Square Enix’s Forspoken released its demo a long time ago and the game had a lot of date changes as well but now this PS5 exclusive game that is also coming on PC is getting released on the 24th of January and you can play its demo for free and decide for yourself if you want to purchase it.
This review would include my first impressions with the free demo along with what the community and other publishers think of the new upcoming title to help you form a better opinion that I’d love to hear in the comments.
There were a lot of different impressions people have given initially to this open-world action RPG’s cinematic trailer to how it’s not properly composed. The game developers are also actively listening to the feedback from the community since the demo has released.
There are a lot of mixed opinions everywhere and here I will try to present my final opinion at the end but let’s start with my initial impressions.
My Initial Impressions
Firstly, let’s talk about the game’s sound: I found it really unique and very engaging. I would admit, it has kinda hooked me to it, and to be extra honest with you guys I am currently listening to it while writing this paragraph too. Listen to it here on YouTube and it’s also on sale in its official store.
The sound suits Frey’s character and the open world she is in with a mission to save Athia which brings me to discuss what the first 5 objectives felt while playing the game.
Confused about the storyline? I will soon be adding more resources here so make sure to visit back.
Here’s 13 minutes from me Parkourin’ in Forspoken’s Demo
But, before anything I’d like to thank Square Enix for the free demo they have given as few publishers do it. Now, the game had a great feel overall and the combat was very unique with my left buttons making magic and my right buttons attacking, learning more magic along the way and wearing cloaks to unlock different abilities was altogether a unique gameplay experience including the fun spiderman jumps with the luminous trail.
The environment was a bit bland where occasionally some dears come, enemies pretty easy to manage and apart from that, you wander in some really nice green mountains, flowing river with alligators and as a bonus, we had a boss that was a 2-3 minute fight and didn’t have much going there. Additionally, Frey seemed to talk too much with lip-sync issues.
Audio mixing is one of the primary aspects of every game, and dialogue delivery is what we look forward to. But, this has been an issue for Final Fantasy XV too, and it uses the same engine as Forpsoken.
These are the aspects the community is not happy with too as they expected more engaging and intense fights calling the dialogue delivery and graphics last-gen. But, it is like judging the book from its cover. Let’s see what is the community’s take on it.
Mixed Response from the Community
Like most of the games, you’d see a mixed response. Generally, it’s being well received and the game has over 60,000 users wishlisted on steam it making it #24 in the list as of today.
So, I went to Forspoken’s subreddit to see what others think about the shared trailer.
1. Lip-sync and NPC
A very visible issue and I hope this gets fixed once the game gets released.
On the official gameplay, the top comment with over 8600 likes seems to have the same issue too.
2. Bland Openworld
The open world is pretty big, and beautiful too once seen in the official 4K photage, but enemies are spread far and interest points are few.
I think the character’s traversal abilities are unique that make her cover large distances quickly so placing a lot of items/enemies wouldn’t quite sync with her abilities as she is not walking like an ordinary human in the game.
3. Optimist Awaiters
Some are excitedly waiting for the game for a long time looking on the positive side of it and not expecting everything from a single game.
Which side do you belong to? Let me know in the comments!
But, there are a few people who have played a bit more than the demo, let’s hear from them.
What the publishers are saying
Many reputed publishers have gotten to play the game a bit more than just a demo, yet the few hours they have played showed that there are a lot of scene changes and many enemies coming in with different difficulties giving us extra insights.
Simon from IGN enjoyed the game and commented primarily on the improvements in his review we can see in the world to set itself apart. But, he is fairly convinced I am hopeful, if not confident, after leaving a less than impressive first impression to which we mostly agree.
Pocket-lint got to try the game too and MAX thinks the combat can be improved along with a better script that can complement the dazzling combat effects and large world.
Mashable’s Alex called it an old-gen souled game from the 45-minute demo primarily because of the similar landscapes and a next-gen coat over it. He was very excited about the parkour magic that has hooked me too.
But, a 45-minute demo shouldn’t be able to draw those harsh conclusions and I agree if this remains like this, it would get monotonous.
My Final Word
But, out of all the reviews shared, there were scenic changes reported and the gameplays shared have also shown there are a lot of different unexplored areas Frey goes to. I am looking forward to the conceited Tantas she has to fight before the huge-sized menacing enemies with her lustrous magical combats.
The story according to the developers is not shared clearly which means that we will get some emotions too and the recent response from Mitsuno restores a lot of hope too.
“It’s fun being able to talk about this,” Mitsuno continues, “and be honest and open about it. It’s been a challenge, for sure: we want to show what the story’s about, and what the game’s about, without ruining any of it. And so much of the game and the dialogue comes down to context, right? That video that we put up on our social media channels… that was just repurposed footage and dialogue from older trailers that we put together in a different way. And I think it just brought more attention to the dialogue, and people took the wrong things away from it.”
Mitsuno (Creative Producer)
Rest assured – when the game comes out, you’ll see how their stories are key to the whole thing,” Mitsuno says. “And we think it’s something that players will enjoy when they finally get their hands on the game.
I am hyped to try out and improve on my magic parkour skills, what’s Your Take on it?
Let me know in the comments.
