Conscript

[00:00:09] Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another episode of The Pre-Order Bonus Podcast. I'm one of your hosts, Cameron Warren and I'm joined, as always, by the pixel professor, Jacob Price. It's February 20th, 2025. We're back from a little bit of a hiatus. Jake, you went on vacation.

[00:00:29] That's right. I was out of town visiting the in-laws back in the lovely, luscious state of Washington. The lovely Pacific Northwest. Very nice. Well, in the meantime, since you've been gone. Since you've been gone. I've been. Sorry, that just was in my head.

[00:00:55] I have been playing a lot of Kingdom Come Deliverance 2. Henry. Henry of Scalic. Let me just tell you, Jake, I think this may end up being my game of the year. Folks, it is February. And you know what's funny? I saw this thing. Sorry, we're coming back to this. Sorry. I saw this post and people were like, people play one game.

[00:01:22] In January and February. And they're like, oh, game of the year contender. And I'm just like, you know, I don't know if that's true. And I don't think that's true for you, Cameron. I think this might be your game of the year. No, it's not. I mean, Rebirth also came out early last year. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. And that ended up being in the top of my list. And Prince of Persia also came out really early in the year.

[00:01:47] And ended up being my game of the year. But we play games all throughout the year. I'll play everything that comes out. This game has just shocked me with how good it is. It's legitimately floored me with how good it is.

[00:02:04] And how weird it is. I played the first one. So if you played the first one, you understand what it is that they're going for. And if you played the first one, you also know that the amount of jank in the first one is kind of a ridiculous amount of jank. And in the second one, they've kind of like taken that vision from the first one. And they've really, in my mind, they've really fulfilled on that vision, like to a bit to a huge degree.

[00:02:31] Yeah, I agree. So I played, we've talked about this before. I played the first one, I didn't finish it. I only played maybe eight hours into it. I don't know. And I felt like I really liked the idea of everything that I was doing in the first one. But it just wasn't for me. That and I sucked at the lockpicking. I finally started Kingdom Come Deliverance 2. I put two relatively, I feel like, meaty play sessions into it.

[00:03:00] And the first one, I was like, oh, I don't know. I was like, I don't know. It's a lot more polished, but I just didn't know if I could get into it. But the second play session, like my fears went away. I was done with all the tutorial stuff. I was free to kind of do everything. And I told Cameron this, but I think if you are kind of on the fence about this game, this is what sold it for me.

[00:03:24] I needed to stop treating it like Skyrim and treat it like Red Dead Redemption 2. Yeah, that's a great analogy. This is a photorealistic, slow kind of tromp in the woods, do the side quests.

[00:03:43] There are some adrenaline moments, but it's very much like, okay, no, you're playing as Henry of Scalets and you are solving these narrative problems. I don't know. For me, I just needed to step back and be like, no, this is just one of those games that has a lot of systems. It has a lot of numbers. There's a lot of information to take in. But so much of this game for me is like, no, just be in this location and just do the day to day.

[00:04:11] And I found that completely changed my attitude towards the game. Yeah, it's very, very, very similar to Red Dead Redemption in that it and folks will do and we'll do an entire episode on this game. Yeah, no worries there. I think it's just going to take a little while. It's a beefy, it's a beefy, beefy, beefy game. I'm 23 hours in and just barely got out of act one and I probably went pretty fast for most people.

[00:04:41] But yeah, yeah, I mean, this game is very similar to Red Dead Redemption 2 in that it is unabashed in its commitment to immersion. To the point of making you do things that feel monotonous and like take too long. Yeah. But because they've committed to that immersion, you kind of, for some reason, you're like not bothered by it. Yeah.

[00:05:10] Which is weird, right? Because in other games you'd be like, oh my gosh, just like let me freaking like hit the button and make the potion. I don't want to stand here and like grind the herbs together and pour it in a pot. But for some reason, like they've committed to that vision and you're just like, no, I'm like kind of into this. It's weird. I don't know. It's super weird. So early on you can kind of choose one of two paths and I chose the blacksmithing path. And you have to learn how to do that.

[00:05:37] And it's funny, the way that you describe like creating the potions and doing the alchemy with the herbs. It doesn't feel like a minigame. You know what I mean? Like in most games, this would be a minigame. It would be gamified and you are supposed to be doing, I don't know, really just something like that feels like you're doing it for points. And doing the blacksmithing and the tutorial has you do like make a sword.

[00:06:07] It's like, no, this actually isn't a minigame. This is a craft, if you will. Right. Like, you know, you're going to sit here and you're going to make some things. And so I made like a sword was like two axes and two horseshoes. And that was, I don't know, 30 minutes of playtime for five things. So, yeah, it's the game is very much like no, you need the game kind of forces you to take it slow, which I really appreciate.

