Sons of the Forest is the brand new game from Endnight Studios, featuring an all-new spin on the Forest, which was released in 2018, and in Early Access as of 2014-18. Since the game pioneered the coop story-driven survival genre, things have changed significantly, so Sons of the Forest has also stepped up. While we don’t know everything about the game, there has been a few sneak peeks from the development process. Here’s a look at all the new features in Sons of the Forest so far.

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Here’s a rundown of all the new features coming to the Sons of the Forest. Image via Endnight.

All New Features in Sons of the Forest (So Far)¶

So far, we have some marketing material to see everything we know about Sons of the Forest. When we get our hands on the game, and begin to guide absolutely everything about this title, we will update this page with all we know.

So, what is changing between The Forest (2018) and Sons of the Forest (2023)? Well, there’s quite a lot. In summary, there are, but not limited to:

• Greater focus on ranged weapons
• Improved Building
• Improved Crafting Menu
• 3D Printing
• NPC Companions
• Season Changes
• Improved AI
• Follow up story

Improved building and Crafting¶

The building and craft in the Forest are somewhat feels rather archaic, considering it was designed with the 2014-18 survival genre crafting in minds. Gone are the blueprints, with slightly adjustable lengths and sizes. Instead, you will get tile pieces, similar to games like Conan Exiles. It will allow players to make their wood cabins and log mansions more detailed than ever before. So, if you’re a Norwegian log cabin enthusiast, you’re crafting campaigns will look and feel much better.

There’s also a greater focus on detail in how you craft. Rather than use toggles to determine things, you will use weapons and tools to update your buildings as you go. For example, if you hit a wooden wall with an axe at the top, you will carve out spikes and make them more defensible. In addition, there’s progressive fence building, so you can see your buildings come to life progressively, rather than all at once with the ghost placements of buildings.

Moreso, we have seen a few screenshots of the in-game crafting inventory, which is a much bigger backpack and blueprint. It’s likely the crafting is improved as well, but we’ve not seen much of that just yet.

One of the brand new things coming to the crafting feature in the game is 3D Printing. We only got a brief snapshot in one IGN video, but, we know that you can 3D print a mask. What the mask does for certain is unknown, but, the video footage did capture the player wearing a mask, while encountering a native that is also wearing a mask. It’s likely there’s many 3D printing recipes to find and make as you play through the game.

Improved AI¶

This segways nicely into the next topic, AI. AI has got an overhaul, with the designers saying that the NPCS will have leaders, personalities, decision-making, and even religions to follow. It means that over time, you will likely identify certain tribes by their religious practices, and which ones are more peaceful, diplomatic, or warlike.

In addition, some footage shows that while the native cannibals may not like you, they also hate the mutants more. So, there could be dynamic instances where you, the player, encounter some natives fighting off mutants, just like you do at your base. So, you can make friends in some situations, and influence an NPC leadership to befriend you. Not sure how deep that goes, but it certainly makes interacting with your native counterparts much more interesting.

But, lets be real, we are going to fight. So, how does the AI interact with war? We know AI will skirmish with you, raid you, sack your village, and more. In a raid, the AI will try to steal your resources. In one clip, you can see a native dragging one of your felled trees away to steal your lumber. It’s also reported in the Steam description that food can be scarce in winter, so, we expect that food supply will become a critical resource to fight over. Expect your hunts to be more competitive, and maybe even your farms to get raided.

Companions¶

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Companions are one of the highlight features of Sons of the Forest. Image via Endnight.

Now for an entirely brand-new feature in the game, companions. One of the cool things about RPGs is the potential to make fiends along the way. These friends of yours come into the gameplay loop, helping you out with your quests and more. Well, that has inspired Endnight to add their own into the game.

The first companion you can grab is Kalvin, a survivor of the Helicopter crash you emerge from. However, he has a head injury, and so, can’t speak, but can still follow orders. You can boss him about if you want to rescue him, telling him to go hunt, get logs, sticks, rocks, whatever. There are also a morale system that comes with it, so you can’t work him like a slave until he drops.

Speaking of death, if a companion dies, they are dead for the entire save. Luckily for you, you can grab more companions. One of the other companions showcased is a Virginia, one of the multi-limbed female mutants from The Forest. However, there’s one, in particular, you can befriend. Befriending her comes with perks, as she wields two ranged weapons, which makes her a fitting combatant companion from what we’ve seen so far.

We are still determining how many companions are in the game, but we expect there to be many more to encounter and make along your travels.

This sums up the most significant changes and new features in the Sons of the Forest. Good luck encountering the many more features still to come.

Sources: IGN Gameplay trailer.