Enshrouded

Enshrouded might not be perfect, but its the closest game I've played to it. this game has almost everything i want in many games genres all wrapped into one, so this is a personal perfection, almost every itch scratched, if i were a dog my leg would be kicking ;-). I rarely write a review good or bad, and very rarely as long and lengthy as this one, but this game is an obsession, and its not even fully released. Map Huge open beautiful world, and by huge i mean huge, im aprox 170+ hrs into the game, and my map might be about 60% explored. its not empty miles with endless running from point to point just to have a huge map. Because of Lore! Lore Enshrouded is jam packed with Lore, if its your thing. If its your thing, read everything and get a story of why the world is the way it is, or don't, but its everywhere for the reading. I personally don't like meaningless rambling NPC chatter, I'm glad the developers chose the method of story telling, with a limited amount of NPC chatter. Loot At first appearance it seems like what loot? they don't give you anything, you earn it, but once you get some clothes and armor going and start exploring, its a never ending search and quest for bigger and greater pieces of armor and weapons, some you craft some you find as quests. there is armor and then there is the option for appearance which allows both armor and cosmetic only, so if i want to look like a rogue and wear heavy armor since i play a warrior, I can. it has a lot of armor, from magic user, rogue, warrior, to all the subclasses in-between, there is also a plethora of NPC type gear, so if I'm in the mood to look like a grave digger (actual set) i can.When i say a lot of armor, i dont mean, chain mail with 20 different names and stat buffs, all using the same visual set of chain mail, Diablo is famous for. no, im talking looking different, complete design difference, color, folds, spikes etc. thats a big factor for me, I love looking at my armor, so I have a museum..... more in base building Base Building Its not just a Conan or Valheim base builder, i mention both games cause i liked building sprawling basses in both. the building blocks and building system has improved on both. What makes it different is, true terraforming, talking Minecraft ability of truly digging down, building up, and building on in or under. This is a big thing, and really lets your imagination explode, don't believe me, they have the option were you can visit other peoples worlds and see, their creations. A group have built two spectacular builds, Rivendale and the Shire, OMFG, im talking truly amazing, movie set quality, every bit as accurate as i could see based on the books, games and movies. I have a museum, nothing grand, but for me, was a labor of love, its packed with about 50 complete armor sets on mannequins and enough partial sets still in a chest waiting to be displayed. I've not started the weapons wing, but its just as impressive collection of weapons, though I only keep the weapons with the cool factor, i search for and collect all armor sets. Crafting, I'm not sure I've seen a game with the amount of crafting materials, as Enshrouded, which can be awesome and overwhelming at the same time, they did it smartly each area presents new and or new alternatives of previous areas. So you collection of materials and ways to store and manage it grow with you as you reach out into new regions. I use the word alternatives, because most recipes give you the ability to use the likewise material in place of the original. Charcoal as an example, say charcoal, uses wood and dirt to make, I can use Bamboo from end game areas instead of wood from the area i started in, same with the dirt, i can use sand from the desert if i have more. I used Bamboo because i have a beautiful Bamboo farm, and it produces a lot of wood, yes i mentioned Farming, a giant garden with everything from food to Alchemical plants. A ranch, with animals I've befriended and stable, for their products or Kull for food. I mentioned end game Bamboo, yet only explored 60% of the game, its a true open world, not a linier game claiming its open, by unscalable walls and mountains, though Shrouds do hinder your travels they do not stop you from circumventing you. This is were the terraforming is such a huge factor for me. A steep unclimbable mountain, i dig, and build a cliff side stair way, though you can not build unless your withing a flame alter area, which you can pop down almost anywhere you are limited by how many you can place which grows as you lvl. so i get my pick axe out and scaled a mountain and explored other areas, usually leading to me running for my life and laughing along the way, and collecting what I can. Parkour, puzzles, hidden rooms, and gliders, very Zelda like experience, but in a darker world. for as big as the open world is, it doesn't lack in dungeons with different types, that are deep and vast. the Dungeon instances are a big and deep as the world is vast, some are puzzles and parkour others its a slaughter fest, and the Hollows well come leveled or bring friends. Last comment, the difficulty options are nice, its not just an easy as intended normal or hard setting but you can go in and customize each area to your liking, make it easier then easy or harder then hard, adjust to were you find your happy. i dabbled with a side char, for a bit, i turned down the enemies str and hp, including bosses, but i turned up the amount that populate and turned up their agro, so while the enemies are weaker, getting attacked is more akin to diablo, instead of 3 wolves attacking its 7, or 10 skeletons its 50. it was fun, after release in a few months i might revisit that setting for a different exp, on a second play thru, if when i actually finish this char. there is so much more, ive left a lot out, because its a fine line describing the game with out giving any spoilers. while many games have come before, nothing is truly new, its just they took the best of about 5 different genres and vastly improved on all of them, and seamlessly incorporated them all into one game and world. I have days i want to build, others explore, i can get my bloodlust adrenaline pumping action desires fulfilled, then farm, and craft. the only negative, and it doesn't affect me, because my alien gaming laptop, but is a comment by others i cant refute, it is hardware demanding, as much as i want to recommend it to my own younger brother, he doesn't have the gaming rig i do, wives and kids come first.

Seeing so many negative reviews for this game breaks my heart. This is genuinely everything you could ever want from this type of open world game, it has some of the most in depth crafting/cooking systems and world detail and building capabilities I've EVER seen, and I mostly play survivalcraft stuff. If you can conceptualize a build, you can make it in this game with almost zero limitations, more detailed than modded minecraft. I've seen people build things from massive underground tunnel networks, to medieval castles and cities, to the Stargate Destiny ship. I'm hundreds of hours in and still nowhere near done with the game. It's phenomenal. It's beautiful. It's incredibly fun solo or with friends (up to 16... insane!). I have endless, ENDLESS praise for this game and I cannot wait for 1.0. If you're curious at all about this, PLEASE try it out!!!