Enshrouded Critic Reviews

Even though it may not offer anything groundbreaking, you'll likely enjoy Enshrouded if you're a fan of survival games.

Enshrouded may only be entering early access, but there is already so much to see and do in the wonderful world of Embervale. Keen Games did not cut any corners when creating this excellent sandbox. Players will surely enjoy it as it evolves during the early access period.

If you can get on with Enshrouded despite its early access quirks and underwhelming premise, you'll find a rock solid foundation for what I really believe could one day be one of the most popular and well-thought-of survival crafting games out there. The building is absolutely exquisite, and the main reason I'll continue playing. The combat is sound, the world is evocative, beautiful, and thick with surprises. It is, as I say, the closest anything has got to recapturing the feeling of playing Valheim for the first time, and while my 40-odd hours with Enshrouded has left me more than anything wistfully wanting to go back to Valheim itself, I'm sure there will be times when I say to myself, "I wish it did this thing like Enshrouded does it."

For being in early access, Enshrouded is already phenomenal. What I like most about Enshrouded is it cleverly creates a satisfying gameplay loop out of bouncing players between building and questing, it features a beautiful blend of hand-combed survival crafting tropes and RPG mechanics, and the open world is a massive playground riddled with Shrouds, secrets, and scenic views. Especially with friends, you'll enjoy your time and find what you're looking for in Enshrouded.

Honestly, it feels like Enshrouded took the best aspects of multiple games in the genre and packaged them all in one place. The survival-lite aspects of Valheim are here - and even more streamlined thanks to how easy it is to repair your items (you just interact with a workbench and voila - you’re repaired), while it also has the incredible traversal and world that just begs to be explored.

While Enshrouded is a dingy, medieval survival game with endless fog, it has a bright future. From the sheer amount of things to do, to the creativity in building and the fun of surviving in single-player and multiplayer, it’s a game with something for just about everyone. Despite the hiccups I experienced and my reservations about certain elements, this is a strong start for Enshrouded‘s EA period.

In its current form, the lack of consequences means Enshrouded's gameplay doesn't feel particularly gripping. Which is a shame, as it has plenty to offer in its building systems, and in the potential silliness of its 16-person multiplayer mode. That said, Enshrouded is still in Early Access, and it's likely to undergo a fair number of changes as developer Keen Games tweaks things and responds to player feedback. I hope that during this process, Keen Games considers introducing a higher level of threat to Enshrouded (perhaps through difficulty modes), and finds a way to make the game's survival elements feel more significant. In the meantime, Enshrouded is still a decent way to while away the time with friends, particularly if you all just want to play fantasy Lego. And if you're after a chill survival game - well, you'd be hard pressed to find one that's more serene.

I’ve played over a dozen hours of Enshrouded’s Early Access build now and I still can’t tell you what it is about Keen Games’ fantasy adventure game that makes it stand out for me amongst so many others. Just recently we’ve had Ravenbound and Frozen Flame, both of which present beautiful fantasy worlds ripe for exploration, and both of which have their fair share of fresh ideas. But neither struck a chord with me like Enshrouded has.

Enshrouded is undeniably a game to play with friends, as I struggled a bit playing by myself, but the way the world is crafted, and the way the expansive environments are filled with interesting points of interest is wonderful. The crafting and building system could use some work, but they are minute changes and quality-of-life fixes that only detract from the experience a little bit. Despite this, the detail put into the world and environments was enough to convince me that there's something magical going on here, and I could personally see myself losing days of my life to exploring Enshrouded's wilds.

Enshrouded will likely be an instant hit for anyone who’s ever wanted to build a castle in a fantasy world full of danger, and it makes all that building fun and easy with an intuitive set of tools. But even if you don’t care much about crafting or building, Enshrouded’s RPG systems are already solid enough to carry you through its open world for a few dozen hours – even if its vague story isn’t all that powerful, its puzzles are forgettable, and its combat and movement systems could use some fine-tuning. Thankfully, there’s usually no pressure to do anything but try to unlock the next visually-breathtaking area, and that made for a smooth 62-hour journey.

While the genre itself is filled with games that are often too derivative of each other without a strong sense of identity, Enshrouded thankfully bucks that trend.

While not perfect, Enshrouded has a strong foundation, and its early access state means it has plenty of time to grow. I hope to see the developers take some of my feedback to heart, but as it stands, the game’s pros far outweigh the cons.

Enshrouded is overflowing with possibilities that can be used for any play style and boldly challenges genre competitors like Valheim.

Despite being in early access, Enshrouded shows incredible promise, and while it would be easy to write off the game as a Valheim clone, it's actually much more than that. The game has a noticeable difficulty spike, but it disappears as soon as someone joins you. The world of Embervale is simply breathtaking and perfectly combines hyperrealism and whimsical fantasy. Even the most dangerous parts of the game are pleasing to the eye, and the game itself is simply incredible.

Enshrouded is an ambitious open-world survival game. Its large world and freedom make it fun to explore. It has cool features like voxel building that work really well. But too much repetitive travel and dull combat can be frustrating, which doesn't match its great overall design.