Encased: A Sci-Fi Post-Apocalyptic RPG

[b]Note: To present my thoughts on "Encased," mild spoilers are required. Please be aware![/b] At first, I had very high hopes for this game. It struck me as a nicely modernized version of the original "Fallout," and it features an opening act that's a fantastic example of both writing and pacing. Near the end of that opening act, the quest requires you to solve a puzzle involving a power control panel and a generator. The puzzle doesn't initially show any signs of trouble, because it's presented in a relatively compact space. Plus, it's "readable:" You can figure out what you have to do. At first. When you get the puzzle to a certain point, you're told that the system can't engage without you enabling an emergency generator. When you do that, it seemed to me that you were no longer in danger from the dark...but I still couldn't reach the objective. I legitimately thought that the quest was bugged. It turns out, though, that the expectation is for not much to happen after you start the generator. You're supposed to go back to the control panel to get the power back on. The thing is that, in my mind, I had done everything I needed to do at the control panel, so going back wasn't at all something I saw as being required. I saw this as just a fluke, a bit of odd puzzle design, and moved on. I got to the main game (where the world opens up), and went into the first major quest and puzzle. I progressed a bit of the way into it, and became stymied. I finally started searching the web to see what needed to happen, and it was a case of, "First you select this, then say to pull a lever, and after that you can get an item from so-and-so, which you put into this box which isn't marked as interactable in the normal way, and then..." It was there that the realization hit me. The devs had mixed "Fallout" with "Myst." Put another way, this was going to be a slog through obtuse, fiddly, bull-feces. An isometric pixel-hunt where you use all the things on all the other things in hopes that you'll get a result, with resource intensive and unrewarding combat when the action kicked in. That's probably great for someone else, but it's not at all what I want out of an RPG. I don't mind challenge - "Fallout" wasn't exactly the easiest thing to see the end of - but I did have fun and see the end of that game. With "Encased," though, I stopped caring and put the thing down. It's not a bad piece of software as such, but I simply wasn't enjoying myself.

"Encased" is a game with huge potential - albeit not fully realized. It lacks overall cohesion and polish, especially in terms of combat balance and system depth. Yet, it offers so many strong and memorable elements that my overall experience remained positive. I have not looked into the developers background, but according to Steam, this is their only project. If this is indeed their debut, they have my respect. "Encased" feels like an attempt to combine the best aspects of classic RPGs: the interface and turn-based combat mechanics are clearly inspired by "Divinity: Original Sin II", while the character progression and world exploration resemble "Fallout". Sure, Unity doesn't provide the same physics fidelity as "Divinity", but these borrowed ideas are implemented with care and thoughtfulness. The setting appears heavily influenced by Soviet science fiction - particularly "Roadside Picnic" by the Strugatsky brothers. The Dome is a mysterious, isolated zone where the laws of physics are distorted and people develop paranormal abilities. Elements like the colored "Wing" hierarchy, the rehabilitation program for prisoners, and the one-way nature of entry into the zone all contribute to a dystopian world layered with social commentary. There's plenty of humor, Easter eggs, and tongue-in-cheek references scattered throughout the game. Crafting is present, though relatively shallow. Still, it's fun to watch weapon visuals and descriptions evolve as you apply upgrades. Combat, unfortunately, is the weakest link. Some weapon types feel outright obsolete. For instance, I found psionic gloves far more effective than most firearms - no need for ammo, no reloading, just instant and reliable attacks. Sure, certain enemies have immunities, but there's always a workaround. The world map encourages exploration: in addition to story locations, you'll encounter random events reminiscent of "Fallout". And beyond isometric travel and world navigation, there's a third layer: text-driven quests with multiple-choice outcomes, akin to what you'd see in "Space Rangers". The story? It's... average. It does't fail, but it also doesn't quite reach the narrative ambition it seems to aim for. The opening hours are rich with mystery and discovery, while the pacing noticeably drops toward the end. Still, despite its flaws, Encased left a good impression. It's not groundbreaking or flawless - but it has heart. And that alone makes it worth playing. The developers have earned my trust, and I'll be watching closely for whatever they create next.

I wanted to like this game, I really did, but it's not good once you reach act 2. It feels so bland and empty. Act 1 had 30 quests while act 2 had only 6. I tried to finish it but I gave up after a while. I feel so sorry for my friend who gave me this game as a xmas present. It may have been on a sale but it's not even worth the money he payed for it.

I'm unfortunately having to cut my playthrough of Encased short. While I did enjoy the 23 hours I put in, [b] I came to realize that the decisions you make when allocating stat points for your character could very well lock you out of certain endings. [/b] For me, I was going with a military man from Black Wing and so, had one of my stats [i] (Brains) [/i] at 4. That same stat would have to be at 6 from the jump for me to be able to go with the ending I wanted. [b] No modifiers can change that once you're in. [/b] I could go more into detail on the specifics of this ending but I feel it unnecessary for this review. In my humble opinion, while I agree that the decisions you make while making your character can impact your playthrough, you shouldn't be locked out of certain endings because of your stat point allocations. If nothing else, allow players to either gain [i] (and make it count towards perks) [/i] or reallocate their points throughout their journey. It should not be a requirement to have to do research and prepare your character before starting. The point is to jump in and enjoy the ride right? For me, this ruined my journey as I do not wish to start over. As such, I cannot recommend this game to you, unless you prepare beforehand which can potentially ruin your experience, spoiling the ending. In any case, I played through the majority of Act 1 and I can say that the writing felt good. The main story bits are fully voiced which is a bonus. Gameplay is alright but nothing to write home about.

The game starts very strong. The latter half does fall off, but if you're a fan of the genre, I'd say that spending $30 for 50+ hours of 'starts strong, ends poorly' is probably a winning bargain. I know that's not the most crazy over the top review, but come on. It's an isometric CRPG released in 2020, if you're this deep in the reviews, just put it on your wishlist and get it on sale.

A very fascinating look at an alternate universe set in the mid-1970's at a mysterious location which contains unique properties and strange relics. Well-done retro-futurism, great use of atmosphere. It's a little on the difficult side and there are a lot of different strategies you can use depending on how you generated your character.

Played this game all the way to the end on Steam Deck. Game kept crashing right before loading the final area. Tried different fixes including switching to Proton which deleted all my saves. Feels like I wasted so much of my time.

I want to really like this game, but half-way through the game the bottom kinda falls out. It's a single-player fallout-type rpg, and a pretty good one. Story is that a dome appeared one day out of nowhere and your character (for whatever reason) is chosen to be one of the lucky ones to explore it. You can't leave the dome (you die) and then some stuff happens. The dialogue is pretty good but while there's a very linear feel with an implied imperative to do something at the beginning, after a large in-game event it just sort of becomes a sandbox with no real reason to do anything... you can go to a bunch of places, get some cool gear, meet some neat people, dialogue is still pretty good... but I never feel like completing it. And I've started it over like 8 times... So if it's cheap and you like sand-boxey rpgs then yes, its not bad. It's just gets a little dull imo.