Sons of the Forest has officially arrived in Early Access and one of the biggest talking points for the game has been Kelvin, an AI companion already so beloved by the community whose mission is to help you on your journey, even though he sometimes makes bizarre and hilarious decisions.
For those unfamiliar, Kelvin is an elite soldier who survived the helicopter crash that stranded you on the island featured in Sons of the Forest. Unfortunately for him, he suffered brain damage and can no longer hear or speak, so players must communicate with him via a notepad. Despite his new injuries, he remains extremely helpful… well, mostly.
The developers of Sons of the Forest created Kelvin to help replicate the multiplayer experience for solo players, but he is also very useful for those who wish to play Sons of the Forest with friends.
“We found in our first game, The Forest, that building and collecting resources in single-player could be a real slog compared to multiplayer where you had multiple players helping,” Endnight Games told IGN. “We wanted to solve this and help bridge the gap between the two modes. At the same time, the new AI system we had created for enemies/animals made it extremely easy to apply to an AI character that was friendly.”
So, this all sounds wonderful, right? A companion who is always there to help chop down some trees, catch fish, and more? While Kelvin is undoubtedly helpful, he does act a bit odd from time to time. For example, you can tell him to chop down trees to collect wood, but some players have found that Kelvin doesn’t know the difference between a free-standing tree and those that are part of the treehouse that you built.
Sons of the Forest is great and all. but you gotta watch out for that kelvin guy… pic.twitter.com/q2NIsJfxdN
— AquaFPS (@AquaFPSgaming) February 24, 2023
He also has a tendency to show up out of nowhere, and Reddit user /goodwill295 has jokingly called him the biggest jumpscare in the game.
Kelvin clearly plays by his own rules and, as IGN’s Mark Medina puts it, it fits perfectly into Sons of the Forest as, “there are no rules man, we’re lost!”
Every time I tell Kelvin what to do in Sons of the Forest: pic.twitter.com/l9IPmSDhBF
— Mark Medina (@Mark_Medina) February 23, 2023
Sure, he may his moments, but Sons of the Forest’s community clealy wants to protect Kelvin with their lives.
He’s the only thing that matters#sonsoftheforest #kelvin pic.twitter.com/9bWBwud1i7
— Jason Smith (@JasozzGames) February 24, 2023
Endnight Games has big plans for Kelvin, so this is really only the beginning for the early favorite for the best helper in a video game for 2023.
“Throughout Early Access, we plan to add a lot more tasks Kelvin can do as well as integrate him more into the main story and giving him his own epilogue/ending if you keep him alive,” Endnight Games said.
Endnight is also very happy to see the community take to Kelvin so quickly, and the team knew they had something special on their hands early on, as many would “make sure not to overwork him and others would feel guilty if they accidentally killed him.”
Kelvin is only but one part of Sons of the Forest, and you can check out our full preview of the game, in which we said, “Sons of the Forest appears to evolve and build on every aspect of its predecessor with a focused goal of realism and developing a flexible ecosystem, and it feels like the building blocks are there to create something truly special. But its killer feature is the addition of impressively sophisticated and smarter AI enemies and companions that could not only provide a huge leap forward for the series, but the survival game genre as a whole.”
For more, check out five tips from Endnight on how to survive your first night in Sons of the Forest, our beginner’s guide, and essential tips and tricks you need to know.
Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].
Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.
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