Encased: A Sci-Fi Post-Apocalyptic RPG

Game is good. Just can't in good faith condone the stinky DLC's.

I played this originally on epic games after I snapped it up on a free Friday it's just as good now as it was then
A hidden gem

If you haven't even bothered to play this game as Rufus Cooper you're doing it wrong.

I like this game more every time i play it.

Gun game, Really quirky characters, good system and engaging story. Worth the time.

fun

Encased is a brilliant isometric game that didn't get enough love when it landed on STEAM. I played over 100 hours on my first play-through as a mentally challenged Silver (the elite, administrator class).

If you want a unique roleplaying experience, on your FIRST play-through be sure to run an intellectually challenged Silver and enjoy the ensuing hijinks. The dialogue with the NPCs is GENIUS as confused questgivers try to figure out how to explain complex situations to your mentally limited character while gently trying to redirect you from eating Christmas lights and stealing erasers from their desks.

If you choose a different background--such as melee-oriented, paroled convict (Orange), weapon-based security guard (Black), proficient mechanic (Blue), or educated scientist (White)--you will get a more complete picture of what is happening in the Encased world, significantly changing your overall experience. ALL THE DIALOGUE with NPCs adjusts to reflect how your character--theoretically at least--can UNDERSTAND what is going on in the Encased world. The game then becomes a fairly decent apocalyptic RPG, similar to Wasteland or the original Fallout.

I can't emphasize enough how impressed I am with the writers who crafted the interactive conversations in this game. I wish this game had a sequel -

I was really enjoying this game. But then I got to a mission where I had many fights in sequence and would constantly run out of ammo. I was powerless since my martial arts stat was horrible, then I reloaded the save and tried finding ammo anywhere, but there was NONE. I couldn't find a single vendor which sold ammo in all the frigging map. It's a shame because I was really into the game and had to throw my playthrough into the trash because of this inconvenience.

Pro:
- oldschool
- good artwork
- nice and sufficiently complex story
- decent gameplay
Con:
- oldschool clunky
- a few quality of life features missing

.

It a good game, not a great game, not a life changing game but a good game.

'Mom, can we have some Fallout?'
'We have Fallout at home.'
Fallout at home:

Ok, being more serious: decent RPG that unfortunately promises more than it delivers.
Good things? Definitely lore: story of the Dome is interesting and game takes as much inspiration from Fallout as it takes from X-files. Some quests have really great, almost horror-like atmosphere ('IT'S THE PIT!') and different factions, while bit obvious (soldiers, corpo employees, nerds, psychos etc) from time to time gets bit of nice depth. Lots of equipment, crafting opportunities (which I normally loathe but here it' working ok) and different ways to deal with problems depending on your stats, which is always good to see.

Bad things? Companions are intriguing, but dumb and have hardly any content behind them. Usually they are only there to provide you with fire power. They don't even have ending slides! Oh, and they are dumb. Like, DUMB. Be prepared they will aggro enemies on the other side of the map because they couldn't follow shortest route. Fights - bit of a chore. Boring at the beginning, starts to get better about half through the game, but even at the final location using your basic attacks are sometimes simply faster and easier. Combat is turn-based but good luck trying to implement some tactics. Sneak in, teleport one enemy close, murder him, rinse and repeat and you are grand. Then quests - while some are truly engaging, a lot of them are simple 'go there, get thingy, bring in, then go there and do whatever the hell that guy there wants'. I know that you are literlly the Employee of the Decade, but come on, for a Chosen One I get a lot of red tape here.
Oh, and I wonder why - from the endings I unlocked - it's usually the militaristic and corporate regimes that end up faring way better and having better ideas than factions opting for more liberties, cooperation and equality. Hmm...

I don't regret I played it, but can't imagine playing it again.
And definitely spent too much time doing side quests and gearing up, as last few lvls did not really meant that much. If you want something decent for 25-30h of play, why not?

Russian trash.

This is rather great. It's got shades of old school Fallout and Wasteland with bit's of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and a few other classics.
But it's not some weird mishmash of those games, instead it's got it's own style and is full of it's own history and awesomeness.

