Select Games to Compare
Benchmark your exact mobile GPU wattage (TGP), battery throttling drops, and cooling pad requirements for these games.
The Ascent vs Enshrouded
| close | close |
|---|---|
| shopping_cart Where to Buy | |
| info General Information | |
| Release Date | |
| Jul 29, 2021 | Jan 24, 2024 |
| Developer | |
| Neon Giant | Keen Games GmbH |
| Publisher | |
| Curve Digital | Keen Games GmbH |
| Genre(s) | |
| Action RPG, Twin-Stick Shooter, Cyberpunk, Co-Op, Indie | Survival Action RPG, Open World, Voxel Crafting, Action-Adventure, Co-op |
| Engine | |
| Unreal Engine 4 | Holistic Engine (Proprietary Custom Voxel Engine) |
| stars Ratings & Price | |
| Content Rating | |
| Mature | Teen |
| Avg. User Rating | |
| 4.1 / 5.0 | 4.6 / 5.0 |
| Current Price (USD) | |
| $29.99 | $29.99 |
| tune Key Specs | |
| Quick Highlights | |
|
|
| sports_esports Gameplay & Mechanics | |
| Companions/Followers | |
|
|
| Key Collectibles | |
|
|
| Key Themes | |
|
|
| colorize Combat & Gear | |
| Weapons Overview | |
|
|
| Armor / Gear Sets | |
|
|
| Outfits/Customization | |
|
|
| trending_up Progression & Upgrades | |
| Skills & Progression | |
|
The Ascent features a deep ARPG progression system. Players level up to earn Skill Points, which are invested into attributes like Tactical Sense, Weapon Handling, Aiming, and Evasion. The game's defining feature is its 'Cyberware' system. Players can install active augmentations (such as launching a barrage of homing missiles or summoning an explosive spider mech) and passive modules (like increasing maximum health or adding dodge-roll evasion). Additionally, the 'Cyberdeck' acts as a hacking tool that players must continually upgrade to slice open high-level corporate doors, ATMs, and hostile automated turrets. |
Progression in Enshrouded merges survival crafting with an expansive, interconnected 360-degree skill tree. Players earn skill points by completing quests and chopping down Shroud Roots, branching freely across three core archetypes: Warrior (specializing in heavy two-handed weaponry, shield parries, tank resilience, and health regeneration), Ranger (focusing on bows, specialty explosive arrows, stamina efficiency, stealth, and critical headshots), and Mage (channeling staffs, wands, healing auras, and devastating elemental spells like Chain Lightning and Meteor). The central hub progression centers around the 'Flame Altar': spending gathered Sparks, monster trophies, and resources strengthens the Flame, permanently raising player attribute caps, extending the Shroud survival timer, and unlocking access to higher-tier red Shroud zones. |
| public World & Exploration | |
| World & Level Design | |
|
Veles is designed vertically, separated into distinct 'Tiers' that represent the socio-economic status of its inhabitants. 'The Warrens' and 'Deepstink' are the lowest tiers, characterized by claustrophobic slums, raw sewage, and heavy industrial machinery. The mid-tiers feature bustling commercial hubs, neon-soaked nightclubs, and dense residential blocks. The absolute pinnacle, 'The Pinnacle', is where the corporate elite reside in clean, opulent, sunlit luxury. Exploring the map involves seamlessly riding massive elevators and traversing open urban battlegrounds filled with countless interactive NPCs, alien races, and destructible cover. |
Embervale is a colossal, seamless handcrafted open world spanning diverse geographical and climatic zones. Major regions include the Springlands (rolling green meadows, abandoned farming hamlets, and the iconic Braelyn Bridge), the Revelwood (a dense temperate forest of colossal ancient trees, spider-infested hollows, and overgrown ruins), the Nomad Highlands (arid sandstone savannas, rugged canyons, and fortified Scavenger mining outposts), the Kindlewastes (a scorching desert plateau dotted with ancient sun temples and deadly dunes), and the Albaneve Summits (treacherous frozen peaks with howling blizzards and steep glaciers). Cutting across all regions are sunken valley depressions smothered in the deadly Shroud, requiring careful timer management. |
| Playable Vehicles | |
|
|
| Notable Fauna/Mounts | |
|
|
| book Story & Characters | |
| Main Characters | |
|
|
| Example Missions | |
|
|
| people Multiplayer | |
| Multiplayer Details | |
|
The Ascent features both single-player and up to 4-player cooperative multiplayer. Uniquely for a modern game, it fully supports 'couch co-op' (local multiplayer on a shared screen) as well as online co-op. Playing with a squad fundamentally changes the combat dynamic, allowing players to synergize their cyberware—such as one player acting as a heavy tank with energy shields while others use sniper rifles and hacking abilities to control the battlefield. Enemy health and spawns scale dynamically based on the player count. |
