Forspoken: Everything We Know

Scheduled for release on 24th January 2023, Forspoken is the new upcoming Action RPG published by Square Enix. Although the game was previously scheduled for release this year in October, the company decided to delay it for “strategic reasons.” Considering that these are the people responsible for the Final Fantasy Franchise and Kingdom Hearts, it is safe to say that Forspoken has become one of the most anticipated games which will be released next year. Here is everything we know so far about Forspoken! 

The premise of the game revolves around the journey of a young New Yorker (Frey) who got transported to the magical land of Athia. As players, we follow along her journey as she tries to find a way back home. Sony released a gameplay trailer on YouTube, which showcased the State of Play for the game as of March 2022, which revealed a lot of the following information! 

Supported Platforms

Before we get into the gameplay elements, we need to make sure whether you will be able to play the game or not. As of now, the game is scheduled for release on PS5 and PC. Although the end credits of the gameplay video wrote it as a PS5 exclusive, it also mentions that the game will maintain this status for two years.

After that, the game will be made available for PC. So, if you are a PC gamer, then you might have to wait for another two years to get your hands on this game. But while you wait, perhaps you can play some of the other best PC games out there from our recommendation list: 10 Best Open World PC Games That You Must Play!

The Cast

All of you might have noticed that the cast of Forspoken is primarily made of female characters. It is rare for the RPG genre where female characters are only limited to healers, supports, and characters that need to be rescued. One of the Co-Head Writers, Allison Rhymer, has expressed in an interview that it was a refreshing experience to write a story that is Heavily invested in prominent female characters.

It is nice to see that the video game writers are now taking a big initiative to provide something new and refreshing to the RPG genre. Considering that the producer, Raio Mitsuno is a member of the global brand team of Final Fantasy XV, we are sure that this will not be a disappointing story. 

The Story

As we mentioned before, the story of Forspoken revolves mainly around Frey, who mysteriously gets teleported to the magical world of Athia. There seems to be quite an interesting lore, so here is everything we know about the story of Forspoken! 

As Frey travels through the world, she has a companion with her in the form of talking cuffs. In the end, we were finally introduced to the antagonist(s?) of the game. These were the Tantas which would be best described as twisted, destructive, and all-power matriarchs that have dominion over all of Athia.

The trailer also mentioned a character by the name of Tanta Sila, who is believed to be the strongest of all other Tantas in the game. Now whether she will be the final boss of the game has not been confirmed; however, the trailer did show a fight scene between Frey and Sila that demonstrates her overwhelming strength.

Keeping this in mind, all we can say is that Frey will be fighting these antagonists as she struggles to find a way back to her home. The rest of the plot is something for the game to reveal itself. The Tantas definitely seems like some interesting villains but if you want to check out the best villains of all time, consider reading: 30 BEST Villains In Video Games History.

Not A JRPG?

We all anticipated that Forspoken is going to be a JRPG, given that the studio developing it (luminous productions) is the same studio behind the production of Final Fantasy XV. Although this is a reasonable assumption since FFXV is one of the biggest names in that genre, the PlayStation Gameplay trailer and story showcase proved that we were all very wrong.

Apart from the Co-Head writers, there are also two creative consultants and writers on the team. One of them is Amy Hennig, who previously worked at Naughty Dog and was involved as a lead writer in the Unchartered Series and as a director and writer on Jack and Daxter. The other writer is Gary Whitta, who has notably worked on Starwars Rogue One.

These two people were a big part of making sure that Forspoken does not become a Japanese RPG which is why it feels more like a Western-style Action RPG. 

Where Are The Weapons?

Weapons and resource collection are a crucial part of any RPG. Especially when you have an open world full of potential exploration and meaningful NPC interactions. Here is everything we know about weapons in Forspoken. 

Although there is always some type of magic involved in an RPG, such as Elden Ring spells, it has rarely ever been used as a primary mode of combat except for players that prefer that combat style.

However, in the gameplay reveal video, there has not been a single sword, spear, or shield in sight. This raises a serious question of whether the combat in Forspoken is strictly magic only. This was, of course, confirmed by a blog post on the official Square Enix Games website.

To quote them on this, “Swords are so 2020; there’s no sword, shield, bow, or ax to be found in her arsenal, and frankly, it’s pretty refreshing.” That is a very bold statement. We appreciate the developers taking a creative step to make an orthodox gameplay format more colorful. However, we should not forget that many RPG players want to use at least some type of melee weapon.

If you’re looking for more traditional weapons, then we have a great survival-horror game recommendation for you! Check out: Sons of the Forest Everything We Know.

Magical Combat

After having a closer look at the gameplay, you can notice the significance of magic in the game. Although the exact mechanics of the combat have not been revealed yet, we can see what appears to be the use of elemental magic in the gameplay reveal video.

As far as speculations are concerned, we have been able to distinguish many different types of elemental magic being used in the video. These are fire, frost, wind, and lightning magic. Moreover, we have also seen Frey controlling some trees and branches but let’s just say we won’t know for sure until the game is out.

Now we don’t know how these abilities would be balanced and whether there is an elemental mastery mechanic in the game. So, for now, it’s better to leave some things for when we have another update.