[00:06:35] Because games are, I feel like it's not so often that you find games that in their design, they're just like, no, just do this one step at a time. Make some progress. Do this. Do that. You know. And I found it to be quite refreshing. Well, enough about that, Jake. What else have you been playing? I know you've been playing a lot of stuff. What's on your list right now?

[00:07:03] I have been playing, as usual, way too many things. But I've been playing some Returnal here and there. I didn't play much while I was out of town. I've been playing Conscript, the game that we're going to be talking about tonight. And let's see. I guess on stream I play Dawnfolk and I'm playing through fountains right now. Dawnfolk is a great little city builder game.

[00:07:32] And there will be a standalone review coming out on that because I was gifted a key for it. But really wonderful game. Really enjoyed that one. And then Fountains has been kind of billed as like this game that's similar to Hyper Light Drifter. Which I would say yes, but it feels much more like a Souls game with light Metroidvania mechanics. Gotcha. Yeah, I've been enjoying both of those immensely. I'm on a boss right now that is kicking my butt in Fountains.

[00:08:01] So yeah, we'll see how that goes. But those are the games that I've mostly been playing. Listen, folks, I know Avowed is out and I have it installed. But I simply cannot. I know I cannot start that game. Otherwise, I will not finish any game. You know? Yep. I'm right there with you. I also have it installed and have somehow prevented myself from... Somehow prevented... Stopped myself from paying... Or from playing it. Yeah.

[00:08:31] I'm like, nope. Nope. I'm committed to... At least until I get sick of KCD2. Hopefully until I beat KCD2. Which is still going to be another couple weeks. At least, I think. Yeah. So folks, stay tuned. We will have an episode on Avowed. But it is going to be much later than what you're listening to right now. Yes, it will. Well...

[00:09:02] Um... There hasn't been much news, Jake. Uh... Honestly. Hold on. Wait. Hold on. Okay. I'm going to say some things and Cameron's going to be like, oh crap, there has been news. I think today there hasn't been news. But we've got Netflix closing Night School Studios. Okay. We've got, um...

[00:09:29] This team that was laid off of Marvel Rivals. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And then this... They announced, I think, a Pokemon Presents for February 27th, I want to say. So about a week after this was recorded. Yep. And, um... Dude. Listen. I like Pokemon. I grew up playing Pokemon, etc. I like talking Pokemon with my friends.

[00:09:54] The Pokemon fandom is like putting on a 200-pound weighted vest. Like, it is so hard for me to engage with the Pokemon fandom at large. So I'm actually avoiding pretty much all news, all speculation about this Pokemon Presents. Because, um... With the Switch 2 imminent and Pokemon Legends EA coming, there's just a lot of speculation and chatting going on. So I can't really handle it.

[00:10:23] But, yeah, that's kind of what's been on my mind in terms of news. Yeah. No, I did... I forgot about those things. Yeah. Well, yeah. I mean, the game industry continues to devolve into a giant pit of fire. So, yeah, not stressful at all working in this industry. May the great god GTA 6 save us all. Oh, my goodness. Could GTA 6...

[00:10:53] How would it save the current trajectory of the industry? I don't know. I don't... I think... I don't even honestly know. Somebody... They keep saying that and I'm like, what does that even mean? Okay, I'm not the only one asking. Because, to be honest, it's kind of going to ruin things for most other gaming companies. Just like in terms of where the money's going? Yeah. You're going to...

[00:11:20] If you release a game even near to GTA 6, like, you're screwed. Yeah. Because that game is going to be so widely played that you're basically just in... I, you know... I don't... So, yeah. Don't release a game around that time period. Or you're going to be... You're going to be in a heap of hurt on that one. No, I don't know. It's not going to save the games industry.

[00:11:51] But... KCD2 seems to have done pretty well. And... Also, weirdly owned by Embracer Group. So... Yeah, that's odd. Which I did not know. But, anyway. There's a few steps, right, between War Horse and Embracer. Yeah. Well, luckily, folks, today we're talking about a game that is not AAA at all. And that's a little game called Conscript. This is out on all platforms.

[00:12:20] It came out last... Late last fall. Holiday. I think it was December, even. Was it not? November, I want to say? I want to say it was later in the year. Yeah. Yeah. It was very late in the year. Jake and I didn't get to this. I got this... Got to it late in the year. Shout out to our Discord channel, who... A couple folks posted their thoughts on this game. And... Draught me into it. I picked it up on Steam. Got super sucked in. Told Jake about it. We both played it. Loved it.