Supports drop-in/drop-out cooperative multiplayer for 1 to 16 players on both player-hosted worlds and dedicated servers. The game emphasizes collaborative progression: all players in a session contribute to and benefit from shared Flame Altars, unlocked craftspeople recipes, and fast-travel spires. Dynamic difficulty scaling adjusts enemy health, damage, and horde reinforcements based on party size, while complementary skill trees encourage dedicated team roles (such as front-line tanks taunting bosses while healers cast restorative auras and rangers apply poison debuffs). |
| extension Editions & DLC | |
| Available Editions | |
|
The Ascent launched on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S (including Day One on Xbox Game Pass) on July 29, 2021, and later expanded to PS4 and PS5. The base game is sold standalone, but Curve Games also released the 'Cyber Edition' bundle, which packages the base game with the 'Cyber Heist' story DLC and several cosmetic/weapon packs, including the 'Cyber Warrior Pack' and the 'CyberSec Pack'. These premium packs offer unique Samurai-inspired armor sets, animated weapon skins, and tactical grenades. |
Enshrouded is available on PC via Steam at $29.99 USD ($23.99 during periodic sales), which includes full access to all Early Access updates and the upcoming Version 1.0 commercial launch on October 15, 2026. A planned 'Flameborn Supporter Edition' ($39.99 USD) packages the full game alongside the official digital orchestral soundtrack composed by German composers, an interactive digital lore and concept art book, and exclusive cosmetic building block materials (such as Imperial Marble and Gilded Stone bricks). |
| Post-Launch Content / DLC | |
|
Neon Giant provided excellent post-launch support. The major expansion, 'Cyber Heist' (released August 2022), takes place immediately after the main campaign. It introduces new overworld locations, new main and side missions, and highly requested melee weapons like the Rock Crusher and Guillotine. Additionally, several cosmetic DLCs ('CyberSec Pack', 'Cyber Warrior Pack') were added, alongside free game updates that introduced a highly requested Transmogrification system (allowing players to change their armor's appearance without losing stats) and a New Game+ mode. |
Keen Games has maintained an aggressive development cadence driven by player-voted features on Feature Upvote. Major updates leading into Version 1.0 include the introduction of dynamic weather and water biomes, animal husbandry and pet companions, musical instruments with bardic buffs, customizable server world modifiers, instanced dungeon Hollow Halls, and expanded mountain regions. Post-1.0 plans include seasonal festivals, community building contests, and official modding support. |
| help_outline FAQ | |
| Frequently Asked Questions | |
|
|
| build Technical Details | |
| Graphics & Visual Fidelity | |
|
Despite being developed by an incredibly small indie team of 11 people at Neon Giant, The Ascent boasts 'AAA' visual fidelity. The game is played from a classic isometric perspective, but the camera seamlessly shifts and pans to showcase the breathtaking scale of the arcology. The environmental detail is staggering, with hundreds of physics objects, volumetric smoke, and neon signs reflecting in rain-slicked puddles. The implementation of Ray Traced reflections and shadows on PC is considered some of the best in the industry, making the grimy, futuristic city look hyper-realistic. |
Rendered in Keen Games' proprietary custom voxel engine, Enshrouded produces breathtaking vistas with painterly fantasy lighting. Realistic day-night cycles illuminate rolling hills and ruined castles, while dense blue Shroud mist blankets low-lying valleys with volumetric godrays. The voxel tech allows micro-level architectural detail where bricks, wood grain, and carved stone blend naturally into the natural terrain without jagged blockiness. |
| Audio & Soundtrack | |
|
The auditory experience is a standout feature, headlined by a pulsating, heavy synthwave soundtrack composed by Paweł Błaszczak (known for his work on Dying Light and The Witcher). The music dynamically shifts from brooding, atmospheric synthesizer hums during exploration to aggressive, high-tempo club beats during massive firefights. The weapon sound design is incredibly punchy, and the diverse alien languages spoken by the ambient crowds make the arcology feel like a true melting pot. |
The soundscape evokes a rich sense of ancient mystery and high adventure. Acoustic guitars, lutes, and gentle orchestral strings create a serene, pastoral ambiance while building and tending settlements in the sunlit Overworld. In contrast, descending into the Shroud immediately transitions the score into haunting, dissonant ambient drones punctuated by eerie whispering winds and screeching mutants. Combat audio delivers crunchy satisfaction: booming shield parries, resonant bowstring twangs, and the thunderous crumbling of voxel terrain under heavy hammer impacts. |
| User Interface (UI/UX) | |
|
