Now is not a good time to be a developer of Japanese role-playing games. JRPGs face an increasingly bewildering double standard: If a game sticks too closely to the norms established by series like Final Fantasy, it's labeled as derivative and uninspired. However, if a game ventures outside those boundaries, then it's criticized for straying too far from what games like Final Fantasy have conditioned us to expect from "good" RPGs. So, even if you're a reasonably established Japanese developer trying to create an original IP in the current console generation, you just can't win. Case in point: Infinite Undiscovery.
