Remember when you were a kid that was facing the inevitability of a scolding by your parents? Every single one of us has experienced a good dose of reason shoved into our faces by others, especially by our mom or dad. And one phrase that resonates with me and has achieved a near meme status is the classic “I’m not mad at you, I’m disappointed”. Hearing that was the equivalent of having a dagger cut straight into our hearts, some of them still bleeding from trauma.
You see, Sons of the Forest suffers this exactly. It isn’t a horrible, horrible mess. Far from it, if taken by its own merits, it is a very fun game. But taking all the context and mainly its predecessor into consideration, it is just a disappointing delivery that focuses more on what could be than on what it is. Think of it as a father that finds out his son is in trouble. There is a part of it that feels frustrated not by what his kid is, after all, he loves him profoundly. No, that frustration comes from the potential this man feels his son may achieve. Can the father’s vision become too much for the kid to accomplish? Maybe. But let us be honest, is Sons of the Forest the best thing Endnight can release? Not by a long shot.
The Curse of Sequels
Terminator 2, Toy Story 2, The Dark Knight, Assassin’s Creed 2, Halo 2, Arkham City, Silent Hill 2. Those are just some names of sequels that can be considered bigger and better than their predecessor. Imagine the number of sequels that only match their predecessors. The list is considerably larger. Now, think about the list of disappointing releases that fail to live up to the first entry of the series. Endless, right? Why is that? Is it the amount of hype and anticipation? Maybe the masterpiece status of the original releases renders the task of making a better product impossible. But, after all, there are some movies and games that have achieved the impossible.
In the case of Sons of the Forest, we can see far better graphics and an improved AI. After all, the developers enjoyed great success for The Forest, and that revenue can be seen in those aspects of the game. But, what about the story? What about the building capabilities? Is it that difficult to lock doors or create a defensive wall gate? I mean, the blueprints are already there! What about some cutscenes? Only one at the end? Boss battles? No? Oh well. Can I at least catch some rain? No? Only drinking from rivers? Ok, I got it. Well, at least it was advertised as an Early Access game experience, right? No? Oh, man.
Early Access to What, Exactly?
I have been criticizing Early Access gaming since I first came across the idea. Maybe the formats of yore didn’t have any room for beta testing, but one day the game wasn’t out, and the next day it was. No third state of release, no beta, and no Early Access. Now, some advantages can be denied. Arguably, a developer will be, in theory, more connected to their audience and following, increasing interactivity and accountability.
Some players also enjoy the feeling of being part of the development of the game, taking the role of a QA of sorts. And yet again, game studios still have QA teams, or at least they hire a third party to take care of this step. The thing is, QA teams base their work on completing specific tasks and objectives. The players that go through the Early Access state of a game find their encouragement and fuel in one simple word: promises.
Promises Can Be Broken
Promises are the base of what Early Access is. It is basically what makes this sort of release form feasible. “Yes the game is buggy, lacking content, and not very stable, but here is an endless list of things that we will implement slowly throughout the following 3 years”. Ok, great. One question, though. What guarantees that the developers will implement the promises indeed? I mean, these are not emails that you can program and send later.
No, these are real people working behind the scenes to deliver those promises, and people are prone to fail. Especially if the game doesn’t perform great because it is, well, incomplete! Sometimes I feel Early Access is just a made-up concept to avoid a No Man’s Sky type of situation, justifying a mediocre release of a game, with the future development cycle to fulfill one’s promises. Just a reminder, No Man’s Sky was released in 2016. It’s been 7 years since and a good bunch of them was focused on fixing and implementing things that Sean Murray said were already in the game. There is only one Hello Games and only one Sean Murray.
A Love for Gaming?
What I wanted to say is that Sons of the Forest, far from being a fiasco or a straight rip-off, is a game that falls into the category of entertaining, but not anything else. Don’t get me wrong, entertaining is perfectly fine. I saw Quantumania and I found it funny and enjoyable. But then I remembered The Winter Soldier or Infinity War and wondered: “how did we get here?”.
No, not all video games have to be masterpieces, but I think all developers should aim for that. If not, where is the passion? Where is the love for gaming? Is game development now trimmed down to only releasing the bare minimum to make some quick bucks? Where is the ambition? The innovation? The heart? Yes, maybe Sons of the Forest will become the game it should be or could be. For the time being, there is only a game that is, and isn’t.
And for gamers, why do you fear criticism? Why do you want to shut down any dissident voice that refuses to call Sons of the Forest the GOAT or a GOTY? The amount of disrespect and straight-up harassment that a reduced, albeit a loud portion of the community engages with users that dare to criticize the game for the minimum. Yes, sometimes it may sound like nitpicking, but trying to silence criticism always leads to bad results. How will the game or future games improve if no one says what needs improvement? Just chill out for a bit. Oftentimes that same criticism comes from other fans that love a certain franchise. And I believe that love surpasses the one that says something is perfect and doesn’t need any type of change or improvement.
Related: What Happens When You Die in Sons of the Forest? Answered
To love is to say when something is wrong and needs improvement as well. I believe, and I can see, that there is a lot of love for The Forest franchise. Let us hope that the developers improve upon what has been released at the moment. Let us hope they will deliver on a promise of a full and better game at the end of the line. Hope, that is the word. Again, this is not a bad game, far from it. It is, in the eye of many fans, a disappointment.
Sons of the Forest is available on Windows. Please check out Gamer Journalist on Facebook to join the discussion and keep up to date with our content. You might also like to check out our guides on What is the Co-Op Limit in Sons of the Forest? Answered or Will Sons of the Forest Have Crossplay? Answered.
