9/10/2023 0 Comments Encodya publisherI will say that It does evoke Encodya’s better elements though digital humanity, the soul in the machine, and the natural light at the end of a sickly neon-lit tunnel. I’ve got a rule where I don’t try to write about music too much in game reviews, since you can have a listen here anyway. Right, let’s talk about something nice again! Encodya’s OST is really something. Maybe my critical thinking skills are on the fritz, but I couldn’t find one here. The disclaimer states that stereotypes might have a point to them. On that note, I really could have done without the buck teeth on the Japanese restaurant owner. I’m not against mocking vile idiots, I just feel there are hundreds of more interesting ways to do so. I brought this up because I feel most people will make the most obvious connection. The game does want to criticise power structures, they say, but it isn’t meant as an allegory. It’s a german word for ‘hull’, says the developer, nothing else. The main villain is an imperialistic, short tempered mayor named Rumpf. There’s a disclaimer at the start of the game that says that Encodya doesn’t intend to criticise or portray any specific political viewpoints, and that it condemns any kind of discrimination, even if it admits that it does contain stereotypes. Each one proves that Encodya has good ideas, it just needs more of them to make Neo Berlin’s streets feel like part of a place, rather than a diorama. Billboards promise free nanny robots to every new child. A painfully bureaucratic robot receptionist blocks entry to the city archive. A lounge singer is locked in a contract that forces her to take song requests while she floats inside a tube at the back of a dingy restaurant. The setting plays it all fairly close to what you’d expect, but there are a few nice touches. It’s more parody than commentary, but with a whiff of tragedy, like the cyberspace addicts that roam the streets like zombies with VR headsets. The city of Neo Berlin itself is a Blade Runner meets Futurama dystopia. You’ll need to swap between both of them often to make progress on Tina’s mission to complete her absent father’s mission to bring a splash of colour back into the world. Tina’s street orphan outlook means she has no such qualms about stealing from folk. This is where the character swap comes in. Unless your budding adventure game fan is already very invested in Encodya’s admittedly unique look, I can’t see it sparking much love for the genre. Got kids? Show them Chuchel or even Monkey Island 3. In the market for a cyberpunk point and click? Plau Whispers of a Machine, Red Strings Club, or Technobabylon should be your go-to. I got all that upfront because I’d like to spend most of the rest of the review talking about what I liked here. I feel like a cynical monster for not enjoying what is clearly a genuine and sincere passion project. It lacks location variety and feels cramped and rushed despite its standard five hour runtime. The story didn’t propel the puzzles, and the puzzles didn’t pace the story. It references Monkey Island and Day of the Tentacle, but the puzzles aren’t clever or playful enough to stand as interesting twists on veteran Lucasarts titles. It’s colourful and morally simple, but often too obtuse and clunky to feel like a kid-friendly introduction to adventure games. Encodya is a point and click adventure game that exudes so much heartfelt earnestness that I wish I liked it more than I do.
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