The games industry is contractually obligated to provide us with at least one smash-hit survivalbox game every year – sorry, I don’t make the rules – and this year, we actually got two, one of them being Enshrouded. And now though its concurrency is down since its massive 2M-player launch, Keen Games is still cranking out new content. Today’s release marks the second major content update for the game; it’s called Melodies of the Mire, and yes, it’s partly a bard-themed update.
“Musical instruments were a highly requested feature, and they are finally included to allow players to live out their bard fantasies,” Keen says. “Players can pick up instruments such as the lute, harp, drums, or flute and have their friends join them in a cozy campfire song that grants a buff to help extend adventures while on the road. More instruments will be added along the way in future updates.”
For the non-musically inclined, the patch sees the introduction of a new sub-biome dubbed The Blackmire.
“Welcome to The Blackmire – an expansion of the Revelwoods, Deep Forest area with towering trees, rambling roots, and houses hidden between branches. The new area focuses even more on verticality in the world of Enshrouded, with some areas accessible by bouncing on the new jump pads. Also hiding amongst the trees are the Vukah, a faction of forest dwellers who look friend-shaped, but are quite vicious when they need to be. Other new wild beasts dwell beneath the colossal canopy, in the swamplands and underground areas. Mind your step – deep mud will bog you down if you’re not careful while adventuring.”
There’s more, of course, including new terrain and construction styles, dual-wield daggers, and (finally) the progression tweaks that allow players to finish server quests on their own playtime (this was the issue my own guildies complained about non-stop!). The 1.0 launch and console release of the game are still expected next year.
