KickStarter Encased - isometric post-apocalyptic RPG under the dome

[Fyapowah]

Finished this yesterday. Overall I rate this as 6/10. For comparison I rate Fallout as 9/10, Atom RPG as 7/10 and Pathfinder: Kingmaker as 5/10.

Pros:
-Follows the Fallout style of open world map exploration that lets you discover and explore locations in any order (although some locations, including major cities, are unavailable until you progress the main plot).
-A lot of skill checks and non-linear quests in the first 2/3rd of the game.
-Concise dialogues (if you ignore all the long, boring descriptions).
-Enjoyable combat system.

Cons:
-Too easy.
-Few ammo types - you get one ammo type per weapon type, like handgun ammo, assault rifle ammo etc. This feels very game-y and unrealistic.
-Too much loot, too many containers, yet if you don't loot all of them, you may miss something interesting.
-Loot system is bad in general, e.g. enemies don't drop the weapons they fought with.
-Sci-fi setting full of lasers, lab coats, shiny gadgets, colorful architecture - I hate this type of settings.
-Full of "I FUCKING LOVE SCIENCE" content for soyboys where you constantly help someone perform some scientific, I repeat, scientific experiment or talk with NPCs about science or they just randomly mention science and how scientific they are even if the situation has nothing to do with science.
-Last 1/3rd of the game is very linear, has very little side quests, the only decisions you make is what dialogue option to pick and whether or not to skip a quest, but you rarely have multiple ways of doing the same quest or possibility to pick a side of a conflict.
-Endings are based on the decisions you made in the boring last 1/3rd of the game which made me feel like the quests that were acutally interesting didn't matter. The type content that is the most important for the plot is at the same time the least interesting and most underdeveloped one.
-I killed a leader of a certain faction, it didn't affect ending for this faction.
-3D graphics.
-You get to control your companions. I expected companions would be controlled by the computer, like in other Fallout-inspired games.

 

[Serus]

Fyapowah
Your last point is a bit weird to put it in "cons". The ai controlled companions are very commonly more dumb than my golden fish dead 20 years ago and are very often very disliked. I suppose in a very easy game like this their stupidity would be an added challenge. The rest is informative, thank you and all other "reviewers" here. Codex is saying no and i don't have time to check if it is wrong. Since it isn't a game for me and I have an itch for post-apo, it means ATOM or one of Fallout 1/2 campaign mods.

 

[agris]

Serus this game needs an Ian who is ready to burst you in the back, because challenge isn’t to be found in the encounter design as-is.

 

[Nikanuur]

What's up with that broken sneak? I've only the beginning value and none of the enemies can ever notice me unless I am standing next to them for more than few rounds. I can stand in plain sight, 5 meters away and they won't detect me. Ever.

 

[True Ukrainian]

What's up with that broken sneak? I've only the beginning value and none of the enemies can ever notice me unless I am standing next to them for more than few rounds. I can stand in plain sight, 5 meters away and they won't detect me. Ever.

I suspect it's too make the early game easier because you don't get companions in the prologue.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

and are very often very disliked

And I'd argue those people are wrong. Companions should be their own character separate from yours, AI should be a fundamental part of a companion's overall character.
If you disagree, consider this: the flaws of Fallout's AI came to define the companions themselves.

See:

Serus this game needs an Ian who is ready to burst you in the back, because challenge isn’t to be found in the encounter design as-is.

This has become a trait attributed to Ian, rather than an AI quirk. Perhaps entirely inadvertently, they have made a character more interesting by not letting it be controlled by the player.
If the issue is artificial stupidity, that should be solved rather than removing them altogether. If a deeply simplistic, flawed AI can produce such a reaction, what kind of reaction would a more advanced AI produce? An intelligent companion who regularly pulls off tricks you didn't think of or one that has a knack for saving what looks like a lost fight would indeed be memorable ones. And yes, even stupidity(or cowardice or ...) should be traits an AI is capable of producing, Ian's propensity for unloading on everything infront of him certainly makes sense for some characters.

This of course doesn't apply to cRPGs with character-created companions or cRPGs with less character development/story.

