**Encased - RPG**

[Radox-0]

Not a massively well known game, but been in early access for few years. Played at start, was so so, but most recent Early Access was an absolute blast. Game is out Sep 7th and think those who enjoy RPG / cRPG and more so Fallout 1/2 which this tries to mimic will love it. Not going to lie, initially tough as hell, at least on latest early access version which can be a hump to some people, but after that good fun.

A classic isometric RPG set in a dystopian environment allowing you to fight enemies, explore the hostile wasteland, level up your character and join one of the forces in the ruined world that survived through the horrific Incident, isolated from the rest of the world.

Pre-views / reviews

 

[Radox-0]

Had this on my Steam Wishlist for awhile. Waiting till its out of EA

Out of early access today so thought I would start a thread.

Well worth giving it a shot if you like cRPG's and like Fallout 1/2, Wasteland etc if latest version of early access is anything to go by and only been improvements since. + painting power Armor now is badass

 

[Radox-0]

Bought this when it released and I am enjoying it so far. I managed to get a game over in the starting area

Spoiler

Don't climb into the Coffin

The only slight annoyance so far is that the stealth mechanic seems to be broken. You can basically walk past a Guard in daylight and not be spotted, as the detection zone is small. Maybe that will change after I leave this area. The combat feels very similar to Wasteland 3 (Only done the combat simulator in the training area so far), so if you have played that game you will be right at home.

Heh, you spoiler was my first achievement too

Yeah stealth is pretty overpowered I find, more so when you add to the detection time. not sure if they will weaken it further, as it was made weaker from the latest early access where stealth had no cooldown even, but yeah, with lockpicking and stealth, can cleanout so many locations

 

[Radox-0]

Not played Atom massively, started it, but moved onto other games so not gave it its fair shout. However in general both have their Pro and Con's. Atom feels smaller, does not look as good, but suppose they had a smaller budget. Encased, looks much better visually, however on the downside, does lack polish. I think the encased world has massive potential and is unique, but a number of missed opportunities. I do not think you will go wrong with either, but having fun playing encased compared to what I did recall from playing Atom. Combat in both can get so so after 40 hours. Can give them a shot, see how you get on or refund I suppose.

Amusingly ATOM RPG Trudograd is out today aswell after early access!

 

[Radox-0]

Even more amusing Gamedec is out in a couple of days!

Will probably get on that after completing Encased. After that may give ATOM RPG Trudograd a whirl.

Yup! that one on my list also! been a good month as a cRPG fan with these ones + pathfinder

 

[Radox-0]

I hear pathfinder has lots of bugs, also not interested at that price. Will wait until it can be had for less than half its current price, by then there will be less bugs also.

Yup, partly why I am waiting a bit for pathfinder myself and chewing on these other games. Let issues and couple of patch's get done first and then sink time into that, mostly when on leave for me.

 

[Radox-0]

Just wrapped up quest which opens up bottom part of the map.

Started as Silver wing, Psi and tech focus. But messed around so, got most things maxed Yes! pickpocketing is the fav of mine now! been doing it so much in addition to lockpicking that got the 50k pickpocket achievement, I am a bad silver

 

[Radox-0]

Ermmm, level 70

Not quiet fairly though. Found a guy who sells guns has a covo string which just keeps giving you XP over and over. Was curious so set up a macro to see what would happen. Forgot about it when worked call and rest of the day left my mind. In evening after dinner when I went to fire up the game again, was still going on the convo round and round

Normal play, yeah would be around level 30 - 40 or so I think.

 

[Radox-0]

Ohh I know that, I saw it have durability on it 15/15 when I got it and after using it once it was 14/15 so figured it break eventually. Just don't see the point having another on me when the one I have still at 14/15.

this might be a bit spoilery but is there a Personal Box in Nashville somewhere ? I still at the parking lot out side but my inventory starting to fill up !

No personal box in Nashville sadly, the place you go after Nashville (usually) will be where you can next store stuff, or back to picnic (after Nashville mission that is). It is indeed hard initially as you want to pick everything up not nailed down

 

[Radox-0]

It sure is ! I might true and store some stuff in a locker, then save and exit to see if it still there when logging back in, I'm sure I can spare something to experiment on !

Oh if you do experiment, save it outside locker, so in the carpark area / huts, may be too late by now! There is a big plot point which I will not say, but do not think you will get back inside main facility.

