Too much foreknowledge needed on first run

[i dont want to be around anymore]

I really do love the vibe and the aesthetic of the game a lot, and the combat doesn't inherently bother me.

What's really sticking with me is this - you have to have so much knowledge of what to do when to avoid excessive backtracking/reloading it becomes tedious.

Multi-item puzzle solutions that are single use considerable distances away from the nearest boxes. When exploring a new area you have zero clue as to which one of the many items the game presents you with you'll need in that area. You have to keep your inventory as tight as possible. For me this is one gun with extra ammo, a shotgun with no extra ammo, one slot of med item, flashlight and one melee.

On the normal amount of slots (which you are stuck with for a considerable period of time even being as frugal as possible) this leaves you four. Many areas if you just go through them have no boxes and a good number more than four items.

There is also confusion with these items. Lighter and a dynamite that looks like it has a lightable fuse? Nope! You have to combine that in an area with a detonator to get through a single barrier. You don't use the detonator handle again. And unless you know you need both items going into the area you are exploring, it's backtracking. Maybe more than once.

Or just after that section with the wirecutters? Unless you knew ahead of time to use the shells on the spot it takes you to, you will have used the 2 you get for areas you can see. So now you go into this new area, in a tiny hall, and have no room to juke 2 armored guys because you didn't know ahead of time you should have blown up this OTHER spot before you blew up the support trench stuff.

e- the inconsistency of what stacks is an issue, too. Bullets stack, grenades stack, cool? Oh some piece of fabric? Nah individual, get back to that box so you can continue moving forward with the game.

It's just generally frustrating to play, because of the way the inventory management and the boxes are situated.

I appreciate the effort made with the patch for that, but it still just feels like a slog. And I totally get it, this game is about a slog of a war that's ♥♥♥♥♥♥, but.. it's still a game. We need to enjoy playing it. And I do - just not when it comes to spending half the gameplay time inventory juggling or backtracking.

I don't think the game deserves a negative review but this kind of thing is also preventing a positive one.

I will say I have also played a LOT of survival horror games, trust me, I get the genre. But I think the game would benefit not having every single item in the game take up an item slot. Even treasure stuff, which is kind of baffling to me. It just creates a lot of useless busywork for the player that actively is preventing them from playing the game.

[i dont want to be around anymore]

Bleh. Now I'm up to 30+ minutes of just backtracking because of issues described above. And I suppose I was very foolish to not enable checkpoints, wanting to get a good rating. Unfortunately there is no way to turn them on mid run.

Two armored guys, they get the same distance from you.. and offset their swings

So there is literally no way to swing on one of them and NOT be hit by the other because of the length of the player's swing animation

[i dont want to be around anymore]

I can give another example - grenades into rat holes.

You get grenades quickly and fight some armored guys and numerous enemies. Yeah I'll throw my grenades!

Oh wait now I just find out that it's the only way to deal with rat holes and the game has not provided me any more across 2 more hours of gameplay when I got what? 3 in the first hour?

It just feels like 'gotchas', that aren't a matter of skill.

And yes I know you can buy them, but now you're even more behind the curve on the most essential item you need - inventory space.

Also.. is damage just a flat number? Do armored opponents indeed have some kind of damage resistance to certain types of damage, or is their 'armor' just a lot more health?

The opaqueness in explaining one way or another the mechanics as I described just above is another problem if you just want to go into the game blind as a player.

[SKINLESSHEAD]

Try reading the patch notes for the patch that came out before you posted this. I'm not going to read your whole thesis, but I'm sure that addressed some of your concerns.

[yappyboi]

Well it took me a little of 6 hours to beat chapter 2.... Am just starting chapter and most of that time is trying find out where to go and what to do. Backtracking is a issue but i think the dev will fix these more and your other issues in later patches. I never once died in the two i played of this game but now i die so much to heavys or the sprinting gas soilders. Its annoying but i can get over it

[KRiSOtheEDiTOR]

This is not a criticism to any person, but rather another point of view🙂

Reading this I understand the frustration from some players, and I really really know the feeling😛 But it also kinda makes me think that some of them did not grow up with the old-school classic survival horror genre, like original Resident Evil. In that genre, backtracking and running from point A to point B multiple times due to small inventory space was one of the main challenges. And the "moonlogic" where some stuff stack and other stuff do not. It is all a mechanic to make the game more challenging. The point is that you do not know what's coming, you do not know what you will find, and therefore you need to keep that (and your inventory) in mind when you progress throughout the game.

The game will reward you throughout the playthrough with more inventory slots. You will find it both if you explore all the rooms and check what's for sale at the different locations. Exploration = Reward.

Also when discovering a "powerful weapon/item" (like grenades/dynamite etc.) in any game, I would not recommend using it at the first next enemy that pops up😛 Intuition should be telling us to "save it for something bigger", like a boss fight or a mechanic like rat holes.

The point of the game is to be challenging. And learn from exploring and failing.
In my opinion this game didn't need more inventory boxes and the rats were not "OP". Both "lacking of inventory boxes" and "the rats" were A REAL PAIN, but THAT IS THE POINT. After the update I'm smacking rats left and right without any worry.. The challenge with the rats is now gone.

I also wanna point out that the game description on Steam say: "Navigate intricate level design that promotes item management and route planning, whilst solving complex environmental puzzles."

"Promotes item management and route planning" = "There will lack of inventory space" and "There will be backtracking"😛 (Game mechanics to make it more challenging)

I again wanna say that this is not a criticism to any person, but rather another point of view on the game🙂

[Tamaster]

I agree with the first post. This exactly describes my experience so far.

[i dont want to be around anymore]

I totally get other points of view for mine, and I cut my teeth on RE1, nearly pissed my pants at the dogs through the window playing that on a tube TV staying up too late on a school night.

I beat RE2 remake, totally fine. Doesn't have that much backtracking. Had to give up on RE1 remake, it just doesn't hold up enough in a modern gaming era without QOL stuff.

Another IMPORTANT point when viewing Conscript through that lens - those early games, you can and should run the whole time while backtracking. You have a VERY limited amount of run-time available in Conscript, which makes the backtracking more tedious.

Conscript's map is also, from feel, considerably larger in terms of overall just like, traversal, than those early RE games. There are more individual doors, intractables, items etc than is present on a comparable length of traversal in RE1.

This is all just feedback - I support indie devs 110% especially when they are making something unique, just my opinion that the game definitely has room for improvement and accessibility which, imo, would expand its' audience.

[Cris]

I agree. I like my puzzle games to come with the solution on top of the screen so I don't have to actually solve them. BTW I'd love a RE1 remake where all the locks are open and the mansion is a straight hallway.

[Clockeye]

Originally posted by Cris:

I agree. I like my puzzle games to come with the solution on top of the screen so I don't have to actually solve them. BTW I'd love a RE1 remake where all the locks are open and the mansion is a straight hallway.

lol

[电动天使]

I'd have to disagree completely. I felt the game was perfectly balanced for a horror game with excellent enemy design and map design. Some of the issues you listed are skill issues, such as using an artillery shell on the fire trench (possibly the biggest waste of resources you can pull off in the game) and others boil down to... the genre. Obviously you're going to backtrack and you'll have to plan how to navigate the map. That's how these games are, or at least should be, since this seems to be the only game that actually pulls it off to this extent.