The Action RPG Enshrouded promises to combine elements from Valheim and Zelda and is shaping up to be one of the potential sleeper hits of 2023. We saw an exclusive preview of the game and will tell you why we're quite excited for the game.
I usually don’t like the “X game is Y meets Z” type of formula when describing a new game. But when a developer does it about their own game, it’s admittedly pretty funny. So it definitely got my curiosity when Keen Games’ co-founder Antony Christoulakis described their new Action RPG Enshrouded as “Valheim meets Zelda”.
And in the exclusive preview for the game, which I got to attend recently, they didn't make a secret of this either. "Enshrouded is a survival game, comparable to Valheim" was one of the first sentences that was used to describe the game. And you can quickly see why.
Enshrouded Preview: Valheim Meets Zelda Meets Fortnite Meets...
I saw an early build of the game, which frankly looked a bit rough around the edges. But despite that, I left the hands-off presentation feeling quite excited for Enshrouded.
The game won't re-invent the survival genre, but it is combining a hell of a lot of fun ideas into one game. A huge open world, light survival elements, a huge skill tree, dynamic and cool building, farming, stealth and action gameplay (similar to Tears of the Kingdom, actually), multiple big quest lines, a Wingsuit? There's a lot going on.
A big focus during the presentation, and the brand-new trailer, was on building. And this aspect of the game looks particularly good. The game is voxel-based, so building is more dynamic than in other games.
This was showcased via the terraforming you can do and with the quick build tool, where players have presets that they can use (yes, it is a bit like Fortnite... I'll stop naming other games now) to build all kinds of constructions.
While this sounds restrictive, it turns out that these elements don't have to be attached to each other, but can be melted into one another. This looked really cool and immediately got my brain firing about all the things that are potentially possible to build.
A big part of the game's appeal lies in slowly improving your character and building wild shit. But there will also be quests to guide you a bit through this Fantasy world. These will lead you through a number of dungeons, where the game's Action RPG elements come in focus. The combat we saw looked cool, if a bit clunky.
You are Flameborn, last ember of hope of a dying race. Awaken, survive the terror of a corrupting fog, and reclaim the lost beauty of your kingdom. Venture into a vast world, vanquish punishing bosses, build grand halls and forge your path in this co-op survival action RPG for up to 16 players.
This aspect of the game didn't look as immediately impressive and fun as the building. However, if Keen Games can nail the combat, make it feel good and heavy, as well as make the dungeon crawling exciting and rewarding, Enshrouded is shaping up to be a really fun game that players could potentially get lost in for many, many hours.
Enshrouded will feature a big open-world, which is apparently not procedurally generated, but rather hand-crafted. Combat, exploration and building all look really fun and you can play this in co-op with a whopping 16 people. Sounds like the right kind of chaos.
This game definitely looks promising, let’s hope they stick the landing. Enshrouded is set to get into Steam early access this year, a concrete release date has unfortunately not been revealed yet. Keep an eye out on this one!