Game Reviews

The Chronicles of Inotia 2: A Wanderer of Luone

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The Chronicles of Inotia 2: A Wanderer of Luone

The shattering of magical protective seals threatens the world in The Chronicles of Inotia 2: A Wanderer of Luone, leading you to take up arms and save the world from evil.

It's the classic boy-meets-sword-slays-evildoer story that's prompted the most memorable of role-playing games, though such epic underpinnings have fully difficulty materialising here.

Despite its grand premise, Chronicles of Inotia 2 is much lighter fare. Technical improvements can't make up for some mindless missions and an unassuming personality that puts it behind others in the genre. Still, there's enough done right that a good time can be gleaned.

Mission forgettable

The game's biggest issue relates to confusion between missions and insignificant errands. Rather than eliminating evil, you're repeatedly called upon to do chores for townsfolk.

Such missions have their place in every role-playing game of course, but Chronicles of Inotia 2 abuses the convention. The vast majority of missions undertaken involve rote item collection, whether it's hunting down rats, hoarding wolf pelts, or gathering thief bandanas.

To be honest, these quests feel a little tacked on in order to extend game length, and it becomes worse the further in you get. At one point, a character demands that you find the ingredients for a bread recipe that somehow morphs into a ridiculous hunt for rattlesnake tails. This isn't role-playing, it's more like running weekend errands for the crazy cat lady down the street.

Are you experienced?

At least solid mechanics are in place for decent role-playing when you get into the game's foundation. Experience netted from real-time battles allows you to enhance your core attributes and skill points awarded with each new level unlock and augment a small assortment of abilities.

Item crafting lets you combine materials for stronger equipment and curative knick-knacks. Several equipment categories encourage constant tweaks to your weapons and armour.

Particularly cool is the option to have additional characters accompany you. Second and third party members introduce greater depth than managing a single hero.

You're free to customise their equipment and unlock a limited number of skills too. Even better, you can switch control among characters on-the-fly by tapping icons situated in the top-left corner.

Standing in the way of control

Extending the party mechanic further, the Match Up mode lets you go online, allowing you to take your group into battle against other players over the network for rewards. It's an intriguing supplement to the single player campaign. There were problems securing a connection, but once online the game was stable.

Improvements to the controls from the first game in the series are also noted, though some problems persist. Responsiveness with the default touch-to-move scheme has been enhanced so that interacting with characters and objects is much better. However, targeting enemies remains fussy and path-finding is still troublesome. Additionally, moving between areas and into buildings is a tricky endeavour.

A new virtual D-pad option attempts to do away with these concerns. Toggled from the settings menu, the D-pad functions well, but not ideally. It trades easier combat targeting for rigid movement.

Still, control annoyances are of less importance than the game's plain personality. The foundation for a good adventure is here, yet rote item hunts and a lack of daring quests keep it wandering in search of excellence.

Yet there is enjoyment to be found with Chronicles of Inotia 2, particularly in the online Match Up mode. Overall, it's more technically proficient than a dazzling adventure, though.

The Chronicles of Inotia 2: A Wanderer of Luone

Online battles and loads of loot save Chronicles of Inotia 2 from errand-like missions and lackadaisical spirit of adventure
Score
Tracy Erickson
Tracy Erickson
Manning our editorial outpost in America, Tracy comes with years of expertise at mashing a keyboard. When he's not out painting the town red, he jets across the home of the brave, covering press events under the Pocket Gamer banner.