[00:12:50] And so we're here to talk about it. Jake, how are we going to break down Conscript today? We are going to talk about this in three categories. If you're new to the Pre-Oder Bonus Podcast, we organize all of our episodes this way. If you're a long-time listener, thank you, first of all. But also, you're going to hear this spiel for the 200th plus time. First, we're going to talk about narrative. We're going to be talking about the story. Who's telling the story? Kind of why it matters and why it's important.

[00:13:19] This game in particular is historical fiction. We are going to talk about that in an extended episode, like an extended edition of this episode. So if you sign up for our Patreon for that tier, you'll hear us talk about it kind of in the terms of genre. But first category, we'll talk about the narrative, kind of the nuts and bolts of how things happen in this game and who is doing what. Next, we'll be talking about game design.

[00:13:46] Here, we're going to cover everything from mechanics in the case of this game, combat, level design, like what you are doing, like what inputs you are doing to make the game happen. And then finally, impact on the industry. This one will be a curious one to sort of talk about. So here, sometimes we have the luxury of kind of looking in hindsight at like the different wakes or, you know, tremors that certain games have caused. This is a smaller game.

[00:14:16] It's a newer game. So here we're kind of being a little more speculative about what this game does in the indie sphere. So that will be the three categories with which we talk about this game.

[00:14:29] Conscript is the story of a French infantryman, infantryman, infantryman, infantryman, soldier during World War I.

[00:14:46] That takes place during the siege of this fort where this soldier happens to be stationed and revolves around this soldier.

[00:15:02] Not only doing his part to defend this fort and the kind of outlying territory a little bit from the Germans, but also searching for his brother. Yeah.

[00:15:21] And it is a horror game that has no, doesn't have any, what's the word I'm looking for? Like, uh, magical elements to it. It doesn't have monsters. It doesn't have like vampires or werewolves or like horror elements or like a bacteria flesh eating virus that turns you into a zombie. Yeah.

[00:15:49] Um, so it's, it's like, it takes that like, like an old school resident evil style combat movement, kind of 2.5 D top down situation.

[00:16:03] And then puts you smack dab into this world war one where it uses like the, the, the, the realities of like the horrors of war and specifically the horrors of a world war one type situation to put you in the midst of this, like, you know, kind of horrible situation. Um, yeah. Yeah. And it does it really effectively.

[00:16:28] What I loved about this game is the, is the idea that like, and there's, and there's a, there's a movie on Netflix that I haven't watched and I put off watching it, but it is on my list. And it's, um, all, all quiet on the Western front. Yeah. Yes. Did you watch that? I started it and I got like 15 minutes in and I was like, I need to be in a specific mood to watch this movie. And yeah, I am not in that mood right now. Yeah.

[00:16:57] And so I think this game is similar. There is like, you do have to play this game with like a certain mood, um, because it's very depressing. It's like very dark. Uh, you feel, I think the, I'll speak to one thing and then we can kind of go back and forth, but the, this game does a good job at making you feel like specific emotions around.

[00:17:17] And I think one of them that I specifically felt was like the futility and the like hopelessness a little bit, uh, especially world war one. Um, and if you, you know, you watch movies or you've read things about it and you kind of learn about it and the more you learn about it, the more pointless it sounds.

[00:17:43] And it's, it's sad because like all these horrible traumas and horrible situations where, you know, millions of people died and were gassed and, you know, all this violence where they're, you know, they're, they're taking and they're retaking the same piece of territory. Dozens of times, hundreds of times, hundreds of people dying and going through like these, these, uh, incredible horrors.

[00:18:09] And this game does a really good job within, you know, and what amounts to this really, really old school art style. Like this is very, this is not like super high res pixels. I mean, it's like kind of blurry. Yeah. Um, it is very like throwback in that sense, but it does such a good job of kind of making you feel those emotions and putting you in a moment of kind of what the feelings would be in that, in this situation.

[00:18:38] And very impressive from that standpoint. Yeah, I totally agree. Um, this is a really difficult game to play and not because the highest difficulty I imagine is extremely difficult. Um, I ended up playing this on recruit because I wanted access to, to saves like unlimited saves, I think was the thing that drew me into that difficulty setting.

[00:19:08] Mm-hmm. But because it lacks those supernatural elements, it is, it's a really heavy, heavy game to play. You know, um, a lot of the violence is so senseless, you know, and a lot of the violence is like you beating a guy with a pickaxe or a trench shovel, you know, or, you know, just really ugly, messy.

[00:19:33] All these things that like World War I is known for, like this really brutal chemical warfare, just, just disgusting, like body horror is very much a part of this time period and this world event. And so, having this in here, it's like, sure, it's a fictional game and these aren't like real images that you're looking at.

