Inotia 3 : Children of Carnia is a very old school 2D RPG game with lot’s of nice features that I like and some problems that I also find frustrating.

In this video I will show you some of the features in details & also the reason why I had to replay it at level 1 back down from level 28 again and I hope you don’t make the same mistake I did.

MUST NOT SKIP any side mission at Frost Wind Village other wise you won’t get the Recipe book to use the fusion machine in the entire game!

Personally, I like this game with simple 2D graphics that brings me back to the old hand held Nintendo years with RPG game like The Legend of Zelda and the “quest party system” similar to Shadowrun (SNES) that you can bring alone a NPC (non-player character) to fight together with you automatically.

The difference is that you can control your party NPC character during battle in real time & use their skills to your liking or wait for the AI to auto cast the magic as & when the computer thinks it good.

The disappointments comes in the graphics which seriously need some work in their next update so to improve on the iPad version to make it sharper & less blur and the background sound needs some improvement too in dungeons which sometimes felt like I’m in outer space.

Overall, the whole story line of the game still give me the sense of “achievement” and sudden twist & turn in the game makes it worth while checking out the game in the 2nd time round to “perfect” it.

I have yet to complete the game because I had to make this review hence I will be excited to go back to my iPad and start to dive into the adventure again & immerse into the story of Inotia 3.

This game is a universal app so you can buy it once & play it both on the iPhone, iPod touch & iPad but the save games cannot be shared among them automatically.

Pros:

1. Engaging story line
2. Customizable controls for skills
3. Huge land to explore with a very small file size
4. Able to use your MP3 music as background music
5. Avatar of your character does reflect changes when you equip them with armor & weapons accordingly but not very 100% correct but enough for me
6. Cute Japanese or Korean Cartoon dialogues makes it more “approachable” then western types
7. Countless armors, weapons, accessories and more for you to “shop” in the world of Inotia 3

Cons

1. Back ground sound sometimes goes silent in certain dungeon, it should be playing some exciting music instead
2. Graphics is not high definition but feel like it’s stretched out, need to rework on that to look the best
3. Still lack of multiplayer options that some other RPG titles had like “The world of magic”, “Dungeon Hunter 2”
4. Some bugs on the customizing of controls, maybe need a touch and move control option for people who prefer it
5. Some vital side quest like the one I missed at Frost Wind village to get the “recipe book” must be given a bigger notice within the game before proceeding with the main story quest

Tips!!

1. Do not activate your “Warrior Mercenary Pendant” until it’s totally necessary as the mercenary will take the LEVEL of your main key character so if you activate them too early you will be forced to delete early mercenary which you “purposely” trained them to take some of the load of high level weapons, armor & other accessories.
2. Oh yes mercenary do help take some items off the bags once you “equip” them
3. You can “un-equip” any “equipped” items off characters that are no longer following you in the Party menu by pressing the arrows (within Party menu) to “EQUIPMENT” section and touch on the items you needed off characters that got lost in the main story plot
4. Different class of mercenary specialized in different weapons, to know which weapons most suitable to which class look at their passive magic and read the descriptions there to find clues
5. Always follow through all your side quest regardless if it’s blocked or not because ultimately the whole map will be accessible in the end, just do the side quest first until it’s not possible.
6. The map is very useful in navigation, the mini-map is good for looking for entrance & exit click the map again will see the whole map of Inotia making navigation less tedious
7. Used items is considered used and even if you save & quit and come back will not get back the dice or mercenary item so use them WISELY
8. Certain active skills complements each other like Arc Mage’s “Summon Golem” & “Infuse Essence” & “Explode Golem” can be very powerful if you max them out or leave them out depending on your decision if you want to be a aggressive or defensive player.
9. Some special items can induce “average” quality on weapons or armor making them more “special” however because of the leveling too quickly sometimes makes me hesitate on using the special items until you reach certain bosses level but end up wasted by another “upgrade” weapons in the next village so try to save some “composition” items that can “make” it as & when you need it.
10. Save as often as possible, especially save before going to those levels that cannot save game
11. Always top up your “Resurrection Scrolls” and “Item Appraisal Scrolls” at the grocery stores before heading out to another quest, I always keep minimum 5 each
12. Never ever RUN amok in the battle zone when you don’t have sufficient health regeneration magic or items, often then not you will accidentally trap yourself in a corner full of monsters following close behind you. When you have no healers or health potions, try to tackle monsters one at a time and take your time to heal back before the next monster. If you are confident enough at the higher levels then you can try multiple monsters attack to “level” up quicker and keep your “resurrection scrolls” nearby
13. Mercenary of the same class will come but at higher level making you decide if you want to keep the lower level mercenary or not, usually the higher level ones wins my heart
14. Recipe Book is a must have item gain via a side quest in the Frost Wind’s Orc village, that book is for you to register new recipes & use it on the “Fusion Machine”. With Recipe book you can find out what composition items are required for making which item. Usually the final item you want is to make your armor or weapons with “added ability” like more % in critical attack or % more against dragon. Other useful items like health potion & 4 slot bags can be created by the fusion machine however the time wasted finding those composition materials are not cost effective then just buying those items direct from stores except for “rare” items like those giving abilities to weapons & armor