If you like those games and love a good post-apocalyptic wasteland like I do, you are likely to like this but be prepared. It's got teeth and it's not afraid to bite if you wander around hoping to just win, so be prepared.

First arc is really good, after which I feel like I'm lost and everything... no longer has any purpose to anything. Generally don't recommend it beyond the prologue.

I tried it 2 times in the recent years. It looks good on paper, but is just boring. Quests are boring, characters are boring, its just not fun. Wasted potential, nothing like original fallouts.

Baldur's Gate but with a sci-fi setting.

+ Very good quality of UXUI, design, sound - it's fantastic just to be in the game, click those buttons and interact with items.
+ Great performance - I have 240fps on ultra
+ Voiceover for many dialogues! wow!
+ Great engaging story (mom I'm a stalker!, music, atmosphere - it's like the game by Strugatski's brothers book.
+ Interactions with items and surrounding is deep, but not too deep (you can interact with sertain items but not with all of them witch is good otherwise it will be tedious)

- I will say the battle system is a little boring in the begining - you just shoot, take dmg, shoot, take dmg, reload. Probably it will be intresting with bigger number of skills.
- Graphics are a little glossy, I will say it looks a little old, probably lacking some shadows.

Overall it's a great game with a wonderful setting. Hoping for the next part or for an another masterpiece from the studio.

Ugh. I couldn't even get past the introduction.

With apologies to Teen Titans Go: EXPOSITION! EXPOSITION! EXPOSITION!

Man, it felt like I had to read War and Peace just to get to the first encounter. I wanted a video game, not a novel.

I could play as a sneaky diplomat from start to finish and it was funny, that's good enough for me.

Nice premise, but quite ponderous too. I've read that the game falls off a cliff after the first Act and it wasn't particularly grabbing me along the way either, so I decided to swat it off.

You can compare it to Fallout 1 or 2, but not 3 onwards, because the team actually cares

Highlights are that this game is almost completely voiced, you can even do an alternative (low intelligence) play through and its fully voiced, thats a whole separate campaign that they just said "fuck it, we'll voice that" and the voice acting is good. How often do you get that in a game.

For example I recently restarted Outerwilds by Obsidian and made a dumb character, the dumb choices barely come up and they are almost never voiced, this INDIE game voices them all and takes them into account. This game is not one you want to sleep on, its fun, the combat is a little clunky, but easy to get through, but it's the story thats incredible, based on the S.T.A.L.K.E.R series, but more in a.... turn based style

Fantastic games for those who want the experience of turn based mixed with STALKER and old FALLOUT a turn based game.

I've finished it and have recently restarted the game, hoping to experience more. It's a game you finish, give it some time to think about, and come back to in years later just to think "Hey.... What else was going on."

And as far as the negative reviews go, I'm sorry it's not like modern games, where you found +20 chainmail right away, and got to smooch the queen right in front of her husband while she pleasured you in front of the king. This is a game of tragedy.

Not perfect, but I enjoyed it.

A solid CRPG that reminds me most of a more character forward WASTELAND 2/3.

Feels like the original fallout

I am reviewing this game after quite a while since, I stopped playing it. The gameplay was really nice, but the story was a mess. When i started this game, I really felt like a little kid, the premise and intro was so good. But when i got to end of intro then, i was so confused what happened and why. Later i understood why it was but it could have been done a lot better. Only reason that i am not replaying this game is because, I have done everything in it. I had several playthroughs and even the one where you begin as a "demigod" (little bit cheating), so I could try, murder, steal, break into everything. Overall if someone asks should they play this game or would they enjoy it then I will say YES.

Encased is a modern fallout-like, which has a great setting and atmosphere, yet for me, fails to deliver an enjoyable experience. I've abandoned my playthrough probably less than midway through as I got tired of endless needless looting and forgettable sidequests. Main story seemed pretty interesting but also felt like it's progressing too slow.

