The feeling that I was sharing these woods with intelligent enemies with the capacity for rationality and complex decision-making sent actual shivers up my spine. The feeling that I was sharing these woods with intelligent enemies sent actual shivers up my spine.There are fascinating and observable differences in behavior between the different tribes, between individuals in the same tribe, and even contextual attitudes based on how much they have you outnumbered, what time of day it is, and how much you've changed the environment with the simple but functional base-building system. Sometimes they’ll charge you to test your mettle, but stop short if you don’t back down. Sometimes they’re content to follow you at a safe distance to figure out where your base is so they can report back to their friends. The Forest’s greatest triumph is the convincing self-preservation of the AI that governs their behavior. Unlike so many video game enemies, the cannibals aren’t suicidally aggressive, and that’s what makes them so unsettling.
