The long weekend before the GTA 6/Ocarina of Time month was all about Enshrouded for me. Over 40 hours in, and I'm now slowly growing my personal village. Dungeons conquered, bosses felled, this open-world base-building action RPG continues to impress. Some thoughts.
My Little Town Is Shaping Up Nicely
Everything I've said about Enshrouded in my last entry is further justified by the extra days I've spent with the game. As more recipes open up and I gain access to more combat and building options, I'm being drawn further in by that sense of discovery and exploration, inspired to create and challenged to see what's next.
Playing alone is a fun affair, but I'm fortunate to have a cousin willing to jump into my game and explore at the same pace I am. He may be a few levels higher, but our objectives are still aligned. He has his own world, but he also has his own goals in mine. As I was building a tower for my mage NPC that covers all spell crafting and the like, he was building a hobbit-like home (seen above) for our dwarven carpenter, a unique home just over the cliff overlooking a small slice of the world.
It's funny, as after an hour-long dungeon-crawling session during our second Hollow Halls run, we just went and did our own thing back at the home base. We were communicating through Discord, and after the dungeon run, we kept quiet and suddenly started building what we thought was cool. When we noticed what the other was doing, we started helping out. One went out to get more Flint (as we wanted the new structures to have that particular stone), while the other chopped nearby wood to fuel our need for Charcoal and planks.
It was a fun couple of days, and a clear example of the strength these games can have for those eager to tap into their creative side. Palworld, Minecraft, you name it. This subgenre can really have you spending hours either killing waves of undead and monsters or creating that perfect structure you've envisioned in your head. This experience is expanded even further if you have a friend or two with the same mindset and eagerness as you, and it's been a blast.
This Is Too Big for Just the Two of Us
This game can be overwhelming, and I can't stress enough that certain features are now must-haves in games like Enshrouded. From sorting all your loot into the right boxes to having full control over how you create in this world, the basics that make managing and playing the game enjoyable don't feel like a chore. At least, for now.
The game is enormous in terms of quests and scale, as it feels like every time I complete a major quest, it opens up four more paths to consider. I focus on unlocking more of each character I pick up and do minor quests that happen to be along my path, but each time I open my map, I'm just shocked by how much more I still need to do.
As far as the story and its various storylines go, barely any have gripped me. The audio logs and other pickups meant to flesh out the world have barely captured my interest enough to make me want to listen to an entire log. The voice actors do a good job, but it's clearly the weakest part of the game. It's not a big deal, though, as everything else is carrying my enjoyment of the experience.
Combat is keeping me on my toes. As a mage, getting hit even once feels like a death sentence, but I've built my character to a point where I have a routine for keeping multiple enemies in check. Having a cousin playing as an archer helps as well. We've handled multiple bosses so far, and they've been a treat to fight against. We can't wait to see what the bosses in the later stages of the game have in store for us.
I can see myself spending over 100 hours with this game, just as much or even more than Palworld, a game that's just as amazing in its own right. This has me a bit anxious about how I'll spend my free time, as Enshrouded is a fantastic game, but we have World of Warcraft Forever, a game I'm already set to dive back in with my group of friends from college. Then we have The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake on the Switch 2, followed by Grand Theft Auto 6. Will I have time at all to see Enshrouded through to the end? I hope so.
How was your weekend?
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About the Author - Carlos Hernandez
Carlos Hernandez is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Too Much Gaming, where he writes about video games, reviews, and industry news. A lifelong gamer, he would do anything to experience Final Fantasy Tactics for the first time again and has a love/hate relationship with games that require hunting for new gear to improve your character.
Our The Blood of the Dawnwalker review explores Rebel Wolves’ dark fantasy RPG, its 30-day time limit, the day and night cycle curveball, excellent side quests, and shortcomings.