Forspoken

Square Enix has been on a roll in 2022 when it comes to both quantity and quality, and 2023 looks great, too, as the Japanese publisher is set to release multiple high-profile titles, starting with Forspoken, an open-world RPG developed by Luminous Productions (the team behind Final Fantasy XV). Attempting to improve the gameplay formula seen in FFXV through various additions, Forspoken is setting out to be an interesting product and a great way to kick off a year that could be among the best for video game releases.

Release Date, Platforms, Editions

Forspoken will release on January 24th, 2023, on PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store and PlayStation 5. The game was originally supposed to release on May 24th, 2022, but was later delayed to October 11th, 2022 before getting moved again to January 24th. The delays allowed the team to further polish the game to offer the best experience possible.

Forspoken will release both digitally and at retail. The standard retail edition, which is available for $69.99 in the United States and €79.99 in Europe, doesn't include any additional goodies. Still, it does come with retailer-exclusive pre-order bonuses such as the Best Buy exclusive free steelbook case and the GameStop exclusive premium character card set.

On the other hand, the Forspoken Digital Edition comes with different in-game exclusive bonuses on PC and PlayStation 5. The PC Digital Edition includes the Elite Cloak, Spectra Combo Necklace, and Overclock Nails, while the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition includes the No Limits Cloak, Symbol Combo Necklace, Trigger Happy Nails, and Crafting Starter Kit. No matter the format, the Digital Edition costs $69.99 in the United States and €79.99 in Europe.

A Forspoken Digital Deluxe Edition is also launching on PC and PlayStation 5. This edition, which costs $94.99 in the United States and €104.99 in Europe, includes a Mini Artbook, Mini Soundtrack, and the prequel story DLC In Tanta We Trust, with early access. The PlayStation 5 Digital Deluxe Edition also includes the Rare Resource Kit.

Setting, Genre, Mechanics

Forspoken stars Frey Holland (played by Ella Balinska, who recently starred in the short-lived Resident Evil Netflix TV show), a 20-year-old woman who is good-hearted and smart, albeit a little immature. Having had a difficult upbringing through the foster care system, she mistrusts the world around her, using sarcasm and humor as a defense against the perceived hostile world. Her life, however, suddenly changes on the day she is transported from her hometown of New York City to the magical and mysterious world of Athia.

Athia was once a peaceful land until a miasma plague widely known as The Break suddenly spread across the world, causing humans and animals to become monsters. The Break corrupts even the land itself, except for the haven city of Cipal. However, Frey is mysteriously immune to the plague and also gains incredibly powerful magic abilities when she finds the sentient bracelet Cuff (voiced by Jonathan Cake). At first, Frey just wants to go home, but eventually she is persuaded by the people of Athia to exploit her unique powers to rid the land of all evil.

The Break also corrupted the rulers of Athia, the Tantas, once beloved and powerful sorceresses. who each embody a different virtue and have unique strengths. So far, Square Enix shared information on Tanta Sila (voiced by Janina Gavankar, already seen as Iden Versio in Star Wars: Battlefront II), the strongest of all the Tantas and former commander of the Athian Army, and Tanta Prav (voiced by Pollyanna McIntosh, already seen as Shelob in Middle-earth: Shadow of War), known as the wisest of the group before the corruption.

The lore and story of Forspoken were penned by a rather famous team of writers, such as Gary Whitta (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), Todd Stashwick (12 Monkeys),  Allison Rymer (Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments), Amy Berg (Jack Ryan, Warrior Nun), Anne Toole (Horizon: Zero Dawn, Horizon: Forbidden West, Days Gone), and Amy Hennig (Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, Uncharted). The music was composed by Bear McCreary (Call of Duty: Vanguard, God of War Ragnarök) and Garry Schyman (BioShock, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor).

Luminous Productions is, of course, handling the gameplay. Since it's the same studio behind Final Fantasy XV, Forspoken shares a few similarities with that game, starting from its open-world setting. Athia is a big world, and players can explore the full extent of the map using Frey's special magical parkour abilities, which allow her to speed up regular traversal speed, scale mountains, and so on. As it is now obligatory for open-world games, Forspoken will feature a lot of different points of interest scattered all over the map, as well as main and optional story quests. According to the developer, it takes around 30 hours to complete the main story, although players will still want to complete side content, as optional quests will take them to areas that are not explored during the main story.

Alongside magical parkour, another of the features that sets Forspoken apart from other open-world games is its combat system. Frey can use different types of magic to defeat enemies. Alternating between long-range and short-range spells will be extremely important, as enemies are weak against certain types. With a vast selection of offensive and support spells (said to be over 100 in total), combat in Forspoken promises to be extremely varied and definitely has the potential to stay fresh for a long time. The game also rewards players for a good performance in battle, in the vein of the Devil May Cry series and other character-action games, pushing users to perform as best as they can during fights.

Playable Demo

PlayStation 5 owners don't have to wait until the game's release date to see what Forspoken is all about, as a playable demo is now available for download from the PlayStation Store in all regions. The demo, unlike a few others, doesn't allow players to carry over their progress over the full version of the game. It's not even cut from the actual game, so the area available in the demo has been handcrafted separately for this purpose. Nonetheless, it is still a good way to get accustomed to the game's unique mechanics before it launches.

There is no information on the availability of a PC demo.

Trailers

PC System Requirements

The Forspoken official PC system requirements have been officially revealed on January 17th, 2023.  Being the first title to officially support Microsoft's DirectStorage technology, an NVMe SSD is among recommended requirements, although it's still possible to play the game on a regular HDD. Direct Storage will be available under Windows 11 only.

The PC version of Forspoken will also support both the DualShock 4 and DualSense controllers, as well as any DirectInput or Xinput controllers, keyboard and mouse controllers, dynamic refresh rate and Auto HDR under Windows 11, ultrawide resolutions up to 32:9 and 7.1 audio.

Square Enix and Luminous Productions partnered with AMD on the PC version. The developers confirmed the following FidelityFX features:

• AMD FidelityFX Downsampler
• AMD FidelityFX Ambient Occlusion
• AMD FidelityFX Denoiser
• AMD FidelityFX Screen Space Reflections
• AMD FidelityFX Variable Shading
• AMD Hybrid Shadows
• AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution