In 2024, we have been met with an amazing list of titles that give the player a multitude of ways to play with their friends. With the majority of these being brand new survival crafting ventures, such as Palworld and Nightingale, one stuck out to me: Enshrouded.
Enshrouded is a co-op survival, crafting game with a particular niche that should satiate fantasy fans everywhere. With influence stemming from games like The Legend of Zelda, Dark Souls, and Minecraft, I found a multitude of things to praise in this early access title.
Influences of Fantasy
When I first created my character, I realized that this wasn’t like any other crafting game. It had aspirations for a story, which is quite impressive for a game that isn’t built like The Forest. Leaning into its ambiguous plot, it is easy to see there is a sufficient amount of influence from From Software’s style of storytelling, with many items carrying a description or utilizing environmental storytelling.
As I approached a large open area for the tutorial, I quickly learned the basics of building. What was interesting about this was that it was simple. You don’t have seven different screens to maneuver; there’s just one button and a few different options. What truly makes the system work so well is that you can remove shapes and terrain while building simultaneously. Thanks to a voxel-based system (a la Minecraft), just about anything can be destroyed and built into. As I progressed further, I even took a cave as my base and began to flesh out a nice little home in the rock.
Crafting plays a big part in the game’s loop, but what I found to be absolutely thrilling was the traversal and combat. To traverse the humongous map, you have to start with some questing, though. Crafting the glider and the grappling hook were the first things I did, and it wasn’t easy playing solo and doing this, which is another note of praise.
Roll, Evaluate, Strike!
For combat, Enshrouded plays a bit like a Souls-like if you are alone. I found myself calculating rolls, dying, and overcoming in a loop that I found enjoyable. Now, to mitigate this difficulty, you just need to play with some friends. I found that playing in a co-op almost made Enshrouded feel like a different game, with it being a much more relaxing experience. I enjoyed both sides of the coin but thoroughly enjoyed braving boss fights on my own to get that difficulty fix.
With options ranging from two-handed heavy weapons to the traditional sword and board, and with magic options like a wand or staff, you get to choose how you play. With this in mind, Enshrouded features a unique RPG level-up system. There is a bit of a twist: you aren’t just leveling up a numbered stat. You place points into a web, and this helps you dictate how you want to play. Do you want to be a tank? How about a master of damage? The sky is the limit when it comes to how you want to play, and, for a community-based game like this, it fits perfectly, especially if you have a party.
One of the unique mechanics present in the game is the shroud present over certain areas that gives you a timer when entering. You can only stay and explore until the timer is up, and there are plenty of creatures and enemies to be fearful of, too. These areas are tied to boss fights and stems which spread the shroud over certain areas, and they drop different kinds of high-quality loot. Once you clear the boss and the stem, it clears some of the shroud over the area.
The environment itself is something worthy of massive praise. When I stood on a cliff for the first time with my glider, it blew my mind just how big Enshrouded is. As I got further into the story, the map only seemed to get bigger, with massive canyons, deserted villages, castles, and towers of omniscience.
Soaring Through a Massive Land
Trends like crafting better gear come with time, just like with any crafting game. But Enshrouded makes it feel that much more rewarding as you flesh out your “base” with NPCs who allow you to be more and more self-sufficient while providing a means for you to go looking for specific materials to further yourself.
While Enshrouded does so much to set itself apart from a very convoluted genre of games, there are some things I would love to see the early access title embrace before its full release. I would love to see more enemies and a greater variety of enemies. And regarding the crafting materials, I would love to see the magic chests expanded upon or the magical chests capable of containing more than just materials to build with. I found myself frequently going from one of my base locations to another just to find a certain piece of gear that didn’t work with the special chests. What makes these chests “magical” is that you can put in building materials and use them at any base.
Enshrouded offers a fun fantasy experience that flexes its uniqueness well, and I look forward to seeing it release.
Thank you to Keen Games for providing a code and allowing us to preview Enshrouded!