Encephalon Review.

Basic Concept: I’ve always held that a short game was far easily to make and play than a long. Especially the kind of long drawn out super epic games that everyone on RMN at least tries to make at least once a year. So when Deckiller set on the create The Encephalon with a publicly declared working time of fifteen hours I was skeptical at best but nonetheless curious. What could he come up with? A Matrix-like cyberpunk story?
Dealing with the nature of the human soul and the questions about immortally? With a workable battle system and overall coherent design? Yes that’s exactly what he did in fifteen freaking hours.

Graphics and Sound: This game has one of the better introductions I’ve seen in a game. Like the game itself it’s short, fairly simple yet done with a beautiful efficiency. It also gets you immediately into the game with a sense of excitement that can carry you through the slower beginning sections of the game. The main portion of this game is done mostly with RTP and default sounds but that had to be expected. What came as unexpected was the sheer mindblowing level of detail. This game was rushed, had to be rushed by nature of what Deckiller was trying to accomplish yet there is detailed mapping and clever touches everywhere. As for the music it was all well selected and maintained the mood of the game. The selected battle music in particular deserves praise as it helped keep barely modified default battles exciting and emotional. Well done.

Gameplay: Each enemy in the game has a clear weakness. In turn this means that every battle has a clear strategy that you will eventually figure out. Still the random battles do get tiring but the handful of boss battles more than make up for this. The Encephalon has as the centerpiece of its battle system the ability for your characters to change class while in battle. This feature is critical for these boss fights and forces you to think about your actions often three or four turns ahead of yourself.

Plot and Story: As I stated earlier the game has an excellent intro and that intro is matched by the ending that I will not spoil here. Between these two high points there is a bit of valley with minimal character development and a few minor details that don’t make a great deal of sense. Why are there guys dressed as samurai standing around in the dungeons to sell my thing? However game itself is so short that you don’t have time to find yourself growing bored. Future games in the series will hopefully expand upon the ideas expressed in the Encephalon.

Overall Experience: Creating a cyperpunk world with mostly RTP graphics could not have been an easy thing to do yet I found myself buying into the central premise of the game. There is something about this game that grabs you despite its flaws and the overall sense of being rushed.

Final Thoughts: On its own The Encephalon is nothing special. With the game being a short simple RPG with a refreshing cyperpunk twist. However once you consider the time pressure that Deckiller chose to put himself under your perceptions change and the game stands as a stunning example of ‘what can be done’ by a skilled maker in a shockingly short period of time. The Encephalon quite simply is worth your time and I’m certainly looking forward the next game in the series.

Final score: I’m calling this a 3.25. I seriously thought about scoring it higher but the game has to be judged standing alone and not as a reflection of how I felt about it as a demonstration of what a determined gamemaker can do when they focus on a clear goal and carry though.