 

[agris]

It’s obviously an AI issue rusty_shackleford. But there’s a reason it’s associated with Ian: you get him early, he can use SMGs, and the burst cone mechanics of fallout.

you may not remember/know, but OG fallout had very limited weapon options for Ian and Tycho bc they had unique sprites. Ian was the basis for the “long hair dude”, and had SMG animations, whereas Tycho is the basis for the “bald dude” and had long rifle animations.

but yeah at the end of the day, AI being interesting and creating companion play styles that are semi unique and can be associated with a personality other than “ate a lot of lead paint as a kid” would be great. Ian’s behavior was somewhat unique due to the circumstances of how early you get him and his allowable weapons.

also F2 let’s you do a lot of the AI customization you talked about. Cowardly or not, risk tolerance for burst etc.

 

[Nikanuur]

What's up with that broken sneak? I've only the beginning value and none of the enemies can ever notice me unless I am standing next to them for more than few rounds. I can stand in plain sight, 5 meters away and they won't detect me. Ever.

I suspect it's too make the early game easier because you don't get companions in the prologue.

I have a character level 10 traveling around the dome freely and it still works like this. Though, I must admit, I've not had so much fun with Fallout-yish RPG for a long time. 5 pretty strong human enemies. I pop up out of the hatch in sneak, shoot a tranquilizer dart (3x200 fatigue), and before they even get to continue their turn, I just go back down the hatch. Repeated 10x. Got shot only twice (lower initiative or some such). All enemies lying on the ground very soon unable to do anything. Me trying to club them to death with very unsucessful hit / miss ratio with the pipe wrench one by one. Hillarious.

 

[True Ukrainian]

What's up with that broken sneak? I've only the beginning value and none of the enemies can ever notice me unless I am standing next to them for more than few rounds. I can stand in plain sight, 5 meters away and they won't detect me. Ever.

I suspect it's too make the early game easier because you don't get companions in the prologue.

I have a character level 10 traveling around the dome freely and it still works like this. Though, I must admit, I've not had so much fun with Fallout-yish RPG for a long time. 5 pretty strong human enemies. I pop up out of the hatch in sneak, shoot a tranquilizer dart (3x200 fatigue), and before they even get to continue their turn, I just go back down the hatch. Repeated 10x. Got shot only twice (lower initiative or some such). All enemies lying on the ground very soon unable to do anything. Me trying to club them to death with very unsucessful hit / miss ratio with the pipe wrench one by one. Hillarious.

Combat is trivial in this game. Soon you'll be just left clicking past it.

 

[Butter]

A 4.6GB patch just dropped. No changelog yet.

 

[Nortar]

A 4.6GB patch just dropped. No changelog yet.

Here's the changelog

Spoiler

Version number: 1.1.1013.1238

As you probably already noticed, the work on Patch 1 took a little delay, but there are objective reasons for this – there really are a lot of changes and improvements. In addition to fixing the voiceover, incorrect descriptions, bugs and typos, we focused on improving the user experience: a lot of changes were made to the game interface, balance, mechanics and, of course, optimizations – now the game runs faster and a little more stable. This is partly attributable to you, Dear Players, as many errors in the game have been fixed thanks to your bug reports.

We also listen closely to the suggestions you offer across our social networks. Thank you for your words of support and well-reasoned criticism. And above all, thank you for staying with us – it matters a lot to us.

Warning: fix descriptions may contain plot spoilers!

Localization and Voiceover

• Fixed the sound for reading books
  
• Fixed voiceover for Sister Beatrice Catcher
  
• Fixed voiceover for Petra Willard
  
• Fixed cries of Afflicted employees at the First Settlers' Camp
  
• Improved MOBIOS sounds
  
• Added sounds to control panels and vending machines in Carmine Heights
  
• Fixed hyena footsteps sounds
  
• Fixed necroid footsteps sounds
  
• Fixed interruption of dialogue voiceover shortly before the end of playback

Text and Dialogues

• Added low intelligence dialogue with Potanin at Carmine Heights location
  
• Fixed dialogues with Tim Ginzburg and Jeffrey Gallop
  
• Fixed dialogue with public terminal on Magellan
  
• Fixed a typo in Crump’s dialogue
  
• Fixed a typo in Jacques Falco’s dialogue
  
• Fixed incorrect working of several main story dialogues for low intelligence playthrough
  