[00:19:55] But every time I picked up this game, I felt sort of a sense of disgust at what I was looking at, you know, bodies just kind of left in puddles, you know, or rats eating bodies. Um, people who have been, you know, suffocating on gas and they're, you know, writhing and spitting up. And, you know, you was in one area and, uh, I was talking to one guy who's like, oh, pay no attention to the guy.

[00:20:23] Uh, the other guy in the room, he's just, he's, I don't know, having a fit or something. And this guy who's just totally gone mad because of the just absolute brutality and horrors of war. And so Cameron, I think you said it super well, but this game communicates through all this really gross imagery is the futility of this. Like why, why are there still commanding officers who are like, we got to take this force?

[00:20:47] But, you know, and early on in the game, when the, when the CEO says to you, he's like, listen, if you don't get out to the front line, I'm going to put a bullet in you because you were a coward. And at that point for me, it was like, who is, what is the point of this and who is the enemy? Right.

[00:21:08] And so I think this game does a really fantastic job, like thematically making you work through all these tasks that feel super pointless. And I'm kind of veering in the game design a little bit here. I think this actually works super well with the old school resident evil game design, because oftentimes you're running around a map, collecting random items in different places to try to find a way forward.

[00:21:35] And I think narratively that fits really well, where it's like, you're just trying to push forward in some way. And you are kind of just scrambling to do that. And it almost feels like all the captains barking orders at you are just grateful that they don't, that they don't have to do the crap that you do. Right. That they can, you know, pass along that task to you. And so really wonderfully written game in that regard, like in terms of how it's set up and how it uses its setting.

[00:22:06] The moment to moment writing, sometimes I didn't love. Sometimes it felt like it was maybe a little forced, but I don't know. The overall story is great. Plenty of bouts of PTSD. And really the only motivation that you have is to find your brother, because what does it matter? Sort of retaking this fort, retaking these trenches that you've been fighting over for years, you know, you know, there's maybe the one shred of light there. It's like, you know, family matters.

[00:22:35] So let me try to find my brother, make sure he's alive. That's the hope that I need right now. That's making me do all these pointless things, you know, trudge through these awful corridors is like the hope that you might see your brother again. It is a very, it is a big downer just to put it succinctly. It is a downer of a game. Yeah, no, it really is. It really is.

[00:23:01] And it's, you do like, and like I was saying, like, you do have to be like in a certain mood to play it. Uh, because it, it doesn't like suddenly come up with ways for the player to feel like, oh, like we saved the day. We accomplished that.

[00:23:18] It's like, no, as soon as you beat one, you know, scenario, you're just going into another scenario and you haven't really accomplished anything and you still haven't found your brother. Yeah. And so it becomes sort of this game of like, um, yeah, it just does such a good job of that.

[00:23:45] And then it doesn't help that you're walking around and you see like soldiers who don't attack you from the enemy because they're literally having a PTSD, like traumatic meltdown, like in the middle of a, like a, a pit. Yeah. Uh, or you will, you'll run across, you know, you'll go and then even the, the combat situations, which gets, which a little bit gets into the design of the game as well.

[00:24:13] Uh, it just, the design of how combat works, which again is this very kind of old school. You got to stop aim. You only have like four points of aim, but you just feel stressed out about it. Every time, every time you get in a fight, I was like stressed out about it. Yeah. Because like trying to aim and trying to hit the guys and then there'll be the big guy comes and he's got armor and he's going to take you out. And so this whole thing just makes you feel stressful and like, and just feel the trauma.

[00:24:43] It does do one thing, which, which I, which I like. Like, so when you go between story chapters, you have flashbacks to like your home in somewhere in France, like in the countryside.

[00:24:58] Um, and it's, it takes a long time to develop, but it uses those moments to kind of explore your background, your family, your relationship with your brother and provide these like moments of Zen and like peacefulness amidst this like horrible experience that you're going through. Anyway.

[00:25:14] I agree having those like flashbacks, I felt like we're just crucial for pacing because if they weren't there and you do as a player have to just trudge through scenario into the next scenario, um, it would have been really hard to make progress. And the funny thing is like Cameron and I have actually been planning to do this episode for quite a while, but we've both been really slow playing this game. It is really hard.

[00:25:38] I could not for the life of me mainline this game because when I came out of playing it, I was like, Oh man, I need to play something lighthearted right now. Like it's just, it's just that kind of heavy. Um, but yeah, um, in terms of narrative, um, I would say, even though I said, I didn't really love the writing moment to moment. Probably one of my favorite parts about the writing is some of the conversations that you just have with random people that you meet, right?

[00:26:09] Um, cigarettes are king. Like that is the currency. And there's one guy that you see several times. He's always asking for a cigarette. Um, and people make these off the cuff remarks like, Oh, didn't think I'd see you again. You know? Um, I thought moments like that were good. Just kind of those small exchanges with the other soldiers who were kind of living through the same hell as you. Um, but, but yeah, I don't know. I think, um, it's a tough, it's a tough one, man.