The UI embraces the cyberpunk aesthetic with sleek, red-and-cyan holographic menus. In combat, the HUD displays a health bar, energy meter (for augmentations), and a tactical charge meter. One of the best UI features is the 'Waypoint' system; pressing a button projects a glowing digital line on the ground guiding the player to their next objective, seamlessly integrating navigation into the world without cluttering the screen with permanent mini-maps. |
The game features a sleek, modern fantasy UI designed for seamless controller and keyboard/mouse navigation. A prominent countdown dial indicates remaining Shroud survival time when venturing into the fog. The inventory system features clear rarity color-coding (Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic, Legendary), stack-sorting buttons, and quick-deposit hotkeys for base storage chests. The building interface offers an intuitive visual block selector allowing players to place individual voxels, pre-fabricated walls, staircases, and ornate architectural trim with snap-to-grid accuracy. |
| Accessibility Options | |
|
The game offers standard accessibility settings including text scaling, subtitle backgrounds, and UI color adjustments. It also includes highly customizable aim-assist settings, which is incredibly helpful for players using gamepads in a fast-paced twin-stick shooter. Difficulty can be adjusted at any time, allowing players to scale back enemy damage if a particular boss fight proves too punishing. |
Keen Games has implemented comprehensive accessibility settings: fully customizable controller and keyboard keybindings, toggleable camera bobbing and screenshake sliders, adjustable FOV up to 110 degrees, dedicated colorblind presets (Protanopia, Deuteranopia, Tritanopia) that enhance HUD reticles and Shroud boundary markers, scalable interface text, and extensive server world settings (including custom death penalties, stamina drain rates, and daytime length sliders). |
| video_library Media Links | |
| Gameplay Video | |
| launchWatch | launchWatch |
| Walkthrough/Guide | |
| launchView | launchView |
| settings_applications System Requirements | |
| 1080p (Full HD) - Recommended (High Preset, 1080p (60 FPS Target)) CPU: Official recommended processors, providing enough multi-threaded overhead to eliminate stuttering during massive explosive encounters. CPU (Laptop): Ensures perfectly fluid frame pacing, critical for twin-stick shooter responsiveness. GPU: Official recommended GPUs. The 8GB VRAM buffer is necessary to run the game with high-quality textures and dense volumetric lighting. GPU (Laptop): Guarantees a locked 60 FPS at 1080p on high settings, with enough overhead for mild Ray Tracing. RAM: The official recommendation to ensure seamless asset streaming when running through the open world. Storage: NVMe SSD. | |
memoryCPU: Intel Core i7-6700K (4 * 4000) or equivalent / AMD Ryzen 5 2600 (6 * 3400) or equivalent developer_boardGPU: Geforce GTX 1070 (8192 MB) / Radeon RX 5700 (8192 MB) laptop_macCPU (L): Intel Core i7-9750H / AMD Ryzen 7 4800H laptop_windowsGPU (L): NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile / RTX 4050 Mobile layersRAM: 16 GB saveStorage (Tier): 35 GB available space | memoryCPU: Intel Core i7-8700 (3.7 GHz 6-Core) / AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (3.7 GHz 8-Core) developer_boardGPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super (6GB+ VRAM) / AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT (6GB+ VRAM) / Intel Arc A770 laptop_macCPU (L): Intel Core i7-11800H / AMD Ryzen 7 5800H laptop_windowsGPU (L): NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile (85W+) / RTX 4060 Mobile (80W+) layersRAM: 16 GB saveStorage (Tier): 60 GB NVMe M.2 SSD |
| 1080p (Full HD) - Minimum (Low Preset, 1080p (30 FPS Target)) CPU: The official minimum processors required to handle the baseline game logic, AI crowds, and destructible physics. CPU (Laptop): Older quad-core mobile CPUs will struggle slightly in crowded hubs but can run the game at minimum settings targeting 30-45 FPS. GPU: The official minimum GPUs. Players will need to keep visual settings low to accommodate older hardware while rendering the busy cityscapes. GPU (Laptop): Capable of providing a playable 1080p experience on low/medium settings without Ray Tracing. RAM: Official minimum required system memory. Storage: SSD drive strongly recommended. | |
memoryCPU: Intel Core i5-3470 (4 * 3200) or equivalent / AMD FX-8350 (4 * 4000) or equivalent developer_boardGPU: GeForce GTX 660 (2048 MB) / Radeon R9 390X (8192 MB) laptop_macCPU (L): Intel Core i5-8300H / AMD Ryzen 5 3550H laptop_windowsGPU (L): NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile layersRAM: 8 GB saveStorage (Tier): 35 GB available space | memoryCPU: Intel Core i5-6400 (2.7 GHz 4-Core) / AMD Ryzen 5 1500X (3.5 GHz 4-Core) developer_boardGPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (6GB VRAM) / AMD Radeon RX 580 (6GB VRAM) / Intel Arc A380 laptop_macCPU (L): Intel Core i5-8300H / AMD Ryzen 5 3550H laptop_windowsGPU (L): NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile (6GB) / RTX 3050 Mobile (6GB, 60W+) layersRAM: 16 GB saveStorage (Tier): 60 GB available space (SATA SSD / HDD) |
