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Forspoken is the latest Action RPG developed by Luminous Productions and published by Square Enix. That has many fans curious to see what this new IP will bring to the table for both franchises. Now that the game is here, many want to know if it's worth playing and what to expect; well, that's exactly what we're here to answer.
In this article, we'll briefly discuss the pros and cons of Forspoken, what it offers players, reviews from other reputable sources, and of course, whether or not you should pick it up.
Is Forspoken Worth Playing? The Reviews Are In!
To give you a brief overview of the game, let's run through the main story of the game and its mechanics, though the story isn't one we haven't seen or heard before. It sees our main protagonist Frey Holland, a down-on-her-luck orphan from New York City who gets dragged into a fantastical new world called Athia, where she finds herself with magical abilities and in the middle of a worldwide conflict where she needs to rise and become the hero the people need.
She does this with the help of Cuff, a magical and sentient piece of arm wear that speaks to Frey throughout the game, acting as a second character and partner to our protagonist. And while Frey doesn't exactly want to be a hero, she's forced to accept the call to action and help the citizens of Athia.
While this premise may sound promising, many players are pointing out the failure to execute these concepts and constructing them in a new and fresh way. To get more specific, the game comes across as bland, uninspired, and downright cliche to many players.
According to the most recent reviews, there are many reasons for this, from the story being generic and predictable to our protagonist Frey not being very likable and her distaste for everything in the world she's in coming off as more annoying than endearing. This is compounded by her relationship with Cuff, her wearable weapon that speaks to her and has a quasi-relationship with her.
We say quasi-relationship because the dynamic between Frey and Cuff is hard to watch. Instead of the usual trope of reluctant partners who grow to trust and depend on each other, they come off as two people who dislike each other and are forced to endure each other's company while the player is forced to watch it.
Now it should be stated that the game isn't all bad; there are moments between Frey and Cuff that give us a glimpse of what their relationship could have been. And the fast-paced, parkour-style gameplay gives you tons to do in between the main story beats.
Unfortunately, many players don't think this enough to justify the rest of the game, and this is especially evident in the reviews of the game, such as the low scores from IGN and Metacritic. From our perspective, the game doesn't offer too much depth for most players to enjoy, but if you want an action-packed experience and are willing to overlook the poor storytelling and character development, then Forspoken might be for you.
Below are the most recent reviews from famous critics for you to check out:
"Its combat is flashy and fun enough to entertain across its comparatively short RPG campaign. There’s a kind of person that might be enough for, happy to spend hours and hours uncovering every inch of Forspoken’s needlessly large map after the main story, but that doesn’t mean I was able to find much reason to do so"
"Where Forspoken should’ve been a striking and appealing fresh start for Luminous Productions, the end result sadly is a game not only bland and unpolished but deprived of a reason to care for its unfolding mystery."
"In the cut-throat race for your attention, Forspoken feels like a new IP that’s trying to run full pelt alongside heavy-hitting franchises from other big publishers. But it plows, shin-first, through every hurdle along the way. Its stuttering start belies a combat system that’s worth investing the effort to learn, but takes so long to get up to full speed that it’s already on borrowed time."
"Everything looks stunning, inventive enemy designs, memorable performances from Ella Balinska and Jonathan Cake (Frey and Cuff). [However,] samey gameplay, the story is on par with a Marvel movie from the mid-'00s, it shouldn’t have been an open world game.
"Forspoken's story and combat fail to reach the heights of its movement and exploration, but thankfully those two latter elements make up most of the experience."
