The Forest (2018)

Beat on Hard Survival. I began by looting around the plane then into the large cannibal village nearby where I was attacked by 4. Only took 1 to defeat me though. That plane axe was a very bad weapon. I used it to cut myself free in the cave. Why did the savages leave it with me? I liked this death mechanic though every other time I was caught I loaded a save. I looted the room getting some supplies and a compass before climbing out the nearby rope rather than explore deeper. Back on the surface I used the compass to go S until reaching the coast. Most of the S coast was sheer cliff so I could not get down to the water. I headed E until reaching the corner of the island and put down a shelter and fire. There were 2 savages but I lost them at night by swimming through a river. I spent 3 days building a log cabin, storage things and a rabbit trap figuring I could drink from that river. Almost died from getting too close to my fire. Such a stupid mechanic. People don't actually wear clothing soaked in gasoline that would make stepping on a fire so dangerous. I made this mistake a few more times but after the cabin was built I just loaded the save. I did die to a brute that wandered over. I am not sure how worthwhile it was to build that cabin but birds regularly landed in the window for easy kills. Food was not an issue, but water was as I was beginning to run out of soda. I did make a water skin from deer hide but could not drink the nearby water. Had to look up online how to rebind quick slots so I could put club in 1, bow in 2, spear 3 and axe 4. The club seemed like the best overall weapon with high block and damage. Spear was fast and good for killing animals. Combat was overall clunky and very difficult to aim without any kind of reticule.

My health was still around 50% from the burns and was showing no signs of improving on its own. I think accidentally cooking and eating spoiled meat hurt it more and I went down to nearly 10%. Ok use a med. I had not figured out the map yet so I explored following that water. On top of the ridge above my base I found 2 freshwater ponds so water was kinda solved but I had no way to boil it. I built 1 set of stairs near my cabin to get up to the pond without having to walk a huge distance around. Continuing on N following the lake shore at night I began taking multiple hits from something I could not see. Wtf, bees? No it was a crocodile. I don't know how I barely took any damage from that. The stealth armor I made from lizard skin I guess. Or it was not biting me, just bumping. Another croc came at me just as I was lighting a fire so he got a hot surprise. I tried to melee it from behind but he instantly snapped me for like 90% hp. I used bow to kill a few and get some armor, though I later realized armor was a temporary thing that was destroyed upon absorbing hits. I followed the coast all the way eventually back to my cabin, and with more map revealed I figured out how it worked. Not the best map, especially at night when its glow made everything else harder to see. Along the way I killed a few savages that were alone. There were tents for easy saving and sleeping. I could build walls and defenses there but it was closer to the savages and had no water. There were also several rotting corpses that I did not kill. Then I found shipping containers with turtles. I made a bunch of rain collectors just in time for a storm, and that was how I never had to drink the tainted water from the pond. This was a great base location. 1 container a little off shore to easily get away from enemies. Maybe build a door to a container and stairs and walkways to connect them. There were lots of savages nearby, and the container did not hide the fire light. It didn't seem like they were attracted to it that much. I head shot a brute and got his club. It was slower with better damage and block but I stuck to mine since I had glued a bunch of teeth already. A nearby cave had a tent and respawning booze so that seemed like the better place to sleep. I found a lot of meds and other loot in a bone pit but the other path led to 3 mutants and I did not want to fight 3 at once. Further along the coast I found a tent with a pot so I could finally boil water. There was an anchor in the water but it didn't help me kill or lose a mutant. After all these people I had killed I wondered about bones, since I seen in the crafting that there was bone armor. So I looked it up to find out I had to throw bodies on the fire. So from now on I collected and burned bodies to keep a supply of armor. Further along at the SW corner I found a yacht with respawning food, booze and drink, a bed, and tape player to play music for energy buff. Interesting. This was the best base location so far, maybe touch it up with rain collectors and some dock for less swimming. I tried a couple more ropes down into caves but they went right on top of enemies. Soon I was in familiar territory and headed back to my cabin, but 1st had a night fight against a brute and his woman. I could not see her and thought he was alone so I figured it would be an easy kill. Shooting the bow at 2 moving targets at night was not easy! They both took about a dozen arrows and I still had to finish them in melee while losing all my armor.

