Fair and honest comparison of both games

[Rootiga]

I have 105 hours as of now on SOTF, with 1,531 on the The Forest. The Forest was (and is) my favorite game of all time, so naturally I was very excited for this game. I still genuinely enjoy playing it, however, today I went back and played on my friends and I's old save which we put somewhere around 250 hours into that save alone. I noticed a lot of differences, most of which I had completely forgotten about. So I will list what I noticed and whether I think it was good or bad

First - Graphics (get the easiest one out of the way, this also is a hand down win for SOTF)

Objectively SOTF looks superior in every way, while the The Forest doesn't necessarily look bad on it's own and it does have a very special and unique charm that I love, it is inferior in this regard.
The worst aspect which was most noticeable is the shadows. For the most part they seem to be nonexistent and or combine into one gigantic equally dark area. Lighting from torches and fires look awful, especially at night. I think most of us remember how awful the flashlight was in TF and how it was extremely bright to other people you played with, while being very dim on your screen, at times completely useless.

Second - Custom structures (SOTF has higher quality while TF has more freedom)

First off, the ability to take apart structures and salvage all or nearly all resources used for building anything (including after an explosion or collapse) is one of the best additions to SOTF.

In SOTF you have significantly more control over your build and as a result can make far more detailed builds. However many basic features are not possible such as roof corners. This is a major negative when trying to build custom bases. Another big issue is while you may be able to place logs down and build virtually anywhere, it is impossible to build in many areas as you physically have to directly place the log in position, as opposed to the ghosts in TF. Where you could walk large distances and place down one corner at a time enabling you to build structures over areas, even where you are incapable of reaching.

However the ghosts also presented their own issues. Anyone who spent a significant amount of time using custom foundations in TF, will be well aware of how they had a designated location which was the ONLY position you were able to place logs onto the structure from. Often this spot would spawn directly beneath or inside the foundation, meaning that you would get stuck inside the foundation after completing it lol.

The ghosts were (and are) objectively more convenient, easier to use, and faster to build as opposed to the new system. However visually they were inferior as the often the logs would leave large (visual only) gaps in the structures and often have uneven floors/walls as a result of stretching to meet the demands of the custom structure. One issue presented by the ghosts was that on rare occasion they would just refuse to build for any reason at all, whether that be a rock, a tree, or some other indestructible object.

Next I want to discuss the bridges and pathways, the pathways (the wooden ones) in TF allowed an extremely high degree of freedom, both in distance and the angle at which you could draw and place them down. Unfortunately these had a limit of how many sections you could place down (I think it is 5). Placing one set down worked fantastic, but attempting to connect two separate pathways was basically impossible since they did not snap. What made it more difficult is that these had a gigantic support rod which protruded from the bottom on every new section. These pathways don't exist in SOTF as a result of the new build system and I do indeed very much miss these, they were a fantastic method of traversing difficult terrain or simply building ridiculous structures.

When it comes to bridges, they were far easier to use in TF. They snapped on very easily and basically had no restrictions what so ever on what you could connect them to, at which angle you could connect them, and how long you wanted them. Sometimes you could even get them to clip through the ground lol. IMO the bridges in SOTF are inferior for those reasons, while they are far straighter and more realistic, they are much less practical and offer less variety and freedom. In SOTF they also do not connect to anything and everything, they have a very limited set of structures they can connect to and an even more limited angle to which you can build them resulting in a very "stiff" bridge (albeit more realistic).

Lastly I wanted to mention destruction. As a result of the new build system, custom structures are FAR more stable. I think in TF many of us remember making towers or custom foundations only for an armsy to knockout 5 pillars and the entire thing explode into nothingness. Not to forget accidentally throwing a bomb or dynamite and having the same affect lol. All your resources disappearing instantly as a result, and all work lost (assuming you did not save). The new system results in far lower loss when a building collapses, however it does lead to enormous messes, due to logs being scatter all throughout your world since they don't just vanish now.