[00:26:38] This is a tough one, but it's good. It's one of those. It's like, it's hard to watch, but it's still a good one because of how well executed it is. You want to talk about the mechanics, Jake? Yeah. I mean, you mentioned it. It's old school Resident Evil style. I mentioned it too. It plays super well to what this story is, what it's trying to accomplish. Um, it's slow.

[00:27:05] You have a very stamina bar that I feel like depletes really quickly. Um, oftentimes you're trudging through mud where you can't sprint. Um, there's a lot of different chase sequences. There are a lot of German soldiers that sneak up on you, come out of nowhere. They're not like quite like jump scares, but like you said,

[00:27:24] I feel like the game design here is very much stock up as much as you can and just get from point A to point B to accomplish this micro task before you continue along the chain of tasks that you have to do in order to progress. Um, I will say, uh, that I think level design was good. I think the secrets and stuff were in there were good.

[00:27:51] Um, just like secret like passages you might find that lead you to some sort of item because it is a survival horror game, like finding ammo or being able to finding craftable items. Like that stuff is super important. Um, this game, I feel like it was really difficult for me to understand until I had beaten a level. What if I had completed like any objectives, does that make sense?

[00:28:17] Like, yeah, I kind of felt a little lost with my objective list. Um, and so sometimes it'd be like, okay, you, it would just, it was just too vague. Like you need to reach this location and there's no way points, there's no markers. And it's like, okay, I'll just, sometimes I felt like I was just a little lost, you know, poking in the dark, hoping that I was finding the critical path forward. Other times it was a little more clear.

[00:28:46] I do kind of wish that it was more, I guess, regularly clear as I was working through different levels. Yeah, this is very firmly rooted in this, in the Resident Evil design ethos. I mean, this is like they, the people who made this like study the Resident Evil games and this, and they, they very, very hard stick to, uh, like that design ethos. Right.

[00:29:15] And so what that consists of is kind of slow methodical combat where you're scrounging for ammo and other resources in a limited inventory. And your objectives consist of going around the map, oftentimes retreading territory to find items, keys, or various other things like in the environment that help you to progress the story.

[00:29:41] And I think one of, I like this design and I think it's a tried and true method. Um, I think it's a, it's a tried and true method, but it's, but one of the things that happens is it can just get confusing. Um, it can just get confusing. Right. And like you get lost really easily and you're retreading like a lot of different areas.

[00:30:12] And it's just, that's like probably the biggest criticism I have of it. Now, that being said, like, I do think if you just kind of run around the map, like you'll just kind of organically run into the things that you need to find and it'll be fine. Yeah. Yeah. And you will make progress, but it, to your point earlier, Jake, like it does feel like sometimes you feel like you're not making any progress, even though you are.

[00:30:39] But until you hit those moments where you actually find the item and then you go use the item on the door, like, or whatever it is, um, you feel like you haven't made any progress. And it's, and it's nerve wracking that whole time because you're scrounging for MO and you kind of feel on it, which is part of this design. Right. It's like part of like bringing tension to this horror game. Yeah. But it can feel a little bit, a little bit claustrophobic. Yeah, I totally agree.

[00:31:06] Um, I ended up spending a lot of time in chapter two. And, um, so this is, there's six chapters in the game, but that's, I don't know. I'm really torn on this. A part of me just kind of wants to say this, this level design isn't for me, but, uh, you definitely have to, I ended up running, I don't know, five or six, seven different laps.

[00:31:27] Cause it's a somewhat circular, this map until like I could find in every, every single lap, one new door would open for me. And I go and explore that. And then I do another lap and then another new door would open for me. And so it just kind of felt like running in a hamster wheel until I found something that worked.

[00:31:49] Um, I think folks who really liked this game design, who like would probably be really happy with the kind of exploration that this game demands and the kind of memorization where it's like, oh wait, I unlocked this rusted key. Where did I see the rusted door? Uh, for me playing, it was like, Hey, I've seen three rusted, you know, doors and I have a silver key and a gold key.

[00:32:17] And so I just felt like, where's the rusted key, you know? But you'd have these moments where, yeah, things would kind of fall into place and then you would continue forward in the game. Um, yeah, I don't know. I'm conflicted on this. Like it kind of makes me think like, I really enjoyed Resident Evil 2 remake and Resident Evil 4 remake. Resident Evil 4 is much more linear, right?