• Fixed displaying of the tooltip for the "Fortune" characteristic in a random event related to the delivery of lost letters
  
• Fixed description of the Brass Apple relic
  
• Fixed dialogue behaviour when talking to Yoko about teleglasses
  
• Fixed companions’ lines on the Deserted Road location
  
• Fixed skill/stat check metrics in Milo Randall's dialogue
  
• Added the ability to receive a bribe from Courtney Reznor after exiting the dialogue
  
• Fixed inability to start dialogue with Yoko after going through her story dialogue
  
• Fixed description of the Expropriator perk
  
• Fixed initiating dialogue with Lenny after the Crossroads' Troubles quest

Graphics

• Created and added a unique head for Olivia Raysner
  
• Created and added a unique head for Audrey Melville
  
• Created and added a unique head for the Fop named Pepper
  
• Created and added a unique head for the Fop named Sad Bug
  
• Improved displaying of water and dust shaders at night
  
• Fixed a Black Wing helmet model
  
• Fixed changing color for a number of hairstyles on the character creation screen
  
• Fixed male hairstyle models
  
• Fixed White Wing pants model
  
• Added red/ginger hair color and fixed hair color for some character archetypes
  
• Improved ending images for the Carmine Heights faction
  
• Fixed flickering of some assets at locations when using TAA (Temporal anti-aliasing)
  
• Added new cockroach model to match icons: Knight Roach
  
• Added new rat models to match icons: White Rat and Ravenous Rat

UI

• Improved design of fillable indicators (radiation, thirst, fatigue, encumbrance, hunger)
  
• Fixed the crime icon stuck on companions
  
• Fixed status effects branch in abilities tooltip
  
• Replaced the armor sprite on the player character
  
• Publisher's logo has been replaced with the up-to-date version
  
• Made changes to the ability points distribution screen (colors, font styles, the displaying of ability points has been removed if there are 0 left)
  
• Spread out the "glued together" filter buttons on the inventory screen
  
• Replaced sprite of an empty inventory cell
  
• Removed green outline from the minimap
  
• Fixed alpha channel for location grid
  
• From now on, if the requirements for obtaining a perk are not met, it is displayed semi-transparent
  
• Expanded the mouseover/click zone to the entire line on the abilities screen
  
• Added a Deactivate Stealth button and Reload Standard Weapon button
  
• Matched the color indicating unfulfilled requirements on both the perk screen and in tooltips
  
• Fixed mouseover for all items in the inventory
  
• Improved title screen
  
• On the character creation screen, the Attributes are indicated for each trait after the Attributes heading
  
• Changed the displaying of font color on the loading screen
  
• Added line break after a dash when entering a location
  
• The left part of the PDA screen now has the same width everywhere
  
• Fixed displaying of new save
  
• Added an icon for the Second Wind ability
  
• Fixed Tool Required message when attempting to scan
  
• Added indication of the number of items that can be crafted in the crafting menu
  
• Improved button colors in the crafting interface
  
• Improved highlighting interface when hovering over objects that have already been searched
  
• Fixed button for adding skill points after reaching the maximum skill value
  
• Fixed displaying of radiation indicators in UI when switching between languages
  
• Fixed displaying of the MOBIOS manipulator in the inventory

Balance

• Unique MOBIOSes now have increased damage resistance
  
• Updated rewards for digging up graves in the Picnic neutral zone
  
• Improved the reward for stripping the Light Alloy Chest Armor
  
• Fixed settings for crafting a prosthesis for Aaron Melville
  
• Reworked traders’ goods at trader camps, now it corresponds to their specialization
  
• Increased the number of combonds carried by traveling traders in the late game
  
• Fixed progression of Kraut value depending on rank
  
• Günther Haas in the Junktown Arena has been buffed, the ability to inflict fatigue damage upon him has been fixed
  
