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Enshrouded, the other notable survival game to be launching into early access this week, puts a soulslike spin on its combat. But while that might imply Fromsoft-style difficulty, players are already saying that it's too easy to live up to that comparison.
With towering bosses and dodge-rolling galore, it's hard not to see the influence of Dark Souls within Enshrouded's combat, but it looks like one aspect of FromSoftware's games might be missing - over on the Enshrouded subreddit, players are discussing how the game's difficulty leaves something to be desired.
In one post, a player says that "after ten hours I haven't come across anything remotely challenging as a solo player, even venturing into areas above my level." They go on to describe the difficulty as "trivial," and that the lack of combat complexity that leads to "makes all aspects of the game less engaging and meaningful."
In response, other players shared their thoughts, with the discussing turning quickly to Valheim. Another somewhat gothic open-world survival game, the 2021 hit also leaned towards Dark Souls, albeit less directly. But what Valheim did have, according to Enshrouded players, was a proper challenge from the very beginning. One comment reads that "there is no moment like in Valheim where 20 minutes into the game you come across a Troll and need to either run for your life or really rally to take it down." They go on to claim that even Greydwarf Brutes, a certain kind of Valheim mob, "are more difficult than Enshrouded bosses.
Looking through responses to Enshrouded, it seems that the majority of issues lie in two places. The first is with ranged combat, which seems to have a form of aim assist that's far too forgiving. Another is the speed at which players can reach an impressive power level - one player notes that by the time you can get armor and grilled meat, you're "pretty much unkillable," with upgraded weaponry making mobs too easy to kill. Elsewhere, another player points out how easy it is to build a castle and get that upgraded gear, suggesting that "I'm used to Valheim where progress is slow and earned."
Of course, this is just the first 12 hours of what's likely to be a months-long early access journey for Enshrouded, and that's likely to mean tweaks to what players can do to empower themselves so quickly. Already, developer KeenGames has rolled out fixes to address multiplayer issues at launch, in a helpful reminder of the tribulations of any early access launch. Nevertheless, it'll be interested to see how successfully Enshrouded manages to live up to its Soulsy aesthetic.
It's a great week for people looking for the best survival games.
