Yesterday, my friends Jamie, Shadey, Apple and I completed a playthrough of Sons of the Forest, a sequel to The Forest, which I wrote about a little over a year ago. Developed by Endnight Games, Sons of the Forest was released in February 2024, and I have to say I found it, in many ways, significantly better than the first game.
The ethos of Sons of the Forest is the same as its predecessor: a first-person survival horror game supporting up to four players, in which we play as stranded characters on an island filled with cannibals, monsters and many secrets to uncover. The island is much bigger this time around, and there are some fun vehicles to help players get around. The crafting system is largely the same, but with many more items and options, as you might expect. While I did not do a lot of building myself, I believe my friends appreciated the improvements to the building system once they had got used to it and built us a very cool base.
Playing Sons of the Forest is probably pretty scary, but with my friends I actually couldn’t help but laugh at some of the more deranged aspects of the game and how we embraced them. We would become cannibals ourselves and cook ‘Greg‘ from the arms, legs and head of the natives, wear ‘Creepy Armour‘ made from the flesh of monsters, and create objects around our base such as a lamp made from deer hide and someone’s leg, or a clock using someone’s hand and arm, which, ironically, is wearing a watch. I’m sure I don’t need to point out the crucifix on top of our house. I can’t speak for Apple, but I can safely say that Jamie, Shadey and I aren’t religious at all, we just found it funny.
Of all the deranged objects, I have to say the chair below is my favourite, and yes, that is a lightbulb stuck in someone’s dismembered head and is powered by a nearby solar panel.
One added bonus of this playthrough for me was playing with Apple, who Jamie and Shadey introduced me to. Being as introverted and shy as I am, it can be hard for me to make friends, but I have to say that Apple seems really nice and, at times, funny. I don’t know him well, but he seems quite busy and has many hobbies and interests outside of gaming, which is cool, but I hope to play with him some more in the future. Here is a picture of Jamie, Shadey and Apple wearing their ‘Ancient Armour‘ towards the end of our play through.
No spoilers, but there are several endings to Sons of the Forest, and there are some big reveals that I decided not to include in this post, as I don’t want to ruin it for anyone. Suffice to say, there will be another Forest game to look forward to, which will hopefully conclude the mysteries we have uncovered in both games so far.
Leave a comment