Sometimes, you find yourself faced with a game that leaves you flummoxed. One that has ambitions and ideas that can’t be met. Which is especially troublesome when it’s an independent title! Jin Conception needs a lot of work to deal with bugs, mislabeled items (Grass Boots are apparently actually a dress), a lack of exposition and tutorials, and no manuals. People going in should do so knowing it feels like an early access build. Jin Wave Studios is active on the Steam discussion board and accepting emails about errors and fixes. However, there is no Switch version patch as of May 25, 2021.
As such, this won’t be a traditional Siliconera playtest. Rather, it will be a guide. I’ll provide insight into how to get through a few of the more challenging parts of the game, which are the introduction with Levi, surviving until you find Trent, and a fight with three hunters facing Gavin and Foxy. If you go into Jin Conception, know it offers little exposition, minimal interactions between characters and a social deduction system that isn’t explained. But if you do give it a try, at least you can get by and survive. For full disclosure, I got no further in Jin Conception than the fight against the three hunters.
Editor’s Note: While there will be no spoilers, this walkthrough will tell you how to get started and survive in Jin Conception’s first few hours.
Jin Conception ‘s narrative is largely absent, and characters speak very little with one another. After the first dungeon, which is straightforward, you’ll wake up as Levi in his home. This is when you might wonder where to go next in Jin Conception, as the NPCs in town don’t tell you. Instead of blocking off where you can’t go, it uses complete annihilation to let you know you went the wrong way.
Go south from Levi’s house to the Fairy Village. After touching some of the angel statues to teleport and hitting some switches, you will reach the home of the first party member. (It is the only home on-screen and it will auto-save when you go to head upstairs.) You’ll see a jar of honey. Ignore it. Take part in the battle and watch the ensuing interaction.
Once Jen is in your group, you can head back to the previous screen and head south into the forest to find her father. (The boxes blocking the way will be gone.) Jen is almost strictly a support character, so only have her use Protect and Cure. Heal is good as well, if someone is poisoned. If an enemy group only has one or two foes, you could level grind, but I recommend hugging the walls and avoiding groups with more than two. At this point, fighting isn’t completely necessary.
The path to reach her father is straightforward from here. You’ll eventually come to the Starlove. Transform Levi with Leviaton. After you fight the Starlove, press A when you are in front of the Jellycat.
After this, go to the store in town. Buy Dragon Equipment for Levi. Then, head Center Layer and go east into the forest. I recommend hugging the walls and avoiding all enemies here, since the bugs can inflict poison. Go through the forest and cross the bridge until you reach the Water Plant Shrine.
In the Water Plant Shrine, switches there hide behind water on walls and, in one case, a mushroom off a hidden room. This is the area where you’ll want to grind until Levi and Jen are around level 11 or 12. The enemies won’t poison you, and the group sizes are mostly manageable. (There are a few fights in which the group will consist of three or more opponents. However, some will start the battle asleep.) More importantly, at the entrance of this dungeon is a red plant that will heal your health and restore your Jin points, so you don’t have to waste items or use abilities. (You can use healing items outside of battle, but not spells.)
When you reach Trent, take out the head of the plant monster last. If you take out the head before the base, a crowned version will appear. Have Trent use Inferno to hit every enemy at once or Slow to slow down the plant’s body. Jen should Protect Trent first, then herself and Levi. Levi should transform into Leviaton for the entirety of the fight.
Trent’s Slow is perfect for boss fights, especially the upcoming dragon on the bridge and mythical beast in the prison. Jen, as always, should be protecting, curing, and healing. For ordinary encounters, Levi’s Leviaton is the way to go.
There is one additional area that can prove challenging. Not long after traveling with Levi, Trent, and Jen, you’ll find yourself following Gavin. Your goal is to investigate Gavin and the tavern. To gain access to all areas, you must first speak with a blonde girl in the western area of town. She’s missing a leather bookmark. Head to the library in the northeast area of town and check the bookshelf at the back on the right. Give it to her to get a tavern key and gain access to a new area in town. Grab the Vampire Earrings from this new spot. Other people in town will direct you to the Border Layer Entrance past the Fairy Village.
If you head east, you will meet Foxy and encounter a hunter. The hunter will summon three clones and Foxy will join you. The key here is to use as many debuffs as possible. Foxy can summon three guardians. The Hero Sidekick will constantly heal. The Eye Guardian will attack. The Plant Guardian will inflict curse and deal damage. This is, from my experience, an incredibly trying fight. Especially since Gavin is at level 30 and you can’t level grind! However, having Gavin use Magnetic Pulse and Lace Drain and having the Eye Guardian or Hero Sidekick acting while Foxy uses Drowsy Spores until one hunter is defeated can help.
While Jin Conception leaves you to your own devices much of the time, wondering where to go, how to use the voting system, and the most effective approaches to survive in its world, hopefully this helps you get your footing if you do give it a chance.
Jin Conception is available for the Nintendo Switch and PC.
Published: May 25, 2021 03:00 pm