Enshrouded Early Access Review: A Tale of Promise and Frustration

In the vast realm of survival crafting games, Enshrouded emerges as a contender, captivating players with its sprawling fantasy world, intricate building mechanics, and challenging combat. Yet, amidst its undeniable allure, it stumbles upon technical hurdles, an uninspiring premise, and occasional tedium. This review delves into the strengths and weaknesses of Enshrouded’s early access version, offering insights into its potential and areas ripe for improvement.

Exceptional Building System: A Haven for Creativity

Enshrouded’s crowning glory lies in its exceptional building system, a testament to Keen Games’ expertise in voxel-based construction. The game introduces the Flame Altar, a cornerstone for safe construction zones, and the Construction Hammer, unlocking a vast repertoire of premade shapes and malleable blocks. This intuitive system empowers players to swiftly erect structures, sculpt intricate details, and unleash their creativity. The clever implementation of the mouse wheel for selecting building parts and materials further enhances the user experience, making it a joy to craft elaborate fortresses and settlements.

Beautiful World and Exploration: A Realm of Enchantment

Embervale, the world of Enshrouded, captivates with its breathtaking landscapes, diverse biomes, and hidden secrets. From lush forests and towering mountains to ancient ruins and mysterious caves, every corner beckons players to explore and discover. The introduction of traversal items like the Grappling Hook and Glider opens up new avenues for exploration, making the vast map more accessible and engaging. Unlocking recipes by visiting points of interest adds a sense of purpose to exploration, encouraging players to venture into uncharted territories.

Clunky Combat and Weapon Diversity: A Call for Refinement

While Enshrouded’s combat system draws inspiration from Valheim, it falls short in delivering a satisfying and engaging experience. The “clunky soulslike” approach requires players to pay heed to enemy attack patterns and adapt accordingly, but the lack of weapon diversity undermines the potential for strategic combat. Swords, axes, maces, and guillotine axes feel too similar in terms of gameplay, lacking distinct characteristics or special abilities. Bows and staves offer a refreshing change, but they too suffer from the same issue of blandness.

The Shroud: An Underwhelming Central Concept

The Shroud, the game’s namesake and unique selling point, unfortunately fails to live up to expectations. As a magical fog inhabited by fell enemies, the Shroud imposes a timer that counts down whenever players enter its domain. While this mechanic adds an element of urgency and forces players to plan their excursions carefully, it ultimately detracts from the overall enjoyment. The low visibility, oppressive atmosphere, and constant time pressure make venturing into the Shroud a chore rather than an exciting adventure.

Quality of Life Features and Technical Issues: A Mixed Bag

Enshrouded introduces several quality of life features that enhance the gameplay experience. Pinning recipes on the screen for easy reference, the ability to craft multiple items in a single batch, and the option to quickly repair damaged structures are welcome additions. However, glaring omissions and technical difficulties mar the overall experience. The inability to split item stacks except in half, the lack of automatic un-pinning of recipes after crafting, and persistent crashing issues can be frustrating and hinder progress.

Multiplayer Potential and Lonely Singleplayer: A Path to Shared Adventures

Multiplayer holds the potential to elevate Enshrouded’s gameplay, as the shared experience of building, exploring, and fighting alongside friends can mitigate the loneliness of the singleplayer experience. However, the current state of the game lacks meaningful NPC interactions, making the home and surrounding areas feel empty and devoid of life. The five NPCs, once awakened, serve primarily as glorified workbenches, lacking any character development or engaging dialogue.

Dreary Soundtrack and Performance Issues: A Call for Optimization

The soundtrack of Enshrouded, while pleasant in isolation, suffers from its overly somber and repetitive nature. The lack of variety and uplifting tracks can become monotonous during extended gameplay sessions. Performance-wise, the game runs decently on high-end systems, but optimization issues are evident in certain scenarios, particularly during sunset and sunrise, where frame rates can plummet significantly.

Conclusion: A Glimmer of Hope Amidst Growing Pains

Enshrouded, in its early access state, presents a mixed bag of strengths and weaknesses. The exceptional building system, beautiful world, and solid combat foundation lay the groundwork for a potentially great survival crafting game. However, the uninspiring premise of the Shroud, technical difficulties, and lack of weapon diversity hold it back from reaching its full potential. With continued development, refinement, and optimization, Enshrouded has the potential to evolve into a captivating and immersive experience that captures the hearts of survival crafting enthusiasts.