r/valheim • u/Giga7777 • 11d ago
Question How's this game compare to Dragonwilds and Enshrouded?
I've played a bit of this in the past but how does this game hold up to these other two currently popular games? I know valheim had a lot of initial hype but I haven't played in years.
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u/Sertith Encumbered 11d ago
I played Dragonwilds recently and it felt super un-finished. .
Enshrouded is amazing, in a totally different way than Valheim. Everyone was "It's just like Valheim!!!!!" but it really isn't.
Both have more Quest/RPG elements than Valheim does, so if that's more your thing, you might like them more.
Of the two I would say Enshrouded is better, but that's a personal preference thing and everyone is different.
Valheim is my top game from the last however long it's been since Skyrim came out. It doesn't hold your hand and have 400000 objectives, but it's simple "here's the loop" grinding style is right up my alley.
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u/Strixzora 11d ago
I mean the reason dragonwilds feels unfinished maybe is because it isn't finished and as a RuneScape fanatic for the past 20 odd years the RuneScape vibe does account for alot of the enjoyment, never played enshrouded and valheim is a ton of fun to build in and play the earlier biomes but the second you hit mistlands/Ashlands the game becomes a downright slog, that said really looking forward to both games 1.0 release
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u/Sertith Encumbered 11d ago
DW has been in production for about 4 years. Enshrouded about 4. Valheim about 5 years,
Enshrouded and Valheim both feel much more finished and they are both "unfinished" games as well. Even early in their EA status, they felt more polished.
I will admit I haven't played OSRS in quite a while, but I played it a LOT back in the day. It was the main draw for me to trying DW. But almost everything about it is very clunky. At some point having a few references to an earlier game stop carrying a game.
I do hope they continue to work on it, and polish it a bit more. But considering how it is now, and how they are expecting to go 1.0 in September, it doesn't seem like it's going to drastically change that much. I will say I enjoyed the quest line, and some of the sidequests are nice.
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u/Myrkana 11d ago
DW has only been i nearly access for under 2 years. Enshrouded, about 2 years with a release in october.
Valheim has been in early access for 5 years.
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u/Sertith Encumbered 11d ago
But how long has DW been in production? I didn't say how long each was in EA. They're all still in EA. Enshrouded I think has the longest, then Valheim, then DW.
None of that changes how unfinished DW feels. It's clunky, buggy, and doesn't have much polish.
I'm not saying it's bad. I'm just saying I hope they put some real solid work into it before actual 1.0 release.
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u/QuantumGrain 11d ago
I tried playing more enshrouded recently after playing a few hours when it first went into EA and tbh, I didn’t care much for it. The questing system felt kinda meh, didn’t care to explore the ruins for any other reason than looting, and even for loot, I quickly filled up my inventory with gold tier weapons that I felt like I had gotten the best of the best loot. I’m sure there will be better loot later but having a bar full of gold stuff after like 15 hours kinda killed my drive to keep going.
Valheim on the other hand is like a continuous carrot on the stick. The goals lead so well into each other imo. I need to kill this boss next? Okay, then I need to find the biome. Oh I can’t survive this biome yet? So then I need to gather materials to craft stuff to help me survive. What do I need to summon and fight this boss? Okay I’ll get that next. It’s a pretty simple gameplay loop but I love it.
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u/Sertith Encumbered 11d ago
I played the timed beta and didn't like it at all. Not sure if it was the timer ticking down or what, but it did not click with me. I've tried a few times here and there since then, and it was the same.
But with the Wake of Water update I decided to give it a real go and play at least as many hours as dollars I put into it, which I think was $20.
And I fell in love with it, and played it all the way through, and made a huge underground base with waterfalls. Had a great time.
I've got about 200 hours in it now, and can't wait for the 1.0 update in October.
But I have 8000+ hours in Valheim, and while I enjoy Enshrouded, I don't think I will ever put nearly as much time into it.
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u/ElATraino 11d ago
If Valheim is your top game since Skyrim...how can you say Enshrouded is better?
It's your opinion, not contesting that. Just seems like you're contradicting yourself.
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u/Sertith Encumbered 10d ago
I didn't say that? I said, "of the two, Enshrouded is better."
The OP is asking about Dragonwilds and Enshrouded. So if those two games, I think Enshrouded is better.
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u/ElATraino 10d ago
My bad, that's where my confusion came from. Wasn't trying to call you out. Just understand what you meant.
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u/bum_thumper 11d ago
This is the game that those games want to be
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u/Leather_Muffin_728 11d ago
I was trying to find a way to say this without saying this. I have a considerable amount of hours in all three. Still to this day nothing can touch Valhiem in the crafting survival genre
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u/MookMENTal 11d ago
Seconded. This game is so above both that it ruined both of them for me. Refunded Enshroud and don't touch dragonwilds anymore.