 

[Radox-0]

Nope, still at the parking lot outside of Nashville, there was a com unit on the ground that I ignored, wanted to loot everything first but then coming back to it it was 'dead'.. so I thought.. darn.. need to reload.. which turned out being a bit disappointing.. But I think I am getting slightly better loot so far so I'm redoing it all again, although I have noticed some things are static loot and other are randomized. But in any case, still there so can test it out and let you (and anyone else that might be interested in knowing) know if loot stay where you leave it in a locker.

Edit: Seems to work. Put a crowbar in a locker, saved and logged out completely from the game for a couple minutes, once back the crowbar were still there. So hopefully you can save stuff everywhere but the benefits with the personal Boxes are that they are linked together ?

Ahh I was thinking if you return after the big event at Nashville, I think it may behave as a separate instance later on as things change in the area, so not sure on that bit.

But yeah Personal box's are linked together, so in your various houses and locations / vehicles you unlock later all have personal box's so best way to manage things.

 

[Radox-0]

Gotta say stealth seems a little overpowered so far

It goes from a little overpowered to broken Wait till you get long range guns, kill with impunity and rob to your hearts content

 

[Radox-0]

Been okay performance wise 120hz @ 4k (OLED) when saving and after. Biggest issue for me is now and then my mouse goes haywire and keeps panning one way, but I think more to do with wireless connectivity on mouse going down.

Could try removing any OC you have on the GPU?

 

[Radox-0]

Patch has changed things, seen GPU load jump pretty massively oddly enough. FPS is the same, but needs much more GPU grunt it seems!

I would say give it a good 6-12 months for them patch it up and price to come down. Can be had for £15 from CDKeys mind.

I completed it last night, seems as soon as you complete act 2 you are pretty much at the end as act 3 is like an hour long if that. Basically the meat of the game is side quests and exploring. If I did not do all that I would probably finished the game is a third of the time. I actually enjoyed exploring the whole map and finding every place. Started to lose a bit of interest towards the end though as the levelling system seemed a bit broken. I must have levelled up 3-4 times in an hour towards the end and it did not feel earned as I was so OP at that point killing was like 3-4 shots and that would level you up. Finished level 46 in the end (without cheating or taking advantage of any game breaking bugs).

Overall had a lot of fun. Worth the £19 I paid. But I do feel burned out a little and won't bother with any other CRPG's for a while. When I do, I may give Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous a go which I like the look of (will defo wait for a price drop and seems to need a lot of patching). Then move onto the ATOM games eventually.

Fun fact, I played Lone Wolf and got an achievement at the end that only 0.1% players got. For completing the game you get an achievement that 0.5% people have, so only 20% of the people playing went lone wolf route

For Lone wolf, did you complete the quest where you take the scientist you meet in junk town back to Magellan okay? She joins your team, but not sure if at that point she counts as a companion so would void Lone wolf achievement.

 

[Radox-0]

Yep, that was fine, it did not mess with the achievement. As long as you do not actually recruit her which I think later on you can.

I hope the dev team make a sequel. I feel they got many things right.

How far along are you now by the way? Did you not feel being such high level takes away from the enjoyment? For me more I levelled and less challenging it got, the less I enjoyed. I did love the first 20 or so hours though.

Spoiler: Pro tip (minor spoilers maybe?)

Oh and pro tip to everyone, don’t waste to much time robbing or accumulating money, I finished with loads and was nothing major to do with it all in the end. Getting a house turned out to be a bit of a waste of time, don’t even think you get an achievement for it. Could have just rented or picked the lock and it would have cost less than 10% or be free. Things like this I think they need to work on for the sequel to make it more satisfying. Also the power armour and cars.

Nice. Completed the game, something to keep in mind if I ever do another run again. Companions were a Pain tbh, there AI where exploring needs improving, but extra storage is nice!

Yeah game gets easy in general. All of Act 1 was available during the last early access so even when normal play becomes easy.

Yeah overall a solid game and base to work from. There is content cut it feels and some areas would have liked to been more dense. Most places you go in first Act feel much more polished then area's which open up later, but still good fun.

 

[Radox-0]

Agreed. Act 1 was by far the best.

