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Infinite Space Review - IGN

️Daemon Hatfield
️Wed May 09 2012

In space, no one can hear you grind.

Infinite Space is not a terrible game by any means, but it is a disappointment. Ever since it was announced almost two years ago we've been excited to explore the universe and have command over an entire fleet of starships. Infinite Space does let you do all that; you just have to do it slowly. Clumsily. Tediously. This is an enormous game with an interesting story to tell. It's just a shame it couldn't have been a more exciting and user-friendly experience.
Although mostly a role-playing game, Infinite Space is presented like a Phoenix Wright-style adventure. You never have direct control of any character and interact with people via talking heads and touch screen taps. The flow of the game basically goes something like this: fly from planet to planet grinding through random battles; go down to a planet's surface to talk to people in the tavern and gather information (planets largely look the same); use funds to buy new ships to add to your fleet and rooms to upgrade each vessel.

Our hero, Yuri, is travelling the galaxy trying to solve the mystery of these strange artifacts called Epitaphs. Also, he's a dude. I know, weird, right?

The interface isn't intuitive and at times can be downright unfair to the player. For instance, sometimes you have to talk to characters multiple times in a row to get all their information. Not sure what you're supposed to do next? Well, that's because you didn't choose to talk to that character a second time on the last planet. What sense does that make? Why not deliver important information to the player all in one go? Confounding the problem is the fact that Infinite Space does not include any kind of quest log. So even if you do talk to a character the correct amount of times, when you come back to your game you may wander around the galaxy for a while wondering what it is you were up to.

A major part of the design consists of buying modules or "rooms" for your ships that will affect their stats. But when shopping for new modules the game doesn't tell you what the benefits might be. Typically, when shopping for items in an RPG, you can see how much a sword will raise or lower your strength. In Infinite Space, you have no idea what these important goods do -- unless you refer to the guide that comes with the game. So be prepared to carry the guide along with you wherever you want to play Infinite Space. Once you do figure out what you want to buy, the remodeling mini-game is actually fairly amusing.

Your rooms are basically Tetris pieces that you have to arrange within the limited confines of your ship. So if you want to add a med lab, for instance, you might have to do some reorganizing with your existing modules to make room. It's an interesting system and there is an impressive variety of modules that affect many aspects of your performance. I just wish it was easier to do my shopping.

You spend hours customizing your fleet, only to find actually using it isn't very exciting.

The battle system, while shallow for the first few hours, does start becoming a little more satisfying as you add more vessels to your fleet. More ships basically means more firepower, and you'll eventually be capable of some pretty devastating barrage attacks. For the first several hours you only have three battle options (dodge, normal attack, or heavy attack), although you will add three more options later. But the combat never really becomes a blast. You spend hours number crunching and trying to build the strongest fleet possible, only to find the actual use of your fleet pretty dull.

Your fleet will likely take damage in battle and there is no way to heal until you rest at a spaceport. You'll also need to keep an eye on your crew's energy level because as you travel they become fatigued, and if you enter battle in this state your attack meter will charge painfully slowly.

This leads to yet another interface problem with Infinite Space. When you encounter a random battle you may have the option to escape, but on this screen you aren't allowed to reference your current health and energy levels to determine whether or not you should fight. Infinite Space apparently expects you to magically know your status at all times. If you end up losing a battle you are kicked back to the title screen and have to load up your last save. Sure, it might have been nice to just continue your game, but Infinite Space isn't about being nice -- it's about being as clunky and burdensome as possible.

As people join your crew you can assign them to positions in your fleet to improve your combat performance. But each character is usually proficient in one area so there is little choice in where to assign them. If a new recruit has a high navigation level, for instance, it wouldn't make much sense to stick them anywhere but a navigation position. This is an area where Infinite Space doesn't live up to its promise of building your own fleet, because every character you meet has a predetermined place on your ship.

To be honest, I didn't enjoy Infinite Space at all during its first three hours. After that point, though, the story really took off and I started becoming invested in the characters. But if you have to spend several hours with a game before it starts becoming interesting then it has serious problems.

Even with all these complaints, Infinite Space has some very admirable qualities -- you just have to put up with the aforementioned frustrations to get to them. The story is epic, following a young boy named Yuri who yearns to leave his home planet and head out into the stars.

Busty "launcher" (a person who can get you where you need to go) Nia takes Yuri under her wing and the two begin building their fleet, battling space pirates, and searching for the meaning of mysterious artifacts called Epitaphs. The characters you meet usually have several layers to their personality that are slowly revealed over time. I found myself willing to put up with a lot of Infinite Space's problems so I could find out how these relationships developed and how my crew dealt with the tragedies they experience.

Verdict

Infinite Space offers dozens of hours of deep space exploration and storytelling, but the overall package is clunky and inconvenient. Sci-fi and anime fans might find the story worth sticking around for, though, and there are some interesting characters to get to know. But getting to those good bits will test your patience.