Encased: A Sci-Fi Post-Apocalyptic RPG

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

DEI Infested from character creation onward.

I found the game to be very borinig and hard to get into. It is just kind of a joke when compared to Baldur's Gate 3 or Wasteland 3.

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.

tried to play this two times. It is a great concept but lackluster in its execution mid not worth unless 90% off i got it a full price

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.

My biggest regret with this game, was not signing up for the Kickstarter to get all of the cool boxed versions and swag. Incredibly, this game was a suggestion for me so I purchased and shelved it for a few years. After getting around to it on my list I am humbly surprised and rather enjoy the game play. I do only have a 4 hours but will update after the full experience. I mean this is definitely not like Fallout but rather Wasteland 2 or Shadow Run. After four hours.... Yeah, unfinished and got boring really quick.

As a fan of the first two Fallout games and similar titles, I enjoyed this one. The game is far from being perfect in almost every aspect -- the combat lacks any depth to be engaging on its own, and the story and the characters are good, but nothing impressive. Most of your decisions do not carry significant long-term consequences. The UI sometimes makes you fight it rather than help you control the game. But still, if you are a fan of the genre, you'll enjoy getting through the story looting every trashcan.