Forspoken

Forspoken presents a genuinely human story blended well with combat and a variety of exploration options, setting it up to be PlayStation’s next big franchise.

Forspoken manages to stand out for its fantastic combat system and spectacular exploration in its open world. However, it clearly could have been better in other areas.

Forspoken fails to impress in several ways. Almost every good aspect of the game has a negative flip side. Though Forspoken isn't a bad game, the problems it does have hold it back from being great. All in all, Forspoken is just okay.

Add to this a less-than-likeable Frey who barely manages to endear herself upon the player, and even less likeable NPCs and a bland, bland game-world I have no desire to learn more about, let alone live in (take me back to New York and my real-world troubles there, please), and you have a game that just… lacks.

Forspoken is a massive open world game, and that's its biggest problem. It's unnecessarily big and there is not enough content and things to do to make up for this huge world, and even though the combat system, spell mechanisms and parkour gameplay are mostly solid, the final product feels shallow and unsatisfying.

Forspoken isn't without its hiccups—hit-or-miss side quests...and repetitive activities. Nevertheless, I enjoyed my time with Forspoken's focal storyline. The graphics, voice acting, and musical score are phenomenal, and the cat content is a lovely addition.

Forspoken is a disappointing game in so many ways. Dated on a whole bunch of points like the visual, it can't keep the player in suspense because of a badly told story and an open world that is unfortunately poor and hopelessly empty overall. The title of Luminous rings hollow despite successful gameplay and a universe that could have been much more generous and provided.

In some respects Forspoken is a truly modern game that ditches the past generation and its limitations. Sadly, it turned out to be no more than a beautiful foundation ultimately used to create a benchmark rather than a compelling experience. I greeted the end credits with some relief and I’ll remember this game mainly as a case of a criminally wasted potential.

Forspoken feels like a breath of fresh air for open-world adventures with its stylish engine, but is held back by pacing and other foibles.

It’s a shame that the early pacing issues with Forspoken and the slow-burn drip-feeding of abilities will likely put off a lot of players and prevent them from seeing how fun the game can actually be when it’s firing on all cylinders. Bland and boring environments with some awkward visual choices and lifeless character models give an unfortunate first impression that is saved by its enjoyable parkour and versatile combat during the later stages of the game, along with a surprisingly heartfelt story. Forspoken might not be the savior we were all hoping for, but it’s a decent adventure with enough soul that it shouldn’t be cast aside entirely.

Forspoken feels like a test that was turned in with answers missing, returned with a big red "Finish Your Work" inked at the top. So much of the game feels like unrealized potential, a big, messy first draft. There are too many mechanics, there's too much story, too much empty world, and too little chance for surprise or discovery. However, I can't say I didn't enjoy a lot of my time with Forspoken. When the combat clicks, it can be a lot of fun. Forspoken is ambitious, and there are hints of a winning formula. I hope the developers keep chipping away at what doesn't work. It would be a shame if Forspoken is forsaken.

Forspoken is a game that clearly has cool ideas. It just can't manage to reach the level it aspires to operate at, which is really disappointing. An annoying main character that bogs down a somewhat compelling story, frenetic combat, but weak AI to fight against, and a satisfying traversal system in a dull open world make it clear that every interesting thing comes with a caveat. All of that makes it all the more painful, because you can see the heights this game could reach if it wasn't constantly getting in its own way.

The story is cliched too and features far too many well-trodden gaming and movie tropes. So the freshness of what could have been in Forspoken isn’t realised. It’s a good game to play, just not a great game and that’s a shame.

Given the opportunity to dare, Forspoken chooses to play it incredibly safe, with muddled pacing and strict adherence to both narrative and gameplay tropes holding it back from reaching its groundbreaking potential. Regardless, its dazzling visuals, charismatic leads, memorable boss battles, and energetic and varied combat will reward the more patient player with a solid, spellbinding adventure… And, for everybody else, there are magical cats.

While Forspoken delivers a solid action-based combat system and an array of challenging bosses, it fails to create an engaging narrative thanks to the surface-level characters and at times, unbearable dialogue. Not only that, the outdated open world feels like more of a checklist rather than an opportunity for exploration, leaving you yearning for landscapes from other games that are more memorable, and less lifeless. Ultimately, Forspoken lives or dies with its combat, so if you fell in love with it in the demo, it may be worth your time. However, if you’re looking for an engaging RPG that immerses you in its world with a strong main narrative and interesting side activities, this is certainly not it.

