If you are looking for a story and characters that will wow you and leave a lasting impression, you’ve got the wrong game. Ultimately, your mileage in Forspoken will depend on what you value most. Using the various abilities and plotting how I’d take down enemies was a big part of the fun, and a shining moment in Forspoken.įorspoken is a mixed bag and ultimately misses the mark in a number of ways In other games, I might purposefully avoid combat when possible, but not here. There isn’t a ton of enemy variety in the game, but it works pretty well none-the-less. Certain enemies are susceptible to specific elemental attacks, so combat was often unique, with strategies changing on the fly. Still, using any of Frey’s 4 magical abilities and weapons was great fun. For some, this will be a really good thing, while others might want just a bit more from the game’s combat. The system here is never going to blow you away with any sort of complexity. Getting from A to B, which happens a lot, is a blast, and beating the crap out of enemies in between moving around the world is shockingly fun. Traveling around the world is fantastic, using Frey’s outstanding parkour abilities. However, there is a redeeming quality in the game, and it is a good one. To this point, you might expect Forspoken to be a giant let down. There is a sweet spot, and unfortunately that was missed here. Forspoken, I think, swings the pendulum too far the other way. This might sound like a contradiction, as I previously said games with too much drag out too long. On one hand, it does help keep things moving along as there isn’t a ton to do outside the story, but on the other, it would be nice to see more things to do. A lot more could have been done with this world, but it just wasn’t. What doesn’t work so well is how open and empty Forspoken feels. That being said, it was more refreshing than frustrating. Forspoken does the exact opposite of that – there were times where I wish something would happen, but it didn’t. There isn’t enough time to adequately explore your surroundings before the game attempts to nudge you in other ways. Far too often, I find some open world games do too much storytelling. What I did enjoy about Forspoken is that the game tells the story in large dumps of information, but allows players a ton of freedom to explore in between those story moments. It’s predictable, and in that sense, it’s just not as good as you want it to be. There are moments of exhilaration, for sure, but nothing that makes you think you aren’t playing something you might have seen before. There is nothing inherently likeable about either character, nor does the story have any real impact. While you might hope that Frey and Cuff bond and become friends during this adventure, how friendly can a person and their armband become? For the sake of the character arcs and storyline, that is part of the problem. The ally to Frey is a talking armband named Cuff. Only by defeating all four can Athia be restored, and the citizens saved. Each realm is controlled by a powerful Tantas that must be overcome and destroyed. All the residents have fled to the city of Cipal, and it seems that only Frey can stand up to the 4 powerful beings controlling each realm. In Athia, we learn that the 4 realms are all inflicted with corruption that is essentially tearing the world apart. You play as Frey Holland, a New York City orphan who gets sucked into the magical world of Athia. It’s unfortunate that Forspoken used a very generic back story to build its game upon. Heard this before? Good, then you probably can predict the outcome as well. You are taken away and taught to harness your power, ultimately leading to your world saving task. You play as an orphaned kid who realizes they have magical powers. Forspoken DetailsĮSRB Rating: M (Mature 17+) A forgettable story with forgettable charactersįorspoken definitely isn’t breaking any ground in the story department. In a genre that is likely over saturated at this point, does Forspoken stand out? Or is this an RPG experience to ignore? Let’s take a look. To be truly remarkable requires you to be truly unique. We have been swamped with open world role playing experiences in the past few years. After playing through Forspoken for dozens of hours, it became more and more clear that this is a tale of two games.

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