Encased builds manual#
Encased builds series#

Much like Disco Elysium, most of the story in Encased is told without much animation. The descriptions are unsettling and they feed your imagination and curiosity to investigate, while instilling a sense of dread about what you will actually find.

Although you aren’t really shown anything, the game uses flavour text to describe scenes seen via CCTV monitors. It builds atmosphere extremely well, especially when you find yourself trapped in an abandoned, Vault-like laboratory, early on. The worldbuilding is fantastic, as it drip-feeds information about the Dome and its inhabitants.

Its isometric, post-apocalyptic world felt more interesting as I explored, and I no longer felt restrained by the soldier’s inability to actually do the most basic soldiering. It’s frustrating that an “open” game was so restrictive, essentially forcing me to start over in an almost dictated class, but it did reveal to me the potential in Encased. The thing is, I did at least find myself enjoying the adventure more on the second attempt. My Blue engineer was far more successful, even in combat situations, which made no sense whatsoever. She had basically been useless, unable to fight her way out of a paper bag and unable to find ways to avoid combat. They (my second character was nonbinary) were far more equipped to deal with the situations Encased’s early game threw at them, being able to hack their way into systems previously blocked for my Black Wing character. I did create a second character, this time opting for a more tech-savvy Blue Wing engineer, for another outing. That should have been one of the first things on the list, right from the start. Perhaps this is something that can be addressed during the Early Access period, and I hope it is, but it’s a real concern that one of the game’s major bullet points isn’t properly implemented. This lack of freedom, in a game that claims to be open and all about player choice, is unacceptable. The only viable option is to sneak around them and use tech skills to shut them down at security terminals, but you probably won’t have that ability if you chose the wrong character class. It remains baffling when you come upon an area filled with turrets that will rip you to shreds. The combat has no real balance whatsoever, which makes the inclusion of a soldier class all the more confusing. Just wait until they’re set upon by a couple of large rats and struggle to survive. If you think the XCOM RNG is bad, just wait until your (apparently trained) Black Wing operative has managed to miss three point blank, “100% accuracy” shots in a row. It seems determined to make you fight, but doesn’t provide a balanced combat system to facilitate that. This is mainly down to the early game being so unforgiving. Unfortunately, that gameplay variety doesn’t fully materialise. This essentially determines how you’ll play Encased, whether it be combat-focused or through careful use of technology or your sheer charisma.

Encased builds manual#

You begin by choosing which CRONUS wing your created character works under, from the soldiers of Black Wing, to the engineering and scientific geniuses of Blue Wing and the manual labour of drafted prisoners that make up Orange Wing, as well as White and Silver wings. Inside is essentially a wasteland, filled with new technology and unexplained phenomena known as “anomalies,” which present as anything from small electrical disturbances to full-scale electrical storms. The promise of a new life under “the Dome” lures many in, all under the watchful eye of CRONUS, the company employing everyone who enters the Dome. In an alternate 1970s setting, a mysterious and indestructible dome has been discovered in a desert. The premise of Encased is interesting, it must be said. The game had not told me that was even a thing, so you can probably understand my frustration. Even properly explaining basic mechanics is something that really needs addressing, as I found myself only learning of its survival mechanics when my character randomly became hungry. There is a lot to be done though, particularly in the difficulty department. Unfortunately, it falls short of reaching the quality of its inspiration.Īs an Early Access game, there is still room to fix the flaws present in this turn-based, post-apocalyptic RPG.

Encased builds series#

The latest game to be inspired by Interplay’s (now Bethesda’s) series is Encased, which is now in Early Access. Fallout has done a lot for the Western RPG, whether it’s inspiring Baldur’s Gate (which itself inspired a huge number of fantasy RPGs) or building a template for almost all post-apocalyptic games since the massively popular Fallout 3 and its arguably better spin-off, Fallout: New Vegas.