Forspoken is on the precipice of something great. Behind the funneled narrative beats and the obese, sprawling world is a game that simply wants players to engage with its every part. Past the eye-rolling dialog and self-serious narrative is a potentially interesting protagonist and universe that occasionally mesh well. Each puzzle piece of Forspoken is so close to fitting and so often I could see the picture clearly, especially when bounding across the seemingly boundless landscape, making the screen quiver and explode with Frey’s awe-inspiring magic. Perhaps in another place, in another time, Forspoken will speak to everyone.

I would recommend Forspoken to action and RPG fans, but I wish I could give them one of my save files with total open-world freedom and most of the traversal and combat spells unlocked from the jump. The adventure is at its weakest when it's forcing players to wade through lots of poor narrative content that takes too long to pay off. Its best beats aren’t paced or delivered well and serve as a weighty vambrace holding back this game’s true magic: a dazzling open-world game that truly does feel next-gen.

Forspoken is packed with flaws — be they outright missteps or simply middling executions — but there are definitely qualities to this game that can deliver an entertaining and sometimes thrilling experience. I did ultimately enjoy my time with it, all told and considered. There’s interesting lore here, and at times the story approaches compelling, but it was held back so much by odd design choices, an often bland world, and uneven pacing in both the story and moment-to-moment dialogue. On paper, it could and should be great, but nothing quite fits together to make a stronger whole. It’s crammed with so much, and beyond the combat and traversal, the whole experience just winds up feeling like something of a relatively enjoyable mess.

After all is said and done, Forspoken emerges as a solid new IP. It has its fair share of issues, but the longer you spend time in Athia, the more its world draws you in with its intriguing combat and the simple pleasure of freely crossing massive environments with spellbinding abilities. Luminous Productions is definitely onto something with this concept, it just needs a bit more focus and refinement. At the very least, Forspoken proves its worth on its own terms, and demonstrates the potential to someday hang alongside Square Enix’s staple franchises.

Away from its story missions, Forspoken feels short of ideas, and even the narrative runs out of steam. [Issue#382, p.102]

The breezy combat with lots of spells and the beautiful acrobatics are fun — it’s just a shame the same can‘t be said of the story or setting … Still, I find myself wishing that Luminous get the opportunity to build upon what they have, working towards a more modern, lively adventure.

Forspoken is a disappointment on many levels, including those that can't be fixed with an update. It's a great shame, because Square Enix's open world adventure definitely had potential. It's not a complete write-off, but the quality is simply too far from other high-budget AAA releases it strives to imitate.

There was a moment in which we really feared for the success of Fospoken, which, due to a not exactly crystal clear communication from the publisher, often ended up making us feel mixed sensations. Confirming the impressions gained on the occasion of previous direct contacts with the product, however, the new creature of Luminous Productions convinces in every respect, without excelling in any field. While the staid pace of the isekai matrix plot is counterbalanced by surprising twists and turns that leave a love flavor, the albeit chaotic combat system and the exorbitant number of optional activities offered by an open world that is anything but empty compensate for a surrender visual not quite state of the art.

Forspoken is a fun action RPG when it gets out of its own way. Its linear narrative and heavy-handed first few hours sap the player’s goodwill, before letting you free and realising its true potential. Strong combat and traversal mechanics really shine, and by the end, even the story manages to rise, like Frey herself, to the challenge.

Forspoken's story and combat fail to reach the heights of its movement and exploration, but thankfully those two latter elements make up most of the experience. I sprinted, often literally, through the campaign in about 15 hours, and now I have a large world filled with nooks and crannies I'm eager to run through and explore. The narrative won’t linger with me, and I avoided combat in the open world often, but I loved making Frey leap and fly through Athia to discover all its treasure chests and secrets.

So much of the design of Forspoken takes a starting template and duplicates it ad nauseum to the point the biggest incentive to do anything is to flesh out the magic. By the time the credits rolled after 15 hours of story (and a decent amount of side activities), there weren’t any compelling reasons to keep going and cross items off the checklist. Instead, it felt better to appreciate the things that were enjoyable about Forspoken and leave it at that.

Square Enix did the right thing by investing in an entirely new franchise. But in the end, Forspoken is a huge disappointment with too many flaws to be a good game. A bland open world with forgets to shape its own identity, a poor writing and too many weakness from a technical point of view, coexist with some good gameplay mechanics like the spells and the parkour.

