Survival RPGs have been having an excellent run on consoles lately, and Enshrouded is looking to carve its own place alongside them. After watching a few friends and streamers spend hours exploring the world on PC, I finally got the opportunity to try it out myself with the PlayStation 5 release. What I found was a suprisingly addictive adventure that had me building, fighting, and exploring with some friends. But does it do enough to stand out?
A Whole New World
Loading up Enshrouded for the first time was exciting. I’ve watched countless streamers and friends play this on PC for quite a bit now so this was something I was anticipating. When I first got into the world with some friends, I was honestly amazed at how good the game looks. The world that surrounded us popped with color and really felt atmospheric compared to some of the cartoon-y games we’ve played in the past.
After doing some tutorial missions, we found an open field and decided to start our base. This is where the traditional survival/crafting aspects begin.
You’ll gather rocks, woods, plant fibers, etc, to build your basic needs. Pickaxes, axes, building blocks, and campfires are the norm at this stage in the genre and it is no different here. What makes Enshrouded different is its building system and what you can do with it.
In most games, you are required to work with the terrain at hand to build. In Enshrouded, you can dig through the land and create your own terrain. This makes building feel different than anything I have played before and opens up so many possibilities! The best part is that we may have found this out by throwing bombs at each other and noticing that the earth below us was transforming with the explosions. We still ended up building a normal, square house at the beginning, but the search for the best base placement was always on.
Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
In Enshrouded, it becomes a little Animal Crossing-like as you’ll have the ability to recruit people to your base. They’ll require a bed to stay and will assist you on your quests. We found a smithy initially who helped us craft better armor so we wouldn’t get annihilated as easy.
This armor had encouraged me to explore and see what the world was truly about. Aside from friendlies that can join you, you also get some nasty baddies that want to ruin your fun. You’ll spend a lot of time fighting these creatures and looting them like you would in a typical open world survival RPG.
The first few hours of my time were a bit of a struggle as I was chomped to bits and sent back to my base quite a few times. Getting the hang of the combat definitely took a bit but once it clicked, there was no stopping me. Getting enemy patterns down, flanking positions, and using spells/abilities started making sense. Once enough resources were gathered to make better weapons and armor with the help of my blacksmith neighbor, I started actively looking for more fights in some very spooky places.
In Shroud
The spooky places, or the Shroud, are the other addition to Enshrouded that make it stand out. These are areas that give you limited time to explore but can offer great rewards. The Shroud is the biggest looming danger in Enshrouded’s story as it threatens to take over the world and submerge it into darkness. It is home to stronger enemies, better gear, and some quests that will have you feeling like Sonic when he is underwater.
The tension builds as you are in the Shroud and it just adds an element to the game that I ended up really enjoying. While you can find ways to extend your time in these zones, you’ll always end up preparing and making it a whole mission or quest to get in, find some loot, and get out before losing all your items.
Explore For Rewards
While the Shroud is always out there, the biggest part of the game is exploration. It’s easily the most rewarding thing you can do and is absolutely encouraged to take advantage of. You’ll find story bits scattered throughout the world through books and quests. I was a little surprised at first as the game offers pretty good voice acting to narrate the story as you pick items up. While some of the dialogue may go on for a bit too long (especially while fighting for my life in the Shroud so I couldn’t pay attention), it’s a nice addition and helps with world building.
You’ll find tougher bosses, more allies, and loot just by getting yourself a glider and forging a new path through the map. I found this to be my favorite part of the game. Usually in these types of games, I am more into the resource gathering. And while it is fine here, I was excited to head out and see what I could find out in the danger zones to bring back with me and show my friends.
The good thing about Enshrouded is that it doesn’t force you into one lane. You can play the game at your own leisure. I went from slashing around with a sword to swinging around a wand like I went rogue in a Harry Potter film. Even if you are short on time to play, it feels good to jump in, explore a little or build a bit before logging back out.
Should You Play?
So should you grab Enshrouded over the other games in its field? If you’re into the fantasy setting with excellent base-building and character progression all while rewarding exploration? Then certainly, especially if you haven’t had the chance to play this on PC. It runs pretty well in terms of performance on the PS5. In my time, I didn’t run into any game breaking glitches or performance issues.
However, the combat can take some getting used to and the Shroud may be unappealing to some who do not prefer that sort of tension. While you CAN adjust your world settings to make the game easier or more difficult, I can understand how it may be a little off-putting.
Enshrouded definitely dives deeper than some in the genre and it is welcomed. With a beautiful world and satisfying progression, I feel you cannot go wrong with picking this one up.
I give Enshrouded an 8.5 out of 10.
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