Neo-Berlin is ruled by the tubby mayor, Mr. The plot, which takes an age to get going, is pedestrian. And as quickly as you can say “Help me,Obi-Wan Kenobi”, you’re off on an adventure to find out what he was doing before his mysterious disappearance. Tina discovers that the father who vanished when she was young was actually caught up in some pretty dodgy stuff and buried a message within SAM for her to find when she turned ten. Nine-year-old orphan Tina spends her days scavenging the city for food, parts and, erm, socks, while her robot buddy SAM-53 - assigned to her at birth by the government - pootles along beside her with the aim of protecting her at all costs. “Tries” is doing a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence, because the game, as lovely as it looks, is at best a passable analogue of much better games but with a technoskin. Encodya is available now on Steam for $19.99.In the meantime, Encodya tries to scratch the wish fulfilment itch of anyone longing for a cyberpunk point-and-click. This review is based on a digital download code provided by the publisher. Encodya is a sometimes passable, middling take on Cyberpunk, and an average point-and-click adventure. However, none of those are enough to overcome a heavy-handed narrative and some messy gameplay mechanics. Endearing characters, beautiful art design, solid quality of life features. A grey tomorrowĮncodya truly has some neat aspects going for it. Whether it be a car being carried by a flying tow, or massive ads scrolling by, the developers nail the dystopian sci-fi aesthetic in Encodya. The world of Neo Berlin feels handcrafted, with so much always going on. The attention to detail is present in the art of Encodya as well. It’s an attention to detail that makes the world feel a bit more real. For example, there was a professor that I had a lengthy discussion with while playing as Tina, but when I swapped to SAM-53, he killed the conversation, stating he couldn’t speak to a robot. The character that you’re playing as will trigger different dialogue responses from the NPCs. Some puzzles can only be solved by a specific character. At any given time, players can swap between Tina and SAM-53, and lead the gameplay as them. I enjoyed the way Encodya handled its dual protagonists in regards to gameplay. Luckily, the game does allow you to press the spacebar and highlight items that can be picked up, but I wish it did something similar for objectives. Oftentimes I found myself getting stuck where I just started, clicking on every object and combining every item until I stumbled upon the right solution. Though you can always look at your active objectives, the world design does very little to point you in the right direction, or give you clever hints as to what should happen next. I found a lot of the core gameplay to feel messy. Click, click, boomĪs a point-and-click adventure game, Encodya’s gameplay often centers around solving puzzles, finding items, and other typical mechanics of the genre. Most of the NPCs and side characters come off as stiff or awkward. Unfortunately, they’re really the only performances that standout in Encodya. This relationship is anchored by some solid performances in both roles. We’ve seen the “little kid with a big robot/pet/monster companion” several times in games and other media, but it still works in Encodya, or maybe I’m just a sucker. One thing that really landed for me in Encodya’s story was the dynamic between Tina and SAM-53. It’s also hard not to draw the blatant similarities from the stereotypical “corrupt politician” to a not-so-far-in-the-past American President. This is evident in a lot of the dialogue, like when Tina says something along the lines of “the government is using drugs to control the people” when she sees a drug addicted person hobbling through the street. However, I didn’t find much subtlety or nuance to any of these themes, as the game often hits you over the head with them, or spells it out entirely for you. The developers go as far to state this explicitly in a disclaimer when you launch the game. The story in Encodya is all about commentary on the increasing control that the media and big corporations have over society. Tina and SAM-53 are forced to deal with the harsh realities of the world head on at a young age. From megacorporations ruling over society, to the overt corruption in the government, The city of Neo Berlin is about as bleak as it gets. Cyberpunk 2062Įncodya is rooted in core themes of the Cyberpunk genre. After discovering a message from her father, Tina finds herself on a journey to restore balance to the world and save it from despair. Recently orphaned by the death of her mother, nine year old Tina must navigate the harsh world around her alongside SAM-53, her robotic companion assigned to her at birth. Developed by Chaosmonger Studio and published by Assemble Entertainment, Encodya is set in the year 2062.
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