[00:32:45] You're not doing loops to figure out where you could go next. Resident Evil 2, I thought that kind of game design worked really well. Um, except for when I had to do stuff in the clock tower. Like I had to look that up. I had no idea that's where I needed to be. Oh yeah. You know? Um, and so I just kind of feel like this game had more clock tower moments for me than I maybe had patience for.

[00:33:15] Yep. I know exactly what you're talking about. Yeah. Um, yeah, I don't know. I think, uh, overall it worked for me, but you know, it's not perfect. Let's, let's talk about the combat real quick. Yeah. I think that's important to combat is very old school. Yes. It is. You've got a pistol.

[00:33:44] You have various different weapons. You have a pistol, you have a rifle, and then there's other things that you unlock later. Ammo is super limited. I'll tell you my biggest frustration with the combat. And that is like, I know it's part of the design to like bring the tension, but dude, the inventory size in this game is like, it's gotta be like the most constricting, suffocating inventory that I've ever used in a video game. Like ever.

[00:34:13] Did you feel that? Do you feel that way about this? I don't know. Maybe I'm alone. No, I, let's see. In chapter three, I definitely felt this because by the end of chapter two, and just for clarity's sake, I haven't beaten the game. I might beat this game over the course of the next like four months, but in chapter three, I had accumulated a bunch of items that felt like key items that I needed to keep on my person.

[00:34:41] And so I felt like I was only working with two, three open slots at any time. And I constantly found myself being like, you know, just walking around with a full inventory, not finding the right items to combine with other things to get more ammo or get more bandages or whatever it was. So, yeah, I definitely felt that inventory size squeeze.

[00:35:08] I think my issue with the whole inventory situation, and I think John from Gaming in the Wild has talked about this before, but I don't understand. It's not a great mechanic because I think what happens. Here's why I don't like limited inventory. So I still don't really understand it. And if you'd understand why games do it, please explain it to me.

[00:35:36] Because Starfield had this problem. Everybody complained about it. This game has this problem. Every survival game forces you into like a tiny inventory situation. And I think all it does is it forces the player to spend a lot of time doing nothing or doing things that aren't fun. Shifting things around. Yes. You're tinkering with your inventory. You're destroying a thing because you need to pick up this important thing that's on the ground.

[00:36:06] But it's filled up with MO. But you're going to need that MO later. And so what I would do is I would literally run back to where I had a chest. I would deposit stuff. And then I would go back to actually playing the game instead of just playing the game. Yeah. And so it ended up just being this game. And so in theory, I think it's like, oh, well, you're limiting the decision of what a player can take out into the field and play the game with. Right?

[00:36:35] Like they have to decide if they're going to use this gun. And they're like, what type of MO they're going to have. But it's like nobody really plays a game like that. And they will manipulate the game to fit how they want to play it to the greatest extent that the game will let them. I think the only way to really force it is if you don't even have a chest where you can store stuff. And then it's like pure madness, like maniacal game design.

[00:37:01] Where it's like you're literally destroying items and you don't know what to keep or what not to keep. Yeah. And so I just don't think it's effective. I don't think it's effective. It doesn't work for me really in any game. I'm struggling to actually think of a game where this is like an effective device. And in this game, I'm struggling to think of why it even needs to be here. Let me offer this. From what I understand, in Conscript, you cannot increase your inventory size. Like ever.

[00:37:31] You can. You can. Okay. You can, but it's mega expensive. Okay. So I think this is... I'm going to make another comparison, sorry, to Resident Evil. In the three Resident Evil games I played, RE2, RE4, and RE Village, there is a clear and straightforward path to increasing your inventory size. And it's substantial every time you do it.

[00:38:00] Now, Conscript, I didn't find a single way to increase my inventory size. And in other games like Starfield that have this over encumbered mechanic, it's like you put two perk points into strength and you can suddenly carry three more pounds. And half the items you want to grab are like seven pounds or heavier. You know what I mean?

[00:38:25] So I just feel like there's almost a numbers conflict of like, if this mechanic is going to be in here, can you please provide me a clear path to be able to work around it? Like I understand like at the beginning of games, like limiting, you know, what maybe players can do until... For like mechanical pacing throughout a game. But yeah, I don't know. I...

[00:38:49] The hard thing for me with Conscript is that it would tell you when you had completely exhausted a key and that key would be discarded. But for example, I had a lighter that I picked up, which I needed to unlock a door. I needed to like burn down a door. And then I'm like, okay, it didn't disappear. But wait, I finished this level. Do I now keep this in my inventory for the next level? Or can I safely put this in my chest?

[00:39:18] Because I don't want to run into the problem you're describing, which is I am trying to make progress. I am going into a brand new section of a level. I am losing ammo left and right because I'm killing people as much as possible to get through it. And I'm low on health. I'm low on ammo. And my biggest fear is to be like, oh, wait, that lighter that you put away, you know, I don't know, 45 minutes ago. Yes. You need that now.

