Welcome to Pia Carrot!! 3
Game System
Before starting the game, it will ask you to input a name for Akihiko. His name is there by default. The name you input won't make a difference in the game as the characters don't say the name you give.
From there, you will be ask what uniform you would like. There are the Floral Mint, Tropical, & Paro Paro types. The one you choose will be used through the game.
The game playing system of Welcome to Pia Carrot!! 3 is a bit complex. Aside from making choices in certain events, you need to set up your own work schedule for the restaurant.
The schedule runs for a week, so you will encounter this four times. How you set the schedule affects the game in a big way. One small mistake in schedule can blow your chances in getting the girl you are aiming for.
I had a lot of troubles working out this schedule & ended up getting the default ending most of the time. So it's best that you save very frequently, especially the day before you set your work schedule. All of the girl's storylines only have one ending, so it's really linear.
Every time you are in Akihiko's room, you will see meters with carrots of the right of your screen. When I played the game, the meters really don't seem to do much in the game. It's basically your levels for study, fitness, recreation, etc. They go up by the choices you make that are associated to them.
The second last meter is a mystery to me. I don't know what it is as I can never make it go up regardless of what kind of choices I make. The meters can go down over time.
The bottom meter is what you should be concern about as it is Akihiko's health meter. This can go down depending on the physical labour & strength used each day. If it goes empty, Akihiko will stay at home recovering for the whole day. You can't do anything about it as he rests. Ways to make that health meter to go up is to have him rest & get some leisure time.
On the top left of the screen is the date & time of the current day. Under it is how much money Akihiko has. He starts out with ¥30,000. This amount never goes up actually.
You mainly use this money during the path of the girl's story which can involve travelling, buying gifts, eating, etc. You can also use the money to buy things from Noboru when he visits Akihiko at night, which are totally optional & not needed to advance in the game's stories. The money is also useable in buying AVs in a video store in the town.
The left side of the screen will show a menu bar of options to choice from. This only appears when Akihiko is in his room. It has data to allow you to see the information of the characters in the game & his relations with them, going out, recreation, study, jogging, call, move, item, & system options. You can only save the game when Akihiko is in his room.
When you decide to go out, the game displays a 3D visual map of the dorm & town. It takes you to places he can go to. The call option is basically calling up people on the phone. You can only call them when Akihiko gets their contact number. This option has some role in the storylines of the girls.
