First revealed as Project Athia, Luminous Productions’ Forspoken has certainly caught the attention of fans across the globe with its enchanting premise and promising magic-based exploration. It’s set to release this month, and the recently released demo has showered us with a ton of new information. We now know a lot about what to expect from the game and how things actually work. To that end, here are 15 things that you need to know before purchasing Forspoken.
The Story and Storytelling
Forspoken puts players into the shoes of Frey Holland, which the game describes as a former New Yorker and a cat lover. She mysteriously gets transported into the mystical land of Athia, where she finds a sentient bracelet attached to her hand. She also comes to know about how the land once flourished under the reign of matriarchs, and how a corrupting force called The Bleak has transformed this land and corrupted the minds of its leaders – which has sent Athia down a path of savagery and destruction, and it’s up to you to cleanse the corruption and restore the former glory of this land. And of course, once that’s done – Frey will probably end up back in New York, who knows?
Your Sentient Bracelet companion
Aiding you in your journey will be a sentient bracelet that allows you to craft all kinds of spells and magic, and obviously – this bracelet can also talk. It is called Cuff, and will provide assistance throughout your adventure with useful commentary. Despite being a non-human character, he shares some good banter with Frey which is rather entertaining.
The Characters
Apart from Frey Holland herself and the sentient bracelet that we discussed earlier, Forspoken features a diverse cast of characters. We know that Tanta Sila and Tanta Prav will be two prominent forces throughout the story, and these two matriarchs are antagonists – with Sila being a dictator and Prav being a judge. Of course, you can expect to meet plenty of other characters throughout the story – both friendly and otherwise.
How The Combat Works
The combat in Forspoken is fast-paced and involves switching spells on the fly while evading enemy attacks through swift dodges. There are 2 types of magic, which are controlled by the two triggers. The right trigger controls spells that are used for general attacks, and the left trigger controls support spells that can help in controlling the battlefield. So you can hurl elemental balls using the right trigger, and you could trap an enemy using vines through the left trigger.
You can also change your fighting approach on the fly – thanks to the ability to switch between a melee and ranged approach – both of which obviously comes with its own sets of advantages and disadvantages.
Spells and Abilities
As you can probably tell by now, spells will play a huge role in Forspoken’s combat loop. You get to choose from a wide variety of spells, and you can switch between spells that utilize the power of nature to ones that utilize a specific element like fire or ice by selecting them from a weapon wheel. Different enemies have different elemental weaknesses and resistances, so it’s important that you use the right spells for the job to have a better chance at survival.
Exploration and side-quests
Like every other open-world game, exploration will play a key role in Forspoken. The mystical lands of Athia are vast, and you are free to go anywhere you like. Sure, there’s a main quest that will take you through the world – but veering away from that path is also equally rewarding. You can find plenty of precious resources and treasure chests scattered throughout the world, and you will naturally meet plenty of NPCs as well – who will grant you side-quests that will have rewards of their own.
Progression and Character Upgrades
Forspoken is pretty rooted in RPG traditions, so naturally – progression is a key element of the gameplay. You will gain experience points with each enemy downed, and that contributes to your overall stats. Apart from that, every weapon piece that you equip and the armor that you don will also affect your stats and provide you perks. And of course, you have your skill trees that will unlock new abilities as you progress. Likewise, exploring thoroughly and finding specific pools of water in the world and restoring certain structures will also increase your stats. All in all, building out a strong character will be an important endeavor in Forspoken, and one that shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Parkour Options
Undoubtedly, one of the biggest drawing factors in the case of Forspoken has to be its parkour. It’s slick, stylish, and supremely fun. You get to bounce around these landscapes as you run and jump to your heart’s content, and we also saw Frey riding an ice skateboard in the trailer. But it’s also important to know that the parkour is heavily automated, and it just boils down to holding down a single button and Frey will easily bounce around without much hassle.
Graphical modes on the PS5
Forspoken features a total of 6 modes on the PlayStation 5, with 3 having the frame rate target of 60fps and 3 having a target of 120fps. There’s the ray tracing mode, which has enhanced lighting. The quality mode has better assets and sharper shadows, while the performance mode balances it all out to achieve a stable 60fps or 120fps experience depending on your mode of choice. Of course, PC owners will have the ability to fine tune their settings and get the perfect balance of fidelity and frame rates depending on how beefy the system is.
Stealth Options
While the demo didn’t feature any stealth-oriented spells, we saw Frey turning invisible to sneak past some enemies – which is a surefire indication that some stealth options are going to be in the game. Sure, it might not be a full-blown playstyle, but you can atleast bank on being able to use it in a pinch in the final release.
Cosmetic Options
Frey can choose between different shades and patterns for her cape, and in a similar vein – she can choose between different patterns for her nail paints as well. And finally, you also have the option to choose the jewelry that you want Frey to wear. These choices aren’t purely cosmetic however, since they come with attached perks and bonuses which can have huge ramifications on your damage output. Hopefully, the final game comes with a transmog system so players don’t have to sacrifice their fashion choices for better stats.
Boss fights
Once you finish the five objectives on the demo, you get a final bonus objective that pits you against a boss-like enemy. This giant creature might be slow, but it makes up for it with strong attacks and a humongous health bar. Much like Final Fantasy, these fights really boil down to exploiting the boss’ elemental weaknesses as much as it is about minimizing your damage. The final game will obviously have plenty of bigger and more bombastic fights as well, so best be prepared for it.
PS5 DualSense capabilities
Forspoken is a PlayStation 5 console exclusive, and so it makes total sense that the developers would account for the controller’s haptic capabilities. A recent trailer showcased how the adaptive triggers will reflect the charging of a spell, and how the vibrations will change depending on the terrain. Hell, Cuff can even speak through the controller’s speaker. All in all, it’s looking pretty impressive in the controller feedback regard.
Various options
Forspoken will also feature plenty of customization options to suit your specific needs. On top of difficulty settings, you can choose the intensity of slow motion during spell switching, whether to auto-heal with items and even set the stamina recovery speed. In a time when accessibility options have started to gain traction among developers, it’s great to see Forspoken paying due attention to such things.
Very fast loading times
Like the case with PS5’s DualSense capabilities, Forspoken will also leverage the power of the console’s PCI-e 4.0 SSD. As such, players can expect loading times to be minimal. In fact, Luminous Productions claims that Forspoken loads in just over a second when using fast travel.
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