Scratched sci-fi CRPG itch

This game started out SOOO good and after 45 hours everything fell apart. It was so dispointing how the threads just didnt match up. I really dont want to rate this game badly but they need to actually complete it correctly. Now if your funding withered and died. I completely understand, but you should of communicated this from the start. However, this isnt what happened, I hope one day the devs come back and finish it the right way. And all hail the Ben Brocoli man!

Just started, and I stopped play for a moment and didn't realize it's been 5 hrs! Really fun so far, I am still getting use to the UI and combat, but the mystery of the story has me hooked!

I am a big fan of turn based combat and RPGs so there were some things I did like about Encased. The character creation and skill progression were enjoyable and I did like the world they created under the dome. Unfortunately I found combat a little basic. Too much reliance on advanced skills for interesting options in combat left me mostly trading basic attacks with the enemy until they fell down. Also, a lot of the quests in the second half of the game involved backtracking to talk to people I already knew without feeling like I was learning or seeing anything new. If you love the setting and RPGs you will find enjoyable moments in Encased, but when I had completed the game my main thought was "Oh. That's it?" instead of feeling like I'd accomplished much.

No.

It pushes transgender crap.

I was having a lot of fun with this but 60 hours in all my saves mysteriously disappeared.

i wish there where more rpg's like this really a good game.

If you like to loot millions of crates per level with useless craft materials (craft is useless here) - you maybe like it. Otherwise - skip.

I'm unfortunately having to cut my playthrough of Encased short. While I did enjoy the 23 hours I put in, 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.

For me, I was going with a military man from Black Wing and so, had one of my stats (Brains) 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. No modifiers can change that once you're in. 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 (and make it count towards perks) 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.

very well done

In my opinion this is an above average game that had the potential to be a grand slam but falls short. The idea behind it is really cool and then having the pivitol moment in the prologue where everything changes is very cool. I really like the charecter's stats but they look absolutly terrible. The combat is standard turn based and the crafting is very simple, charecter progression seems good, feats are a bit overpowered but it's fine. Overall it just needed more time in the oven and it could have been a smash hit, the movement feels funny and whoever thought it would be a good idea to put everything you pick up onto your hotbar is crazy. Still it's fun, il beat it eventually.

A competent role-play game that stretches your ability and gives you freedom to travel the world. Look everywhere for bonus nuggets of fun that depending on how you build your character, may or may not be available to you right away.

The only downside to this game in my opinion is the lack of Fog Of War on inner maps. From what most reviews say, Act 2 content drops off substantially, to the point where huge scripted, not random inner maps have almost no loot and maybe a tiny amount of exp. Not having Fog Of War on these maps makes it very painful and tedious to fully explore them. Don't get me wrong I like tedious exploration in my RPG's, but not when there is no indication of discovered areas aside from a notice on screen of gained exp. I would atleast want to see where I've been, on an inner map, rather than just guessing.

Aside from that, this game is great. I would still recommend it at it's current price of $29.99. I bought my copy on discount this past year, for around 4 or 5 bucks. 100+ hours of gameplay for $29.99, is still a deal in my opinion. Otherwise wait for a discount and buy Atom RPG instead.

The game falls off HARD after the first chapter. It tries to setup this world full of weird anomalous items and phenomena but it very rarely shows you them in game. It describes plenty of cool concepts in random item descriptions and codex entries.
But in game its the same reused assets in normal building/deserts all the way down. The atmosphere isn't there at all and the flimsy gameplay with basically no enemy variety makes it completely unfun after act 1.

slow paced.. but honestly very great. beautifully designed and has a pretty decent story line.
it is a very good game. and very calming to play after a long day at work . It has the pacing of old school RPGs but honestly I was engaged and very intrigued to see the rest of the map every time.

cool crpg game that was slept on if your a fan of fallout and likes some old school crpg games then try encased wont go wrong with it

A game that starts off strong, but the more you play it, the weaker it becomes.

Encased puts you in a strange world. You are still on Earth, but inside some kind of alien bubble. Humanity has only recently discovered it, somehow, and only recently been able to get inside. Think Roadside Picnic, where sometimes the laws of physics no longer work the way they should, where technology so advanced it could be seen as magic, and what is alive and what is dead is a blurred line. It is a fantastic premise, and the game starts of extremely strong.