Third - Prefabs (SOTF has better quality but TF has better quantity)

For this I am specifically referring to non-custom structures. Obviously overall SOTF is lacking in this regard due to being unfinished. It not only is missing several key items from the first game (I know the developers want to try new stuff) but has overall much less prefabs as a result of still being EA. I am sure this will change but at the moment it is pretty obvious that TF beats SOTF hands down here. Would love to see more rock structures like the rock wall and fireplace return.

Now I want to discuss the tree prefabs. In both games the leaves of the tree still stick into and through the prefabs which is a shame but also funny. Tree platforms specifically (the small one with a rope that was in both games) definitely improved in SOTF. as you can place them not only at several vastly different heights on a tree, but even place multiple on the SAME tree. The ability to use the new build system to actually expand and add onto the new tree platforms is without a doubt a massive improvement. Yet in SOTF these platforms have a very hard time wanting to connect bridges, especially at angles that are over 30 degrees and or turn sharply. However when they do connect they have a far smoother connection than TF tree platforms. Often you will get stuck trying to walk onto a platform from a bridge if you do not jump where they connect. I would honestly say they are nearly on par, the older ones have worse placement and connections but better freedom while the new ones have better placement with less freedom but better connections.

The regular tree houses are basically the same in both games, there really isn't any difference other than in SOTF you must build a bed in order to sleep in one, while in TF they had a sleep/save icon from the start.

This is a minor thing, but the prefabs having house icons was very useful. However there was no way to gauge distance or depth and they were constantly present on your screen (sometimes even while in caves). The GPS system fixes this BUT you need GPS locators in order to actually find your base (unless you build the space blanket shelter). Which reminds me, the temporary structure is much better in SOTF. While I miss the old leafy structure, the convenience of the space blanket and 1 stick is superb in comparison to rushing around to gather 26 leaves and 14 sticks in darkness.

With structures like the small cabin, door glitches were either non-existent or constant depending on where you built it. Sometimes the door would spazz out, other times it would get stuck in place permanently, and other times it would move at a snails pace no matter how hard or fast you tried pushed it. I have noticed significantly less glitches with doors overall in SOTF at least until Virginia or Kelvin try to walk through lmao.

When it comes to planters, I think most of us remember how absolutely awful they were in TF. They were only available either in the form of a very expensive hanging planter or the worst planting system I have ever seen in a game. The non-hanging planters are only customizable, and seeing as they wanted flat land only, they were extraordinarily temperamental and nearly impossible to build at times. Being customizable resulted in the old planters having a seemingly random number of planting spaces available. One awkward angle and you could go from 9 to 4 spaces or vice versa. The worst issue with planters was that the berry bushes would despawn CONSTANTLY. Unless you babied them, they were essentially guaranteed to vanish within 5 minutes. Making them completely useless and not worth bothering with. This seems to have been fixed in SOTF as now you can plant berries and they last until winter or until destroyed.

(Not sure if ziplines count as prefab or not but since they were in TF I will count them as)
Zip lines I think we can all agree are FAR superior in SOTF. The biggest change is that new zip lines can now go up and down instead of just down. Previously you also needed a big bulky structure that mostly wanted flat land to place. Now you can shoot zip lines down literally anywhere you want, going any direction you want. Zip lines had a massive improvement in SOTF.

[Rootiga]

Continuation - (too long for one post)

Fourth - Gear (Leans toward The Forest for this)

This is where I am the most mixed between the two games. SOTF has a much larger variety of gear which all look great. However, TF has less, and better gear that also look MUCH worse. Firstly I MUST discuss the bows, I am an avid user of bows in both games. My primary weapon of choice in TF was the crafted bow and in SOTF it is the crossbow. The bows in SOTF I feel are a downgrade (with exception of the crossbow). The crafted bow feels like it was completely gutted and to a degree it feels like it was nerfed. In TF it had a proper way of aiming (no reticle or white line, just the pointy nub). The bows (all of them) feel like they have a very reduced and honestly unrealistically short range now (same with spears). It feels like there is no middle ground with bows now as the crossbow is superior all the others in damage, range, and accuracy while the rest feel useless in comparison. Undoubtedly one of the biggest changes is the lack of fire and poison arrows. I do not know if they plan to have these return however they made a massive impact in game play especially when it came to fighting mutants

