Enshrouded – The Mist Suffocates, but Building Sets You Free

Enshrouded is a survival RPG that combines exploration, base building, and real-time combat, a mix that delivered a much more enjoyable experience than I expected. I am used to focusing most of my attention on combat and progressing through the world in games of this type, but I was surprised by how absorbed I became in gathering resources and planning my own base. The game has several weaknesses that are difficult to overlook, particularly when it comes to its story and music, but the building system is so engaging that I often found myself thinking I needed just a little more material before returning to the main quests.

Story – A Promising Foundation That Remains in the Background

You awaken as a Flameborn, the last hope of the kingdom of Embervale, which has been consumed by a mysterious mist known as the Shroud, from which demonic creatures have emerged. The premise immediately suggests the potential for an interesting fantasy adventure, as the world feels like a place that once had its own history, culture, and inhabitants but is now struggling to survive the aftermath of a catastrophe. The problem is that the game never develops this premise as much as I would have liked.

The story unfolds through discovered texts, conversations with NPCs, and exploration, without traditional cinematic cutscenes to emphasize important events. This approach can work in survival games, especially when player freedom is the main focus, but I missed having more memorable moments that would motivate me to discover what actually happened to Embervale and its inhabitants. As someone who considers a good story an important part of the RPG experience, I was disappointed that the narrative mostly remains in the background while the main focus shifts to exploration and building.

The biggest problem is not the idea itself, but how it is presented. The initial premise hints at a world with plenty of room for mystery, conflict, and interesting characters, yet the game does not develop these elements enough to make the story truly memorable. Rather than being constantly drawn toward the next objective by the events and characters, I often found myself thinking much more about what I could build next at my base. That is not necessarily a bad thing for a survival RPG, but it leaves the impression that the narrative could have been significantly better without requiring any major changes to the game's overall structure.

Gameplay – Building Made Me Gather Every Resource I Could Find

You begin the adventure with almost nothing, but it quickly becomes clear that crafting is one of the most important pillars of the entire experience. In Enshrouded, you do not simply craft better equipment and weapons; you gradually develop your own space, transforming a basic shelter into multi-story houses, large fortifications, and even entire castles. This is the part of the game that impressed me the most.

The building system offers plenty of freedom and encourages you to think about how you want your base to look, how much space you need, and which materials you must gather to bring your ideas to life. What I particularly liked was how naturally the need for resources fits into exploration. In many RPGs, I often find myself thinking that I do not need a particular material and can simply leave it behind, but here I caught myself collecting almost everything I came across because I never knew when it might be useful for my next project.

For me, this is the best indication of how well the building system has been designed. It does not feel like an extra feature added merely to extend playtime, but rather a mechanic that changes how you approach the entire world. Every resource-gathering trip can have a clear purpose, while the idea of adding a new room, improving the layout of your base, or taking on a much more ambitious project constantly gave me a reason to keep exploring. If you have enough time and patience, you can dedicate yourself to building an impressive castle before continuing with the quests, and that freedom is precisely what makes Enshrouded so enjoyable.

Crafting goes beyond construction. Creating equipment and weapons is also an important part of progression, giving resource gathering practical value outside of decorating and expanding your base. Even so, building was the activity I kept returning to, and it was what made it difficult to step away from the game, even when I had planned to complete just one more quest.

Combat – Good Enough, but Not the Main Attraction

Real-time combat includes dodging, parrying, and using magic, alongside a character progression system that supports different playstyles. There are no rigid classes that lock you into a single path, allowing you to combine different abilities and create hybrid builds, such as a warrior who also uses magic. This flexibility fits the RPG structure well and gives you room to customize your character according to your preferences.

I found the combat perfectly decent, and in practical terms, it felt simpler and more accessible than in many other survival games. The basic mechanics are easy to understand, while dodging and parrying provide enough active engagement to ensure that encounters do not become purely a matter of having better weapons and higher stats. Still, I would not say that combat is the main reason I would recommend Enshrouded. It does its job and complements exploration well, but it never made the same impression as the building system, which constantly gave me new reasons to gather materials and improve my base throughout my playthrough.

That does not mean combat has no place in the experience, but rather that the game works best when all its systems are considered together. Exploration provides resources, those resources allow you to craft equipment and build, and progressing through the world opens up new possibilities. Combat is an important part of this gameplay loop, but it is not the only reason to embark on the adventure. That is why I appreciated the fact that not every encounter has to be the centerpiece of the entire experience.

I would particularly highlight the co-op mode. Enshrouded is well suited to playing with others, especially when several players coordinate their resource gathering, exploration, and construction of a shared base. Building can then become a collaborative project in which everyone contributes in their own way, while exploring the world and fighting enemies provide additional reasons to continue the adventure together. If you have friends who enjoy survival games and creative freedom, this is one of those titles that can offer a particularly enjoyable cooperative experience.

