The Indie Informer

The Elixir. A gift. A cure. A blessing.

Humanity rips the earth apart, gouging ever-expanding holes into the ground, to satiety the growing demand for its unparalleled powers. Blood is easier spilled than a drop of the alluring liquid. But greed has a price.

Enshrouded releases in Early Access today, and with it comes something I’ve been keenly looking forward to: Story. I got my first glimpse of this game in a hands-off preview and later got to jump on the sticks during Steam’s Next Fest. But with both demos, I walked away wondering what happened to the world now overtaken by deadly fog and what my place in it was.

It turns out, the Flameborn — one of which I play — are beings truly born of desperation. Made by powerful humans, me and my kind were endowed with abilities as a last-ditch effort to save the world’s population from its self-inflicted doom. But by the time I take my first step, it’s too late. Embervale has fallen.

But need drives me forward. An open-world game with light survival touches and hefty helpings of combat, I can’t stay in one place for too long unless I want to join humanity.

As one of my first acts in the Early Access build, I nearly walk off a cliff and plunge to my death. It’s not entirely my fault. Having played the game for hours previously, I grew accustomed to its more advanced tools of traversal — namely, the grappling hook and glider. Starting from square one was a bit of a shock.

From here, my adventure played out mostly like before. So, here’s an excerpt from my preview to give you an idea of the action:

The second step of the mission, the rebuilding part, starts with my own dwelling. Very much like Valheim — a game the developers admit to taking inspiration from — shelter will give you resting buffs, which increase as your domicile grows more lavish.

Descending into the misty waste, a new meter appears over the character’s head. This tracks the time until succumbing to the fog. Owing to my fire connection, empty lanterns along the way come to life, illuminating the path in the dense shroud and leaving a handy bread trail to mark the places I’ve already been.

Enemies also wander in the haze. Once humans, the unfailingly aggressive creatures come in the form of low-level grunts to intense bosses. Combat features a lock-on system, a parry, and serious damage-dealing counters.

Our first quest comes near its end in an ancient vault, which holds the soul of Oswald Anders The Blacksmith. When brought back to the safety of home base, we can resurrect this NPC to help better our gear. But getting back doesn’t take as long as I expected. Instead of tracking back the way we came, it turns out every base players make enable fast travel.

Though most of the early hours of this new build felt familiar, I did notice more than a few things had changed. I dashed to areas that, in my previous adventurous, hid game-changing loot like high-quality weapons and caches of beneficial materials only to discover they’d been…altered.

One secret store located in the tutorial cave held only a single chest, which offered just a torch and bandage. While another, once generous, path lead me headfirst into a wolf den – and me second near-death experience. So, don’t expect to find all as it was if you’re taking up this adventure once again.

What hasn’t changed — or possibly gotten even better — is the game’s feel. Enshrouded is just a satisfying title to play. The UI is streamlined and easy to make sense of. The combat is polished. And the quality of life earns a chef’s kiss from me. Things like having two hotkey bars I can switch between on a moments notice makes it so easy to go from fully-provisioned fighter to hammer-in-hand base builder. And recipes for new items, equipment, and decoration seem like they get revealed sooner than before, giving me goals to work toward rather than stumble over.

Enshrouded‘s first steps into Early Access are bright, and I honestly hope players see its fire through the fog.