| 1440p (QHD/2K) - Enthusiast (Ultra Preset, 1440p (60+ FPS Target)) CPU: Modern mid-to-high end CPUs provide massive overhead, ensuring AI pathfinding doesn't halt the render thread. CPU (Laptop): Easily powers the game's logic while driving higher resolution laptop displays. GPU: Handles the increased pixel count cleanly, ensuring razor-sharp visuals on neon signs and metallic cybernetics. GPU (Laptop): Provides the necessary compute overhead for 1440p rendering on portable panels. RAM: Optimal configuration for modern systems. Storage: NVMe SSD. | |
memoryCPU: Intel Core i5-10400 / AMD Ryzen 5 3600 developer_boardGPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super / AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT laptop_macCPU (L): Intel Core i7-11800H / AMD Ryzen 7 5800H laptop_windowsGPU (L): NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile / RTX 4060 Mobile layersRAM: 16 GB saveStorage (Tier): 35 GB available space | memoryCPU: Intel Core i7-12700K / AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D developer_boardGPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 (12GB) / AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT (16GB) laptop_macCPU (L): Intel Core i7-13700HX / AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS laptop_windowsGPU (L): NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile (115W+) / RTX 3080 Mobile (130W) layersRAM: 32 GB saveStorage (Tier): 60 GB PCIe Gen4 NVMe M.2 SSD |
| 2160p (UHD/4K) - Ultra (Max Preset + Ray Tracing, 4K (60 FPS with DLSS/FSR)) CPU: Ensures absolutely no bottlenecks at the highest visual fidelity. CPU (Laptop): Desktop-grade performance in a mobile chassis. GPU: Powers the grueling 4K resolution, rendering the breathtaking ray-traced puddles and neon reflections flawlessly. GPU (Laptop): Required to maintain a stable 4K frame rate on an external display. RAM: Optimizes system stability and ensures zero background application interference. Storage: Gen4 NVMe SSD. | |
memoryCPU: Intel Core i7-10700K / AMD Ryzen 7 5800X developer_boardGPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 / AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT laptop_macCPU (L): Intel Core i9-12900H laptop_windowsGPU (L): NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Mobile / RTX 4080 Mobile layersRAM: 32 GB saveStorage (Tier): 35 GB available space | memoryCPU: Intel Core i7-14700K / AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D developer_boardGPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 (16GB) / AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX (24GB) laptop_macCPU (L): Intel Core i9-14900HX / AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX laptop_windowsGPU (L): NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile (175W) layersRAM: 32 GB saveStorage (Tier): 60 GB PCIe Gen4/Gen5 NVMe SSD |
| save Overall Storage | |
| Spec: 35 GB available space Note: An SSD is highly recommended to eliminate loading hitches when taking the elevator or transit trains between the massive vertical tiers of Veles. Type: Unknown | Spec: 60 GB available space (Solid State Drive Recommended) Note: Solid-state storage is strongly recommended to prevent asset streaming hitches during high-speed gliding and fast-travel transitions. Type: SSD |
| desktop_windows Operating System | |
| Spec: Windows 10 x64 Explanation: A 64-bit operating system is strictly required by the engine to efficiently manage memory allocation across the massive, seamless cyberpunk metropolis. | Spec: Windows 10 64-bit / Windows 11 64-bit Explanation: Requires a 64-bit Windows operating system supporting low-overhead multi-threaded graphics APIs and modern memory addressing. |
| gamepad DirectX Version | |
Spec: Version 11 (Minimum) / Version 12 (Recommended) Explanation: DirectX 11 provides baseline compatibility, but DirectX 12 is officially required to enable the game's advanced Ray Tracing features and DLSS support. | Spec: DirectX 12 / Vulkan compatible Explanation: Utilizes modern low-level graphics APIs for high-performance multi-threaded draw calls, dynamic voxel chunk meshing, and volumetric fog scattering. |
| info_outline Other Game Notes | |
|
|
| build Optimization Details | |
|
|
| laptop Laptop Considerations | |
|
|
info_outline Feature details based on available data. System requirements and performance estimates may vary.
laptop_chromebook Laptop Recommendations
Common Recommendations (Handles All Compared Games)
For The Ascent Specifically
For Enshrouded Specifically
info_outline Laptop recommendations are estimates based on available component benchmarks and game requirements. Actual performance may vary depending on settings, drivers, cooling, power limits, etc. Prices and availability subject to change. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.