I am happy to hear I made the right choice going lone wolf then

Oh and I changed my mind on Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous after looking in deeper at the reviews. So that just leaves ATOM then

Yeah, hopefully they fix the companion part, most annoying bit is transitioning areas, they need to be a certain distance and I sware always lag so far behind, becomes tedious whenever you need to move zone.

Ahhh, be curious how you get on with ATOM. Think my next one after a breather away from these games for a bit then pathfinder once its had a few patch's.

 

[Radox-0]

I think it was watching ACG's review that put me off a little. Will wait at least a year.

How is the previous pathfinders like guys?

Its awesome for me, one of the best cRPG's I played. Rough around the edges being the studios first outing but defo up there for me. Partly why I am going to let WoR get patched and play it in month I have off in Dec so can get deep into it at the expense of real life

 

[Radox-0]

So, on the off chance I might be able to stop staring at the character creation screen and actually start a game tonight, any build advice?

Quite like the idea of psionics, and I usually play a high int character in these types of games, but at a loss as to how to put it all together.

Do I need 9 or 10 psyche for a good psionics build? How important are AP (and hence deftness or fortune)? (They were super-important in Wasteland 2, I know that...) How much CHA is optimal?

Thining of muscle, guts and fortune as dump stats:
M 1
P 8
G 1
C 8
B 10
D 8
F 1
P 8

Is that going to come back to bite me?

Psionic vampire sounds like it would be fun, but not sure how much the stun will hurt in actual combat.

AP is pretty important, ideally shoot for 8 with a Psionic build as basic attacks take 4AP, so can then get a pair of attacks in. That said, there is usually gear that can help out. Important thing when focusing on any weapon type in the game is pouring points into the weapon path, more your pour in, the more accurate the weapons will be and perks for said weapons you unlock.

Would not bother with Psionic vampire, generally speaking fatigue is okay to manage, a pain but not hard at all. However the downside of stun is pretty significant.

There are some cool perks which can boost stats. There is a perk called Renaissance Man, so when all your stats are at least 5, it will boost them all by one. There is another perk called Self-improvement at level 15, which increased your lowest stats by another 1. Neat thing here is if you start with say

M 5
P 5
G 5
C 5
B 10
D 5
F 5
P 5

Then can add another point based on wing, adding to white wing will take you to 11 for example.

With above perks at level 15 will be at

M 7
P 7
G 7
C 7
B 12 (if white wing at start)
D 7
F 7
P 7

With some other perks you get along the way, will add further points too.

 

[Radox-0]

Psionics is very viable route, route I went and can do very good damage as you level it up. That said, most routes are pretty viable in the game so not a big deal. Will find eventually with few perks and levelled up, game will become easier in general.

 

[Radox-0]

I know this game has its flaws, but I think it deserves a bit more attention than it's been getting. I can barely find any discussions or guides for it anywhere. This is good in some ways as it's forced me to feel my way by trial and error, which has been quite fun.

I finished the first act and have been doing some exloring now the whole map is open. Some of the new areas feel a bit sparse, but the game hasn't lost all its charm. My character is now level 20, and I ditched Fox for Cheerful Jack, on the assumption that since someone is going to be in the front line, it may as well be someone with lots of HP who can also knock enemies around the place with a giant hammer...

A few things are not well-balanced, it has to be said. Stealth is still OP even without speccing into it. A dart gun with relic dart from stealth one-shots too many high-level mobs without them even seeing you. It's remarkably easy to steal absolutely everything even at only halfway in the game (I have around 35,000 combonds and am not above a bit splurge on guns and armour when needed).

Glad to see benched companions still seem to be gaining xp, so I might be able to switch Kat for Sparrow if it turns out she is competing with my MC for hi-tech upgrade books.

I found what seems to be an infinitely spawning pair of necroids

Spoiler

in a place called the Crematory.

They give about 1000xp each, and while they can do some significant damage, I was able to kill nine or ten of them before I decided to stop them spawning and get on with something else. It seems you could level indefinitely here, or at least until your healing runs out.

I feel I am ready to push through the rest of the story to the end now, but I've been really enjoying this one depite its rough edges.

Yep largely agree with what you say. Gone under the radar I think for some who would like it, but the market is getting full so know can be hard to know what's around outside the heavy hitters. As your say, rough around the edges, the newer Act feels sparse at times but lots of potential and hopefully see the devs again