Sons of the Forest: Should You Commit Cannibalism?

gameranx.com:

It is surprisingly easy to get into a situation in Sons of the Forest, now on Steam Early Access, where you might have to eat somebody. But should you?

Specifically, is there any kind of mechanical advantage or disadvantage to making an enemy into a quick snack? It does sound like biting people in the ass will, well, bite you in the ass in the long run, but is Sons of the Forest the kind of game that will penalize you for cannibalism? Here’s what we know so far.

As you may notice after a couple of fights on the island, you can dismember (or decapitate) opponents by hitting them with your trusty axe. This critically injures that cannibal and generally means it’s done messing with you, one way or another.

Alternatively, you can also use an axe or other bladed weapon to chop up cannibals’ corpses. Dead mercenaries and engineers seem to be immune to this, but any cannibal you kill on the island can be reduced to spare parts with your axe.

Severed arms can be used as improvised weapons, while you can use a severed head with a stick to create gross totems/trophies; these also seem to have the useful property of encouraging other cannibals to stay away from a particular location. It may actually be useful to set up a couple of your own gross totems surrounding any area where you’re building a house.

Arms, legs, and heads can all be stuck onto campfires in order to turn them into bones and skulls, which can be made into armor, weapons, or truly disgusting furniture. If you kill mutants with fire, such as by pegging one with a Molotov, their corpses will eventually disintegrate in the same way.

Legs and arms can also be just straight-up eaten. A freshly-severed limb is a “raw leg/arm.” As the name suggests, you can eat them