Atmosphere and Graphics – The Shroud Is the Real Source of Tension

Visually, Enshrouded presents a recognizable fantasy world filled with ruins, natural landscapes, and environments that evoke a kingdom that was once far more vibrant than it is today. I did not feel that its visual design stood out significantly from other games in the genre, but that does not mean the world lacks atmosphere. The biggest contributor to the sense of danger is the Shroud itself, a mysterious mist that is much more than an ordinary obstacle on the map.

When you enter the mist, a timer activates to show how much longer you can remain inside it. As a Flameborn, you have some resistance to the Shroud, but you are not completely immune to its effects. Exploring these areas therefore comes with an additional layer of tension: you need to keep track of time, judge how far you can venture, and decide whether the potential rewards are worth the risk.

I particularly liked this mechanic because it fits naturally into the game's survival structure. Not every moment needs to be a fight for survival to create tension, and the limited time you can spend in the mist gives exploration an additional purpose. Combined with the fantasy setting, the Shroud makes the world feel like more than a large map to traverse; it becomes a place where you must carefully choose when to take risks.

However, I noticed several minor graphical issues while building. For example, when I was placing an altar and rotating it to find a better position, the sunlight shining through the trees changed and flickered with every rotation, even though the two elements did not appear to be directly connected. I encountered a few other minor issues of a similar nature. They did not ruin my experience, but they were noticeable enough that I hope a future patch will address them.

Sound – A Missed Opportunity to Make the Atmosphere Even Better

The voice acting is perfectly decent, and I had no major complaints about that part of the presentation, but the music left me less impressed. I believe Enshrouded had an opportunity to use a stronger soundtrack to further emphasize the differences between quiet moments spent at your base, exploring the open world, and encountering danger. Instead, the music did not stay with me as much as I would have expected from a game with this kind of fantasy setting.

I particularly wish the soundtrack had made a stronger impression during free exploration and building, as these were activities to which I devoted a considerable amount of time. Music can help create the feeling that you are truly spending time in another world, even when nothing particularly exciting is happening. The same applies to combat, where a strong musical score can heighten the intensity of encounters and make them more memorable.

This is not a problem that undermines the rest of the audio presentation, but it is a missed opportunity. Enshrouded already has a solid foundation for creating atmosphere through its environments and the Shroud mechanic, so a more memorable soundtrack could have made the overall experience feel more complete.

Originality

During my playthrough, I occasionally found myself thinking that certain elements of the game reminded me of Dragon Age: The Veilguard. I do not necessarily consider that similarity a bad thing, nor do I believe every fantasy game has to invent an entirely new formula to be interesting. Still, this impression sometimes made me feel that Enshrouded does not develop its own identity strongly enough in every area.

However, it is important to distinguish between elements that feel familiar and the features that genuinely set the game apart. Its biggest strength is not an attempt to redefine the fantasy RPG genre, but the way it combines survival mechanics, crafting, building freedom, and world exploration. When the focus shifts to these systems, Enshrouded has enough character of its own to deliver an experience that cannot be reduced to comparisons with other games.

I would therefore describe this weakness as a missed opportunity to establish a more distinctive visual and narrative identity rather than a serious flaw in the overall design. I would have liked the story, characters, and presentation to offer more memorable ideas that would stay with me after playing, allowing the excellent building system to be complemented by a world and narrative that are just as engaging.

What I Liked

• An extremely enjoyable and flexible building system.
• A wide range of crafting options for equipment, weapons, and structures.
• The Shroud mechanic, which adds tension to exploration.
• Flexible character progression and the ability to create hybrid builds.
• Co-op gameplay that works particularly well for gathering resources and building together.

What I Didn't Like

• The story is shallow and often takes a back seat.
• The soundtrack could have contributed much more to the atmosphere.
• Certain design elements lack originality.
• A few minor graphical issues when building and rotating objects.

Conclusion

Enshrouded is a survival RPG that won me over with its building freedom and the way crafting encourages exploration. I did not expect to spend so much time gathering resources and planning my next base project, but that quickly became one of the most enjoyable parts of the experience. The combat is good enough to support the adventure, flexible character progression leaves room for experimentation, and the Shroud mechanic gives the world a sense of danger that fits its fantasy setting.

On the other hand, the story fails to live up to the potential of its premise, the music could have been more memorable, and certain design elements do not do enough to distinguish the game from other fantasy titles. These are noticeable shortcomings, particularly for players who value narrative and originality as much as gameplay.

Still, if your favorite parts of survival RPGs are gathering materials, crafting equipment, and creating a space of your own, Enshrouded has plenty to offer. I would particularly recommend it to players who want to build alongside their friends, as the combination of exploration, crafting, and developing a shared base can provide hours of fun. The mist may limit how long you can stay in certain parts of the world, but building is what kept drawing me back.

The game was played on: PS5.