Next I began exploring caves starting just N of my cabin. There was a sheer drop with climbing things indicating that there was a climbing tool, but I instead built log stairs to get back up. I found the chainsaw and tried it on a mutant but it was unimpressive. It should have been a Gears of War or Doom 4 style 1 click cinematic kill. I later found the modern axe and climbing tool. The axe was a huge upgrade over the clubs with high damage and decent speed, however I instead used the upgraded spear because its high speed countered the fast unarmed strikes of the mutants. I killed the 6 legged brood mother centaur thing with 2 molotovs followed by getting up on a ledge and stabbing with the spear. Molotov damage was incredibly disappointing. If I can nearly die from stepping on a god damn campfire then a molotov should be a 1 shot kill for enemies. The little babies were annoying because they could unexpectedly leap and do shocking amounts of damage to my armor, so I shot them with arrows. They should have been completely harmless, instead posing a moral dilemma of whether or not to kill them. I found a lot of supplies, including dynamite, and killed 2 alpha tentacle centaur things. They seemed faster and more aggressive than the female, but still stupid. Food was a big problem under ground and once I ran out of snack bars I went to the yacht to get more. Save and load to make them respawn to stock up. Back on the surface were more of the spider and tentacle monsters, and I discovered they were slow and clumsy, easy to kill with bow. Back underground I found the katana but it was only a side grade to the spear; it was very fast with good damage but still took a dozen or so hits to kill a person. No way it was sharp, but every weapon did pitiful damage. Katana worked best circle strafing around with a constant flurry of strikes to stun lock guys, but uneven terrain could lead to an awkward chop attack that almost guaranteed getting hit by the enemy. It was the same animation as for the axes and clubs, and really felt way too slow for a sword that could not even open luggage anyway. I still mostly used the spear while underground though it lost some effectiveness when the enemies were more aggressive. I found my way to the bottom of the sink hole, which felt like the end game given the tough encounters, mystical aesthetic, and sci fi metal doors. Outside in the crashed helicopter I found a machete, which had similar stats to the katana only more speed and less damage, and a black suit. Up until now I had been wearing the clothes with the most camouflage. Not sure if there was any actual effect on stealth but I got a few backstab skills on unaware mutants after putting on that black suit. I thought it was some kind of spec ops stealth tactical gear but it was just a business suit. After the chopper was a new enemy, like a giant baby. There was a great sense of their mass as I felt the ground shake with each lumbering step and seen them kick up boulders. I figured they would be easy to kill from up on the rocks but they got up there easily and had a charge attack that homed in so there was no dodging like with the other big monsters. I got smacked a few times but did not lose much armor. I ran back to the helicopter and easily killed them 1 after the other using spear from on top of the chopper. This did not work against a tentacle guy as the chopper was not high up enough to avoid his attacks and I almost died. There was nothing else in the area so I looked up online to find out about a tunnel under the water that led to the end game, but I needed the rebreather.

