It seems that Luminous Productions had one goal with Forspoken: the studio, whose cast consists largely of developers from Final Fantasy 15, wanted to convert classic turn-based tactics into fast-paced real-time action. How do I get it? Because the combat system in Forspoken is simply fantastic – but the rest is so thin that you would hardly feel it if you could rub it between two fingers.
You’ve probably known the hook for a long time: Frey, who grew up with different foster parents, ends up in the fantasy kingdom of Athia, where she of all people is supposed to restore peace, since she’s constantly in conflict with the law in her world. So, in a way, Forspoken is a coming-of-age story, even if Frey is 20 and swears as happily as Ellie on a bad day.
Only her story is miles away from The Last of Us. The scenario is quite interesting when Athia is not only threatened by a mysterious calamity, but also suffers under the tyrannical rule of so-called tantas. Of course, Frey has to put an end to both of these things – it’s a good thing that she has magical abilities in Athia and can count on the help of her companion, who has been transformed into a bracelet.
What is less good, however, is that much of it is shown in a bullet-point narrative that hardly knows any nuances or emotional developments between the death of a young girl and the victory party that follows. Above all, all the characters, including Frey, remain disappointingly pale.
How obvious it would have been, for example, to make it easier for her to settle into a strange environment in a sensitive way by painting her fingernails (this way, depending on the pattern, she strengthens certain skills) – perhaps because it never played a role in her rough home. Instead, it’s… just there.
And unfortunately this applies to the entire game world, in which the next goal is always at the far end of a long path, in which a number of enemy groups, chests, fast travel points and optional challenges are placed. Otherwise there is nothing there, really nothing. The open world is a pure collection of activities that are completely, if fortunately only temporarily, pasted onto the HUD after a short scan.
The one available for PC and PlayStation 5 Forspoken is sold in the following stores, among others:
In addition, the landscape, which is always cut in stages, looks the same everywhere, with a few successful exceptions. In other words, both the story and the setting feel so utilitarian that they shouldn’t be anything more than the bare minimum for a game.
In fact, a lot even looks like it was added after the fact. Because the only place where Frey talks to others and does mundane side quests like “run after eleven cats!” is strictly separated from the rest of the world. You also don’t get to know the world through Frey discovering something or even through conversations with her talking bracelet.
Instead, you have to read a thousand snippets of text, for which you are also directed to the menu each time, while Frey and her companion just keep throwing the same phrases at each other – or wherever you slap a snippy comment on a bracelet. And what I think of the playfully fragmented introduction I have already written elsewhere.
Now all this was to be expected after the extensive demo. But I was still looking forward to Forspoken and even played the demo twice. Which, unsurprisingly, is due to the combat system, which is without a doubt the star of this show.
Although you can take “show” quite literally, because the particle effects exploding here in all colors is almost reason enough to get involved with Frey’s magical romp. Sometimes that’s even too much, so that you sometimes don’t recognize enemy attacks in time. Also, the frame rate on PS5 doesn’t always lag behind. This is of course annoying. But once you’re in the flow…
It’s not only created by the effect thunderstorm; you mainly create it yourself, because Frey, thanks to her skills as a parkour athlete, scurries through the environment at breakneck speed. By holding down a single button, she automatically overcomes obstacles and avoids dangers, unmistakably reminiscent of Ubisoft’s Assassin.
However, because the energy for this movement is limited and there are additional options for climbing rock walls or moving quickly by jumping, this flow does not feel like autopilot. In any case, on the highest level of difficulty, I had to keep a close eye on him so that Frey didn’t suddenly come to a standstill. After all, the flow also gives rise to attack options, which are of great help with particularly strong creatures, in boss fights or against somewhat tricky enemy formations.
So you can only perform certain powerful attacks after a parkour maneuver. Apart from that, the correct positioning plays an important role, as in classic round tactics, because hits in the back or in the side of opponents cause significantly more damage than from the front. So you need parkour in order to gain decisive advantages at the right moments.
By the way, Frey always fights with magic. This means that even in normal close and long-range combat, where you hit like a sword or fire different projectiles, she doesn’t use any physical weapons. However, she can cast these melee and ranged attacks anytime and as often as she likes, while the more conventional spells only cast once before waiting for their individual cooldowns to expire.
These spells include traps in the ground, confining all creatures in a circular area, whirlpools, some kind of protective shield, and many more that are added as the adventure progresses. I give Luminous a lot of credit for switching through this multitude effortlessly. This is one of the reasons why I am sure that a lot of development time went into the careful elaboration of this system. And after all: As narratively empty as the open world may be, it was not stuffed full of irrelevant clutter. Of course, there are also numerous resources here for improving the upgrade and making healing potions.
However, because Luminous does without procedural loot and instead rewards successfully completed challenges with pre-made items, upgrading good capes, necklaces and nail polish patterns becomes just as important as the associated challenges. This in turn includes fights in small dungeons, solving short moving puzzles, defeating powerful mutants, taking photos and reaching a timed destination.
Now I really wouldn’t have needed the last two at the latest and the upgrading is also devalued a little by the fact that a large part of the equipment is similar. Overall, the purely functional setting works so well thanks to the sensibly dosed collecting stimuli that it has spurred me on to a purely mechanical level to successfully complete many markings.
Forspoken test – conclusion
Don’t expect a great adventure. As interesting as both the scenario and its heroine are, little is made of it in terms of narrative. And the world also remains extremely pale in terms of play, since it only serves as a whiteboard on which the developers have marked opponents and other challenges that can be worked on for small and large rewards. However, it is precisely this processing that is a lot of fun, because you experience extremely entertaining action. Luminous packs many of the strengths of classic round tactics as a fast particle spectacle in which you can easily handle a variety of different attack types and spells. This is supported by nimble parkour movements that not only look chic, but also enable offensive position changes and a strong defense. In the end, the stale, bullet point-like staging unfortunately pulled my hand towards my forehead too often. Still, I really wish Luminous could expand this combat system into a thoroughly modern adventure soon!
Test on Forspoken – Rating: 6/10
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Seamless integration of turn-based tactical spells into frenetic melee and ranged combat
- Elegant movement and quick position changes in battle
- Some graphically impressive effects
- Motivating skill and gear upgrades without procedurally generated weapons and armor
- Catchy and freely adjustable control as well as many other customization options
Cons:
- Poorly told story with superficial character drawings
- Pronounced lifeless world that serves alone as an arena for various challenges
- Not always full overview in the fight
- Frame rate sometimes drops significantly on PS5
Developer: Luminous Productions – Publishers: Square Enix – Platforms: PC, PlayStation 5 – release: 01/24/2023 – Genre: Action Adventure – Price (RRP): almost 80 euros
