Gathering, collecting, and harvesting are generally viewed as relaxing activities. This can be experienced in games such as Stardew Valley or My Time at Portia. Whereas in the opposite side of the spectrum; hunting, fighting, and trying not to die in the harsh wilderness is regarded as quite stressful. Now mash these two genres into one unique survival game where enduring the elements is just as crucial as taking the time to meditate. Developed by Head West and Published by Freedom Games, Retreat to Enen is an open world survival game that also encourages players to take a moment and breathe. Sure, this sounds like an oxymoron but Retreat to Enen tries to make it work.
Unlike other survival games such as The Forest or 7 Days to Die, there are no major antagonists in the land of Enen. No monsters, zombies, or even other players that could attack you. The most you would have to worry about are the occasional aggressive bears, hidden venomous snakes, and drinking dirty water. The main objective of Retreat to Enen is simple. You need to meditate, find golden domes of knowledge, and not die. Health, hydration, hunger, and mental health are crucial to maintaining the players wellbeing and are represented as 4 bars in the bottom right corner. Obviously, if the player is dehydrated or begins to starve the health bar will decrease. However, the meditation bar will also deplete health and will need to be recharged at least once a day.
Collecting, foraging, and running around the forests, makes up a majority of the gameplay. Unfortunately, players cannot make axes, hammers, or knives for easier material harvesting. Everything needed for building, medicine, and crafting, can all be found either from the ground or the walls. So be prepared to stare downward often as you pick up items, one at a time. This can also make it easy to get lost as certain areas all start to blend together after a while, and there are no compass or maps in this game. Creating and placing flags can be helpful but placing will backfire. Flag’s color cannot be changed and there is not a way to differentiate which flag is which when viewing from afar.
There are great aspects to Retreat to Enen, such as the beautiful scenery, atmosphere, and its promotion to relax. The main problem is that it’s a difficult concept to execute well together. Creating an entertaining open world survival is already hard enough as it is, but enforcing someone to relax while they are fighting for their life is impossible. If meditation was more of an optional feature to boost stats or increase health, players would be more inclined to do it. Couple this with a map feature and a less tedious building gameplay, then maybe Enen can really become the paradise players can go to.
PROS: Stunning graphics, clean sound design, and soothing environment
CONS: No maps, meditating is an extra burden to keep track of, gameplay feels clunky, and there’s not an option to re-read tutorials for the game. If you stop playing and try to get back after a week hiatus, there’s not a way to reacquaint yourself to the mechanics without starting over. Retreat to Enen would be better suited for VR.
Check Out the Retreat to Enen Trailer:
Retreat to Enen is available on PC via Steam and Epic Games Store for $24.99 with English language support. To learn more, visit Retreat to Enen’s official site and join the community on Twitter and Discord, and search #RetreatToEnen on social media.
Related: Reviews by Vivi Chen
Video games have always been a huge influence in my life and have definitely shaped me to who I am today . Some of my best memories growing up were the many adventures and stories I was able to experience and become immersed in. If my hands aren't either covered in clay, typing, editing, creating, or helping shoving food in my mouth, they would either be gripped to a controller, tapping away at the screen of my phone, or clicking away on my PC. I am always up for trying something new because why live just one life when you can live many.
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