The starting area shows off tons of different class/skill specific challenges and dialogue options. It builds a highly detailed area for you to explore and get used to, before dumping you outside; where little by little, the game slowly.. erodes away. Some areas of the game world are highly developed, mostly the areas where you start the game, and some areas in the mid game. As you go along you stop finding places like this, where there are tons of ways to proceed in the game, tons of skill and dialogue checks, and you can see where they had to cut stuff out and slim stuff down in order to finish the game.

On the whole, I enjoyed the game. There were some things that really annoyed me, like inventory management (there is just so much useless trash and crafting materials), how crafting worked, and how upgrading weapons worked. The last part there is the biggest thing for me. I did not realise that there was no stronger progression of guns as you work your way through the game. Instead you craft your gun to have a higher level, thus doing more damage on top of other things. I got extremely unlucky in what merchants I encountered, and what they had in stock, and was unable to purchase weapons in my skill class at a higher level, and had to rely on crafting. I didn't mind making my character more of a crafter to compensate for this, as at the start of them game it opened up other avenues despite making my character weaker overall, but in the end it wasn't worth it.

I found the story and characters to be interesting, but also slightly confusing. The area you play in eventually splits up into different factions that oppose each other, but it isn't like Earth has been destroyed, or that contact will never be remade. So a lot of the things people do, don't really make a lot of sense when you keep in mind that the rest of the planet will eventually remake contact.

The sheer randomness of some encounters, the merchants you run into, what merchants have in stock, can make it so that you waste a lot of time on the world map, or having your character sleep. There is apparently something that happens at some point in the game if you wait too long, but I never encountered it.

Combat is interesting, but it doesn't feel like there are a lot of viable abilities or skills for it. You mostly just use your base attack or one or two skills that are actually alright based on the action points they cost. You encounter and fight a good amount of different kinds of enemies, and your choices do matter in terms of who you want to help, and who you don't. Though, at one point they kind of force you to help out everyone, including people you may really not like; unless you are good at stealth and stealing. Otherwise you will just have to kill them all and then suffer through constant attacks from that faction from that point on.

Overall, I enjoyed my time playing the game. It is not a perfect game, it is really a just finished game, and you can feel it. But you can also feel that a ton of effort was put into this. I would recommend it, if you don't have anything like Wasteland 3 or Baldurs Gate to play; and only on sale. You can easily get it on sale going up to 90% at times. Get it then.

Not a big fan of the way this game does storytelling, and despite not having completed it I feel confident in saying that the rest of the reviews are very much correct. The RPG systems and mechanics seem allright, but the narrative is very confusing and moves at an incredibly wonky pace, including psychic hallucinations within the first two hours that basically throws out the window most of what you've been doing so far.

It's just not a story that's told very well. Great premise, poor execution.

Just wasn't that fun.

Initial take (roughly 45 hours and still in act 1) 8/10.

Brief review: The starting story is thin, you barely get any explanation of what is going on at beginning of prologue. Given that you're supposed to be an employee being onboarded into a corporate run equivalent of the Roswell Crash site, but the vessel is the size of Independence Day saucers that blew up cities, there should've been more handling of character back story/knowledge to at least help the player settle into the role they're playing. That complaint fades as the game progresses, more lore about the nature of the corporation and the world at large under the Dome gets filled in well enough. Encased is a solid CRPG with fun survival and crafting mechanics added to the mix.

Game plays similar to fallout 2 with modern details, everything is 3D, rotate camera and zoom to view spaces: standard modern CRPG additions. There are narrative sequences where it shows you hand drawn images and narrated descriptive text, with various options (there are a lot of branching conversation options based on your skills and choices).

It handles power armor like fallout 4 (rig your character steps into, special crafting stations for it to park in)

The crafting system is big for this genre of games, you get a lot of components and there's a lot you can make with them depending on skills you have. The level of crafting association with the skills is nearly as complex as NEO Scavenger. As are the survival mechanics (rad levels, hunger, thirst, fatigue).

