Gamertell

Title: Chronicles of Inotia: Legend of Feanor
Price: $7.99
System(s): iPhone and iPod Touch
Release Date: December 12, 2008
Publisher (Developer): Com2uS Corp.
ESRB Rating: “9+” for frequent/intense cartoon or fantasy violence
Pros: Great visuals, simple controls, bite sized quests perfect for mobile use.
Cons: Music looping has an awkward pause, cannot listen to own music, has a few bugs and glitches.
Overall Score: One thumb up and one thumb down, 75/100, C, **1/2

Chronicles of Inotia: Legend of Feanor is one of those games that has the right idea but flawed execution. On the outside, the game looks gorgeous in terms of a mobile game and controls very simplistically but on the inside it harbors very deep problems with its framerate and substance. It really takes to heart that beauty is only skin deep.

Before I go any further I want to point something out, a lot of people seemingly got confused over the game’s claim that you are “customizing” a character. You’re not customizing the look of the character but rather the stock character’s attributes. Now you know.

The game is made up of various quests that range from killing ten snakes to rescuing someone’s sister. They are little bite sized quests that are just what you need playing an RPG on a mobile device, yet the rewards for doing the quests won’t make you feel accomplished. Unfortunately, the same sentiment applies to leveling up in the game, which you will find takes up big part of your time. It’s not that leveling up is hard, just that you have to level up three times in order to receive a stat boost other than health or the one skill point you receive per level.

The writing also takes a hit by not developing characters the enough that I would ever want to risk Feanor’s life to find three magic powders. Instead, we are offered the background that Feanor and a dragon rumbled and the dragon disappeared. Now Feanor is on the hunt for said dragon and just so happen will take on any quest that someone tells him to complete.

As I mentioned in the opening, the game does look really good for an iPhone/iPod Touch game. The problem is that no matter how good the game looks, having a poor framerate robs the player of the visual experience even if you are only playing on your bus ride home. I am curious however, to see if the game runs any better on the supposedly faster second generation iPod Touch. The visuals also have a few bugs such as the “water” in the snake cave not being visually represented as water but instead more like blue spikes. 

The audio experience is also hampered by having music that just runs out, leaving an awkward dead air silence for a brief time. Couple that with the lacking ability (or solution in this case) to listen to one’s own tunes and we have a bit of problem.

For all of Inotia’s flaws it does accomplish a few things right. One of those things is that it shows other developers that a game like this can be developed for the iPhone without having to look or feel extremely dated. It also couples together a very simplistic control scheme on a platform lacking a mouse or proper controller. Most importantly though, Com2uS created a game that could be a lot of fun if they would just patch it up.

I should mention, that Com2uS is promising a patch that will address the issues many people of this game had, so it is possible that Inotia will receive the polish it needs and deserves. Until then however, I would save $7.99.

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