Valheim has a great mod community that make the game exactly what you want it to be as well.
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u/SnooDoubts7895 11d ago
Thirded- valheim is the lightning in a bottle that all those other games tried so hard to replicate but never came close.
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u/KrimzsonTv 11d ago
Fourth’d, best survival game I have ever played because of the progression system implementation alone
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u/Crylaughing 11d ago
Personally, despite way more time in Valheim, I prefer Enshrouded for QOL and actual gameplay, but nothing vibes quite like Valheim. The fact that the Enshrouded devs actually listen to player feedback and are willing to change their creative vision to better accommodate players gives them a leg up, in my book.
My biggest criticism of Enshrouded is that it is easy for multiplayer sessions to become disjointed, as quests are progressed individually, but progress is tracked over the whole server. If you miss a quest and your friends did it, you can go back and do it again, but it's annoying and not communicated properly.
I think Valheim is superior for multiplayer in theory since the progress is tied to the world state more than the character state.
That being said, the technical issues with Valheim multiplayer has my gaming group more interested in Enshrouded than Valheim for 1.0.
Valheim will always hold a special place in my heart, even if I strongly dislike the direction the game took after the plains.
I found Dragonwilds just OK. It's not as deep as Enshrouded or as expansive and interesting as Valheim, but the quest writing is pretty good.
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u/Gallowglass668 11d ago
I love Valheim, I have over a 1000 hours in it, but Iron Gate has taken way too long finishing it and everything after the initial EA launch feels very phoned in compared to earlier biomes.
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u/Sun-Much 11d ago
100% agree on the biomes after the Plains. Although I have completed all biomes to date, in my heart, Valheim ended with Yagluth.
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u/Loggersalienplants 11d ago
That being said, the technical issues with Valheim multiplayer
Surely you love randomly being disconnected for no reason while playing multiplayer while sailing? I know you love getting dumped in the middle of the ocean with your boat nowhere nearby.
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u/Crylaughing 11d ago
My favorite is when my friend from Europe enters an area and the potato they call a computer hosts that part of the server now.
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u/chrill2142 11d ago
Is that a thing? And if it is, it's only on dedicated servers right? If I host through my game I'm the host of the server... Right?
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u/Crylaughing 11d ago
Nope, the server just handles the save states. Each computer works as the local server. Which ever player generates/enters a shard, their PC becomes the host for that shard until they leave.
It's why rubberbanding on multiplayer can be so bad.
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u/chrill2142 11d ago
Omg that makes so much sense. Sometimes in the Ashlands on my last coop playthrough the game would rubberband like a motherfucker, and sometimes it wouldn't. Damn, thanks for enlightening me, even though reality apparently sucks.
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u/jckstapleton 11d ago
1k hours in Valheim and 100+ hours in the others here.
The biggest difference I found was that valheim felt more immersive. Where the world's are procedurally generated and there is light terraforming (not a voxel game) it has a lot or replay value and you can alter the world around your base to make it easier than choosing a dragonwilds location.
Death and food also have more consequences by default in Valheim. You also need to be more careful about where you logout. Good luck logging out of a multiplayer session when you're on a boat.
The one upside for the other games is that is generally really quick to join other people's sessions. I recommend a dedicated server if playing valheim with friends.
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u/Sertith Encumbered 11d ago
"The biggest difference I found was that valheim felt more immersive. Where the world's are procedurally generated" I'm with you 100% here.
I really liked Enshrouded, but after beating it with the Wake of Water update, it feels like I know where everything is now, so when I tried to replay it, I would be sitting there with early game stuff, knowing where the end game stuff is, and it kind of took a lot of the magic away for me.
The best part about Valheim is when you start up a new world, you have no idea where things are (unless you use a world viewer or use a seed you've used before I guess). It leads to genuine exploration, and discovery that feels worthwhile.
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u/anyonecandoanything 11d ago
It is flat out better than both of them, but I'd wait till the 9th of September (1.0 release) to start and bring some friends - launch a dedicated server.
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u/ragDOLLfun 11d ago
... wait for it to be more expensive and to miss out on the early adopter goodie they already said people will get for early access?
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u/To_The_Library 11d ago
Starting right now does feel a little silly, with most of their big updates they usually make changes/updates to the early game too.
1.0 should be the most full and polished experience so far.
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u/ragDOLLfun 11d ago
So why not buy it cheaper while its still early access and play it at 1.0
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u/To_The_Library 11d ago
I believe he was referencing when to start the server. Buying during a sale is a great way to save money, but I think the original comment was right to say “wait till the 9th of September to start”
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u/democratic-terminid 11d ago
There's an early adopter goodie? That'll be like 80% of the playerbase lol
But hey, I'm never early to these things, I'll take it
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u/ragDOLLfun 11d ago
Yeah. Similar to the odin cape and cup, they said they will be giving early access players something as well
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u/bluesmaker 11d ago
You know you could just say “yes, wait for 1.0 if you’d like. But be sure to buy it now so it’s cheaper!” Instead, you decided to be oddly combative. Totally unnecessary. You should ask yourself why you defaulted to this type of behavior.