Back outside I went north past the sinkhole to find snow and immediately caught the chill. That area will be a pain to explore without the warm suit but I need a lot more fur for that, including from animals I had not found yet. The savages seemed more numerous too and I got into a big fight with around 6 at once. Good thing they are cowardly and never rush in all at once. I followed the coast to the NW corner then decided to just deal with the cold as I went east along the N edge of the map while taking a few fire breaks along the way. Then I cut back through the snow and did not find anything of interest other than boars. The to do list said I had 1 cave left to explore, which I easily completed by going in an entrance that I must have missed. I looked up every cave online to find the stuff I had missed since the cave map was not really helpful. I already had the key card from that time I chanced diving through an underwater tunnel, but I thought it was a playing card or something at the time. All I needed was the rebreather from a cave I had missed, then dive to get the modern bow along the way to the bottom of the sink hole again. This bow was powerful and shot with less ballistic drop, but was a little slower and more difficult to aim at close range. I put the flashlight on it but this was not needed by this point. Since I had found the flashlight late I had already completed most of the caves using only the lighter and occasional flare. I used the flashlight sparingly just to scan new areas for enemies, to save batteries, then switched back to lighter for general play. I completed the lab at the end. It was a markedly different environment from the dark creepy caves and nature forest but with only a few enemies. I was sad when he found his son. The animations from 1st person during this scene were very well done for conveying his emotions. Though I was dubious about the condition of the boy's body and how the little girl seemed to have just recently been revived. It had been a little over 1 month since the crash so what were they doing all this time? Just chilling waiting for me to get into the lab? That broke immersion a bit since logically the villain doctor should have sacrificed the son as soon as possible and thus his corpse should be well decomposed by the time I got there. The place definitely lacked cryo storage which I would expect them to have for experiments on dead bodies. I did not like how quickly the little girl morphed into the final boss as more natural growth would have been more believable. I tried fighting her at mid range with the bow like the spider mutant but her attacks were very difficult to avoid and I died. He woke up just outside the room exhausted and low hp, so I took meds and slept. The vending machines meant nearly infinite food and drink with all the money I had collected. While standing in the doorway to the boss arena doing crafting she came up and smacked me. So I could cheese from the door. I got her with 1 dynamite right at the door. I chose the ending not to revive the son because why the hell would you after seeing the horrors it created? I did wonder if the guy could sacrifice himself or if I could lure an enemy in, but it was annoying to get a mutant through the automatic doors. I looked it up before spending too much time and the only option was to crash another plane to kidnap and murder another kid. I loaded the previous save just to see this ending. It was the evil choice but the extensiveness of the ending and possible sequel baiting made me know it was the canon ending.

After this I went around getting some things I had missed; crossbow, gun, glider schematic, artifact from the yacht, enough rabbit fur to make the boots and pouch finally, stairs into the plane crash, flare gun and the artifact orb. Along the way I almost died in a big fight vs blue tentacle and spider mutant plus babies and 1 random female savage for some reason. She didn't even fight me just stood around in the way until running off after I accidentally shot her. I eventually built my armor back up and tried out other weapons. Crossbow was ok but much slower than the bow. I had already been to the shipwreck but did not go underwater. This time I died to a shark due to not swimming the shortest route. The flintlock pistol had terrible accuracy and it took about a dozen bullets (including complete misses) just to kill 1 guy. Both weapons would be best kept in reserve for running out of arrows against the big mutants. My modern axe was upgraded fully with teeth and glass, with a couple feathers, but I still didn't like using it due to slow swing speed. I tried upgrading the machete with damage but it ended up slower than the katana. Maybe it would be worth using with all feather upgrades to make it even faster. The idea of gluing these things to melee weapons for better stats was dumb. Maybe a recipe for a spiked club but definitely not on a proper metal weapon. I did not get the warm suit because I never seen any raccoons. Fur should have worked like the other armor pieces or at least make all mammal hides the same item rather than specific amounts of each animal. The orb from the end could make enemies more passive or aggressive. Just holding it in blue mode made the pales follow and fake charge but still occasionally attack. I had to stick it in the ground to make them flee for good. I read that red mode made all enemies swarm after you for big battles that would make use of walls and traps. I don't care about that though. My str and athleticism were around 24 and I never bothered with most of the crafting. My sanity was at 4%. I never ate human, sometimes listened to music and rarely slept. Soda fully restored max fatigue so there was little point to sleep other than passing time through darkness, but I hated how there was a cooldown on sleeping. I don't know how it worked only that it annoyed me by not letting me skip night time whenever I wanted.

