Confusing Early Access Evaluation

Keen Games is the developer of the voxel-based open-world survival game Enshrouded. The game takes place in Embervale, a post-apocalyptic medieval setting, but is it any good? What distinguishes it from other games of survival?

Has This Not Been Seen Before?

The Shroud is a poisonous, ethereal mist that has engulfed and corrupted the whole universe. You are a Flameborn, the final chance for the world—a hero who is neither living nor dead. Does it have a Dark Souls-like sound? Of course, I have to draw comparisons. In all honesty, there aren't many post-apocalyptic games available where you take on the role of an unwavering hero in a post-apocalyptic medieval fantasy setting. Still, how unique is Enshrouded?

I thought I had already played this.

Though less grating and harsh than other survival games, Enshrouded plays quite similarly. Starting with nothing, you set out to collect pebbles and twigs for your foundation, develop tools, and create buildings that will enable you to make even more advanced tools. You've seen this identical procedure in almost all of the genre's games. Enshrouded won't appeal to you either if you don't like the fundamentals of the survival genre, which isn't always a negative thing.

The same is true of the battle, as you engage opponents by using standard survival strategies. To attack, press one button, to evade, and to block, press another. Recognize the enemy's pattern, parry their assault by dodging at the appropriate moment and pressing the block button just as their strike is about to reach you. Once again, Enshrouded doesn't provide anything novel or especially unique that sets it apart from other survival films, yet it succeeds anyway.

is the image

To be quite honest, there are moments when I feel like I'm playing Valheim with some Zelda tools and a Dark Souls-style hack. While I appreciate that Enshrouded looks nice and gives players tools like a grappling hook that seems like it belongs to Link and a glider that transforms your character into a flying squirrel, they never seem like enough to make Enshrouded feel particularly different.

The Shroud is the game's most distinctive feature. It began well below the surface and is now slowly but definitely making its way throughout the globe. Everything in the Shroud is hazardous, lethal, and tainted. In order to do quests and get resources for better equip, you'll often need to go into the Shroud, but you must always be conscious of your distance from an above location.

A 5-minute countdown will appear at the top of the screen as soon as the Shroud touches your character. Your character will die in one more second, however the timer will reset if you even briefly leave the Shroud. Another mechanism that isn't very creative or elegant, but at least it makes sense in the context of Embervale's story.

Higher lands are still affected, albeit being considerably safer. There are occasionally little pockets that the Shroud has claimed, even on the peaks of verdant mountains that are far above the tainted plains. These are effective as environmental narrative even if they are not particularly relevant. For the time being, you are secure, but ultimately the planet will be seized.

Where Shadowed Glows

The world of Enshrouded is made of voxels. That's one thing that, among other things, sets it apart from Valheim. If you have the necessary tools, you can very much create, demolish, or level any part of the planet. The world is very functional and detailed in this regard. Mining in this game modifies the environment, much as it does in Minecraft. You will demolish a section of the terrain by using your pick axe to attack walls or the ground, leaving a hole in the ground or on a hillside. This function even allows you to change the area around your stronghold and create trails and hideouts. For those who like devoting hours to crafting the perfect foundation, this is probably a huge benefit. Would you want to etch yours into a mountainside? Be the guest of Enshrouded. Anyone up for an underground bunker? Here, everything is possible.

Enshrouded's Skill Tree does an excellent job of letting you fully adjust and personalize your character's playstyle. There are several branches, each representing a distinct class, and these branches link to other classes to form a massive circle of interconnectedness. Every ability opens up additional routes and abilities that might lead to other classes. Finding ways to develop your character and use the synergy that can be produced by combining the talents of several classes is one of the most interesting aspects of this game, and I'm excited to see some of the inventive builds that the community comes up with as their characters level up.For example, I gained the ability Evasion Attack when I first began the game as a tank. By charging straight at an adversary and launching an attack, it enables a Tank to deliver more damage. Evasion Attack, which transforms your dodge roll into a brief teleport, is two steps away from the Battlemage's Blink ability—the greatest aspect of the system. I was able to do a lot of damage, teleport back to safety, then dash up close to them once I unlocked Blink, making me a tanky warrior. Furthermore, this is just a tiny sample of the plethora of options available to you.While it struck a chord with me, Enshrouded's emphasis on making some of those standard survival elements seem like a time waster may cause some rifts among fans of the genre. Enshrouded never overstays its welcome, even if some survival and crafting activities might seem like chores—and they should, because this is a survival game after all. Because of the way the game handles some of the tiresome aspects of these features from other games in the genre, I never had to spend an excessive amount of time hunting, collecting supplies, or farming.In Shrouded, your character does not perish from starvation. Rather, eating gives you benefits like better health or renewed vitality that you need constantly. Mineable locations are often shown on your map, and things' material costs are seldom high enough to make you feel like you've been digging, hunting, or cutting trees for far too long.In order to go more swiftly in the direction of a location with the resources you need, you may also utilize the grappling hook and glider. Since they respawn after a certain period of time, you'll soon figure out where to go, eliminating some of the guessing from previous games. Additionally, you may quickly go to one of your bases from anywhere at any time, with the exception of the Shroud, which will save you a ton of time while collecting supplies.Because of all of this, base-building, exploring, and harvesting become far more pleasurable activities that don't seem like a never-ending grind or time waster only to extend my time in the game world.

The Conclusion

I'm enjoying myself when I play Shrouded. It becomes simpler to understand what this game adds to the genre the more you play. Unfortunately, while you're surrounded by survival clichés, it's frequently easy to overlook many of the game's advantages. In the end, Enshrouded is a fun, utilitarian game with a few unique components like its Skill Tree system, but it hasn't really impressed me in my time with it. I can enjoy Enshrouded, yet as I go through its campaign, I also can't get rid of the unceasing déjà vu.I'm sure you will love playing Enshrouded if you appreciate survival games, but don't expect to see anything really amazing when you first start. Although it's entertaining to play, this game doesn't really stand out. It incorporates entertaining aspects from other games, has a workable fighting system, and has a decent visual style. If you like survival games, you'll probably appreciate Enshrouded even if it may not offer anything novel.