The new guns are great features. However, they definitely impact the game in several negative ways at the same time (I will touch more on this in atmosphere later). Firstly the guns make combat far too easy even on hard. Ammo is sparse and that is not the problem, I am not suggesting reducing damage or ammo spawns, however I think the guns to a degree make mutants a non-threat. 3-5 shots and they all go down. The only gun we had in the first game was the flintlock and while it was strong, it obviously was not overpowered. Ammo was extremely rare (to a degree that it was definitely a very bad thing and made it mostly unsuable). The pistol has the same issue but with cannibals. I am again, not suggesting any changes. I just feel that the pistol makes the cannibals also feel like a non-threat if you use the pistol too much. Attachments for the guns are great, but when they block your vision it makes them not worth using.

Armor was much better in TF. It felt like bone armor tanked more damage than it does now, even on easier difficulties. I like the tech armor and it feels like great end game armor but considering the cost, it should be stronger. Creepy armor is still the best armor especially due to its abundance in SOTF, making tech armor feels kind of pointless outside of not wanting to look like a kronenburg. I personally prefer stealth armor most of the time (in both games), however it feels like it is hit or miss now, the cannibals can easily spot you compared to before when hiding in a bush while crouched. Sometimes stealth doesn't seem to work as you will be invisible but cannibals/mutants will still spot you instantly.

Fifth - Atmosphere (Definitively in favor of The Forest)

One thing I began to notice after around 15-20 hours in SOTF was how different the atmosphere felt, ESPECIALLY at night. The lack of minor things such as search parties with lights that you can see a mile away, or simply hearing screams and howls in the distance makes a huge impact on the horror aspect. SOTF completely lacks this and definitely takes a huge hit for it. Mutants are another issue, I understand we are better prepared and have proper military grade gear, but mutants are WAY too common. Excluding the sinkhole and the subsequent following caves, all cave systems combined had somewhere around 15 mutants total, no cave had more than 1 mutant at a time. Whether that be an armsy, virginia, or cowman. The overabundance (and relative weakness) of the new mutants makes their encounters not feel even remotely special. Coming up on a camp, only to see a dozen mutants running around really has a big impact on your perception of them.

The new mutants are also FAR too quiet. The fingers mutant is the only "loud" one with a signature and noticeable noise associated with it. The armsy, had its very loud and signature "roar/growl" which fit the "personality" of the armsy as it was large, very strong and brutish. While the virginia made that horrifying hissing sound as it would mange to sneak around quietly and jump onto you. The cowmen had the very loud stomping you could hear ages away, letting you know something big and awful is header your way. My point being that the ability to hear them from a far away distance, often not knowing where they are and almost never seeing them created a very special feeling of horror that can't be replicated otherwise.

The mutants felt like they had better overall design, armys were loud tanks with very aggressive and uncoordinated attacks, and high damage output. While virginias would perform "hit and runs" moving very quickly and striking even faster. Cowmen were exceptionally slow and tanky with huge damage output. Easy to avoid but if you got hit you were going to have a bad day.

Lastly for atmosphere, Virginia and Kelvin. It would be impossible to make a comparison and not mention these two, while we all (well, almost all) love them they make a PROFOUND impact on the atmosphere of the game. Previously you started alone, nothing but the birds and wind, maybe even the screech of a cannibal or the sound of a scout in the distance. But here, you start in an environment you know is safe, with a companion who will help you along the way. Just having a companion along for the ride immediately alleviates the feeling of loneliness and the emotions that result from that. Obviously your experience will be different in multiplayer, but I will never forget the first night after I purchased and played The Forest, the absolute terror I felt at 14, my friend even remained in the skype call because I was too scared to play completely alone in the dead silence of my room. Crazy to think it's really been almost a decade.