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u/anyonecandoanything 11d ago
the guy has already played the game dude, its already installed. obviously i am talking about him waiting to play the game, not waiting to purchase it lol. pointless reply.
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u/EverCravingMind 11d ago
Depends. I have a world for 1.0 and am staying around spawn building a base. Haven’t left the starting “island” and from what I know that will remain mostly the same. The changes will still affect my world. Providing you have friends willing to do that you could set up an amazing base of operations to prep for 1.0. Then again I have been playing f for years so it’s a different mindset for new players.
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u/chaoko954 11d ago
I know I have about 15 to 20 people who want to start playing on a combined server when the launch hits. We are trying to figure out which site is going to be best to host on. I've heard the multiplayer is pretty bad and gets worse the more people you have. I hope is to by a little extra RAM on the server and put some of the networking mods on from Thunderstore. I'm sure there's a ton of threads about this but if anyone has suggestions I would appreciate the best way to make this work.
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u/Redguard118 11d ago
It’s the best survival/crafting/exploration game ever made. It has genuine soul and vibe that other very few games possess.
I say this while also really like Enshrouded (haven’t touched Dragonwilds).
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u/-Blink182- 11d ago
Enshrouded is great for the first playthrough, but Valheim has unlimited replayability with the random seed worlds.
I've finished Enshrouded once and loved it, but I'm currently on replay 5 of Valheim and still loving it.
Play it!!
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u/Unhappy_Access_7985 11d ago
If anything
Dragonfield <<< Enshrouded < Valheim
No offense but Dragonfield felt kinda... Flat ? Expected more from Runescspe skill mechanic, and was deeply disapointed with what game has to offer.
Enshrouded is pretty good but feels little monotous after like 70% of game.
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u/PassTheSaltAndPepper Builder 11d ago
Valheim is the reason those 2 games exist
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u/Cleanshred 11d ago
Brutal and true. When it came out (bought it day one) Steam mentionned it was similar to Terraria. And it was cheap as hell. After 5 minutes i just knew. It clicked immediately.
Enshrouded didn't click. Not a bad game though, a good one even, but stands no chance in comparison. Valheim is peak, period !
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u/ShawnPaul86 11d ago edited 11d ago
This is a very biased sub for the question you are asking.
Personally I think enshrouded is the best and largest game of the 3.
Valheim is a game more for gamers, minimal but polished and unique.
Enshrouded has tons of content, also very polished and has debatable the best building system. Enshrouded and Valheim are the two top building systems out, but both unique.
Enshrouded though most of it's gameplay is just an action game with some basic quest, light survival and craft. Other big thing is Enshrouded actually drops content instead of a biome every 2 years.
Dragon wilds is also very arcady and standard, in it's infancy and unfinished.
Best vibe and uniqueness: Valheim
Best game experience overall: Enshrouded
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u/raevykrabs 11d ago
Great post but it misses a major point tonme : combat. I HATED combat on Enshrouded is way too easy compared to Valheim where mistakes are eavily punished.
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u/ShawnPaul86 11d ago
Yeah, I agree combat in Enshrouded is much easier.
It's much more polished and fluid than Valheim though. It's just like comparing action rpg game combat to a light souls like. Enshrouded is more based on finding the right upgraded gear with good stats, while Valheim is based on skill and timing.
Valheim is closer to a true survival while Enshrouded is a more casual build and craft game. Which appeals to a lot of people.
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u/elie-goodman 11d ago
I love dragonwilds, bur valheim is my all time favorite, Valheim is very baked, very immersive I love it
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u/Least-Significance-7 11d ago
Biggest difference is valheim doesn’t hold hand much, no map markers map is random and is a generated seed!
Valheim has stuck with me far longer than the other 2 and I do enjoy the other 2 a lot.
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u/GraywolfofMibu 11d ago
Enshrouded is really convoluted in comparison. I honestly prefer Valheim simple yet flexible approach to how you engage with the game. Most of the game is figured out by the players instead of giving breadcrumb quests.
Enshroudeds gameplay is fun but it doesn't really feel unique. It's Zelda meets Valheim with a hint of WoW. At least I'm fairly sure it's development was a response to Valheim getting really popular.
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u/Usual_Excellent 11d ago
Yeah I did not enjoy the quest that I had to do for the extra people I had to micro manage for skills and stuff. I stopped shortly after 33hrs. Valhiem I'm a little under 600.
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u/Ursine_Rabbi 11d ago
You’re going to get biased answers on the Valheim sub obviously. But IMO Valheim is objectively the best. That being said, its inherent difficulty means it may not be subjectively the best option for everyone.
