First: Apologies for my absence lately. Initially I was spending my limited free time getting my new rifle set up, scope mounted, bore sighted, deep-cleaned and more for my first range trip of the new year, and then.. I got COVID, which even while vaccinated and boosted WITH Paxlovid was not a fun experience given my health problems. I’m back, now, and will be putting out a good chunk of content I’ve had planned over the next week!
The Forest was a solid survival game; something almost like a more adult-focused Minecraft.
Sons of the Forest sought to basically continue that experience with some basic updates, but the core game is still the same: Set up a home base, explore, and survive.. Storyline completely optional.
In the new entry we have companions, a more detailed building system, and clever AI that all come together cohesively. My first 4 hours thus far have been exceptionally enjoyable.. Even when I died.
The game doesn’t hold your hand, much like in The Forest, so if you’re not familiar with the former don’t feel ashamed if you die a few times as you try to get familiar with things.
While nothing spectacular, the graphics have been improved in Sons of the Forest and are much more immersive. Performance on Ultra on an RTX 3080 could occasionally be hit & miss, but I chalk that up to early access and pending optimizations. It’s pretty much standard now that games tend to perform better after the developer collects more real-world feedback to create patches.
Combat itself feels better overall: There is more weight to your attacks, and some enemies will require a little bit of extra thought as to whether you should outright engage immediately or let them make the first move.
Companions are a huge boon; Kelvin saved me massive amounts of time and effort, so don’t neglect to make use of him. Of course, he’s unable to participate in combat due to (at the very least) hearing loss.. However, he’s not the only companion in the game.
Expect a full review in the coming weeks, but if you’re itching to play something now, I’d say go ahead and grab it. The game has some early access jank, but so far I haven’t encountered anything show-stopping at all.