The survival-horror genre has seen quite a few headliners over the generations, from Resident Evil to Silent Hill's heart-stopping gameplay. Modern developers are putting unique spins on their narratives, shifting from more predictable zombie apocalypse scenarios in favor of jump scare tactics. Endnight Games' The Forest in 2014 focused on cannibalistic mutants and was met with a largely positive reception, so Sons of The Forest has been long-anticipated by fans. Gather-and-craft mechanics are an essential component of survival games, and the recent success of Valheim's building system could serve as a guide for Sons of The Forest.
The popularity of games like DayZ encouraged many developers to follow suit with fort-building and crafting mechanisms, but Endnight Games' insistence on developing an overarching storyline and the unpredictable behavior of its cannibal antagonists propelled it to success despite a few shortcomings in gameplay. With a massive building system revamp coming in Sons of The Forest, the developer could look to games like Valheim for inspiration.
Sons of The Forest's Upgrades are Promising
Initially slated for release in 2022, Sons of The Forest has undergone a tumultuous development with three separate delays. Delays are an increasingly common part of gaming development, but multiple occurrences can make fans nervous. One recent example was Forspoken, whose repeated delays were a precursor to Forspoken's reviews not living up to pre-release hype. However, optimism remains for Sons of The Forest.
Given the gap in production between the first game and its sequel, a host of improvements are coming for gameplay elements and graphics. Sons of The Forest's playable map is reportedly four times larger than its predecessor, giving players a lot more room to navigate. Alongside the map expansion comes seasons, as Endnight Games seeks a more immersive experience. Seasons will presumably affect food sources, material gathering, and enemy behavior, adding a dynamic that should continually challenge players.
The dreaded cannibals are also getting an AI upgrade in Sons of The Forest, with Endnight introducing a new system aimed at responding to players' choices. The new AI, named V.A.I.L., should add to the feeling of panicky self-preservation. Along with these changes, the building system is shifting to a more modern approach, with the developer including a digging mechanism and 3D printer while dropping the Sanity system from The Forest.
Valheim's Building Systems Could Improve Sons of The Forest
Survival games need properly designed crafting systems to thrive, and Valheim is a shining example of what developers can do to satisfy consumers. Building systems can be challenging to innovate, as players' imaginations have no boundaries, so sandbox games like Minecraft and Roblox have leaned heavily on the depth of their crafting systems. Valheim followed suit by giving players as much leeway as possible to satisfy their creative desires, leading to recreations of fictional and real structures like the Eiffel Tower.
With the survival focus in Sons of The Forest, Valheim's base-building mechanics could influence how fans build their refuge from the cannibals. A lot of thought often goes into where players can set up base, for example with Valheim having a variety of creatures posing a threat; building wood structures in the Black Forest can end with Stake Walls getting shattered by Trolls. For Sons of The Forest, the terrain should have a similar impact on building, accounting for the behavior of cannibals in the area.
Valheim also uses a stability system to maintain realism, and the investment in this area distinguishes it from other survival games. Foundation setting is essential to prevent structures from collapsing, and players have to think about supporting pillars for larger buildings. In Sons of The Forest, Endnight Games could use a similar stability system to pose an extra challenge, possibly also forcing players to factor the newly-introduced weather elements into their construction plans.
Despite its positives, Valheim has a pain point that Sons of The Forest would do well to avoid. Valheim's snapping system was notably inconsistent, sometimes requiring players to point at the edge of the most recently placed wall, while others need players to target the imaginary center of the next wall. Such inconsistency could prove fatal, as the dissonance between the two mechanisms wastes precious time if players are in a pinch. Still, Valheim's building systems proved satisfactory to its fans, and Sons of The Forest's new mechanism could borrow a few elements to enhance its gameplay.
Sons of the Forest releases for PC on February 23, 2023.