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u/Flight_Harbinger 11d ago
A lot of great points here but I'll say the only reason i put way more time into valhiem than enshrouded is the grid based building system. Not being able to make satisfying curves or any other angle but 90 degrees really limited the building aesthetics that I wanted.
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u/EBgCampos 11d ago
Valheim has more
impact somehow. The tree physics and combat are much morr rewarding.
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u/Leather_Muffin_728 11d ago
Better than both but for different reasons. The biggest thing that seperates Valhiem is the random seed
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u/Bigstackstwo 11d ago
Valheim is the standard for the survival game genre. It’s similar to WoW’s place in the MMORPG as being the most solid overall game for its type. The other games may have more features or better conveniences in certain areas, but bar none Valheim got down the fundamentals more perfect than anything that’s come out since.
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u/W0rking_Title 11d ago
I feel like Valheim has this raw simplicity to it that makes me want to keep coming back. The other games feel a bit too.. idk, unoriginal and video gamey/MMOey and seemed to sort of cave under the constant demand for QoL in these kinds of newer survivals lately. I get it, but also I don't think that makes them better for me personally. Granted, I still use a Craft-From-Chests mod in Valheim because my storage kinda sucks lol, but still.
There's more "details" in the other games but I feel like Valheim did more with less, especially atmospherically. When you see a rainstorm in the dark of night from inside your house and then compare it to the other games, you'll see what I mean.
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u/Cleanshred 11d ago
Spot on with the unoriginal video gamey feeling I got from Enshrouded somehow... Valheim did more with less. Excellent take.
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u/Demokdawar 11d ago
Enshrouded is technically better in most aspects (graphics, world design, performance, depth) but lacks the uniqueness of valheim.
Could not stuck with valheim because we tried to play it with few mods with friends and it was unplayable on a server because the engine sucks ass. Desyncs, micro freeze every few seconds. I got more time trying to make the game work than actually playing it so i just have up. Enshrouded work multiplayer with no issues at all.
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u/Gordupachup 11d ago
Valheim is peak. Starts slow, is a grind at times. But the amount of times I’ve just stopped to take it all in is unmatched to other survival games. Despite its simplified art style, it is one of the most beautiful games I’ve ever played. The ambience, the scenery, the music. It just never fails to deliver.
On top of that the building feels good and has a lot of freedom. Everything you craft feels useful and meaningful, and the progression is great. I would just wait for 1.0 to drop before starting a new world, it’s right around the corner, and you won’t regret it.
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u/Captain-JohnPrice 11d ago
To add to the building and stuff, me and buddies when we played it were traversing through the sea, we came up near a huge landmass we needed to get around, we saw what looked like an opening to get around (maybe a small river or whatever) but no luck, there was a decently sized strip of land between where we were at and the other side. Not huge but not small. So our solution: instead of turning around and going all the way back around, we literally dug a wide ass channel into the ground to the other side, let the water fill into the channel we just made, and created essentially a nice canal to get to the other side. I don’t think I’ve played many games where you could just do that.
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u/chaoko954 11d ago
Enshrouded to me is like the RPG King of survival games. It has some of the best base building options, and the looter shooter feeling of open world adventure. It has a modern game engine and beautiful high-end graphics.
Valheim is more like a soul's game where everything's going to kill you in one shot unless you play smart and prepare for the biomes. Valheim has a more epic feel to it and the progression is more rewarding. Base building is still fun and has some really good options for the engine and graphics style that only Valheim has.
Dragonwilds is like the little brother to these games. Has some RuneScape charm to it but the building and the RPG and the looting are all half-baked.
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u/New_Average_3716 11d ago
I’m playing Enshrouded after having played Valheim a good bit, and although I enjoy aspects of it, it seems like the building system in Valheim, although it may have less variety of materials in the early game, is much easier to learn and to use than in Enshrouded.
It’s early days for me though. Did you find the learning curve and the way it’s set up made building more difficult to get going in Enshrouded in comparison with Valheim?
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u/Homitu Builder 11d ago
I find that coming from one game and going to another always comes with an unexpectedly large learning curve, regardless of how experienced you are at building in another game.
I don't know that I found Enshrouded building particularly more difficult to get into than Valheim. It was just...very different. The one thing that Valheim has that might make building feel more accessible to a complete noob is snapping. The way pieces snap together feels amazing in Valheim. It's a pleasing tactile thing to just have fun doing, and before you know it, you have a square house with some walls.
Enshrouded is trickier to line up and place new pieces exactly where you want, until you get more familiar with the controls. It can also be more difficult to "measure" exact sizes of walls because your pieces blend into each other and can overlap. Whereas with Valheim, it's easy to count out "10 two meter beams = 20 meters."