Moving on to the attacks, it is safe to say that the combat in Forspoken is truly colorful and fast-paced. The seemingly powerful and quick attacks that Frey unleashes are truly a sight to behold. We have seen her use a collection of attacks ranging from AOE attacks, Ranged attacks, and even Melee. But that’s really all we know so far about combat in Forspoken.

Traversal Through Athia

A recurrent idea that will be pointed out in many different instances in this article is how this game has its unique way of approaching common gameplay mechanics. The mode of travel through the vast world of Forspoken is perhaps another peculiar step to make this game stand out in the RPG genre.

Much like Assassin’s Creed and Death Stranding, which are known for their fluid parkour and on-foot exploration, the developers have introduced something that they call “Magic Parkour.” From the looks of it, when you traverse through the open world of Athia, you will be traveling at high speeds, jumping off cliffs, and performing multiple jumps in the air with the help of magic.

Although that is everything we know so far about magic in Forspoken, the developers have also claimed that they want players to experiment with “various types of magic.” So perhaps there would be different nature or types of magic? We’ll have to wait and see. 

The Open World

Many critical opinions for this game have pointed out that, although the game has a vast and beautiful open world, it seems a bit devoid of meaningful interactions. Since Frey traverses through the Open World at such a fast pace, it begs the question of whether there are things in the open world that is worth stopping to have a look around.

The developers are confident that there is much to explore about the open world of Athia, and the players will not be bored by the lack of meaningful interaction. However, from what has been revealed about the game, it remains unclear what they are referring to.

Most of the gameplay features constant chatting between Frey and her magical “Cuff,” which is definitely entertaining if you are traveling short distances, but it will eventually become repetitive and boring if that continues for the entire gameplay.

That’s pretty much everything we know about the open world of Forspoken. But while we wait to hear more, perhaps you can discover some of the already existing games that have incredible worlds: Top 45 BEST PS5 Open World Games.

Gameplay Fluidity

The fluidity of the gameplay is yet another important aspect that must be covered for a game like Forspoken. Especially when it is one of the biggest selling points of the game. When watching the sample gameplay, the fluidity of Frey’s movements is quite impressive.

However, it is one thing watching someone else play the game and another thing to play it for yourself. We hope that the game lives up to its expectations and that the combination of magic and parkour is as rewarding as it looks, but then again, we cannot confirm that until the game is finally released.

If you love games with great gameplay, then we’d highly recommend checking out details about another upcoming game with a lot of interesting mechanics such as parkour and lots of tricks: Skate 4 Everything We Know So Far.

Character Customization

First things first, Forspoken does not allow players to create custom characters like other RPGs. Everyone playing the game starts as Frey, but further customizations can be made to her appearance. Some might argue that a custom character makes the game more personal and immersive for its players, and frankly, that’s the main selling point of an RPG, but there are some reasonable arguments in order.

Forspoken is true to its story, and unlike many other RPGs, the main character has a personal and unique story to her. Once she is teleported to another world, that story will play an essential role in the development of the main storyline and the character herself.

Apart from that, as a consequence of not having weapons, Frey can amplify and improve her magical abilities by equipping different types of cloaks. The developers have also revealed that fey can also paint her nails to gain more powers. Moreover, the developers have also discussed that nails are an important part of Athian culture and lore.

Although most of the lore about Athia remains a mystery, we are all excited to see how the story and character customization unfold throughout the game.

Constant Improvements 

Ever since the delay of Forspoken, the development team of the game said that they are constantly listening to the fan feedback and are making improvements in the game based on it. The creative producer of the Forspoken in a review with Game Informer said that they have improved the dialogue taking place between the protagonist Frey and her friend Cuff thanks to the feedback fans provided.

She further says that they are always looking at things to fine-tune them but not to the point that it feels overwhelming. Even though the game’s development team is definitely taking a lot of feedback were there making sure that they are just doing things in a nice and efficient way to provide the optimal experience. 

Forspoken Lore By Sanderson Rumor

In one of the recent rumors, it was revealed that the fantasy author who wrote the Mistborn series might have been approached by the developers of Forspoken to write the lore for the game. 

In the question and answer session, Sanderson stated that Square Enix has approached the writer in order to ask for a collaboration on a new fantasy IP. 

However, Sanderson had to turn down the tempting offer because he had just picked up a video game project. The project Square Enix proposed to Sanderson had drastic similarities to Sanderson’s Mistborn series so fans ultimately knew that it was Forspoken. 

Dual Sense Features And Visual Mode 

Like many other PS5 games, Forspoken will have some visual modes that you can choose from. The creative producer told Ungeek that there will be three visual modes in total. The game will run in 4K at 30 FPS if you’re using Graphics Mode and the resolution will drop to about 1440P when you use the Performance Mode however the frames per second will remain at the target 60.

Furthermore, there will be a third visual mode where you can turn on the ray tracing. However, the exact resolution and frame rates of the third mode were not revealed. 

As far as dual sense goes, the director of first spoken Takeshi Aramaki says that they included a lot of unique and incredible hardware features of PS5 when the game was in the development stages. For instance, they have made the use of adaptive triggers and used tactile feedback when you will use the different types of magic in-game.

There are a whole lot of magic spells and the designers and planners have worked very hard on the feedback you will receive when you use each type of magic spell. 

But that is everything we know about Forspoken so far! The game is looking promising with some unique elements and departures from typical games. We’ll have to stick around to see how it turns out. 

Up Next: Midnight Suns Everything We Know So Far.