‘Enshrouded’ Game Review: A Fantasy RPG That’s Improved Since Early Access
Ancient ruins, abandoned settlements, forgotten civilizations, and landscapes swallowed by supernatural corruption all suggest an adventure game set in a world with its own history. The challenge, however, is turning that atmosphere into something more unique and meaningful than another open-world filled with side quests and repetitive waves of enemies. With Enshrouded, we find that quickly by playing a game that combines survival mechanics, action RPG combat, exploration, and co-op into something that looks way better than many games in this genre and price range.
Enshrouded was originally released in Early Access in 2024, and I had a chance to play it back then. Compared to what we have now, the full version, it looked terrible, had tough gameplay, and was really chaotic. But now, it’s a thoroughly different game that right from the get-go takes us through Embervale to explore this world.
[Warning: Spoilers from Enshrouded are below! I played this game on PC. While I’m reviewing this game independently and honestly, it should be noted that it has been provided to me by Keen Games for the purpose of this review.]
Enshrouded tells a tale about a kingdom that got destroyed by human greed
The story of Enshrouded begins with a legend of a civilization that destroyed itself through the pursuit of power. Embervale was once a thriving kingdom, but experiments with a mysterious substance known as Elixir unleashed the Shroud, a corrupting fog that consumed the land and mutated its inhabitants into terrifying creatures.
The survivors ran, entire villages disappeared, and the remnants of a once-great civilization were just a memory. As soon as we start the game, we wake as one of the Flameborn, a guild of warriors connected to the ancient Flame, whose power represents humanity’s hope of returning to and healing its lost home.
What makes this setting interesting is the way the story is delivered. Rather than constantly interrupting our journey with cinematic pre-rendered cutscenes that do not fit this type of game, the game encourages us to learn it by ourselves through abandoned homes, ruined fortresses, scattered letters, ancient structures, and simple storytelling. Notes and journals slowly reveal what really happened and what led to Embervale’s downfall, while encounters with corrupted creatures show the consequences of those decisions.
The central mystery surrounding the Shroud is not simply another environmental obstacle separating safe locations from dangerous ones. It represents the defining threat of Embervale that just awaits to be unleashed. Exploring these areas creates a constant tension between the hope of discovering valuable things and the possibility of losing everything during a journey that you have not thought through.
But the story works as an excuse for exploration rather than as a part of some drama. The character we play as is a vessel through which the world is experienced, and the story slowly plays out. Nevertheless, there is an idea beneath this form of storytelling that works.
Embervale is not just another kingdom waiting to be saved by a chosen one. It is a place that needs to be understood, discovered, repaired, and eventually inhabited again. By the time our journey reaches its later stages, the contrast between the start of the journey and the way later stages of the game proves that it is all worth it.
Gameplay focuses on exploration, combat, survival, and sandbox mechanics
The greatest strength of Enshrouded is the way its gameplay systems support one another. As a main theme of the game, it is a survival action RPG, but it does not force us to rely solely on a role-playing kind of story and gameplay. Instead, survival is primarily about preparation, gathering resources, improving equipment, and learning how to travel this world and where our journey will take us. This makes the experience more satisfying and much easier to approach without removing the satisfaction of progression.
Exploration is where the game shines. Embervale is full of different environments, various dense forests, many ruined settlements, mountains, and the corrupted territories of the Shroud. Each area provides us with new resources, enemies, crafting recipes, and challenges.
When it comes to gameplay mechanics, rather than relying on hunger meters, resource management, and survival mechanics, Enshrouded focuses on providing freedom to the players. We can travel into dangerous territories, uncover the remains of a fallen civilization, rescue survivors, and construct settlements.
The combat itself focuses on dodging, blocking, parrying, positioning, and recognizing enemy attack patterns. Melee encounters try to help us understand that we have to pick the right time to attack and when to retreat. Magic is also a fascinating addition, although it requires resources and has limitations, which could sometimes make spellcasting really stressful.
Still, some ordinary enemies can become predictable, and repeated fights may cause us to lose interest in them when similar attack patterns appear in 9 out of 10 fights. Boss battles are more entertaining, but the overall experience occasionally lacks variety and may sometimes get boring.
Crafting and base building using the voxel-based construction system allow us to shape terrain, construct buildings block by block, and customize structures so we can create the base of our dreams. Different materials, architectural pieces, decorations, and furniture are here to give us the feeling of creating something that represents us.
Enshrouded game rating and final thoughts
Enshrouded is a survival game that isn’t solely focused on classic elements for the genre. The best parts of it are the freedom to explore this fascinating fantasy world, to defeat dangerous enemies, to discover lost fragments of a forgotten civilization, and to return home with the resources needed to build something meaningful.
There are certainly more demanding survival simulators and games with more emotionally compelling stories, but Enshrouded is fascinating because, right from the start, you become invested in this world. Very few games connect exploration, building, progression, and cooperative adventure together like Enshrouded. What’s most compelling is the decision to make sure that players know their freedom is what makes this game special, and not the other way around.
It’s a great fantasy adventure game that mixes the satisfaction of character progression with the creative possibilities of a survival sandbox. Even though we’ve been waiting for quite some time to enjoy Enshrouded, it was worth the wait to spend a few hours just to chill, hunt, do quests, and explore this wonderful world.
Enshrouded is now available to play on PC and PlayStation 5, with release on Xbox Series X|S scheduled for early 2027.
Also check out: The Blood of Dawnwalker Game Review: A Dark Fantasy Vampire RPG