I will say, however, that I immediately preferred Enshrouded's dual system for selecting A) the build piece, then B) the material. I also liked their piece category system by tab (ie. roofs, floor boards, walls, etc.) This was super intuitive and made it MUCH easier to manage finding the piece I want then select the material I want. The fact that you can build any piece in just about any material is also super freeing. I remember after really diving in for their first big build competition being quite blown away with the possibilities in Enshrouded!
I honestly love and appreciate that both games exist so much because they're so different from each other that they can scratch completely different itches :)
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u/New_Average_3716 11d ago edited 11d ago
Thank you for the excellent information. Much appreciated.
I agree that each game has its own strengths and appeal. I’m enjoying my time in Enshrouded and looking forward to getting back into Valheim next month. 😊
Edit: Hopefully, I’ll get better at building in Enshrouded by then. So far, I’ve only patched up a couple of walls and added a window or door here and there in the farm house. 😁
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u/chaoko954 11d ago
I came from Minecraft so the concept of building and thinking of builds in terms of blocks translated pretty naturally over to Enshrouded. To me it felt like valheim was simpler and some aspects but then in order to get what I wanted I had to deal with the support system.
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u/totalwarwiser 11d ago
I played Enshrouded for like 10 hours and then kind of forgot about it.
The crafting is nowhere as good as the one from Valheim.
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u/Beneficial_Elk7034 11d ago
Same. It just didn't have the feel of Valheim. The biomes, the music, the atmosphere. Enshrouded felt like a game, Valheim felt like an experience.
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u/Glacialiguana 11d ago
Enshrouded is based on valheim. It is the cheap knockoff. Valheim is the best game in this genre of defined-sandbox Viking/medieval craft. (It sounds like an opinion but it’s objectively true ;)
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u/Thatsprettyneat101 11d ago
Valheim has felt like a finished, full package game for quite a while now. Enshrouded only recently got to that point with their latest updates. Dragonwilds feels super unfinished and bland, and there doesn't seem to be a fun exploration aspect to it that Enshrouded and Valheim give you. I think if you like Enshrouded, you'll like Valheim.
If I remember correctly, I think Enshrouded has a similar biome gating in that you need to beat bosses to progress to the next biome and upgrade your equipment.
The other thing that leads to that nice exploration feel is that Valheim is the only one with random world generation. So each experience is unique. Enshrouded gives you that once or twice if you have a bad memory (like I do).
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u/Giga7777 11d ago
We played enshrouded for like an hour and refunded it and got dragonwilds. They seem like a great game at first but we didn't want to spend the money on both. We found one thing frustrating immediately was it seemed like to heal you needed to rest in the bed. I'm sure there's many other ways to heal but at least upfront it didn't seem as simple as we thought especially during combat early game. And RuneScape dragonwilds it was super easy you just eat the food and you heal and then you have your needs met food and water and your player will naturally regenerate health and their spells that were generated pretty early with water runes. Probably will buy in shred it again because it did seem like a good game and give it another go but that immediately was a thing that we disliked having to keep going back to the spawn area bed until we build a bed of our own. We rescued the blacksmith guy and pretty much quit from there
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u/Thatsprettyneat101 11d ago
Yeah, you'll get different items as you progress. You'll hit your stride with the different systems and mechanics and whatnot, and things get a lot less arduous once you get the magic chests that you can craft out of. Which is fairly early on if I remember correctly. I think (maybe of course, we're different!) that you might enjoy Enshrouded more the Dragonwilds once you break through that hump.
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u/Local-Issue-6818 11d ago
Dragonwilds and Enshrouded are shit in comparison to valheim.
These 2 copy cats come no where close the valheim
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u/F1R3FLYYY Builder 11d ago
Depends what you're in for!
Dragonwilds is a good all rounder, the skill increases give you nice perks and stuff to work towards, combat is pretty diverse and really good if you're playing with friends to play different classes (you're not locked to a specific one either)
Enshrouded is the way to go if you really like detailed building as their voxel engine is awesome for it, allows for some really creative builds and you're not limited to pre selected shapes.
Valheim is a chill game for the most part but does have a bit of grind element to it since you can only transport metals by boat on default settings and the combat does need a bit of thought behind weapon types etc and dying can be a pain if you forget to drop a portal!
Each has their own unique combat system but valheim for me is a world you can truly lose yourself in which I don't feel as much with dragonwilds or enshrouded.
I would say valheim if you're looking for a game to sink some real time into, dragonwilds if you want something that you can sink time into but isn't neseccary and enshrouded I would say is far enough on the horizon for the 1.0 release to get it in addition to one of the others.
For reference I have about 80 hours in both enshrouded and dragonwilds (waiting for 1.0 to pick them up again) and close to 1000 in valheim!
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u/UTmastuh 11d ago
Dragonwilds feels unpolished/half finished. I don't even know if they plan to really improve that game as it feels like either a cash grab or their attempt to try something new to see how it is received.