My point being, it is very easy to play SOTF alone, while I refused to play TF alone after that first night. The companions change a great deal more than just the game mechanics, affecting the game in ways that would not be expected. However the role of the mutants and minor changes to them also made a great impact.

Sixth - Story (The Forest easily wins in this current state)

The Forest did the story exceptionally well, you explore on your own, you find your own way and happen upon items that you can piece together as part of a greater story to tell. During development they left little bits and pieces around the map, however the story itself (the only cutscenes and boss fight in the game) were not added until they were all fully complete and done. The way they left the big metal door with no way in at the bottom of the sinkhole for YEARS, left us waiting and theorizing about what could be back there.

The single biggest fault of this game (in my opinion) is not necessarily the GPS itself, but the fact that EVERYTHING is marked on the GPS from the start. I get it, we are part of a PMC and we are going in prepared to rescue a billionaire, so it makes sense. But from a gameplay perspective? This was the single most devastating thing they did. A significant portion of players (including myself and friends) rushed through going point to point, not stopping to explore naturally, build or enjoy the world or even hunt. This for obvious reasons would leave a sour taste in anyone's mouth, as the game should not be played this way, as the first game was also not.

Unfortunately Endnight unintentionally encouraged this behavior by marking everything, (not even in a particular order). As a result you can easily miss several caves and bunkers before entering the final bunker. The story not being even remotely finished on launch just amplified this issue even further beyond what it should have been. I think a better solution would have been 2 things, either to have an option to turn markers off, and or have markers appear only when you are near them.

All considered, I would say in the current state, The Forest is still a much better game, Over the coming months I feel that SOTF will surpass it as the game gets completed. I suppose the early access doesn't bother me because I was around from nearly the beginning of development on the first game, so I watched first hand how great Endnight made that dumpster fire.

[Kiriveh]

Gotta agree on pretty much all of this.

Also, I feel like too many people are willing to instantly write off the game forever because of it's current state. Suppose I can't blame them but, it will improve. Just look at the first game

Originally posted by Rootiga:

Continuation - (too long for one post)

Fifth - Atmosphere (Definitively in favor of The Forest)

One thing I began to notice after around 15-20 hours in SOTF was how different the atmosphere felt, ESPECIALLY at night. The lack of minor things such as search parties with lights that you can see a mile away, or simply hearing screams and howls in the distance makes a huge impact on the horror aspect. SOTF completely lacks this and definitely takes a huge hit for it. Mutants are another issue, I understand we are better prepared and have proper military grade gear, but mutants are WAY too common. Excluding the sinkhole and the subsequent following caves, all cave systems combined had somewhere around 15 mutants total, no cave had more than 1 mutant at a time. Whether that be an armsy, virginia, or cowman. The overabundance (and relative weakness) of the new mutants makes their encounters not feel even remotely special. Coming up on a camp, only to see a dozen mutants running around really has a big impact on your perception of them.

The new mutants are also FAR too quiet. The fingers mutant is the only "loud" one with a signature and noticeable noise associated with it. The armsy, had its very loud and signature "roar/growl" which fit the "personality" of the armsy as it was large, very strong and brutish. While the virginia made that horrifying hissing sound as it would mange to sneak around quietly and jump onto you. The cowmen had the very loud stomping you could hear ages away, letting you know something big and awful is header your way. My point being that the ability to hear them from a far away distance, often not knowing where they are and almost never seeing them created a very special feeling of horror that can't be replicated otherwise.

The mutants felt like they had better overall design, armys were loud tanks with very aggressive and uncoordinated attacks, and high damage output. While virginias would perform "hit and runs" moving very quickly and striking even faster. Cowmen were exceptionally slow and tanky with huge damage output. Easy to avoid but if you got hit you were going to have a bad day.

Absolutely agree on this, can't stress enough how the minor details made a huge impact