[00:39:47] So, yeah, I'm with you. I just kind of feel like, can we please put key items somewhere else other than the inventory? That could be a great solution to your point. Maybe you have a key items inventory so you can carry unlimited key items. Yeah, give me a key ring and every single key I can't let me throw it on there, right? Or in the case of Conscript, like the lighter. Just tell me whether or not I'm going to need this lighter.

[00:40:16] And it's funny because I assume the gas mask is really important, but I never found it. And so I ended up like just losing a ton of health and I was sick for a lot of my playtime up until this point because I was like, I never found this mask. And I'm thinking to myself, okay, they would have made it required to get or impossible to miss if it were required. I can still beat the game, right?

[00:40:43] But there's just no key feedback, I feel like, from the game on things like that. I don't know. Let's talk about the impact on the industry for Conscript. You know, I do think this is a... What do I want to say? It's a... This is a really small game.

[00:41:11] I think it went like pretty much widely, widely under the radar. I did not see... I haven't seen anyone really talking about this game. Right. So, slotted firmly like in the indie space, it definitely is a game that... And we're going to talk about this in our extended episode.

[00:41:41] This is like a game that can be slotted in this like historical fiction category. Which as an indie game, I don't... There's not really that many of those, right? So, I like that. I mean, I could see a game like this being used in like a classroom on World War I. I think it's like that level of kind of immersion, you know? And you could definitely like take things from it.

[00:42:10] In terms of like a games industry impact, I don't think there's anything here probably worth noting on that front. At least in my mind. Yeah. It's interesting because this was mostly, if not totally solo developed by somebody from Australia. And what's kind of wild to me is I don't feel like I really saw this game at any showcases or any marketing. But it released on every major platform.

[00:42:38] And so, a part of me is like, wait, what exactly was the funding process for this game? Because I feel like a game like this with the kind of background that I'm familiar with on it is a game that would most likely release on Steam only. Especially if it's like the first output from a dev. Yeah. And so, I'm assuming that there's a lot of kind of external funding. I've seen that it's won a bunch of pre-release rewards at different like games conventions.

[00:43:08] It had been in the making for years and years. And so, I just don't know. I feel like where was the market for this game? I think from what I understand that it did fine. Like, I want to say that it was like a sustainable game. But yeah, I'm kind of with you. It's... I guess kind of my question I'm getting at here with Impact on the Industry is like,

[00:43:32] how many games just fly under the radar even if they're like sustainable or profitable? You know what I mean? Yeah. And how do you accomplish that? Like, how do you accomplish releasing a game like this on every major platform? I just don't know. It seems like this game kind of comes from, I don't know, some mystery location in the gaming industry. Yeah.

[00:44:00] I think this game is probably firmly planted in this really boring yet important space, which is team makes a game, makes enough money to cover their costs and pay their mortgages, moves on to the next game. And yeah, it's not a giant studio. It doesn't shake the earth. It doesn't like move mountains. It doesn't inspire like a whole generation of new game design.

[00:44:27] You know, it doesn't do any of those like things that we talk about when we talk about like industry impact. It just like helps somebody makes a living and it's a really cool piece of art that people get to experience and pay for on the platform of their choice. And I think that's awesome. I think that that's... Yeah. I think as many of those as can exist should exist because I think that's great. I think that's really well stated. Yeah. If you could just have sustainable output for your game.

[00:44:55] Part of it is kind of like, does every single game need to be on my radar? You know, it really doesn't. And I'm glad this one did come into my radar. Like Cameron said, some people in our Discord were talking about this and we got interested in it. So word of mouth, right? That's one thing. I did pull up something real quick to look at this. It looks like it got a lot of Australian government funding, like funding for the arts. And then Team17 did publish this game.

[00:45:24] So that kind of answers some of my questions about funding. But yeah, I think you're right. It's like maybe this game didn't make a really big splash. But right now, isn't it kind of enough good news to think that maybe this game did enough so that this guy can continue to make games? Because we talk and news sheds a lot of light on these like mega viral unicorn hit games, especially when it comes to the indie sphere.

[00:45:54] As like these wonderful, awesome success stories, which they are. But at the same time, it's like kind of like you're saying, if a game releases and maybe not everybody knows it or played it, but it was still sustainable for that person to make a living and to continue making games. Isn't that good enough? Right? It should be good enough. It should be good enough. And I, one of the advantages, I'll say this last thing, which might be a bit spicy. Ooh.

[00:46:25] I think one of the advantages of, of AI. Oh. Is that it will allow more of these types of projects, I think, to exist and be done a little bit faster and a little bit cheaper. Ooh, that is a spicy take. Now, and I'm not saying like they're generating the game with AI. Right. Because I think that's misconstrued. I actually don't think most games that that's going to happen because I just don't think it's going to work.