• Rebalanced MOBIOSes and their aura effects
  
• Rebalanced the reloading cost of Shiroyama at some ranks
  
• Rebalanced and fixed the Ghost perk
  
• Changed the rank of the received servoshell in the random event with the stuck soldier
  
• Changed rewards for looting lockers

Levels

• Fixed walking under the roof in the Abandoned Hospital location
  
• Reworked the position of anomalies in the Magellan laboratory basement
  
• Added camera borders and fixed lighting at the Chick'n'Corn Restaurant location
  
• Fixed working of a heap of stones at the Chick'n'Corn Restaurant location
  
• Fixed a flying bush and added detailing for the Crossroads location
  
• Fixed steam jet position on Magellan's reactor floor
  
• Fixed problematic pots in the Roadside Picnic location in the prologue
  
• Added a camera border in the trader camps
  
• Fixed black zones on the map borders at several Magellan locations
  
• Fixed the ladder at the New Committee Outpost location
  
• Fixed camera borders, terrain at the location in the "Deceiver" event (Deserted Road)
  
• Increased the radius of initiating dialogue with the Oranges in Concord bathroom
  
• Changed Darryl Gilmore's position in Concord
  
• Fixed roof clipping on the cafe at the Picnic Neutral zone location
  
• Fixed issues with decor at the Carmine Heights location, optimized
  
• Added camera boundaries at Carmine Heights location
  
• Added camera boundaries for the location with the Fatigue anomaly
  
• Fixed the passage to the container at the First Settlers Camp location

Game Mechanics

• Added display cases with unique rewards for high reputation with the Picnic, Phalanx, Carmine Heights, and Fop factions
  
• Improved the protocol for processing crimes by animals
  
• Meatball made the owner of all things in the Abandoned Hospital location
  
• Improved initiating dialogue with weapons drawn for sentient necroids (Meatball)
  
• Fixed the working of the equalize button when buying in barter menu
  
• Necroids can now use ladders
  
• Improved the working of the Lucky Finds system
  
• Increased the maximum value of items that can be stolen by pickpocketing
  
• Fixed the working of the state mechanic (hunger, thirst, etc.) when skipping time for short periods
  
• Fixed working of psi-implant on companions if they die or are knocked out
  
• Fixed a change in reputation when completing side quests in low intelligence playthrough
  
• Fixed issue with reputation for the New Committee main quests

Story

Warning, spoilers!

• 
  

Bugs and Errors

• Fixed displaying of heads for characters in the main menu
  
• Fixed incorrect tape playback in the tape recorder on the laboratory floor of Magellan
  
• Fixed updating the list of available perks after receiving a perk
  
• Fixed pushing companions through the wall at Magellan reception
  
• Fixed eyes changing color when choosing skin color in the character creation screen
  
• Fixed starting dialogue with a door on Nashville offices if the door is attacked
  
• Fixed the freeze upon starting combat with the Puppeteer Roach in the Nashville sewers
  
• Fixed infinite experience gain in the Bolts game
  
• Fixed a bug where the box with selectrones did not disappear after burning it
  
• Fixed the situation where dynamite remained in corpses’ inventory after the explosion occurred
  
• Fixed the number of rounds in the magazine for some ranks of the Svetlana rifle
  
• Fixed interacting through walls at the C12-Nashville Facility – Offices location
  
• Fixed the working of riddles at the Treasure Hunters' Campside location
  
• Fixed the working of the perk Against All Odds
  
• Fixed investigating crimes committed by companions in locations without a dedicated prison
  
• Hard-Boiled Electrician ability description now matches the effect
  
• Fixed working and description of canned beans
  
• Fixed behavior of Kurt Spengler when counting votes in elections if they take place at night
  
• Fixed removing reputation from Katarzyna in case Crump died while not in player group
  
