Is The Endless Forest a relaxing experience, or just lacking in Content? Sam "azerian" Maxted investigates.

There are a huge number of MMOs to choose from at the moment - some would say too many. Certain mainstream genres are underrepresented in MMOs, but that hasn't stopped some niche titles from springing up, many of them coming from Korean developers. However, one of the most niche titles has to be The Endless Forest, from Belgian developer Tale of Tales.

The game's concept is simple: you are a deer living in a forest, and you do deer things. And… that's about it, really. There are no goals in the game; no quests, no character levels and very little content other than running around being a deer. In the absence of a full chat system, communication in The Endless Forest is limited to the use of a set of built-in emotes. However, it's not just any old deer that you'll be playing as - the ones found in The Endless Forest have hideous human faces, which will be part of my nightmares for some time to come. This change is somewhat disturbing, to say the least.

Deer just shouldn't look like this...

It's possible to log into The Endless Forest on a "guest" account, but doing so stops you from using certain actions in-game. When signing up for an account, you'll be able to select a randomly generated symbol as your deer's "name". These can look like all sorts of things, with some of the pictograms I saw when signing up for my account reminiscent of beds, people and even a hangman's noose.

Assuming you're logging into a full account rather than a guest account, you'll appear as a fawn when entering the game for the first time. Avatars on newly-created accounts appear this way for 30 days and only reach adulthood once this timer expires. Other deer's pictograms and symbols for local landmarks appear around the edge of your screen, to help you navigate around the forest. Basic movement takes place as you'd expect, with the various actions and emotes available to you appearing as - let's be honest - ugly icons at the bottom of your screen.

The game's icons could use some work.

Your deer can do things such as eat from trees, drink water and use emotes to communicate with others (including smelling and rubbing up against other deer), but besides that there's not a lot to do. A few "forest magic" actions exist that let your deer and others play dress up, but other than that the game's severely lacking in content. When the game's FAQ describes it as having "not much" content, you know it's time to worry.

The Endless Forest is meant to be idyllic and relaxing, but I just found it to be creepy. The human faces don't help, and with the number of adult deer in-game, it makes you wonder who'd be interested enough to still be logging in after 30 days. Sure, there have been in-game events in the past, but these look to be mainly over, as the project's struggling to secure further funding. At least one other site has mentioned the game's furry community, which probably isn't the game's target market, but may well be the one where The Endless Forest achieves most success.

I think The Endless Forest sees itself as art as much as it is a game, and as art there may be some value to it. However, its extremely limited nature means it ultimately fails as anything but a piece of art. The game's website frequently contradicts itself as well, hopping schizophrenically between realism and fantasy. On one page they say the game has no chat system because "deer don't talk", but it's here that I'd like to point out that deer don't have freaky human faces, and they don't look like this.

A closer look at the game's website also indicates that the developers seem to treat gamers with disdain. Just take a look at the quotes below:

"Deer don't talk. Humans do. Especially in online games. And they make a mess of it. Slang and internet shorthand quickly destroy any illusion that the authors had crafted."

And regarding an in-game event (which is now over):

"This is not a shooter game. If you see a soul, feel free to convert it. But if you find yourself chasing after them, please try one of the 99% other games out there that cater to these particular lusts."

As far as the second quote is concerned, part of what makes modern games great is being able to play them in ways that the developers didn't expect or intend. "Kiting" mobs was never intended in EverQuest, but the developers took it and incorporated it into the game's design. The people working on The Endless Forest don't seem to understand this, or the fact that conflict in games is fun. It's fine when games don't include it (as with puzzle games and The Sims), but if it's not there then something needs to replace it as the object of enjoyment. The Endless Forest fails to do this, and the fact that in-game communication is so limited means it can't even be described as a graphical chat room. In the end, the best use for the game is probably to leave it set to its offline screensaver mode, as there's little point in logging in.

That's right - sleep and forget The Endless Forest exists.

The Endless Forest's problems don't end here, however, as its menu screen contains some of the worst music I've ever heard, not just in an MMO but anywhere. And this is from someone who has sat through Chinese Opera. The game's FAQ also seems to miss the point on an almost criminal level, with "Where's the game?" being the top question. The developers have taken this to mean "how do I install the game?", but if it's a question they've actually been asked, I'd imagine it means something more along the lines of "where's the fun?" So unless you want to be a deer and spend your time sniffing people, The Endless Forest is best left alone. The developers don't seem to want gamers logging in, and I expect most of us will be just fine with that.

SAM "azerian" Maxted
Editor
ZAM.com