My Nightingale companion is an unstoppable tree chopper and beast slayer

polygon.com:

Nightingale is a gorgeous survival crafter game set in a post-apocalyptic world spread across mysterious realms. I’ve been relishing the opportunity to explore this setting and enjoy the good vibes, but I have to admit that I can’t do it alone. I’m not playing with any friends, but I was lucky enough to find a character named Percy, and he is beasting his way through every challenge I could possibly face.

I start out Nightingale by making my character and running through a tutorial, where I learn how to cook food, build shelter, and skin creatures. After learning about realms and how to jump between them, I finally find myself in a peaceful forest, where I begin to build up my estate. Just a quick jog from my starting estate, I find a little camp of Victorian refugees. They’ve also fled the Pale, the apocalyptic event which has split the world into these realms, and they need help.

I build a few sleeping bags and a fire for their campsite, and that’s enough for me to recruit my first companion. His name is Percy, he wears a dapper little suit and cap, and he is a woodsman by trade. Percy is just a guy, and he doesn’t seem to be a particularly impressive or notable guy at that. But the more the merrier, so I decide to let him follow me regardless.

At first, I am completely unimpressed with Percy. His blank face doesn’t give me much to connect with, and his behavior isn’t much better. Percy helps out by cutting down trees, much like Kelvin in Sons of the Forest. Then I realize Percy and Kelvin have another thing in common, which is that they are also both fucking menaces who will chop down trees even if I’m in the path of the falling trunks.

At least I can wrangle Kelvin; I haven’t figured out how to do so with Percy yet. The guy just loves chopping down trees, and he doesn’t seem to care whether or not I need wood, or whether I’m in the way of the falling trunk. If the urge strikes him, he will chop. Every time I stop to check my map or formulate a game plan, I can