Sons Of The Forest’s story relies heavily on the story from the first game, with little in the way to acclimate new players. This isn’t at all a bad thing, though it can provide a hurdle for those who jump into the sequel from its recent popularity without any prior knowledge of the original title. As Sons of The Forest continues through its early access development status it has already added and adjusted components relevant to how the story is progressed. One feature that’s currently missing could surely improve how players unravel the mystery behind the story.
Outside of the short and few existing cutscenes, the story of the sequel is revealed incrementally through text artifacts scattered around the forest, caves, and bunker interiors on Sons Of The Forest’s island. Not to be confused with the collectibles and magazines in Sons Of The Forest, the text logs play a key role in the game and explain a fair amount of the story, as well as helpful tips. Not being able to refer back to these text logs after collecting them for the first time is proving to be quite a roadblock for how the community is understanding and experiencing the story.
The Impact of Collectibles in Sons Of The Forest
The collectibles throughout the game end up going into the player's inventory, which sets them apart from the text logs and magazines in Sons of the Forest. These collectibles are extremely discreet references to the first game and don't offer the same kind of explicit plot details as the other text artifacts. Players who don't recognize the concepts, themes, and character references to the first game might be left wondering about the purpose of these collectibles since they have no practical use in the current game.
Perhaps in a future update, the collectibles will have functionality, like acting as sources of how players can maintain rest in Sons Of The Forest while examining the collectibles. The developers haven't mentioned any additions like this yet, although the community has mentioned it a couple of times on Steam's community hub. There's a fair chance that collectibles will remain as novelty items, similar to Easter eggs, or that they will instead serve a purpose that directly benefits players.
Having a text log inventory to refer to would definitely help players to comprehend the story, however far they happen to be in it. It would also give players something to do while resting on the furniture, which can be a bit lonely and tedious in single-player or for players who don't have access to the different kinds of Sons of the Forest outfits that speed up the process.
Once players discover text logs for the first time, they can't be revisited because the item will no longer exist for players who already grabbed it. Not being able to refer to these text logs in any way, such as in the player's inventory, or revisiting their locations severely impacts the discovery of the story. Since the text logs become unavailable after discovering them, it seems like the intention is for them to be archived somewhere for later use, but currently, this isn't the case. Players who forget crucial details that are revealed in the game's text collectibles between play sessions are out of luck if they want to get a refresher.
Even for players who are familiar with the first game, the ongoing storyline in both games can be hard to comprehend, since it incorporates supernatural concepts, like parallel universes. By not having an archive/inventory of the text logs in the game, players are turned onto external and secondhand explanations of the story from within the community. While this may have positive consequences, players are otherwise in the dark when it comes to progressing the narrative. Especially for any players who may miss some of the text logs along the way, the enemies toward the finale can be hard to handle without knowing the right weapon for killing Sons of the Forest's demons efficiently.
Sons of the Forest is available now in early access for PC.