This game had excellent atmosphere and environmental story telling, though the infinite respawning stuff really hurt immersion. Infinite soda, snacks, meals and booze also really hurt the survival mechanics. I liked how enemies in caves did not respawn but there should have been a mode that applied that to every enemy and item for a more realistic experience. Enemy AI was spectacular in how the savages would creepily watch and follow you, flee, back away when knocked down, kneel down to pray etc. Some of the most believable AI I have ever seen, but sometimes I felt they wasted too much time and energy running around instead of rushing in for the fight. It was weird how none could swim and drowned if they ever got into deep enough water. I liked the almost necromantic feel of harvesting dead enemies for armor but I found Hard Survival overall tedious due to the constant hunger and thirst need, and enemy spongyness making every weapon feel weak. Most fresh water sources could not even be used and you probably could boil water in a skull or turtle shell. Much of the world building was open to interpretation. There was clearly some kind of ancient alien origin for the artifacts, and the numerous skeletons around the places where they were found imply those that 1st found them were instantly killed. Why were those skeletons left there? Why don't they have any clothing or items? How old are they? There were clearly multiple different time periods; the crossbow and flintlock from sailing ships, the dynamite and wooden crates from late 1800s to early 1900s, and the modern stuff. The sheer amount of bones and bodies indicate the cannibals have been living there for generations and the lab has probably been operating for a few years at least. Were the cannibals there before, perhaps affected by the artifacts or were they released or escaped from the lab with accelerated growth? Were the horrible mutants caused by reviving those that were terminally ill? Are the big mutants fusions of multiple people? Do they breed? Is that were all those babies come from? Do those babies grow into the big babies or the pale people? The sheer amount of dead babies implied they mostly did not live long. I wonder if people turned into pale mutants from eating mutant flesh. How long before the start of the game did the lab disaster occur? All these questions made the game more intriguing, raising it above it's less interesting moment to moment gameplay.

7.8/10

The Forest is remarkable. While I've played many other games that share some of the core features--food and hydration meters, crafting, base building--it's my first "true" survival experience, my first time with a game whose sole focus is survival. And I understand The Forest is a somewhat forgiving and 'lighter' experience compared to some of its peers, but the atmosphere it impresses upon the player is entirely successful in emphasizing the feeling of being in a survival situation.

Despite being made by a small team with a presumably low budget, years of early access, community feedback, and stellar developer support have molded this game into, for me, an unequivocal all-time great. It feels like it's a game that has no right to be as good as it is. It could be better in so many ways, and it's a shame that Sons of the Forest seems to have shied away from the strongest parts of its predecessor.

In The Forest, the player is presumably the sole survivor of a plane crash on a relatively small and densely forested island with limited supplies to scavenge, a layman's skill set, and no real advantage to speak of other than being able to save and restart if the worst befalls them.

The atmosphere is palpable, even with its relatively dated and rough graphics (and the game is gorgeous despite that). It's clear from the start that the player is not alone: unsettling totems of sticks, bone, and stone punctuate the landscape, hinting at a hidden, hostile presence lurking just beyond the trees. Every action the player takes the generates sound is done so with the knowledge that it's likely attracting unwanted attention, and every snapped twig, every hoof beat of a nearby deer, and every fluttering of wings by birds above amplifies the tension, forcing frantic, paranoid scans of the surrounding woods.

The Forest's caves are a masterclass in atmospheric design: labyrinthine, claustrophobic yet vast, and fraught with peril. These sprawling networks hold the game's most valuable treasures, guarded by formidable early-game enemies. The sound design, already exceptional, reaches its peak here, deftly reinforcing the tension of exploration. Unlike the often-linear cave systems of other games, the caves in The Forest feel singularly authentic. They are, like their real world counterparts, disorienting mazes of interconnected passages and chasms. Their sheer scale and integral role in the narrative could easily justify a title change to 'The Caves.' For me, the most rewarding and engaging moments I had with the The Forest navigating these subterranean depths where exploration became a thrilling and sometimes high-stakes endeavor.