World exploration in Forspoken can bring you some real joy, and same could be said about the combat system. And yet the writing, weird visual presentation, and overall direction can really bring the whole experience down.

Forspoken may have some merits, in terms of combat design and the magic parkour, but it is also, unfortunately, one of the most derivative games we have seen in many years in terms of open world design as well as questing. Especially the secondary quests are joyless and devoid of any redeeming value.

Forspoken inspires with its parkour and combat system, but is otherwise only moderately convincing and gives away a lot of potential.

Forspoken would like to share the personal story of a woman who was abandoned as a baby and how it shaped her as an adult. Unfortunately, that only half works. The other half tells a worn-out fantasy story in a (cliché) moderate way. Although there is more than enough to do and experience in Forspoken, the actual fun is sometimes hard to find.

Forspoken is so uninspired and mired in cliches that its fantastic voice acting cast can only do so much to keep the game afloat. And while the movement and combat systems are interesting, they're often on the cusp of greatness without ever really realizing their full potential.

With better pacing, slightly lighter tone and some self-restraint Forspoken would have been a much better game.

Forspoken is fun to play most of the time, but it's a damn shame that the game's remaining elements eagerly attempt to ruin that enjoyment at every turn.

My time with Forspoken was a strange one. Elements of the game are fantastic, with an engrossing story and a gorgeous world. However, it all just feels segmented, like nothing really wants to work together. Forspoken is a good game and one I would recommend to most open-world fans, but it just feels so close to greatness that I can’t help but walk away disappointed.

As a new title from Luminous Productions six years after FFXV, Forspoken continues to show the shortcomings of its open-world design. The abundance of magical combat and the still-excellent story make up for most of these shortcomings. However, the hopes for a fantastic magical world cannot be fulfilled.

Forspoken is undoubtedly a game that fails to attract interest. It has simple textures and unpolished graphics. The color palette in the environment is very limited and gives us the impression that everything is very dark. The plot is straightforward and highly predictable; perhaps it is the typical storyline that we have played countless times in different games. The gameplay is indeed the most valuable aspect of this game because it keeps us interested and helps to make the experience more enjoyable.

The parkour and combat systems are worth developing further. Unfortunately, the developers fail to embed this groundbreaking approach into a convincing overall concept. Great moments are repeatedly thwarted by a lack of polish, a dull game world and an incredibly sluggish story.

A below average game that does nothing well. It’s ugly, it’s boring, I’m tired of it. Steer clear of this mess.

Rough and ready, just like Frey, Forspoken is a tale worth stomping through one high-stakes, magic-infused battle at a time.

Despite all of those missteps, Forspoken skirts by on the merits of its traversal, combat, and upgrade systems. It won’t win any awards come the end of the year, but it's a decent podcast game, the type of title you can play while consuming other content in the background, all without feeling like you’re missing too much.

Early on, Forspoken‘s somewhat empty, barren world isn’t the most appealing. Stick with it, though, and you’ll be rewarded with more interesting landscapes, plenty of side content to sink your teeth into and a range of magical beasts itching for a fight. Frey makes a great protagonist, and we couldn’t help but be charmed by her punchy personality. But it’s her exhilarating parkour that really sets Forspoken apart. This open world adventure offers up the type of fun that’s hard to put down once you get started. We’re certainly keen to keep returning to Athia to mop up those remaining distractions.

Forspoken is visually stimulating and a musical delight, but boring combat, poor characterization, and loose movement mechanics make for a mediocre experience.

Forspoken shines brightest when its protagonist is dipping, ducking, and diving along the generally striking world of Athia while casting a variety of spells, but the standard fish-out-of-water fantasy story of Frey only subtracts from the experience.

Despite the sheer amount of words that have been written about the game – including by me, I’ll acknowledge as I pass the 1,500 word mark on this review – the reality is that it’s just a forgettable, mediocre game. It does plenty of things very poorly, but it also does one or two things well enough that you can’t say it’s completely and irredeemably awful. There’s no real reason to seek the game out, and there’s no reason (apart, maybe, from that stupid talking bracelet) to avoid it at all costs: Forspoken is just kind of there.

Forspoken is absolutely fantastic. With all the spells you can unlock, the gear you can upgrade, the fights, the bosses, and a storyline that rivals the best video game stories, this isn't a return to form for SquareEnix, it's a testament that they still got it, and will have it for a very, very long time.

