing a lot of games and resign myself to missing lots of interesting and/or AAA titles. At least I'll save money :)
 
bread's done
Back
Top