• Fixed reputation going above the maximum value
  
• Fixed the check of the Career Criminal ability in dialogs related to elections
  
• Fixed the combat freeze at the Picnic Neutral zone location
  
• Fixed Sherlock’s dialogue related to the First Settlers' Camp
  
• Fixed being able to bribe Sparrow when in player group
  
• Fixed working of A New Boss quest
  
• Fixed Flamberg mine at the Secret Test Site location

Effects and Animations

• Fixed bleeding effect on the injured Clara Morgan
  
• Fixed animation for soldiers wearing servoshells in the main menu
  
• Fixed skeleton animation for MOBIOSes, fixed effects displaying on them
  
• Fixed incorrect animation of the Hoplite Armor’s cloak

Optimization

• Optimized rendering of some desert plants
  
• Increased the amount of allocated video memory and the quality of some textures
  
• Fixed a drop in frame rate when selecting abilities after a long play time

Miscellaneous

• Added scan record for Fatigue anomaly
  
• Fixed the background of portraits at the Camp location
  
• Changed portrait of Theresa Goddard
  
• Fixed overlay working on EGS
  
• Changed portrait of Sandra Malverde
  
• Improved the Dirty Money quest
  
• Added alternative ways of obtaining information in the Water Is Everything quest
  
• Fixed inability to inform Ida Grace about the Oranges’ escape in the Playing Detective quest
  
• Fixed fighting with Salvador Torres while having companions
  
• Improved Olivia Raysner's AI

...And many other minor fixes and changes!

 

[Nortar]

There is a quest where you get a hold of an encoded message.
I guess it won't be much of a spoiler to post it in the open:

And in a true autisic manner I got too curious to hand it over without knowing what it says.
If you are curious too:

Spoiler

It's Caesar's code, just as Larry says.
I never figured what the shift number is and just brute forced it. It's 19.
The message itself:

Spoiler

Raysners are in a quarrel and seem to have forgotten about the elections. The economy is falling apart. General supply shortage. Everyone is tired of eating salad. The booze is awful. The Proton Bombardment band sucks with their gay songs about brave warriors and scientists. Ask Zemequis for a raise for me, please.

So it was not really worth it.

 

[Cpt. Dallas]

The NPC casting of this game smacks of T(y)ranny.

 

[agris]

Did the patch do anything to unify the six(!) unique crafting interfaces?

 

[jackofshadows]

Looks odd. I don't think the game can be fixed by "QoL features" let alone by adding more global map encounters. I wish they just ditched this entirely and started a new project. OTOH maybe they did start it, they have enough man power while this is just for raising a credibility after releasing such a half-assed game.

 

[Roguey]

"The last areas of this game are blatantly empty and unfinished so what we're going to do is add more combat"

 

[Infinitron]

Well, December has "new content". Takes more time to make?

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

"The last areas of this game are blatantly empty and unfinished so what we're going to do is add more combat"

VA for every character means that they can't do shit for those empty areas.

 

[Abu Antar]

"The last areas of this game are blatantly empty and unfinished so what we're going to do is add more combat"

VA for every character means that they can't do shit for those empty areas.

Add non-human encounters to those places. Voice acting, schmoice acting!

 

[Cpt. Dallas]

Some jankiness: can't leave conversation after completing quests 'For the Sake of Science' and 'A job for skinny and nimble' in Magellan, and the annoying occasional persistent XP reward popup.

 

[Nikanuur]

Here's my Steam review. I hope at least some of you will find it entertaining. I'm not a native speaker so any reactions concerning the gramatical errors within will be met with severe IP and DNS hostility UTMOST THANKFULNESS in order for me to improve.

Spoiler

Listen, when you play an isometric, turn-based combat RPG that let's you do shenanigans like buff yourself with the Action Point and Perception drugs, go into the sneak mode, pop up the manhole cover, shoot the tranquiliser dart into the neck of a closest enemy (meaning you have to have a high Science Weapons stat), then go down the ladder, wait some time, pop up again and repeat the whole scenario 5-8x until all six enemies, still sort of unsuspecting, just being on alert by being stunk, drop into a heavy fatique induced sleep, then mash their heads in with any pipe you found nearby, missing like 1/2 of the hits due to your clumsy melee skill... well... whenever some RPG lets you do this, you just play it to the core and call it awsome.

