So, I'm certainly going to be writing something more comprehensive in the future when 1.0 comes out but I wanted to take what I think is a unique opportunity to drop some thoughts on a game that for all intents and purposes is finished mechanically.

I'm a huge fan of The Forest. It was one of the most surprising games I've played because I've never been a survival fan. Just building a house and having to concentrate on eating, drinking, sleeping, etc is a chore. I don't want to do shit I have to do in real life! So The Forest surprised me by pulling back on these elements to be a secret horror Metroidvania where I had a genuine interest in unveiling its mysteries and the game ultimately ended on another surprise: a satisfying narrative note.

Cut to: Sons of the Forest. A long awaited sequel, pushed year after year until finally just a month after its latest release date was revealed to be an Early Access title. This was a bit confusing since it was supposedly releasing last year...and the year before. Anyways, I jumped on the chance immediately which is often frowned upon for an Early Access title.

What I love: the island. It is so much more realized than the previous title and has some seriously gorgeous moments just existing in it. An orange sunrise with light shafts through lightly breezed leaves, the UV glow of your lighter reflected on wet cave walls, or even the way soil looks as you shovel it during a heavy rainstorm. The game is still scary, albeit less so having spent so much time in the first. The base building is even better than before, more dynamic, although not without its pitfalls.

Things that need ironed: the narrative. Wow. Its very bizarre to me that instead of holding off the story for a future update, it's just in but without sound, dialogue, or context. I did finish the story. Beat by beat it is there interesting enough. I have seen the end of this game but it didn't mean a single thing to me and honestly I feel like it just spoiled moments that would really wow me. I think maybe they should've just released the game with its mechanics to propel it and waited on the story.

Another thing is your companion Kelvin, who I refer to as Kevin. I don't think I need to get into what his portrayal means. He's essentially a brain-damaged soldier who you use as a work horse. Probably problematic? Anyways, Kevin is really helpful sometimes until he's not. It's a great idea to have an AI companion to help with the monotony of building, especially in the single player mode, but man this dude does whatever he wants. You just started building a treehouse and ask him to find logs? Yeah, he's gonna cut down the tree you just built half of it on in order to get materials from it.

In the end, I'm excited for what this has to offer in the long term. I'm pretty damn close as is to seeing all it has to offer in its current state and that's okay. Hopefully it will eventually be all that I'd dreamed of after the first game.

I can't say I went into this expecting much, but I was frequently impressed, constantly challenged, and fully in love with its hands off approach. It's somewhat like a first person Link to the Past. Simple, often frustrating combat likely due to its simplicity. I really enjoyed happening upon a new weapon or piece of armor, because each one feels game-changing as each one allows you to reasonably fight a different enemy type. I won't spoil but this also has a great surprise in the end-game. Just a lovely and quick game, I highly recommend it for people who want a 5-6 hour adventure that's challenging while also offering a lot of rewarding exploration.

Within Cruelty Squad lies everything I want in the medium; unique vision, player trust and freedom, unobtrusive design, and risk. It's such a special game because what it offers cannot be found anywhere else, in any other media, or even any other game. It's a game that begs you to break it, to shape it into something that is yours while it surrounds you in the oppressive structure of a hyper-capitalist state. It is all built on such a precise illogic. It rides a line between "this is just cobbled together" and "this is absolutely brilliant game design." It's overwhelming at first but the longer you play, the more layers you peel back, and the better it gets.

Has any other game given you a tool with as many uses as the Grappendix? If I had any gripes about Cruelty Squad it's that there is no other tool more useful than the Grappendix and so I never even used any of the other arm equipment options.