Enshrouded Review
A survival-sandbox with remarkable freedom and building tools
After spending time with Enshrouded, the more I explored its world the more I found myself impressed by its ambition. The game introduces you to Embervale, a corrupted land shaped by ancient magic and swallowed by an eerie fog called the Shroud.
At its best, Enshrouded offers some of the most liberating building tools and exploration loops in the survival genre. At its weaker moments, it reminds you that this is still a developing project with features waiting to mature.
Disclosure: I received a free review copy of this product from https://www.keymailer.co but all opinions are my own!
The World, Exploration and Core Loop
The world of Enshrouded is large, layered and surprisingly vertical. You explore forests, cliffs, ruins and underground chambers, all connected by smooth traversal.
Movement feels great. You glide across valleys, climb natural rock faces, use grappling hooks to reach high ledges and even carve tunnels through the voxel terrain. The freedom of movement alone sets the game apart.
The Shroud is the game’s central risk-and-reward mechanic. These fog filled zones hide valuable loot, rare crafting materials and tougher enemies. You can only survive there for a limited time, so every trip becomes a tense expedition.
You dive in quickly, search through ruins, fight corrupted creatures, grab what you can, and then sprint back out before your flame shield dies. It creates an addictive loop that pushes you to explore deeper each time.
Combat works well enough to support exploration. You can specialise in melee, ranged weapons or magic. Dodging, parrying and spellcasting all feel responsive, although some attacks lack the satisfying impact you might expect.
Enemy behaviours can also be inconsistent, and combat animations occasionally feel a bit loose. It is enjoyable, but not as refined as the building or exploration systems.
Building, Crafting and Creative Freedom
This is where Enshrouded truly shines. The voxel based building tools give you remarkable freedom. You can shape terrain, carve foundations, craft multi level houses or build massive fortresses perched on cliffsides.
Unlike many survival games, building here feels artistic and precise. Every placement, beam or sculpted wall feels deliberate.
Progression ties neatly into building. As you rescue NPC artisans, they unlock new crafting stations and specialisations. The blacksmith gives advanced metalwork, the carpenter provides refined building pieces, and the alchemist introduces potions and magical upgrades.
These characters live in your base, which makes your settlement feel like a living space rather than just a storage location. They expand your crafting options while motivating you to design a base that suits their needs.
Exploration fuels crafting. You gather rare resources in Shroud zones, recover ancient items from ruins, refine them into new tools, and then use those tools to push deeper into the world. The loop connects everything nicely, making the world and your base feel connected rather than separate systems.
Progression, Classes and Systems Depth
Progression in Enshrouded revolves around skill clusters, attribute points and gear upgrades. You gradually move toward an identity: melee tank, swift archer, fire mage or a flexible hybrid.
The system is intentionally open. You are not forced into one class, and you can pivot mid run if you find new gear or decide to try something new. This flexibility suits players who enjoy experimentation.
Even so, the skill trees could use more depth. Some upgrades feel like small stat bumps rather than meaningful shifts in playstyle. The framework is solid, but it feels like it is waiting for more layers to be added.
Other systems stand out. The food and buff system encourages preparation before travelling. The game allows you to customise difficulty and crafting pace, which makes the experience accessible for both relaxed builders and combat focused players.
Exploration also benefits from hand placed points of interest rather than fully random generation. This gives the world a more deliberate and purposeful layout.
Technical Performance and Polish
Performance is generally stable, although issues do appear. When your base becomes large or packed with structures, frame rates can dip. Gliding across long stretches of terrain can cause brief stutters.
Shroud zones, heavy particle effects and fast world traversal can also push the engine. None of these issues are severe, but they consistently remind you that optimisation is ongoing.
Combat occasionally feels less responsive than expected, especially when several enemies crowd an area. The user interface works, but certain menus, crafting queues and sorting options could benefit from refinement to reduce friction during long sessions.
Visuals and Presentation
Visually, Enshrouded is striking. The art style leans toward painterly fantasy, but the world is detailed enough to feel immersive. Each biome has a clear identity: dense forests, ruined stone cities, sun blasted deserts and eerie Shroud zones filled with corruption.
Lighting plays a huge role in the atmosphere. Sunsets cast warm orange glows across the valleys, morning light reveals mist and dew, and Shroud zones pulse with ominous energy.
Terrain deformation adds even more visual interest. When you carve out bases or reshape land, the world itself responds in a tactile and satisfying way.
During intense action or in very dense base areas the screen can become visually crowded. Overlapping structures, magical effects and particle storms can make the interface feel cluttered, and certain UI elements could communicate information more clearly.
Sound and Atmosphere
The soundscape reinforces the world nicely. Ambient tracks set a calm mood while exploration sounds emphasise the natural environment. Building audio is crisp and tactile, and spellcasting effects help combat feel more dynamic.
Although the soundtrack is not overly dramatic, it fits the tone perfectly and leaves space for exploration to breathe.
When visual feedback becomes unclear during combat the sound design often carries the weight of informing you what is happening. It succeeds in many cases, but it also highlights how important clearer animations would be.
Final Verdict: Is Enshrouded Worth Playing?
Enshrouded is a standout survival sandbox with some of the most satisfying building tools in the genre. The exploration, traversal and Shroud mechanics create a cohesive and rewarding gameplay loop. The world feels large, open and filled with potential.
The game is not without flaws. Combat lacks the refinement found in more action focused titles, some progression systems feel early in development and performance drops can appear during larger builds or fast traversal.
Even with these imperfections the core experience is highly enjoyable, and it is clear that this game will only improve as development continues.
You will enjoy Enshrouded if you:
Love creative building and custom base construction
Enjoy survival games that reward exploration and discovery
Appreciate flexible class systems and open progression
Want a co op or solo experience with lots of creative freedom
You may want to wait if you:
Prefer highly polished, weighty combat systems
Prefer narrative driven structure over sandbox freedom
Enshrouded already delivers a compelling experience and shows incredible potential. If you value exploration, creativity and a world that welcomes experimentation, the game is absolutely worth your time.