The crafting and survival mechanics are great for a CRPG. The skills have tiers, and upon reaching the next tier the character has 4 new potential abilities. Some of the abilities will only become available when another skill or ability is at a requisite level. The survival mechanics add a fun element as different qualities of food and hydration can have both positive and/or negative effects. Firearms have jam chances, and require action points to clear. Weapon repair kits (which can be purchased, or crafted) enable you to upgrade as well as maintain your weapons.

Turn based combat. The skill/perk system is very fallout 2, but better organized. Separated into 2 categories based on being combat or non-combat. Skills are broad categories, examples: 'science' and 'survival' for non-combat, and nature of weapons (light weapons skill includes pistols, SMGs, shotguns, light rifles).

Every few levels you get to select a perk which can have wide range of positives, and potentially negatives to balance out potent benefits. With the perks and pre-requisite skill systems you can make a wide range of characters with different synergyzing areas of expertise.

Recommend for people who aren't put off by older style of CRPG.

Unfortunately the game feels very unfinished in the last third part of it. Also there are some frustrating mechanics and useless skills. Still I liked the beginning of the game a lot. Worth trying if it is on sale.

This game definitely had potential to be even better, especially with expanding on the NPCs to make them more interesting. Fox, a possible companion, was my only favorite.

Despite the relative blandness (it doesn't have the same charisma Underrail or Wasteland 3 do), I really enjoyed the exploration and random encounters. Some of them should have really been instances but they're definitely inspired (running pants, the whale with the fireflies, the doppelganger pit, to name the ones that were very memorable).

Collecting the artefacts was also fun just for that dopamine hit of hoarding a bunch of shiny colorful wacky-looking objects in your personal stash. They were the one thing that didn't feel too overpowered as most of them had significant drawbacks, so finding the really good ones felt satisfying.

The way I specced my character (white wing, 1 charisma, 10 intelligence), about a third of the way in and playing on Tactics with Fox and Sparrow as my companions, I felt overpowered and swimming in skill points. By the end I was throwing points into 3 or so skill trees I wasn't even using and had no use for more perks.

Speaking of perks, the one that gives you guaranteed crits on the first round is busted, and so is stealth for picking off enemies. I don't know how much of a flex it is that I found the game too easy, considering that Underrail on Oddity XP forever changed my perception of difficulty in games (in a good way), but I felt like the encounters could have been ramped up to encourage me to use more of my utilities other than the Decoy (which is also busted for being immune to damage for a while).

There's also a huge amount of lootable objects for crafting materials and by the end of the game I had enough supplies to rebuild the Concord 10 times over.

Despite its flaws I kinda see myself replaying this in a couple years' time with a self-imposed challenge or two.

My playthrough was a rollercoaster of love and hate. The first 15 hours felt like a slog, and I regretted every second of it. However, after crossing a certain threshold, the experience became more bearable—and honestly, even somewhat addicting.

I can see the immense effort that went into creating this game, but it’s also evident that something went awry during the development process. There are numerous systems that slow down the gameplay without adding meaningful value.

That said, if we evaluate it purely in terms of CRPG elements, the game fits the genre well. It’s firmly rooted in the tradition of classic CRPGs, particularly the Fallout series. It offers diverse solutions for different roleplaying approaches, multiple factions with varying ideologies, and consequently, a range of different outcomes in the finale.

One major gripe I have is with the writing. It fails to spark interest, with most dialogues limited to a maximum of three sentences. This brevity feels illogical, especially for a protagonist grappling with a crisis of such magnitude.

The story itself is familiar, essentially a reinterpretation of the Strugatsky brothers' famous novel Roadside Picnic. We’ve seen similar narratives in recent years, such as Annihilation or Stalker (both the game and the movie).

All in all, I would still recommend this game to CRPG fans—at least for one playthrough.

I like this CRPG and I had a lot of fun while playing it. It's not really a Fallout clone but it shares a lot of similarities but it still has it's own identity.