Did we really, really, really need a cat taming minigame? And you already told me the story of Athia at the start of the game. Why am I now ‘learning’ it again at the end of the game, strolling from point to point, pressing triangle for exposition. It’s a gorgeous game, but God if it’s not like a minorly insipid make-up artist’s Instagram grid. Loads of things to look at but no actual meaning in any of them.

Rather than letting its awful story simply be a good excuse for its excellent gameplay, Forspoken insists on constantly interrupting your fun to throw some truly bad exposition your way. Forspoken's character building and lore are a disaster but it manages to make it up with its incredible combat and traversal mechanics.

Forspoken is an incredible title. Although the story suffers from being a bit too generic, the gameplay is inventive, magical, and an absolute blast. This is a game I’ll come back to again and again just to move around and exist in the fascinating fantasy world. Forspoken is an exciting leap forward for action games, and I can’t get enough of it.

Forspoken is both ambitious, yet incredibly flawed. It pairs hammy dialogue and some poor pacing with a world I want to explore. Forspoken is a game tied between two worlds - losing out by never quite understanding either.

Despite enjoying some aspects though, Forspoken was unfortunately overall an incredibly disappointing experience. I can absolutely see it working for those who just want an open world with things to tick off, but any form of substance beyond busy work is severely lacking within the world of Athia. It was rather unsurprising to see the game label its side quests as 'detours' - momentary distractions from the driving path. But you quickly figure out once you rejoin the main road that it is, unfortunately, leading to very little.

That’s Forspoken’s biggest problem – everything I like about it gets dragged down by the unrelenting dullness of everything else. The story is boring, the characters are boring, the enemies are boring, and the world is boring.

There's something here to get stuck into for fans of open world adventures, and Forspoken isn't without its charms, but like Frey herself, it's often its own worst enemy.

Forspoken isn't for everyone - and this is its strength. Games that spark controversy can be the most interesting. This seems a sign that the developers have successfully realized their vision. Such courage is commendable, especially in the era of clones.

What a shame that Luminous Productions didn’t capitalise on its best assets. Frey’s taken some heat for being overly chatty in Forspoken, but without Ella Balinska’s fantastic performance, the game would be totally forgettable.

Where Forspoken should’ve been a striking and appealing fresh start for Luminous Productions, the end result sadly is a game not only bland and unpolished, but deprived of a reason to care for its unfolding mystery. A bevvy of technical inconsistencies, lackluster open world design and most disappointing of all, a handful of systems with genuine enjoyment at times that don’t see their potential fully realized.

Forspoken is somewhat reminiscent of the fusion cuisine that caused a furor in the average bistro in the early 1990s...The result is a potpourri of uncomfortably poorly written dialogue, a giant open world of cardboard and struggling to find 'meh' action and combat.

As Luminous Productions’ first project after being formed from the developers of Final Fantasy XV, Forspoken is a remarkable yet flawed experience. There’s so much potential here, with an outstanding magic parkour system and a beautiful open world. However, it’s clear that the ambition was a little too high for this studio, as there are just too many incomplete (but great) ideas at work here that just don’t come to fruition.

Forspoken it's not the next gen game that we're waiting for, but it's not as bad as some found in the demo. It has its share of elements to improve, starting with the script, but it makes combat and traverse very fresh and enjoyable, in a world full of things to do, that invites to keep playing even after watching the ending credits.

Forspoken’s flashy combat and parkour can be fun, but they aren’t enough to make its cliche story and barebones open world very interesting to explore.

Magical world with exciting and thrilling story that eventually delivers. But until it does deliver it feels forever. A must play for those who love action paced fluid combat and enjoy different vibrant colours but can overlook and tolerate few cheap scripts and few silly bugs.

Forspoken falls into all the traps set by the design of an action adventure game in an open world, where linking narration and gameplay is a very difficult alchemy. A game that really only begins when it ends.

Forspoken is neither black nor white, it's a mottled gray of spectacular combat and magical parkour to be experienced within a dated open world.

Forspoken is an ambitious title that builds both its fluid movement and its battle system around the concept of magic. From comfortable exploration to speedy combat, this unique open world action RPG has plenty of appeal, and its story that depicts the spiritual growth of its young New Yorker protagonist is immersive. That being said, the game does have issues, such as a lack of variety in side quests and a hub area that takes too much time to navigate through.

