Gaming Babble: Sons of the Forest

So it's been a while. Not much to say in terms of what's been going on. Work, work, work, work, work, D&D! Sleep, Grounded, sleep, work... rinse repeat.

But then, on Thursday came something new...

... which was promptly interrupted by loadshedding and apparently a crashed Steam. But yes, Sons of the Forest, sequel to 'The Forest', is out on early access.

How is it? ... Pretty good. The first few hours was really rough as I took a while before figuring out things. I've not gone spelunking too much - creepy mutants creeping me out! - but I've run around the new island, and around cannibals who didn't like me running through their camps, and the game is very pretty. And good. So. Pretty good then.

The premise is that you're part of a squad who gets sent to an island to find a billionaire and his family. Soon after your helicopter takes a tumble in one of three locations on the map and you start off to continue your mission and survive and not get eaten by cannibals, not be killed by mutants, not starve, not thirst to death, or not find other horrible ways to expire.

There are a number of similarities to The Forest. Crafting has expanded but basically works the same way: Gather ingredients, combine them, boom. The difference is that there at least seems to be a lot more items available than before. Your inventory expands quite a bit and you have to swing your cursor around left and right to make sure you spot everything that you've accumulated so far. Being early access, there are a number of things subject to change. Currently some plants are hugely overpowered while others are pointless to gather. Some weapons are effective, others are like using a fly swatter on that big lady's ass in Resident Evil - meaning: pointless but amusing.

A big difference is how building works. There are a few pre-fab buildings that are built in similar ways to the original game: gather logs and lob it in the blueprint area. But the developers have decided to make free building a thing. It takes some getting used to and, as with all things, there are bugs, but I managed to craft a cabin for myself with a ramp and I'm currently working on a palisade-esque wall to surround the area. It's a lot of work but it'll be worth it, I'm sure.

Then there are the additions of companion AI. The first you encounter not far from where start. Kelvin is a useful companion who can't hear you swear at him... which is probably for the better. ;)

The other companion I've encountered so far thinks she's a gazelle. She runs her ass off the moment you swing your axe at a nearby tree, or when the baddies arrive. She eventually warms up to you if you do the things she wants you to do - like not swing weapons around her, not follow her or "chase" after her, etc.  

But this isn't Mass Effect. You're not here to interact with your companions to maneuver them into a er position. They seem to be helpful additions, but I haven't gotten far enough to see how helpful that is. I've only played 10 hours of the game, which is honestly not much but to get an impression of the game. From what I have gathered, I can say that the game does need a lot of work, there are still quite a few adjustments, tweaks, and bug squishing that needs to happen. But with that being said, I'm having fun. 

Still not keen on spelunking though... don't want to fight the mutants, eeeeek!