Encodya Review

I am a huge fan of point-and-click adventure games like The Longest Journey. So I had high hopes for Chaosmonger Studio’s new game, Encodya.

Encodya actually started out as a short film that was crowdfunded on Kickstarter under the title Robot Will Protect You. It eventually evolved into a 2.5D point-and click adventure game. Chaosmonger Studios aimed to create a world with the Blade Runner environment but told in a similar style as Studio Ghibli and transformed into a futuristic city called Neo-Berlin in the year 2062. The main two characters are Tina, a homeless nine-year-old orphan living on a rooftop of a building in Neo-Berlin, and SAM-53, a robot assigned to protect her since birth. Somehow, Tina and SAM-53 have been able to survive on their own for quite some time despite how bleak and dangerous Neo-Berlin appears to be. That and an oppressive mayor who controls the population through cyberspace and VR sets. Although at the start of the game there was a disclaimer that any names and political views found in Encodya are just coincidences and not a statement, it was hard to not make several connections such as the mayor being a blond, loudmouth, fat man named Rumpf and bears a striking resemblance to a specific American.

Graphically, Encodya is an absolutely beautiful game. Everything looked to be hand drawn and I did find myself taking moments to simply admire the background and settings in each area. Neo-Berlin definitely felt depressing but was yet a futuristic city with the sky constantly being gloomy or raining. The inhabitants of Neo-Berlin also gave a futuristic and a cyberpunk feel as they all had some kind of cybernetics attached to them or were wearing VR sets to access cyberspace. The robots also looked realistic as far as robots go. However, some of the items that I needed to pick up were hard to spot as they tend to blend into the ground or background. I had spent longer than I cared looking around just trying to find a tiny piece of item in order to complete a puzzle and progress in the story.

The story itself was pretty linear. I did not really find myself to be too enthralled or interested in Tina or SAM-53 at all. In fact, I had to suspend my common sense a lot of times as the story told me that Tina has been a homeless orphan for a number of years and is about to turn 10. To me, that seems very difficult to believe considering that Tina looked quite healthy and energetic. SAM-53 also still looked to be in top condition despite how long he has been on the streets with Tina. The “plot twist” was also pretty predictable. That being said, it was interesting to find out more about Neo-Berlin and about side characters. I did find it interesting that you regularly had to alternate between Tina and SAM-53 when interacting with some characters as some will refuse to talk to a robot or some will refuse to talk to a child. And even though I said that I was not too engrossed in the story, I did feel a sense of satisfaction when I completed the game and there were some moments where I did laugh out loud at the dialogue.

For a point-and-click adventure game, the controls were pretty straight forward. I played the entire game with my mouse and only occasionally used the keyboard. It did, however, take me far longer than I care to admit to figure out that I could make Tina and SAM-53 run instead of slowly walking across the screen. The loading screens popped up every time I entered a new area and surprisingly were not annoying at all. Instead, they popped up for only a few seconds before the game finished loading.

The music in Encodya was very well selected. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the soundtrack in each area. I did not once get tired of it as it was relaxing to listen to.

Overall, Encodya was pretty enjoyable and a beautiful game. The story was very linear but for a game that would only take about 7 - 8 hours to complete, I think this was pretty acceptable. The puzzles were straightforward and not too difficult to figure out. However, some items were hard to find due to them blending in with the background or the ground. Fortunately, there was an “easy mode” that would allow players to ask for a hint and the item could be highlighted if you are in the correct area. This is a game that while has some flaws can still be thoroughly enjoyed if you want to have a relaxing, no pressure game.