Scar-Lead Salvation Review

Scar-Lead Salvation is a brand new third person shooter developed by Compile Heart and Neilo, and published by Idea Factory. Production of the game was lead by Hiroshi Aoki who previously worked on Rune Factory 5 and Dariusburst, and was said to feature bullet-hell like elements. 

Needless to say, as a fan of games like Dariusburst, and as someone who has enjoyed quite a few of Compile Heart's games, I was pretty interested in trying this one out. So when Idea factory sent me a free review copy, I was excited to jump in and see what it was all about for myself. Unfortunately what I found was a game with solid core gameplay, that somehow took ten steps in the wrong direction, and then fumbled what could've been great. Don't get me wrong, there is some fun to be had here, but this isn't a game many people will return to, yet alone make it past the beginning areas.

The Story:

The story of Scar-Lead Salvation follows a young woman by the name of Willow who wakes up in a strange facility. She cannot remember who she is or why she is there, but she is soon greeted by the voice of an AI.

From here on, Willow and the AI begin working their way through the strange facility. When things go wrong and Willow seemingly dies, she wakes back up at the beginning and assumes she is stuck in some type of time loop. Unknown to her the number on her face updates with each death (which is also a gameplay mechanic), and in reality it has been days since their initial meeting. This fact surprises Willow, to say the least, but it only further pushes her to learn the truth of what is going on. 

Although Willow cannot remember the details about her own life, she can recall specific events and world history, It turns out in this world aliens have invaded, and are now at war with humanity. Normal humans cannot see the alien threat, and the aliens cannot see the humans as well. Instead both are attempting to live within the same space, and that is causing major problems. It doesn't take long for Willow to realize that the facility they are in must be developed by the military, but what purpose it serves, and the status of the outside world is completely unknown. Her memories tell her that humanity is losing, but is that really the case?

This is the initial premise of the story, and it is actually pretty interesting. Instead of focusing on cutscenes, dialogue plays almost non-stop during the main gameplay, with Willow and the AI constantly exchanging their thoughts. Some of this dialogue feels a bit forced and cringey at times, but other times Willow's annoyance at the situation reflects the player's perfectly. She complains about going through areas that look the same over and over again, and she hates the fact she has to deal with this in general. She has been thrown into an unknown situation, and wants to be free of it as fast as possible. It is actually a refreshing change of pace, as she also makes smart aleck comments when the AI asks dumb questions. She doesn't hold back, and that frustration continues to grow as she gets deeper into the facility and faces some surprising truths.

The Core Gameplay:

Scar-Lead Salvation is a third person shooter with some roguelite elements, and non-stop "dungeon crawling." 

Willow controls wonderfully. She has the ability to dash to dodge attacks, a dedicated melee attack, and can swap between two weapons on the fly. As you play she is constantly picking up new weapons and bonus perks to increase her strength, and it can be a lot of fun turning her into an army of one. Upgrade stations let you spend points you gain from killing enemies to level up weapons, and there are bonus areas to find that offer even more rewards. Some of these rewards must be purchased using the very same points, while others are free pick-ups that typically come from breakable boxes. If you die however, Willow loses her current weapon and starts over from the beginning, and you then get to once again build her back up. Her passive abilities will remain thankfully, so it is only the weapons you truly need to worry about losing here, but sometimes the passives you chose may very well be the issue.

Once you die for the first time, each run through the game is random, and players can take on different builds if things get too challenging. Bosses especially require the proper preparation beforehand, and sometimes using the right weapon is key. On the skill side of things, picking up multiple of the same perk will level it up as well, and stacking these abilities will give you an advantage as well. How many you have equip at once is story locked however, as more slots become available as you take down bosses. This means picking more common ones may pay off more in the long run, but that also means you'll have to wait longer to open slots for what you really need.

This core gameplay is actually a lot of fun, and is a solid foundation for what could be a great game. Enemy attacks get crazy, and you are constantly dodging and flying around the screen just to stay alive. The attack patterns are clearly inspired by classic arcade bullet-hell titles, and that helps keep the gameplay engaging. One wrong move, or failing to dodge a shot can lead to your death very quickly, and that is when you get sent back to the beginning... Kinda.

It is important to note that during the time I had my review copy, a major update came out that changed the game's balance, and greatly altered my initial impressions. In fact, it changed things to the point where my original rough draft and review notes had to be mostly scrapped. That being said, this update still didn't fix everything, but it greatly increased the difficulty of the game, and added the option to retry from the floor you last died on. This option lets you get back into the action, but it means you'll be thrown in at a higher floor without building up your weapons first. This can make the game even harder in some cases, but it also saves you a lot of time.