[00:46:55] Yeah. But I think there's going to be elements of game design, just like a lot of industries that are just going to be way faster. And then, and hence become more accessible to more people. Mm-hmm. And especially creators who maybe have brilliant artistic abilities but aren't the most technical. Mm-hmm.

[00:47:14] Mm-hmm.

[00:47:42] I think there's something here about A8 Gen AI being used as this tool, right? Of where can it help sort of maybe fill in gaps or just kind of extend your reach, right? I like this cybernetic suit kind of analogy that you have there. It'll be interesting to see. It'll be interesting to see how things kind of shake out in that regard. But yeah, I don't know. Impact on the industry. I don't know. This game is not going to have a huge splash.

[00:48:11] But I totally agree, Cameron. This would be wonderful to use in a classroom. And it being a sustainable project, that's good. And we need that, right? This is something that I said a long time ago on an Indie Impressions episode. So something for free, right? This is talking about the game Eastward. Eastward kind of got panned, I think, in terms of its reviews for how the story pacing turned out. And that was my biggest criticism of Eastward. Eastward.

[00:48:42] But you kind of need, like if a debut game is like a 6 or 7 out of 10, man, I know like financially, nobody wants to fund them because they're considered maybe a risk. But man, those are the people that I feel like deserve the most funding. Because if you can put out a game and it could be successful, and even if it scores like a 6 or 7 out of 10, that person has amassed all these skills and knowledge and feedback. So that the next game that they make can be even better, right?

[00:49:12] And so in the case of Conscript, like maybe this isn't, I don't think that this is a bad game by any means. I do think it is a game for particular tastes, right? But I don't think it's a bad game at all. But man, you want games like this, you want developers like this to be successful. So the next game that they make, whether that be Conscript 2 or whatever it is, they take that knowledge, they take those skill sets, and they take the feedback, and they make an even better game.

[00:49:40] So that's kind of where my two cents, like when it comes to impact on the industry, I want to see more games like this. I want to see more games that just allow for a round two. Because that game, that game that comes out next could really just blow everybody's minds. Yeah, and the creator of this game, it looks like a solo creator. Jordan Mochi? Yes. Or Mochi. Mochi. Mochi. Oh, now I'm thinking about Mochis, but... Mochis are good. They are good.

[00:50:11] Yeah. He said, one of the reviews on Steam, I'm just looking at the Steam page, an instant survival horror classic, hope to see more by Jordan Mochi, and his take on the atrocities of war as a concept for psychological horror. Very well said. And this game has 1,100 very positive reviews on Steam. So that's pretty good. That's pretty dang good. Yeah.

[00:50:40] And it retails for 20 bucks. So $5 over that Stardew Valley standard marker. And this game is on sale. I even bought this one on sale on PlayStation. So... Yeah. Often on sale. And it's on all platforms, which is crazy. Yeah. That's the... I know I mentioned this, and I'm going to wrap up my thoughts kind of with this. Um... Man. I just love it when a game like this manages to come to all platforms, um... Because it becomes that much easier to recommend. You know?

[00:51:10] Uh... So if anything we've said about the game, like, sounds interesting to you, whatever your primary platform is, you can pick this one up. You can check it out. You can throw it on a wish list. And, um... It's pretty rare, uh... That a debut game from a solo developer is going to be able to launch kind of in that way. So... It is really cool to see. Check out Scott Conscript. 20 bucks. Well worth your time, especially if you like survival horror. Even more worth your time if you like old school,

[00:51:39] like, Resident Evil-style games. Um... This kind of makes me want to play Crow Country to do a little bit of a comparison. Because we've had... Those are a couple, like, throwback horror games. Um... This was, like, throwback, like, early PS1. And so was that. So... Anyways. Well, ladies and gentlemen, this has been our episode on Conscript. Broke this one down.

[00:52:09] Hope you enjoyed this episode. If you enjoyed it, please leave us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Helps people find the show. You can also support us directly if you want on patreon.com slash periodcast. You can sign up at whatever tier or level you desire. We're going to be doing an extended edition. We're going to continue the conversation on Conscript. Um... And talk a little bit about historical fiction type games. Uh... You can get that if you are a

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[00:53:09] that's growing and growing and growing and just exploded over this last, like, even few months, I feel. Mm-hmm. Just with really awesome, cool individuals just talking about video games. So come in there, join the Discord. Link to that is in the description. And it links to all of our socials also in the description. Uh... Specifically, Blue Skies where we're doing most of our stuff now. So you can find those there. Thank you so much for listening and have a great night. Bye.