With Wake of the Water, Enshrouded has received its 7th and largest update to date. Players welcome the changes and flock back to the game. The survival game from Frankfurt has more players than it has seen in a long time and they praise the update. There is some criticism, however.
What kind of game is this?
- Enshrouded takes place in a world largely swallowed by a strange fog, the Miasma. Most people have died or been
transformed
. - The game offers classic survival elements such as crafting and building, but combines them with RPG content like action combat and a large skill tree, as well as exploring an open world reminiscent of Zelda.
- Particularly, the voxel system has earned Enshrouded the reputation of being “Minecraft for adults” and allows for terraforming like few other survival games on the market.
What’s new in Enshrouded: On November 10th, Wake of the Water was released as the 7th update for Enshrouded, which is still in early access. The developers are continuously working on the game, which is already regarded as one of the best survival games.
The update mainly brings a new area, the Wogschimmer-Grund in the northwest and water as a new feature. Water is fully physical, recognizing pressure, boundaries, and flow behavior. Other highlights include:
- a revised combat system along with a new weapon, the great sword
- new skills with an expanded skill tree
- new enemies, the lizard-like Draka, which can be found in the Wogschimmer-Grund
- fishing as a new mechanic, allowing you to catch fish needed for specific recipes
- loads of bug fixes and quality improvements, such as increased stack sizes for many items
According to steamcharts, Enshrouded reached a peak of 36,437 concurrent players on Wednesday, with a trend of increasing numbers since the update’s release. The weekend may bring even more, potentially breaking the peak of 42,000 from November 2024. Enshrouded had only more players at launch.
“Oh yes, let’s get wet!”
Wake of the Water is well received on Steam. The game’s ratings are already “very positive,” but the graph shows a strong increase in positive reviews since the release of the update – and only a modest rise in negative ratings.
Looking at Steam and Reddit, especially the water feature has generated excitement. The ability to create ponds, irrigate fields, and design entirely new bases seems to thrill many fans. Additionally, many are trying their hand at the new components for beautiful bamboo huts by the beach.
Smaller, less noticeable changes like larger item stacks are also receiving a lot of approval. The general sentiment is: Enshrouded was good before and is now even better.
Enshrouded is even officially the best German game, although it is still in development.
Criticism mainly focuses on the new balancing and… the water, although mostly from the top. Many weapons have been revised and their “legacy” versions are now significantly stronger, as one user shows on Reddit. So be sure to check your chests to see if you have any treasures lying around.
The second major complaint is stamina. It has become significantly more challenging to manage since the update and requires a “Rested” buff so that you don’t only move stealthily.
While attacks no longer require stamina, it is now more difficult to regenerate stamina at all. Additionally, you get wet when it rains (or in the water), which cannot be avoided and further hinders regeneration.
Despite the criticism, Wake of the Water is well received by fans, as shown by player numbers. Those looking to start new have a vast world to explore and many contents to discover. But don’t be fooled by the peaceful vibe: I actually just wanted to fish in the new update of Enshrouded, but got beaten up too often
