Enshrouded Final Preview - Survival Progression at its finest

I'm someone who loves checking out new survival games, partially because I'm (currently) the Guides Editor here at TechRaptor, but also because each one has its own take on the genre and offers a different world to explore.

Between games like Raft, Palworld, Valheim, and others - the genre has become a massive hit these last few years, with even more slated to drop in 2024.

For me, Enshrouded is one of the best ones I've played in years - offering such a massive world to explore, and a progress system that isn't all that linear. Spending 60 hours exploring every nook and cranny of this world has been an absolute delight for me.

Let's dive in a bit more into why this is a must-buy for lovers of the genre.

Enshrouded's world is massive, but traversal is still fun

The scope of the Enshrouded Map is a bit staggering, but where it's usually easy to get a level of Open World fatigue or have blank areas that are just filler - no matter where you go there's something on the horizon.

Littered with abandoned villages, Shroud Roots, Flame Sanctums, and more - filling out every bit of the map during Early Access (which is only HALF of the full map) will take most of your playtime, becoming easier as you get the upgraded gliders and place more bases around the map.

I'm a big fan of strong traversal mechanics in games (including ELEX 2's Jetpack), and Enshrouded's Fast Travel Shrines combined with your glider really make exploring this huge world less tedious. Jumping off the top of a large tower and gliding to your destination is so much more enjoyable than running there.

That doesn't mean you won't still be exploring on foot though - with only a handful of fast travel spots, you're still going to be doing a fair amount of running to explore. It's just not boring, because you won't run long before you encounter enemies or resources to collect.

Interestingly, Enshrouded also mixes in story with the overall map and progression mechanics. You'll find notes littered across the world that not only provide context clues to the history and lore but also point you to new places to check out. You may come across an unassuming town until you find a note that leads you to treasure below. This adds to the reasons why you SHOULD explore everything.

Progression in Enshrouded is where the game shines

While most Survival Crafting games rely on finding resources to unlock new recipes and unlocking new recipes is simply a matter of exploration, Enshrouded brings a bit more of an RPG/Story-driven feel to the overall progression.

There are 3 main ways you "progress" in Enshrouded:

• Finding resources.
• Unlocking NPCs and Crafting Stations.
• Increasing your Flame level to go into higher-level areas.

To progress, it's essential to unlock each NPC who provide higher-level crafting options, as well as complete quests that unlock additional items and stations. Each unlock gives you access to stronger armor, potions, weapons, and more.

This progress is really fluid, and if you're following the quests you never really get blocked by the Deadly Shroud that requires you to upgrade your flame. Something that not only takes time but requires the necessary resources and heads from minibosses across the 4 biomes.

I never felt "limited" by any of the mechanics, and going from zone to zone felt really natural as I completed quests and upgraded my equipment. Having different skills and classes augmented things further with abilities like double jump allowing me to "Skyrim" up mountains, as well!

Skill Trees for Everyone

Enshrouded layers on additional mechanics through the Class and Skill Tree, which let you multiclass your character to augment your playstyle. Warrior, Assassin, Mage, Healer, and much more await you as you pick your preferred weaponry and special abilities.

There are some pretty neat abilities too, from healing for your party (if you're playing in a group or dedicated server), to damaging auras, and even "Updraft" which lets you squeeze out a bit more distance from your glider!

In line with the exploration and progress of the game, the skill tree system is just as tied into these mechanics. You'll unlock 1 Skill Point per level (25 is the current cap) as well as additional Skill Points for taking down Shroud Roots/Elixir Wells, and some quests as well.

With my character, at max level and with every Shroud Root and Quest completed, I was able to max out 3 and a half different Classes of the Skill tree. I reset for good measure and was sitting with 114 Skill Points to use at the end of my main world! There's plenty of room for you to experiment with builds!

Choice of Combat

As someone who loves both a melee build, but also punching above my weight with ranged, I specc'ed heavily into Warrior, Survivor, and Ranger, so I could spend most of my time with either an axe or a bow, which came in SUPER handy with the Sicklescythe Wraiths in the last area, who are nearly impossible to hit with melee.

Combat scaling through the zones is solid, I never felt under-leveled for most enemies, even if I did get stomped here and there. When I maxed at Level 25 and ran into Level 30 enemies thanks to my powerful Class build I was able to still take them on.

That said, you can't just completely hack and slash your way through this one. You can cheese a good amount with ranged combat, but if you're a melee fighter you'll be doing a lot of dodging, and blocking hits - because the enemies level 10-15 and higher hit really hard, even if you have lots of health.

Going back to earlier areas is easy, of course, as there's no level scaling - levels are just based on where you are on the map. The consistent challenge as you move from Biome to biome feels really well managed, but managing your equipment and food becomes more critical in the late stages of levels 20-30.

What about the Crafting?

I've talked a lot about progression, combat, and just the scale of this game. I'd be remiss if I didn't talk just a little bit about Crafting too, right?

Crafting as a mechanic is so widely used across so many genres, I don't have much to add here. What makes crafting unique, at least in my view of Enshrouded, is the game's use of craftspeople who are the ones that create most of your high-level items.

Combining their use, alongside dedicated crafting stations for the more tedious items like ores and fabrics, spreads the crafting menus out enough that finding what you need is quick and easy, and crafting is simple to accomplish.

Enshrouded Preview - Final Verdict

With how many games are released annually, and an increase in the number of survival crafting games specifically, sometimes it's easy to put on blinders to new releases. That said, Enshrouded offers a lot to both genre enthusiasts and players who love a good action RPG with a wide-open world to explore.

This is just the start of the game too.

When working with PR pre-launch, we got a blank map sent over for us to mark up and create content with. What I didn't realize for a bit, was that the map they gave us was only HALF of what the full scope of Enshrouded will be. With players only getting access to half of the map with this release it has me excited to see what else is in store!

I can't wait.

Enshrouded was previewed on PC with a key provided by Keen Games, over the course of 60 hours of gameplay before the Early Access Launch. All screenshots were taking by the previewer over the course of gameplay.