There's also a good story to chew on, and while I don't think it's universally liked, I enthusiastically applaud the developers for making that jump because they absolutely stuck the landing in my eyes. A lot of survival games tack the story on after the fact, and from what I understand, that's the case with The Forest, but you wouldn't necessarily be able to tell without the background information ahead of time.

In the end, The Forest impressively transcends its humble origins and technical limitations to deliver a survival experience that is both gripping and deeply rewarding. It's a testament to the power of atmosphere, sound design, and thoughtful world-building, proving that a game's impact isn't solely determined by its budget or graphical fidelity. I don't think it's perfect, but its unique blend of survival mechanics, exploration, and a surprising narrative sucked me in for 70 hours and refused to let me go. I would recommend it to anyone, full stop. And I don't know if it's fair to call it a hidden gem since it's a well-known release that continues to get a lot of playtime, but I think it deserves to be celebrated.

I really liked playing this one in VR. It's not a perfect VR port, but chopping down very tall trees in VR is way more fun because you're not limited by the animation speed and actually swing your hand instead if clicking a button.
Also, gathering sticks and stones is less of a chore in VR because you just point your hand in a general direction and it allows you to grab the item.

And most importantly, the spooky darkness, the scale of things and the feeling of being IN the forest is so much stronger in VR.

Enabling physical crouching in settings also adds to immersion, as you sit crouching behind that tree, waiting for the natives to go past your camping spot.

Be aware that blocking attacks is not available in VR, but your attack speed is not limited by animation speed or stamina, like in flat screen mode. So you either play more aggressively, or run and hide.

One time I was pushing my log sled at night with only a lighter to light a small area around me. Pushing a log sled makes a lot of noise so I didn't hear the tribesman approach me and rammed into him full speed. That made one jumpscared me real good.

The Forest is an excellent game that's worth every penny. Survival at its finest. No training from the get-go, you're thrown into a dangerous island, stranded with nothing but your wits and will to live.

Build your base with friends, hunt down cannibals hunting you, stay alive and keep track of your resources!

I wouldn't recommend playing this game solo. It gets a little unnerving especially with the vibe and NO BACKGROUND MUSIC WHATSOEVER.

Grab your copy, it's usually on sale. The game is best experienced with at least one more person playing with you.

I went into this game thinking "I very much doubt any survival game will be as good as Subnautica" and of course came out of it thinking "So I really like the forest, it really is Subnautica on land, but with more emphasis on survival horror" Like, you can compare both but The Forest is a LOT harder as a game and I felt a lot slower paced too if you play it and discover it on your own (despite the map being smaller), on the second play through it is extremely easy to know where ever cave is, where ever special item is, and what order of caves and what items you need to progress.

It's a game that if you take it slow can take 35 to 40 hours, but if you know about everything and cut out the whole learning curve (and it is quite the process of accomplishment like this game really DOES feel fulfilling and can be a lazy game you play while watching a show like minecraft to some extent as well or animal crossing?) it'll just take about 3 to 1 hour easy. I was someone who had to grind my strength to 99.0 until I could go through the caves like a breeze, so if you take it slow it's ok enough, and as you play a lot starts to envelop through sheer exploration.

Now how matter tempting it might be to click on those spoilers below: experiencing this game on it's own and seeing it envelop was INCREDIBLE, like this is a game you'll wanna experience with no expectations. Honestly? I'm amazed at how The Forest manages to tell an amazing story through no dialog..AT ALL. You can 100% get what story is being told here. Game starts off as basically: The Descent: The game, then it turns Resident Evil with a little bit of Dead Space and The Incredibles because it really looks like Syndrome's base. But I think the biggest twist and thing to discover was the fact that: You're the author of THE book!

