Forspoken

Square Enix has kept up the rollout of new details on Forspoken in the lead up to its launch for PS5 and PC on January 24, with more fresh information emerging on the upcoming open world action RPG at a pretty consistent rate. We have, of course, covered those details extensively here at GamingBolt, but there’s still plenty to talk about. To that end, here, as we count the days down to Forspoken’s launch, we’re going to go over a few key details that you should know about the game.

SIDE ACTIVITIES

As an open world experience, you’d expect Forspoken to pack in plenty of optional content, and sure enough, it looks like it will have quite a bit of side stuff to offer beyond its main story. For instance, there are several monuments scattered across the open world of Athia (at least 50, as per the leaked Trophies list), which are fractions of power that you can liberate to increase your stats. Then there are the Locked Labyrinths, which (as the name suggests) are dungeons where you’ll encounter more powerful enemies, and be rewarded with new equipment upon clearing them. Meanwhile, Frey can also visit Monuments to Wisdom, where she can take on repeatable challenges called Flashbacks for a variety of rewards.

MORE SIDE ACTIVITIES

Several other side activities have also been detailed- like Spellcraft Challenges, which will task players with using specific spells certain number of times in order to make them more powerful, or discovering all points of interests in the map, of which there are at least a hundred, according to the game’s Trophies. Meanwhile, players will also be able to find and take on mutated creatures and special bosses, or even play the dice game known as Partha, which can yield various buffs.

CUFF FUNCTIONS

Cuff – the magical, sentient bracelet on Frey’s arm – will not only be her constant companion and serve an important role in the story, he will have plenty of involvement on the gameplay front as well. On the combat front, for instance, Cuff can take damage in your stead, while he also has an ability called Cuff Scan. As its name suggests, that can be used to scan the area around you for items and enemies, and can also reveal information on enemies’ weaknesses.

Interestingly, for those who don’t want to listen to too much of the banter between Frey and Cuff during gameplay, the game will give you the option to dial that down.

PILGRIM’S REFUGES AND CAMPS

While you’re out and about exploring the dangerous and untamed wilds of Athia and want to take a break, special locations known as Pilgrim’s Refuges will be your ultimate go-to. These are essentially safe zones free of the open world’s dangers that allow you to engage in various activities, including crafting, upgrading your equipment, unlocking Spellcraft Challenges, and more. Meanwhile, if you’re looking for a quick rest and not exactly close to one of these safe zones, you will also be able to set up camp and rest up. Players will also be able to craft items in camps.

DEMO AND IMPROVEMENTS

A demo of Forspoken has been available on PS5 for a while, and though reception has been pretty mixed, developer Luminous Productions has promised that several improvements are being made in the full game itself- like improved implementation of HDR. In fact, many improvements have been made to the demo itself as well, including adjusted text sizes, button mapping options, better lock on functionality during combat, and more.

PS5 STORAGE

Based on everything that we’ve seen of Forspoken so far, there’s no doubting that it’s going to be a massive game- which, unsurprisingly, is going to be reflected in its download size as well. On the PS5, for instance, the game will have a download size of a little over 87 GB. As is always the case, that doesn’t necessarily mean that’s how much space it will take up in your storage- but one way or another, you will need plenty of available storage space.

PC FEATURES

Square Enix has recently also revealed a host of new details on Forspoken’s PC version, and confirmed several features for it. For starters, the game will, of course, come with full HDR support, while Auto HDR is also confirmed for Windows 11. The PC version will also feature support for ultra widescreen resolutions up to 32:9 (though only during gameplay) and 7.1 audio, while you will, of course, also be able to play with a DualShock 4 or a DualSense. Meanwhile, the game will also feature dynamic refresh rates and DirectStorage implementation on Windows 11 (with an NVMe SSD recommended for the latter).

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

And what exactly are the required specs if you want to play Forspoken on PC? Unfortunately, they’re quite hefty- almost surprisingly so, even on the lowest settings. Even for minimum specs, which will allow you to play at 720p and 30 FPS, you will need 16 GB of RAM, either a Radeon RX 5500 XT (with 8 GB VRAM) or a GeForce GTX 1060 (with 6 GB VRAM), and either a Ryzen 5 1600 or an i7 3770.

RECOMMENDED REQUIREMENTS

If you want to run Forspoken at 1440p and 30 FPS, the requirements get even more demanding. You’ll need to jump up to the recommended specs, which require 24 GB of RAM, along with either a Radeon RX 6700 XT (with 12 GB VRAM) or a GeForce GTX 3070 (with 8 GB VRAM), and either a Ryzen 5 3600 or an i7 8700K.

ULTRA REQUIREMENTS

Finally, Forspoken can also be played on PC at 4K and 60 FPS on ultra settings. For that, you’ll need 32 GB of RAM, either a Radeon RX 6800 XT (with 16 GB VRAM) or a GeForce GTX 4080 (with 16 GB VRAM), and either a Ryzen 5 5800X or an i7 12700. Meanwhile, on either of the three settings, you’ll need a whopping 150 GB of free storage space, with minimum specs requiring an HDD, recommended specs requiring an SSD, and ultra specs requiring an NVMe SSD.

PLAYSTATION CONSOLE EXCLUSIVITY

Square Enix and Sony’s long-standing relationship has been strengthened once again these last few years, with Square Enix having entered into exclusivity agreements with PlayStation for a number of major titles. Forspoken is, of course, one of them, and will be launching as a PS5 console exclusive- but how long will it be before it comes to Xbox? Well, we’ve known for over a couple of years at this point (back when the game was known as Project Athia, in fact) that Forspoken will be a PS5 console exclusive for at least 24 months after launch– which means it won’t be releasing for any non-PlayStation console until at least January 2025. Does that mean it will release for non-PlayStation consoles after that? Not necessarily- Final Fantasy 7 Remake, for instance, launched as a timed limited PlayStation console exclusive as well, but we’re well past that window now and it still hasn’t come to Xbox. With Square Enix, there’s no guarantees.