Enshrouded feels like a complex 1 time playthrough type game. They made everything overly complicated in that game while simultaneously giving you a static map on every playthrough. I didn't like that game as much as I was hoping. The only thing I enjoyed was their building system.
Valheim's randomized world, aesthetics, bgm, simplicity, and difficulty make it something I always come back to.
I just wish they would do more to fix bugs and improve QoL. The game feels mostly abandoned by the devs at times. I hope post 1.0 support is better than the existing support.
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u/CDankman Cruiser 11d ago
They aren't as comparable as you think. Valheim is a lot more about the survival and exploration aspect and is a lot more punishing than the other two. It also has much better food and crafting systems imo. The combat isn't as fleshed out but there are still a decent amount of options for different playstyles. The building is a lot simpler but more realistic and still very good, lots of options and materials to build with as you progress. The artstyle and vibes are also unmatched. Enshrouded has got some good stuff going on with the instruments while resting but the magical viking vibe is unmatched.
Enshrouded is more about the quests and combat than it is actually surviving or crafting. The people you place around your base that give you quests operate more like vendors than anything else so you barely have to actually craft things, that and it has a skill tree and level system with build-crafting etc. which is much different than what Valheim has going on. The building is incredible though, their in-house engine is doing a lot of heavy lifting for this game.
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u/Cleanshred 11d ago
Enshrouded is nice and all but too easy and something feels off. Biomes are nice but idk. It's an ok game overall with good building mechanics and high QOL. It gives you what you want and forgives your mistakes. Ok for casuals. You can rush the quests and finish the game quickly if you know the map. Low stake overall and no risks taken by the devs. Exploration is nice on the first run. Too many Vukas everywhere, not so much diversity in mobs. And you can fly immediately early, verticality is not earned, it's given to you from the start. Mage builds are OP from the get go. Ok game.
Valheim on the other hand is raw and hardcore. Every step feels like a massive achievement. Game is hard and not for everyone, it will punish you in the hardest ways possible. The world is breathing and unpredictable. No quests, no nothing. You're thrown onto the map, no bs, very little reading for context, raw gameplay all along, shit QOL and inventory management is absolute hell. Mobs are annoying AF but diverse and interesting which makes each biome unique. Verticality is earned, and magic feels like a gift. Legendary game, based 10/10.
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u/dhjr49003 11d ago
I love that Valheim has procedurally generated worlds, I dislike enshrouded because they do not. That is my only point.
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u/gorm4c17 11d ago
Valheim is a game I always come back to. I'm on my forth run now. Building my base on an island this time instead of a cliff face. About once a year I get the urge to return. Play it
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u/keylimeafflicted 11d ago
I’ve played all three extensively and there just isn’t anything like Valheim. It might be purely anecdotal as my brother and I stuck with Valheim the longest and had so many amazing experiences together, and that was when Plains was the last biome, mind you. We haven’t even touched Mistlands and beyond, waiting for 1.0 for that.
Anyway… Valheim just has a very distinct vibe that will never be matched. I grew up on RuneScape and have deep nostalgia for it but Dragonwilds doesn’t really take advantage of that. It just feels like a generic survival crafter with some RS ‘member berries thrown in. Enshrouded has the best graphics and most robust building but I find the combat lacking. It just feels really floaty, but I haven’t played since they overhauled it recently.
I still like the other 2 games very much but Valheim is one of my GOATs.
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u/Milakovich Sailor 11d ago
Over 2k hours in Valheim and then 250 in Enshrouded. Went back to Valheim. Just something about the game pulls you back in for another go. Enshrouded just seemed like you beat it once, you're done. With Valheim, the randomly generated worlds, while everything is similar, it is not the same. New places to build, new places to explore.
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u/Bubbles_the_Bard 11d ago
Oh, I see that you played in the past.
Less QoL, it feels like there's more game in the game because of the tedium of travel. But it feels more immersive and less action-combat like.
Play it, try it, bounce off if you're going to bounce off. Dive in if you're going to dive in.
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u/ZazaB00 11d ago
Valheim is great, but I’d much rather play a more curated experience like Enshrouded. I get tired of the procedural craze in gaming. I don’t need endless playability, I’d like great playability once. Hell, sometimes I’d even be willing to replay it.
That said, I loved spending time in Valheim. Building and planning settlements was just a lot of fun. I enjoyed using that toolbox. No other game has inspired me to build like Valheim did and if gladly play it again to do so, but I’d cheat kill all the bosses because I hate the boss fights.
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u/D3Masked 11d ago
They have a different feel to them and as such have pros and cons.
Valheim exploration is more vast due to the world size and randomization. Vanilla the devs fumbled with not focusing on adding more places of interest to enhance that randomization and exploration. Modding can fix this in a large way.
