{"id":359148,"date":"2023-01-23T08:00:17","date_gmt":"2023-01-23T14:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jbsgame.com\/?post_type=eg_reviews&p=359148"},"modified":"2023-01-23T08:46:21","modified_gmt":"2023-01-23T14:46:21","slug":"forspoken-review-destructoid-ps5-pc-square-enix-ella-balinska","status":"publish","type":"eg_reviews","link":"https:\/\/jbsgame.com\/reviews\/forspoken-review-destructoid-ps5-pc-square-enix-ella-balinska\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Forspoken"},"content":{"rendered":"
Our choices are, at best, half-chance. Each and every day the luckiest among us are afforded multiple opportunities to go left, right, straight ahead, or staying right where I am, thank you very much. And with each of these choices, we walk on new paths. And while we never really truly know whether we stepped the right way at the litany of crossroads we’ve reached, we hope that our sixth sense at best and blind luck at worse will see us through to our goals. We’re grateful to have the half-chance.<\/p>
For Frey Holland, there has been no half-chance. Abandoned as a newborn beneath the Manhattan tunnel that bears her name, shuffled through a litany of foster homes, and with her teen years soundtracked by a cacophony of howling winds and blaring sirens, Frey rolled the dice at birth and it most assuredly came up snake eyes. And now, on the eve of her 21st birthday, she finds herself facing the gavel of a judge once again, taking the fall for the latest in a series of ill-advised car thefts.<\/p>
But tomorrow will be different… Frey has been stashing away what little money she can beg, borrow, or steal. And tomorrow, accompanied by her faithful feline\/best friend Homer, Frey is getting out of Hell’s Kitchen. She has the cash, she has the cat, and she has \u2014 for the first time in her young life \u2014 a plan, a purpose, a choice<\/em>. Just one more night in her bleak, miserable apartment, and Frey can get the fresh start \u2014 the first<\/em> start \u2014 that she’s always dreamed of.<\/p> Tomorrow will be different…<\/p> <\/p> Forspoken<\/i> (PS5<\/a> [reviewed], PC<\/a>)<\/strong> Following an extended period of development and a series of infamous<\/a> and ill-judged marketing mishaps<\/a>, Square Enix Forspoken is finally ready to unleash its tale of arcane worlds, mythic legends, and personal responsibility upon a tentative audience \u2014 many of whom are already viewing the title with trepidation. Forspoken<\/em> depicts the odyssey of the aforementioned Frey, plucked from downtown Manhattan and thrust into the ancient kingdom of Athia, which is smothered by a destructive and all-consuming force which Frey monikers “The Break”.<\/p> Athia has its own defenders: Four powerful matriarchs of love and war known as “The Tantas”, but The Break has severely affected these guardians, twisting their minds and loyalties and turning Athia’s own founders into its very destroyers. With the kingdom on the brink of total collapse, and what remains of the people holed up in the ramshackle city of Cipal, it turns to Frey \u2014 unaffected by The Break as an outsider \u2014 to go forth into the corrupted world and learn of its truth.<\/p> For our reluctant “hero”, however, this momentous and unwanted journey is her only path back home, back to Homer, and back to what semblance of a life she has.<\/p> Aiding Frey in her quest is a mysterious vambrace, “Cuff”, whom is the key to Frey’s initial arrival in Athia, Cuff aids Frey in her journey by providing a litany of magical abilities, while also boosting her strength and movement. Unfortunately for Frey, Cuff has something of an acerbic and dry personality, which clashes hard with Frey’s own pessimism and eternal frustrations, forming the central chemistry for the duo’s journey into the unknown. It’s gonna be a long trip for the original odd cuffle.<\/p> <\/iframe><\/p> As demo players will be aware, Forspoken<\/em> is an open-world adventure framed almost identically in the vein of Ubisoft titles such as Assassin’s Creed, Watch_Dogs<\/em>, and Far Cry<\/em>. While it’s considered somewhat vulgar to make direct comparisons from one game to another in any review, the open-world template used by Forspoken<\/em> is so snug<\/em> to the veteran Ubisoft mold, that such comparison is inescapable.