As the series of the eighties teach us, knowing is half the battle: here’s what we have collected in our roundup of Forspoken
2022, at least on the gaming front, was a harbinger of good news and respectable titles, but if The prophesied will lead the way we can only expect an even better 2023: it’s good know what to expect from such a promising game. We have gathered some interesting information on what for RPG lovers could be the first companion of the year, with which to wait for the thaw. No more delays, therefore: let’s draw up a practical identikit and, in doing so, to understand the salivation that catches us with each new trailer of this (possible) masterpiece.
In short – What to know about Forspoken
Let’s start with a fundamental question: what is it about, for anyone who may not know anything about it, Forspoken? The game, published by Square-Enixis in progress at Luminous Productions. The title intends to boast a vast game world (read: open world) with an equally expansive system of magic and, above all, the necessary comfort to move around. It will also be one of the first great showcases of what Unreal Engine 5 is able to do. The most attentive among you will remember him from his first reveal, when we still knew him only as “Project Athia”. Sound familiar?
The release date – What to know about Forspoken
Let’s move on to the meat: When does Forspoken come out? In fact, it should have been available for a while already (and with it this article, if you think about it), but it has been delayed. And so it was that October 11, 2022 changed into January 24, 2023, as “the result of continuous discussions with our partners”. The “strategic decision” marks the latest “refinement phase” of the development, with the inevitable annexation of thanks to the fans for their “support and patience”. The passage to the registry office dates back to March two years ago, with a change of name that went a little beyond the abandonment of the “Project” in the title.
A message from the #Foretelling Development Team. pic.twitter.com/T302V6h4Np
— Forspoken (@Forspoken) March 7, 2022
Who works there – What to know about Forspoken
While we’re at it, who exactly do we owe Forspoken to? As we said earlier, Luminous Productions is working on the game. This is an offshoot of Square-Enix, as well as the same team of talent that gave us Final Fantasy XV time ago. It was founded by the director of that title, Hajime Tabata, before setting out on his own as a developer. We talked about “Project” and in fact the projects passed into the hands of the publisher are far from few, starting from Triangle Strategy and passing through Babylon’s Fall, Chocobo GP and Strangers of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origins. Now that they’re out, there’s only this… this… this what?
Gameplay – What to know about Forspoken
Exactly, how to define Forspoken at the level of gameplay? The game aims to give the player all the tools to explore his open-world with magic and the ability to seamlessly jump from one setting to another. The director Takeshi Aramaki says the game’s fluid motion fits Square-Enix’s description of it as a “narrative-driven adventure.” You can put two and two by taking a look at the qualities of the protagonist Frey Holland in the trailer below, to get an idea of the creative use of magic during combat and exploration.
Spiritual successor to Final Fantasy XV – What to know about Forspoken
Con Final Fantasy XV, Luminous Productions has entered the world of open world games. And the resulting mistakes of youth have not been lacking, with exciting missions held back from achieving greatness by empty settings. Still, a similar size for the world to explore could do Forspoken a lot of good. You can see why with Frey’s abilities above, much more suited to a bare map than the four-wheeled luxury of the Regalia. For our part, we can’t wait to relive all the moments seen in the trailers, one by one.
Jailbird was the book… – What to know about Forspoken
L’narrative framework of the game might be familiar to anyone who has seen a protagonist trapped in another world before. Unfortunately (while having nothing against neologisms from other languages) nowadays it is fashionable to call them exclusively isekai, but if we want to dot the “i” this trend has become a genre in itself in Japan. Be that as it may, exactly that happened to Frey: she suddenly found herself mastering magic in another dimension. Not that she mind. The main themes of isekai are growth and redemption, appreciating life by living a new one. And given the bullying Frey has had to endure, it will be nice to hold her hand during her turn.
…and who wrote it – What to know about Forspoken
As for the script, Forspoken’s pedigree is respectable. The story is written eight hands by Amy Hennig, Gary Whitta, Allison Rymer e Todd Stashwick. It is hardly necessary to remember that Amy Hennig worked on the plot of the original Uncharted trilogy: part of the credit for one of the best Sony exclusives must be attributed to her. While she doesn’t miss her work, Forspoken is her first major project in some time now. Gary Whitta is no less, having written part of the story of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (and hosted the Animal Talking talk show on Animal Crossing: New Horizons during the pandemic, ed).
Setting – What to know about Forspoken
The events of the game take place in a mysterious fantasy world with all the trappings: dragons, kingdoms and magic. Most of the scenarios seen so far, in terms of level design, practically beg the player for parkour. Beyond the throne rooms of the case, it must also be said that the architecture of the game is in the direction of the post-apocalyptic, but we will only be able to draw the necessary conclusions in a couple of weeks. Until then, we point out the most common fan theory: the game is based on Square-Enix’s 2012 tech demo, Agni’s Philosophy. The development team is also the same, so… just in case, better late than never!
Soundtrack – What to know about Forspoken
The music in the game is by Bear McCreary e Garry Schyman. Since we haven’t dedicated (so far) episodes of Music & Video Games to either of them, let’s try to draw up a brief curriculum. McCreary did some top-notch work with God of War (2018), and to the delight of our ears he’s back for the sequel God of War: Ragnarok. His are also the scores of The Walking Dead, Battlestar Galactica, Agents of SHIELD, Outlander, Godzilla: King of the Monsters and 10 Cloverfield Lane. As for Schyman, we have one word for you: Bioshock.
Seeing is believing – What to know about Forspoken
There’s no getting around it – the era of PlayStation demo discs on newsstands is now a thing of the past. We have reached the point of talking about a privilege for each test drive that precedes day one. From time to time, however, the publishers remind that even the blind payment is not a due act, especially given the soaring prices to which the triple A has been trying to get us used to for some years now. Well, in the case of Forspoken there is the option to pay with knowledge of the facts: game demo is availableso if what we have written so far has made you hungry, take a seat!
Ray tracing – What to know about Forspoken
This is being asked of any next-gen release by now, but just to be clear: yes, Forspoken supports the ray-tracing. This was confirmed by the president of Square-Enix Yosuke Matsuda. According to him, “PS5 considerably improves video technology, such as with the implementation of ray-tracing. It’s almost indistinguishable from what you see on PC.” It just so happens that the game is out on both PS5 and PCbut on consoles a substantial difference between performance e maximum graphic performance (allowing the player to to choose). It won’t be a Sony IP, but it remains an exclusive: if Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart has satisfied all the fans with this choice, Square-Enix will probably be of the same opinion.
To recap
Between two weeks, on January 24th, Forspoken will be available on PS5 and (expensive minimum system requirements permitting) also on PC. Frey Holland’s adventure, which has gone from a world of bullying to another filled with magic and parkour, will continue Luminous Productions’ first experiments with the open world previously seen with Final Fantasy XV. Beyond Sony’s exclusivity on the console front, this promises to be one of the first titles to necessarily require new hardware, with the complicity of a cinematic ambition, ray-tracing and one of the first substantial uses of Unreal Engine 5 .
Now it’s up to you to tell us yours: do you think the game can do for you? Let us know below, and as always, don’t forget to stay on TechGameWorld.com for all the most important news for gamers and more. For your purely gaming needs, you can instead find the best discounts in digital format on Instant Gaming.