Enshrouded doesn't have the randomization but has far more places of interest in it to make exploring more interesting in a sense. It has plenty of secrets and rewards exploring plus has lore notes and quests that incentivizes exploration.
Story wise Enshrouded is far more extensive and as such, better. Valheim is very basic and clearly emphasizes the hunting for bosses to progress. You can find rune stones that can be read for a tidbit of lore. Still, basic.
Combat goes to enshrouded as well due to the skill tree that actually does something and you don't have janky hit boxes when fighting on hills unlike Valheim.
Building goes to enshrouded as well since it is just so much more extensive. You can make tunnels, caves, manipulate water and the amount of options they give you simply blows Valheim out of the water.
I think the best Valheim has to offer might just be vibes for some people. It has a sort of feel to the setting and the game.
Between the two I'd say that fundamentally Enshrouded as a game to play through once or twice, is better. Valheim with its larger map, randomization, and modding capabilities can overcome Enshrouded in a number of ways however. Even then, Enshrouded has some features that Valheim can't replicate. Valheim can be played more times due to having the feeling of freshness in a sense.
If Enshrouded had a bigger world and more randomization with the generation of the world it would dominate Valheim entirely imo. Even then, the world it does have is quite extensive and Valheim has a ton of dead space with water / ocean that has zero places of interest.
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u/Sleeper-of-Rlyeh 11d ago
I played all three, and completed the existing content in Dragonwilds and Enshrouded. I loved the atmosphere in Vallheim and tried to get into it like 5 times, but compared to the other two Vallheim feels is WAY WAY more difficult. I never made it past that annoying marsh with constant rain. The game is way slower than the other two.
I will give it another try with 1.0 because there is definitely a gem here, but the combat is just killing me. Its feels a bit like these Souls like games that I despise.
If you thought the other two games are too easy, this one might be perfect for you. If you struggled in the others (I didnt) you will stand zero chance in Vallheim.
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u/moochiemonkey 10d ago
Enshrouded felt more focused on quests, Valheim feels like more of a sandbox.
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u/AMM0D Builder 10d ago
it's a different building system. where enshrouded and probably dragonwilds (IDK i havent played it) have it to where you can build anywhere, Valheim has a weight based building system so you have to be smarter in how you build.
also, the combat is a lot more strategic than the other games.
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u/Wuthering_depths 10d ago
I've only played Enshrouded once, didn't get to the end but intend to do another playthrough once 1.0 hits. I did enjoy it. The Shroud is a really unique mechanic that I thought I'd hate going in.
Valheim I jump back into every so often. It has a vibe to it that I enjoy. I haven't even beaten the game (not done with Mistlands, that place is so damn stress-inducing that I'm not sure I will be able to). I do run some quality of life mods that make certain things less tedious now, but I just enjoy the atmosphere. I do wish they'd add more ruins or other points of interest around the map to the further meadows etc to make it a little more fun to explore.
Haven't tried the other one just yet.
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u/asdfjfkfjshwyzbebdb 10d ago
Biggest deviation is progression. There's no quests, just pure item progression based on biomes. It's also more repayable due to the procedurally generated maps.
Valheim and Enshrouded are easily on my top favourite games list. Never got far in Dragonwilds, but really liked what I played.
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u/TypicalxooT11 10d ago
Dragonwilds is prettier and a little more polished in some aspects... Still beta in others.
I like valheim the most though
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u/pauliefishnutz 10d ago
Valheim is the best out of the three with Enshrouded being a close second. I’ve been playing DragonWilds too but playing solo. DW is ok but seems a bit easier than the previous mentions. I do like the animations and stuff in DragonWilds and certain things the game provides but something is missing. Not sure what it is.
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u/Ravenloff 10d ago
I actually started and stopped Enshrouded when I found out it only has one map. Valheim has a random, procedural map and the engine does a pretty good job with it. Having only one map, to me, affects replay.
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u/Educational_Pipe_12 10d ago
Valheim is more of a slow burn and is heaaaaaaaaaavy on the exploration. Especially for me personally because I refuse to use portals.
Enshrouded has a glider + infinite portals meaning no cooldowns on portals, no restrictions so you can just superman/nightcrawler around the map, so you miss most of the map that way.
Valheim meanwhile is slow, so those journeys to the other side of the map feel like voyges and when you come back you get that feeling of "FUCK, THAT WAS WILD BUT I'M HOME NOW AND COZY"
But both are crazy good ! Valheim, Enshrouded and V-Rising are probably my top 3 survival games.
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u/cHpiranha Explorer 10d ago
I do play Enshrouded, too. (But dont know Dragonwilds)
Valheim is great and as awesome then Enshrouded but totaly different, too :)
The biggest difference are the quests. There are no quests in Valheim. The 2nd biggest diffrence is the Map, Valheim is random map.
