Enshrouded

V-Sync being off in-game breaks my RTSS FPS injector/monitor. Forcing V-Sync off in the driver panel, and then enabling v-sync in game (it's off anyway) solves the issue.
Never seen anything like that before. Must be their weird in-house engine. edit: Adding " --keep-vulkan-layers" to the command line also works.

Performance is slightly better than when I played at EA release. Although I was on a 3090 at the time, with the same settings in the same spot my FPS is maybe 20-30% higher.
I would say I'm still getting like half the FPS I would expect from a game of this visual quality.

I can also report the game has both in-game FOV and camera zoom sliders. The FOV caps at 80 but it might be vertical instead of horizontal because it feels like 115-120. I had to turn it down to 75 to remove fish-eye.
 
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I've played about 20 hours so far, cleared maybe 5% of the map.
Incredible game if you just like to explore BotW style.

All of the gameplay systems are pretty basic. Each location, including "big" ones like dungeons/crypts only take a few minutes to complete. This game's idea of a "puzzle" is basically dodging a few rolling spike balls or looking for 3 random buttons to open a door. Not exactly brain busters, or challenging at all. Combat basically boils down to finding the 1-3 skills you like for your build, and spamming them over and over. So... Everything lacks depth. It kind of feels like a mobile game.

I have major issues with the way staffs work, and how your character gets stunned for 0.5 seconds every time you take a hit.

I've cranked the difficulty settings and mob spawns up a bunch, so even though the fights are very simplistic they are total chaos lol.
 
I've been playing the crap out of this since it went 1.0. Having a great time with it. I like the skill tree makeover. Melee finally feels like a solid option though ranger and caster are both still a ton of fun. Very easy to put hybrid builds together as well. Battlemage is a VERY solid build here for example. Combat feels pretty good for the type of game it is. Sword swings feel meaty. Casts have power behind them. The bow is great in this game, both "auto" shots and proper aimed shots with predictable, but very present arrow drop and skills for both long range sniping and frantic kiting with a short bow. Explosive arrows continue to be Tons o Fun Silent Bob.

The shroud mechanic adds a meaningful touch to the game without feeling like a forced and distracting gimmick. It is it's own destination. A place to seek specific resources with a touch of danger that's just enough to make you pay attention.

I've never been an elaborate base builder but this is a great game to do it with. You can build all the way down to 1x1 block levels of detail. Or you can be like me and put a very functional big ass stone building together just to keep your bed(s) and crafting tables dry. The game works great with both. If you are into the former then hunting down elaborate building materials is an entire game by itself.

A core mechanic is "waking" various NPCs that all contribute in a significant way to your base and character. None are a waste of time, no matter your class or play style. Heck I even like the farming in this game and it's something I rarely bother with.

There is a straight forward progression system with the flame altars which are used both for base building and as player managed fast travel points. The more you advance them, the more fast travel points you can have, the bigger the base your can build and the more time you can spend in higher and higher levels of the shroud.

I won't spoil anything but I've just made it past the first dragon boss. Fun fight once you learn the mechanics. This isn't a souls caliber fight by any means but like the rest of the combat, if you just try to spam attack you're going to have the floor wiped with you.

Exploring is well rewarded all over the HUGE map. A decent variety of biomes, enemy types and encounters all over the place. You'll quickly get a glider and a grappling hook which make it much easier to move around the map and offer some combat mobility as well. Jumping and dodge rolling are both just as much a part of combat as attacking, blocking and parrying. All of them feel great and you are rewarded for using them. There are several tall spires that get unlocked as permanent fast travel points. From there you just leap off the top and glide down to nearby POIs so unlocking the spire in a new biome is a major accomplishment. Jumping off is fun every time.

I have limited time to play most days and this is the type of game that I can sit down for 30 minutes and get something done just as easily as I can sit for 3 hours on a rainy Sunday. If you like action/adventure/RPG type games then this is a must buy IMO, especially if you are into elaborate base building mechanics. Characters look like actual people. No weird they/them nonsense is forced upon you but there is also nothing stopping you from whatever floats your boat. I have not seen a single "we are a diverse team blah blah" message anywhere. Just a fun game, with good combat and RPG elements.

I play on a laptop with KBM but the game has native Xbox and PS5 controller support. No xbox version of the game yet but it launched on PS5 with the 1.0 release. It's been early access on PC for at least a year or so. Steam offers a dedicated server if you want to play with friends. The game also natively let's you customize your private world so if you want to crank the combat difficulty or loot drop rates, have at it.

I hope they sell a few million copies and keep cranking out similar games. We badly need more of this. No message. No nonsense. Just a fun, quality game for people that want to escape their real world responsibilities for a few hours. That's me, and there are a LOT more of me out there with money to spend than there are loonies. I don't need or want a lecture. I want to cast fireballs in undead faces and impale skeletons with those legendary daggers I got last night.
 
Modding scene coming along nicely.
Atlas Map shows just how big the game is lol.

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Click to expand...
 
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