Forespoken is an action RPG game released for PlayStation 5 and Windows on January 24, 2023. Its reception wasn’t great and most of the critics who played it were calling it mid-tier at the best.
And with poor response from gamers as well, the sales weren’t what they were expected to be. Which ultimately led to certain budget cuts, layoffs, and Luminous Productions merger with Square Enix Co. Which also means that any plans and hopes for the sequel are completely gone.
Now to be completely honest with you, I’ve learned all of those things after I completed the whole game, while I was googling if there was going to be a sequel. The game is “free” on PlayStation if you have a subscription and that’s where I saw it. Looked decent enough, so I’ve decided to give it a try.
Story
The main character of Forespoken is Frey, a troubled young woman who was abandoned as a baby near a tunnel in New York. The story starts with her in court receiving community service for theft. This leads to her being ambushed by gang members who “forced” her to steal. There’s a kerfuffle, she escapes, they set her apartment on fire, and she goes to the infamous tunnel where she was abandoned.
Now this is where the life of Frey starts to stir up even more because she is drawn to a strange bracelet, which leads to her being teleported to another world/dimension called Athia.
Once there, the bracelet starts to communicate with her, she names it Cuff and Frey discovers that she can do magic now. She also discovers that Athia is infested by “The Break” which corrupts all life, except her for some unknown reason.
Once she gets more comfortable with her situation, she reaches the city of Cipal, a possible last human refuge from the Break. That’s where she is imprisoned by the council of the city and later one of the citizens helps her escape.
Once she is safe, Frey learns that Athia was one under the leadership of Tantas, four great sorceresses. But the Break also had an effect on them and they’ve started to oppress the people. Not far after, she gets into another kerfuffle, with one of the Tantas. That’s when the story starts to unravel.
I won’t go further into details but since I’ve finished the whole game and read through a bunch of other people’s opinions about it, I can comment on a few things without revealing too much details.
There are a lot of people saying that most of the dialogue is cringe, which makes the whole game cringe. Now, even though I did find myself cringing a couple of times, I still think it’s not that bad.
Also people seem very upset by the fact that she constantly refuses to help people of Athia. As a girl who was abandoned as a baby, probably moved from foster home to foster home, had to deal with gangs, and who knows what else she had to do to survive, now all of sudden everybody expects her to help everybody and care about them? I’m afraid that’s not how the world works, sorry to burst your bubble.
If we were to put dialogue aside, I believe the story was promising and with a few adjustments here and there, the second part would be even more interesting. I would’ve loved to learn more about the Tantas and the war that led to their demise.
Forespoken Review: Gameplay
So when it comes to the gameplay of the game, there’s nothing much to complain about. The best description of it would be “Harry Potter world meets Assassin Creed”.
From what I’ve seen, people are complaining that the game is too easy but nobody seems to care that they’ve said it’s a “narrative-driven adventure” game that focuses on fast and fluid exploration.
If you ask me, they’ve delivered on that part.
Frey acquires skills that can help with exploration. Whether it’s a skill for speed boost, climbing really high or jumping high, she got it. Besides those, she has her own “original” powers that she got when she was teleported to Athia.
And along the journey while defeating other Tantas she acquires their powers as well. All of the powers have their respective skill tree where you can upgrade skills that you already have and also acquire new ones.
Most of the skills that Frey has in her arsenal can be classified as ranged attacks, except for a few exceptions where she can do close combat. It’s very user-friendly when it comes to what skills and skill tree you want to use.
In battle, you can easily combine your attacks and deal with an enemy with ease. I had so much fun using all of the skills and trying out different combinations.
Frey also can equip a cloak and necklace that improve her stats and combat efficiency. She can acquire them through explorations, completing certain challenges or defeating bosses. Stats on the equipment can be enhanced and you can also add a couple of new effects onto them. There is also a nail polish that can give you some extra stats and “special abilities”. Seems like a cool concept but in the end, it feels thrown at you and totally forgotten right after.
Graphic and audio
When I first saw Forspoken, I was drawn to it by the looks of it. The characters, skills, and open world are done very well. Most of the animations look very cool and smooth. Off the top of my head, I can’t remember any issues that I had with it. As for the audio, if we were to ignore some of the cringe lines, I would have no problems with it. For some reason, the voice of the Cuff reminds me of someone but I can’t figure out who and it really bugs me.
Final thoughts
I had a positive experience playing Forspoken and I really wish that there was a second part so I can find out what happens next. Now also, keep in mind that I’ve got the game free with a PSN pass. If I had to pay $70 for the game, would I feel the same?
Well most likely not. Most of the time I wouldn’t get any game that I’m not completely sure about. Especially with it being that expensive. But if you have a PS pass as well, you should give it a go because it’s definitely worth your time.