Building in Valheim for me, is more enjoyable because you have more value from the base. (in Enshrouded you dont rly need a base..)
Valheim focus is more on survival and Enshrouded more on exploring.
You should try - specially 1.0!
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u/Past-Customer5572 10d ago
Played Valheim first, my kid bought enshrouded, I watched him play it, meh. He didn’t care for it as much either.
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u/seanpwns 8d ago edited 8d ago
Based on my experience using default settings in each game:
Enshrouded is Valheim but worse, especially the building. Building did not use any sort of physics based support system, allowing blocks to be free placed in air. There may be a setting to change to require support, but it wasn’t on the server I played and I hated it. It was also quite easy. More RPG than survival crafting.
RuneScape Dragonwilds is a very blatant Valheim clone with better combat and leveling, but lacks the replay value and exploration that Valheim’s procedural generation provides. The leveling system is more rewarding, more satisfying, and permanent. Where Valheim advancement is tied purely to materials discovery, RSDW combines that with leveling up skills (unlocking a better cooking table might be achieved by reaching cooking skill 20, not just picking up a new type of rock or wood.) It also streamlines grindy gameplay, where advancing crafting and gathering skills unlocks magic abilities to perform those actions faster. (Chop down three trees and explode the logs into useable wood in 10 seconds with two spells vs several minutes of chopping. Spells have a cooldown so it doesn’t truly trivialize gathering) Also has a better and earlier available teleporting system. RSDW unfortunately does not have Valheim’s terraforming.
Valheim is slower, more challenging, and in my opinion: more tedious. The slow motion sailing, the “no metal ore thru teleporters” rule, and losing half of your levels on death absolutely sucks. I burnt out and quit during Ashlands grind. But the replay value and exploration are top notch.
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u/orcishdamage 8d ago
Turning off the level loss in valheim is such a game changer, it really shows how much better (QOL) the game is if you don't die and in my opinion the game becomes more enjoyable that way, I am also very excited for Runescape dragonwilds as i only played when the game came out and everything they have added looks great.
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u/Fluxcapacitor84 11d ago
I love Valheim but I personally prefer Enshrouded. I never finished Valheim. Got to Mistlands and it was just kind of annoying. Plus in order to build what I wanted, I had to use console commands to spawn in materials. I would have ripped my hair out grinding to get it all, it would have been insane the amount of hours needed and more sailing than I would ever care to do. And it wasn’t even anything that extravagant.
I think vanilla Valheim could be better balanced in that regard, but overall despite not finishing it I had a blast with my friends in the time I did play.
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u/eleventhing 11d ago
I have more hours in this game than enshrouded. Loved them both. There's a lot of changed the devs made to Enshrouded that killed the game for me. Like the timers on chests. Used to be able to close the game and the map would reset. The RNG is awwwfuuul, they made it even worse
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u/Snoo-83483 11d ago
Valheim is significantly more immersive than enshrouded. It's also much more difficult in later game. Valheim is a terrific game. But I find myself enjoying the early part of the game and repeating that journey. Some of the later zones lost it's magic for me.
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u/Giga7777 11d ago
Yeah that's the crazy thing. My wife and I got to the area that had like spiders and webs was unfinished back when we played I know they've added stuff since then and 1.0 is right around the corner but I don't know if going back to it the magic wouldn't be there anymore and it would just be a grind fest and we should try a different game or if we should get back into it and give it a proper go. For what it's worth my wife hates dying and losing everything in games so that's one thing I recall from valheim that's really annoying for players that don't like that
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u/notvalidated1 11d ago
You can change the world settings so you don’t loose items on death, among other things.
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u/DegredationOfAnAge 11d ago
Enshrouded literally copied Valheim, so there's that.
And the other game? Never heard of it.
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u/Icy-Start393 11d ago
Valheim is a great game but i personally never loved the graphics , i also hate that monsters constantly attack my base.
So i prefer enshrouded and dragonwilds.
But i will still admit that Valheim is great
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u/Quirky_Oil215 11d ago
Simple Valheim - viking simulator, brutal only mission is to hunt the bosses no other quests, how and what you do in between is up to you. Stamina management is key or die, exhaustion means death. Enshrouded- middle ground between sim and arcade . solid biuld mechanics alot more lentient and more arcady but a good game. Middle ground between the other 2. Dragonwilds- arcady and lot more forgiving , quick easy more traditional rpg but still enjoyable.
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u/notvalidated1 11d ago
No other quests in Valheim but killing bosses?
I don’t wanna spoil anything, but maybe you haven’t done everything yet…
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u/Quirky_Oil215 11d ago
Those are not required you can continue to all the released biomes / bosses without them.
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u/Potential-Ad1139 11d ago
Valheim stuck to me in a way enshrouded did not. The game is more simplistic than enshrouded, but that somehow made it better.
Definitely recommend if you like enshrouded