The story elements are so subtle, like the trail of red paint or the series of drawings you find through out as you explore and venture into various caves fully. Now: I don't know if it's the case but It's kinda heavily implied the artifact is like a demon thing of sorts like Dead Space, like the reason people who paint themselves red aren't harmed and there's bibles everywhere is apparently to hint that the cannibals won't attack the Devil? It's completely vague and the whole ancient society that uses magic is more Atlantis in nature, the whole bible stuff is mostly because the scientist quotes the bible I think?

I really do like the mechanics and item improvements this game provides of course, little improvements are almost everywhere and the mechanics were implemented in a very good way. I think what needs to be complimented is the style of the survival book, which is simply amazing, it really does look like an actual survival book and it's an immersive way to implement crafting and how to play the game. There are a ton of things to craft and always be upgrading, not only that but special items that completely change the tone of the silent forest to more of an 80s montage. I have to admire the fact that there wasn’t any major glitch whatsoever in the entire game and it’s apparently made in Unity, it didn’t feel like it at all.

I just don`t give this game a perfect score because of how weird the map and cave systems can be, they can be very confusing especially as things are REALLY dark. And despite how satisfying the crafting systems and way things go are, there could have always been a lil more in there to make it a perfect game, it's hard to access because it is a game that does what it has to do it's just that it might not be that replayable given the nature of the genre, it's biggest flaws are it's biggest strengths of course.

Anyways it truly does feel like an adventure, and the thing I need to remark about the most is you truly feel a sense of "wow I've come really far" by the end because of the interesting inventory system, it is a laid blanket of all of your items that at first seem pretty simple but as you play you get ALL Sorts of things and your entire blanket is completely full and it's just a full arsenal that I do not know how my character is carrying. The whole progression was indeed a SLOW burn but chopping wood in this game will always be axed into my brain.

The Forest is essentially Subnautica but smaller in scale, on land, and multiplayer... if that makes sense. Both are survival games that have an emphasis on terror and horror, featuring a relatively subtle story and heavy emphasis on survival. The forest (location) is scary, and the caves below are simply terrifying--I can't say that I would play this game comfortably alone, as I was constantly on edge even with a friend or two.

The crafting is pretty good, nothing extraordinary. The Metroid-style way of unlocking items works well in theory, and mostly in execution, although I had some issues with losing my items after joining friend's worlds and going back into mine. Building is a neat feature, although most parts of the game are fairly unpolished, and look a little jank. The story is pretty alright, I would argue that Subnautica does a better job with dispersing small story aspects, although both have some fairly interesting locational exploration--I'd argue that The Forest does a better job at this. Additionally, The Forest features a much smaller number of animals compared to Subnautica, although the monsters in The Forest are pure nightmare fuel with you first see them (seriously, play the game before looking them up).

The location is probably the best part of this game. Exploring the forest, discovering your first cannibals (as they stalk you), crawling through caves... I was intrigued and terrified at the same time. Play this game for some good horror and scares, but bring a friend with you.

The Forest is essentially Subnautica but smaller in scale, on land, and multiplayer... if that makes sense. Both are survival games that have an emphasis on terror and horror, featuring a relatively subtle story and heavy emphasis on survival. The forest (location) is scary, and the caves below are simply terrifying--I can't say that I would play this game comfortably alone, as I was constantly on edge even with a friend or two.

The crafting is pretty good, nothing extraordinary. The Metroid-style way of unlocking items works well in theory, and mostly in execution, although I had some issues with losing my items after joining friend's worlds and going back into mine. Building is a neat feature, although most parts of the game are fairly unpolished, and look a little jank. The story is pretty alright, I would argue that Subnautica does a better job with dispersing small story aspects, although both have some fairly interesting locational exploration--I'd argue that The Forest does a better job at this. Additionally, The Forest features a much smaller number of animals compared to Subnautica, although the monsters in The Forest are pure nightmare fuel with you first see them (seriously, play the game before looking them up).

The location is probably the best part of this game. Exploring the forest, discovering your first cannibals (as they stalk you), crawling through caves... I was intrigued and terrified at the same time. Play this game for some good horror and scares, but bring a friend with you.