Enshrouded has an open world that begs to be explored | Hands-on preview
I previewed Enshrouded a while back after seeing the game in action for the first time, but now I’ve played the Steam Next Fest demo, I’m a lot more excited for the future. Enshrouded is an open world survival game with an emphasis on exploration. It’s also incredibly refreshing for a number of reasons. First of all, the onus is on forging your own path through the world, constructing a base from which to venture forth, and inviting NPCs to live with you to build a community of vendors and crafters.
What this means is that, while it’s billed a survival game, the focus isn’t on eating and drinking every five minutes to stave off sudden starvation. Whereas your protagonist in a standard survival game will drop dead after a day without food, in Enshrouded eating, drinking, and resting conveys bonuses instead. You don’t have to constantly worry about picking berries and slaughtering rabbits to survive.
No, Enshrouded instead wants you to go out into its world and find things. The title comes from the fact that much of the world is shrouded in a dense fog, in which all manner of demons and beasties await. But also, treasure. Head down into the fog on an excursion and you’re likely to come back with something cool – if you come back at all. It’s a co-op game, which makes staying alive easier, but you can play the whole thing solo if you like.
What Enshrouded does exceptionally well is marry that exploration to base-building. You can construct your own village, a great fortress in the mountains, or an underground base. It’s all about where you place your Altar of Flame, which act as the centre of each base and your fast travel points. If you want to go live deep underground, you absolutely can, or you can build a little settlement on the edge of a cliff instead.
As you explore you’ll occasionally find slumbering NPCs who you can awaken and then summon in your bases. These NPCs, such as the blacksmith I met right at the start of the early access demo, will set up shop in your base and then provide additional benefits if you provide for them in return, For example, build the Blacksmith a kiln and forge and he’ll be able to produce more items. Build him a shelter with light and warmth and he’ll get even better.
Enshrouded cherry picks elements from a number of titles, most notably Valheim, Breath of the Wild, and Minecraft. You can loot and harvest everything, and then construct building parts and items to place in the world. The crafting system is fantastically simple, and easy to use even on controller.
The Breath of the Wild comparison isn’t just from the combat, either, although it’s a every similar system. It’s more in how you get around the world. You can, very early on, construct both a grappling hook and a wingsuit. With these you can reach high areas and glide down from them, or you can climb and swim. But as in Link’s adventure, everything drains your stamina. If it runs out mid-swim, you’ll drown and respawn at the nearest Altar – then you’ll need to retrieve your gear.
Venturing into the fog is where the true adventure is, though. It’s much tougher down there, but the rewards are well worth it. From rare crafting materials to magical weapons and armour, there are many reasons to put yourself at risk. But you don’t have to. Crucially, Enshrouded just really wants you to play and have fun. You can go anywhere, build a small town, explore alone or with a friend – it’s up to you.
There’s no shortage of open world fantasy survival games around these days. As well as Valheim, we’ve also recently had Ravenbound, which was interesting but felt restrictive and too tough. There’s also Frozen Flame, which is very similar in form and function – but Enshrouded feels special. Not only is it a joy to explore the world, it doesn’t punish you for doing so. Yes, you’ll occasionally die and some enemies are tougher than others, but the emphasis isn’t on holding you down. Rather, Enshrouded seems to want you to dig deep into its world and lore and see what you can find.
It’s a good-looking game, too. The character models and animations won’t blow you away, but the world is lovely – well, the bits that aren’t covered in fog and trying to kill you. It’s a very vertical world, replete with grand, sweeping vistas, natural valleys, lakes, mountains, deep forests, and rolling hills. Enshrouded has got such a vast world that begs to be explored, and I can’t wait to jump back in and carry on doing just that.
Enshrouded is heading into Steam early access in 2023.