I didn't believe it until I saw it myself, but yes, it's true that this is a spiritual successor to the legendary Fallout 2. It puts a cherry on the top in the form of the modern graphics and a polished, well-working interface. It's role-playing heavy to the point of having the different conversational lines as a severely dumb person. It's got more solutions to most of the situations, a skill based approach, and all of that in a complex sci-fi world with many a complex human relationship to delve into or shoot through.

Warning, this game will make you a cleptomaniac, and it will force you to look in any trashbin you are passing by on your way to work in the morning. People of weaker will, are also going to be compelled to traverse all the 11-store company's building toilets to steal any mops and look inside the closets for lost coins.

Gamers report it's got quite many bugs (haven't found more than a handfull tbh), and sometimes the game seems too easy. But what the heck, I'm not skimpish. It's a total ride. 10/10 for an isometric RPG fan. 8/10 for the wider spectrum of gamers.

% Gameplay (subjective, non-rating)
☐ You'd Need Depression Pills
☐ Don't Get Me Wrong, But…
☐ Probably Better Than Watching Netflix
☐ Late For Work Again…
☑ Please Put This on a Piedestal of Its Genre

❤ Atmosphere
☐ Is Probably an Eupheism
☐ You May Have Emotions
☐ Hot Tea and a Book on a Gloomy Day
☑ Dog of Baskerville Salutes
☐ I Watched C-Beams Glitter in the Dark Near the TannhäuserGate

☯ Story
☐ None To Speak of
☐ Look, We All Have Some Tales..
☑ You'd Tell Your Friend
☑ Your Dreams Can Use this as an Inspiration
☐ You Don't Want it to End Ever

☼ Graphics
☐ Danger of Loosing the Eyesight
☐ Who Needs Graphics
☐ Worth to Stop And Look at the Sceneries
☑ Best Vacation Photos may Pale in Comparison
☐ Miracles Happen

♬ Music
☐ Turn it off Please
☐ I Forgot it Had Some
☐ This Is Actually Nice
☑ Invigorates Your Headphones
☐ Orpheus Cries

☠ Difficulty
☐ Press a Button
☑ You'll Learn It Soon
☑ Prepare Well, Young Padawan
☑ So You Wanna Be a Jedi Master?
☐ You Must Beat Darth Vader

۞ Gaming time
☐ I Should've Bought a Movie Instead
☐ Somewhat Long (10-20hours)
☐ Now This Is Something (40-80 hours)
☑ …aaand I Like to Live in My Games (100-200 hours)
☐ You May Never Have a Girlfriend (200 - infinity)

＄Hardware Requirements
☐ Wooden Abacus Is Enough
☐ Just Have a PC
☑ Just Upgrade Regularly
☐ You Will Need to Buy a New RIG
☐ Quantum Computing Here I Come

§ Bugs
☐ A Broken Anthill
☐ An Anthill
☑ Well, What Did You Expect From a New Game?
☐ You Can Do Without a Repelent
☐ Sterille Environment

 

[Butter]

I have to say I fucking despise this review format. Just delete the lines with the unchecked boxes to improve legibility by 100%.

 

[Ivan]

Fucking horrendous

 

[jackofshadows]

It puts a cherry on the top in the form of the modern graphics and a polished, well-working interface.

They might patch that out eventually but release version has had quite awful UI/UX. Journal is a mess, crafting/vendor windows are the worst offenders, how can anyone praise that lmao.

It's got more solutions to most of the situations, a skill based approach, and all of that in a complex sci-fi world with many a complex human relationship to delve into or shoot through.

Which is correct for 3.5 locations, more or less. A way to oversell the game in question. Basically the fact that this issue been left unaknowledged nullifies the whole review. Try better next time.

sometimes the game seems too easy. But what the heck, I'm not skimpish.

Anyway, what to expect from a guy who thinks Fallout is the most complex RPG ever.

 

[Nikanuur]

I have to say I fucking despise this review format. Just delete the lines with the unchecked boxes to improve legibility by 100%.

Some people do, I've noticed. You are doing great expressing your emotions, thanks for the reaction.