Forspoken Review
Forspoken is the latest in Sony exclusive releases. Developed by Luminous Productions, this is their second IP published by Square Enix as the team’s only previous work was Final Fantasy XV. This was a worry for some and even though I disagree some have painted it as the main reason for their dislike for this game. I personally think it’s amazing.
Plot
Without giving too much away, you play as Frey a New York-er who’s in consistent brushes with the law this and her rough beginnings (putting it very mildly) make her not exactly the most cooperative person in the world. She’s whisked away into the magical land of Athia which is suffering badly from what Frey names “The Break.” The Break came as the Tantas (the magical beings that saved and led the land years ago) started to go mad or so it seems…
As Frey you play to survive the world, take out the corrupt Tantas and loosen the bond between Frey and the magic Cuff stuck to her arm.
Gameplay
OK so that was very barebones when it comes to explanations but I don’t want to spoil anything. Here’s where the good stuff comes in: the gameplay. I’d love to say Forspoken’s gameplay is simple and when you get used to it, it is. Getting used to it will take patience though. Frey can use different magical elemental abilities, for the first 10 hours of the game though, it’s just Earth.
You fight by using support skills and active attack magic to focus on the weaknesses of your opponents and give yourself an edge. For example, I may have been completely fucked without the support skill “Bind” that gave me time to charge my attack skill whilst fighting the first serious boss Tanta Sila. Whilst each magic specialises in a certain thing (purple magic for ranged attacks and red for close combat for example.) It’s how you combine the use of these magics that leads to either success or failure. The enemies are deliberately programmed to make you try different approaches, with Cuff being able to give hints as to any weaknesses. That and Frey’s parkour abilities that enhance her dodging and running ability mean that some enemies need to be vaulted over to be attacked, something that isn’t directly told to you but hinted at.
Overall it leads to a really fun experience. The story is interesting, though it’s not the strongest part of the game it’s definitely nowhere near as bad as I thought it was going to be, Frey is an amazing main character and I love seeing her progress, she’s got a good heart but it’s been broken beyond repair so she’s battling her own demons as well as real ones. Customising spells and the use of different elements together is so fun and satisfying but more than that it’s a challenge. Yes you could just punch your way through most of the battles but memorising every spell you have in your arsenal and utilising them, either by strategy or when you see a chance to makes victory that much sweeter. Forspoken isn’t in the realms of something by FromSoftware but it’s not trying to be, it does however demand that you actually think about the attacks your using, it doesn’t punish you too bad at all if you decide button mashing is the way to go but it really rewards creative actions and this is why I love this game, I know what an enemy is weak to but would entrapping them first be a good idea to make sure I don’t get swarmed? The enemy is forming tight ranks and following me, good, I’ll place a bomb to make them walk right into it! The possibilities are endless (I’ve stuck with early game examples because spoilers) and not once have I had any issues switching spells, the gameplay is smooth as butter.
One big glaring issue I will point out is that it takes so long to actually unlock anything other than Frey’s purple magic. Getting your hands on the ability to switch between Earth and Fire will take you at least 10 hours of gameplay or even more if you want to stop and do most of the side quests along the way. Locking the best part of your game behind such a steep time wall like that is definitely counter productive, most people won’t have the patience to bother.
Oh and be warned there is a demo out there but it really doesn’t do the whole game justice at all. In fact I’d say this is one of the few times where the demo damages the final product and people’s perception of it.
