Infinity 3

Much acclaimed since it's production was announced, Infinity 3 takes full hold of the potential that it has given itself and turns the classic RPG Maker system into a large open-world environment, locking in all the key factors that make a game into a classic.

"Infinity 3" in ten words: Protagonist and his cat explore a classic open-world environment

Storytelling and Direction: 2.5

This game takes a great risk in separating itself from the mainstream of games on this site in various regards, one being a new approach on the way the player experiences the game through direction. While most game makers choose to keep the player in one place until they progress through the main story line, Infinity 3 gives the player the freedom to roam through the maps of the game as they please; finishing quests and obstacles at their own pace and being able to proceed with the main story whenever they choose. Taking such a different approach to direction in an RPG Maker game is a huge risk, though the creator must be commended on passing this off so well. The game has the same feel as a larger-scale MMO game, which I believe was the developers intention. The creator has also jumped a hurdle that most developers, myself included, fall on – progression. I’ve seen too many games where one minute you’re starting your progression, and the next you’re nobly slaying dragons faster than you can point out how awfully boring this is. Infinity 3 takes the time to build up the characters status and allows you to calmly explore and complete quests, keeping the player interested for a substantial amount of time.
However, like all games, there are key issues to put into place that can improve the experience. The project itself opens rather abruptly; the player starts off entering the starting town with little/no knowledge of what is about to unfold, though this soon makes up for itself with helpful colour-coded gems to guide you around.


Characters: 3.0

There are various pros and cons for the use of characters in this game. The first point I’d like to address is the importance of certain characters. The mayor of the starting town, for example, though having a small role in the main story line, had little other use as a character. Though this doesn’t ring true for all the characters in the game, it would certainly help if the player learnt more about the traits and attitudes of certain characters. During text dialogues, most characters seem to have somewhat the same attitude and some characters seem to be missing portraits from their text dialogues, though this can be easily corrected.
As I addressed earlier, the main plot takes some time to build up. Even so, there were initially no antagonists to follow and therefore little initial desire to progress through the story. This is later made up for by the gripping experience of the game itself. The protagonist, Solo, is hard to comment on, as the player has the freedom to shape the character them self, which is a nice new approach to progressing through the story, as opposed to having the same plucky hero who does anything for anyone all for the sake of his homeland. The player can even monitor how they shape their character through a hostility bar on the screen itself. Actions that the player chooses will make their character more good or evil, much like well-selling games such as Neverwinter Nights. This shows that the creator has a keen eye for detail and takes things that they have noticed as a good enhancement to a certain game and blends them into their own projects.


Overall Gameplay and Atmosphere: 4.0

Overall, Infinity 3, alongside the updates that have already been released, makes for hours of fun classic RPG Maker action tied in with various twists and features to make the game unique to itself. Infinity 3 steps out of the boundary of the mainstream of games due solely to the player’s freedom to do as they wish, possibly one of my favourite things about this particular game. The mapping in the game is generally a high standard, maybe with one or two small things looking a little unnatural or out of scale, though this is not generally a bad point for the game and I will not put it down for this. Personally I pity anyone who claims that good mapping is the key to a successful game. The battle system may seem like the standard RPG Maker VX Ace system at a first glance, though it becomes clear that the designer has also put effort and detail into this regard, adding a few perks to the system to neaten it out more. The game has a whole arsenal of music at its disposal and the music, unlike many games I have reviewed in the past, does not drown out the atmosphere of the game itself, and is generally quite euphonious. One slight detail I’d like to make would be the difficulty. The game, after picking up a few mercenaries to help you out, goes a little too far out of the challenging boundary. If the player wishes to keep the amount of characters that can be in a party at a time, I would suggest to them that they make obtaining new characters slightly more taxing – maybe complete a quest or two for them in order to earn their trust. They could also choose to increase the HP of certain enemies to make the fights last a little longer, rather than one or two turns before everything is defeated.
To summarise, the creator has done an excellent job in creating an RPG Maker game that stands out, looking like a VX Ace version of some of the high end games such as the Elder Scrolls series. I intend to see what this game has to offer when the much acclaimed “Region at War” pack is released. Other than that, I feel the creator should carry on building up this game in the same way they already have, as long as these key factors are taken into account. The game has a bright future to be classic on the RMN site, and the creator should give them self a pat on the back for their efforts.

-Shill

Note: This review was slightly rushed. Please forgive any grammitcal errors or other slight errors.