Instead of having unique areas and enemy variety, Scar-Lead Salvation is a randomly generated basic dungeon crawler, that only gives you a handful of room types, with a handful of the same enemies over and over again. Each region introduces something new to help change things up, but these are the same enemies you will continue to see until the end of the game. This sadly makes the game very repetitive, and very hard to sit through for hours at a time; something that was more apparent prior to the update.

Before the patch you basically had to let enemies kill you and bosses dropped like a rock. It was mindless running around and shooting, and killing thousands of enemies without fear. Each room had at least 10 or so to shoot, you took them out, you moved on to another room that looked the same, and then did it again. Enemies shot at you? Big deal; take the hit and just punch them to death. It wasn't fun at all, and when I realized how repetitive it was I actually swapped over to my handheld device to keep playing while I watched TV. This ended up backfiring on me as the next thing I knew I was waking up with the device in my lap, and Willow just standing there; somehow still alive despite enemies flying around her. I might've only been out for 10 minutes, but the fact that it actually put me to sleep was not something I was expecting! 

Thankfully I haven't had this problem since the patch, and I wish I could've started the game with it installed. 

Although the hectic enemy attacks will now keep you on your toes, there is no denying that the game is still repetitive. There are data entries and logbooks to find and read to break things up, but the rest of the gameplay is listening to dialogue and dodging the same enemy attack patterns over and over again. Different enemy combos forces you to change your strategy a bit, but nothing really changes that much. Clearing a floor only to do the same thing over again immediately after can be both mentally and physically exhausting, and that's not to mention doing it again for the floor after that... And after that... And after that... And possibly four or five times more... It isn't until the boss that things change, and all that does is send you to the next (very similar) area once you beat it. Not to mention you technically fight the small selection of bosses twice, so even these fights do not stay fully unique.

To counter how stale the game can become, I found that playing the game in short bursts really is the best option. 

Jump in for half an hour here and there, and it becomes much more manageable, and more enjoyable! Yes it is still repetitive, but the core gameplay is actually fun, and not playing too often can help with burnout. I also found watching TV or having something on in the background while playing helped keep me going for longer periods of time, but honestly that right there should tell you there is a problem. This isn't some RPG or classic MMO where you spend mind-numbingly long hours grinding because you want to; this is a game that has that grind as the entire game.

As for the new difficulty itself; the game still isn't too insanely hard, simply because it has the option to return to where you left off. A handful of shots will kill you by default, and there are some exploding enemies that will chase you down and knock you out as well. These enemies keep you actively playing, but it is the bosses that still pose the biggest threat. Of course not relying on your dodge ability will result in a death no matter what you are fighting, but normal enemies still have ways to slowly take them out one by one. Bosses on the other hand? They are relentless, and will not stop until they are dead.

Despite the sometimes crazy attack patterns, it never feels unfair, and healing points are spaced out pretty evenly. In general most players who are used to action games shouldn't have a lot of trouble, and newcomers will get better with more practice. Only losing your main weapon when you die is also a huge bonus, because you can technically swap it out right before you die to save it. Of course most deaths will blindside you, but if you fear you're about to fail, you might as well just swap right then and there. 

On the other hand it is possible to make the game even harder if you wish, and you have the choice to not return to the last floor, and simply go back to the beginning as the game originally intended. This can be achieved by walking past the warp point at your spawn, and choosing one of the other available options. Chances are not a lot of people will want to do this with how repetitive the game already is, but it is there for you if you want the "original" experience.

Should you play it?

Scar-Lead Salvation had the potential to be a really good game. Its core gameplay is fun, the first patch greatly improved the difficulty and bosses, both the character dialogue and story are interesting, the anime aesthetics are visually pleasing, and there are some fun customization options to play with! In theory this game should have everything going for it; however, it is greatly held back by extremely repetitive gameplay. 

While it is possible to have fun with this one in short bursts, I really can't tell someone to go play it; especially for $60 at launch. (There is also on $80 edition that includes an artbook and soundtrack.)

If you want a game that is mindless with solid core gameplay, then feel free to give Scar-Lead Salvation a shot, but as it stands, I cannot recommend it. It feels unfinished, and the facility feels more like a challenge mode rather than the setting for a full game. 

Even though Scar-Lead Salvation wasn't a game I fully enjoyed, I'd still like to thank Idea Factory for providing us with a free review copy. I really do like a lot of the games you put out, it's just Scar-Lead Salvation could've been so much better.

Verdict: Not Recommended