<\/p> Forspoken<\/em> drops our protagonist into an enormous, distinctly segmented open world, before showering them with a plethora of objective markers, offering labyrinths to conquer, Belfreys (Radio Towers) to locate, treasure chests to unearth, photo opportunities to snap, fonts of wisdom to be found, and Flashbacks (challenges) to be completed. In addition to her main questline, Frey can accept side-quests, (or “Diversions”), from the people of Athia, which expand the universe’s massive<\/em> scope and deep sense of lore.<\/p> This design methodology in itself, hangs over Forspoken<\/em> as something of an albatross, hampering its very potential by marrying it to an aging format. While Forspoken<\/em>‘s world is undoubtedly fun to traverse, (thanks wholly to Frey’s magical parkour abilities), the “Riddler Trophy” approach feels out-of-step with the possibilities provided by the title’s story, characters, themes, and combat. Perhaps the one true unique activity lies in the finding and befriending of a party of magical feline familiars, that will then visit Frey at refuges dotted throughout Athia.<\/p> To be clear, this isn’t to say that Forspoken’s open-world template is inherently bad<\/em>. Anyone looking for an open-world checklist, packed out with boxes to tick and checklists to complete, is going to have a suitably great time with Forspoken.<\/em> But the elements of Luminous’ title that do<\/em> shine through are frustratingly juxtaposed with a model that feels anachronistic, especially given the powerful, ninth-generation technology at play and the rare “blank canvas” provided by a fresh, new IP.<\/p> <\/p> Frey and Cuff make quite the combative duo, both metaphorically and literally. Frey is given an initial skill tree of ranged magic, divided into Attack and Support abilities. As she progresses through Athia, this library of spells opens up, transforming Frey into an abracadabra powerhouse. Forspoken<\/em>‘s “crowd-control” combat sees Frey synergizing her attacks and support magic with her acrobatic abilities to maintain the edge on battalions mutated enemies \u2014 earning additional rewards for style and finesse.<\/p> It has to be said that, initially, the combat is pretty boring, and the player will be hard-pushed to feel engaged in the early going. As the story progresses, however, Frey will unlock hugely<\/em> different magical powers, allowing her to blend elemental attacks, sword-play, and good, old, fashioned Kung-Fucking-Fu. Once Frey has access to different magics, combat becomes a riot \u2014 an enjoyably devastating mix of melee, ranged, and environmental attacks, interchangeable on the fly and punctuated by her trademark acrobatics.<\/p> It’s baffling<\/em> that the decision was made to lock away further magical styles until a full third into the story. Forspoken<\/em>‘s action truly comes into its own once our hero is given a range of styles to play with, but the player has to tread a fair few miles into the story before they can build a bespoke combat style that brings the battle to life. Synergizing “The Flow” with Frey’s full range of abilities can be poetry in motion. In addition, a fun mechanic sees Frey learn and apply mythical nail designs in order to further boost her potential. That’s never worked for me in real life, but I’m for sure going to try it out.<\/p> <\/p> After a brilliant and genuinely moving opening, Frey’s early hours in Athia are a little humdrum, although the inevitable fish-out-of-water humor is very welcome, recalling the fun of Sam Raimi’s Army of Darkness<\/em>. Much like the combat, Forspoken<\/em>‘s true motivations don’t really get into gear until our girl meets the Tantas themselves. It is here that the drama, (and destruction), step up, tasking Frey and her companions to face up to their true responsibilities.<\/p>
Developer: Luminous Productions<\/strong>
Publisher: Square Enix<\/strong>
Released: January 24, 2023<\/strong>
MSRP: $69.99<\/strong><\/p> Frey-de Cats<\/h2>
Go with ‘The Flow’<\/h2>
Tanta-stic<\/h2>