An adventure in which the need to conquer the lady and the altruistic obsession to save the world give way to more human interests, more visceral and easier to connect with.

While Forspoken has its fair share of glaring issues, I have to admit that I still enjoyed my time with its warts and all, as it managed to entertain and engage me with its combat system alone.

While the cheerful combat with cool parkour moves were exceptionally fun, Forspoken has been lacking in so many ways for players who have endured its delay announcement for twice. All those cute cats fill Frey's room only serve to double the loneliness that is already been full in Athian world.

Forspoken is vibrant, experimental, and undercooked all at once. It feels like a throwback to the Xbox 360-era of Square Enix games that were weird and experimental, like The Last Remnant and Infinite Undiscovery, only with a much bigger budget and flashier visuals. Its traversal and combat mechanics shine, but they’re trapped underneath a story and setting that feels painfully average and completely unwilling to engage with more challenging themes.

Forspoken is therefore an experience that takes time to reveal its potential, but which, once the controls have been mastered, offers to discover a pleasant open world thanks to the magical powers of Frey.

Forspoken doesn’t do anything new for the open-world genre of games, but it does offer just enough to distinguish itself, mostly thanks to Frey and her magic spells, and a story that’s able to stick the landing. Or to translate this to Whedonspeak, “Yep, she really did just do that!"

To say that Forspoken is a disappointment may seem harsh, but it's also not something that's far from the truth. It's not that Luminous Productions made a bad game, they just put out one that isn't particularly good either. It will be a run-of-the-mill release that will earn some fans for its strengths, but will fail to transcend.

Forskpoken isn't a bad game, but it isn't outstanding either. If you get interested in its universe, whether for its story or combat, it won't leave you indifferent. However, the game doesn't dazzle, and it might not meet the expectations of all players.

Nice fleshed combat and parkour, fun and very fast-paced fights. However, the open world and the activities within it are not as satisfying.

Forspoken feels like an unfinished game with a lot of untapped potential. It looked like an indie game that came out that way due to budget constraints when it could have been so much better.

A litany of missed opportunities results in one of the most aggravating action role-players of recent years, with irritating characters, dull combat, and a frustrating movement system.

Forspoken is average. It has the highs and lows of an overall regular gaming experience. The nods to Alice in Wonderland, the combat and Frey Holland's story are pretty good, but the game fails to deliver next-gen visuals and a better storytelling experience. There are so many fades to black and cutscenes that you feel bored, especially during the first hours of gameplay.

Forspoken barely avoids disaster thanks to its gameplay and its two main characters, two aspects that are not without their faults either. Its few good ideas simply don't manage to make up for its huge shortcomings: Luminous' title quickly gets bogged down in a rousing structure, which will take you through areas that are certainly huge, but empty of interest. The activities all look the same, the level design is very poor, as is the bestiary... In short, it is impossible for us to recommend it at full price.

In the end, Forspoken is okay, with its world, parkour, and combat as its high points. And while I didn’t thoroughly enjoy the story, I want to see Ella Balinksa as Frey again in a sequel as her performance (and, frankly, the majority of the cast) was a definite highlight, despite the poor writing she was given. Unfortunately, the performance issues really have made Forspoken hard to recommend at its full price, as it negatively impacts so much of the moment-to-moment gameplay. Hopefully with a few patches Square and Luminous can improve it over time. But until then, traveling down the rabbit hole into Athia might be best done on a sale.

Forspoken is an urban-come-high-fantasy open-world, action-adventure game played in the third person. Combining magic and parkour, you take on the role of Frey as she learns to understand her new abilities in a strange world that needs saving from disaster.

Truly a waste of potential. Forspoken gets saved by its spectacular combat and traversal mechanics, but the value of those systems gets skewered by a disappointing story and a trite open world structure. It's still a fun experience if you love experimenting with combat and magic, but we sincerely hope to see those systems recycled for something less rushed in the future.

There’s nothing bespoke about Forspoken’s world, which is why it’s so hard to get caught up in its atmosphere, no matter how it feels to play. It’s a long-haul montage of middling action movie trailers beamed directly into your skull, and you don’t even get to watch a cracking film at the end of it. I’m sure the mechanical joy hiding under its disjointed set dressing will be worth it for some, but it feels like the kind of flat tire that is destined to have its ‘so bad its good’ merit extolled in YouTube videos later down the line. It’s a rare miss for Square Enix, as its big RPGs usually tend to find an audience, even if they do have a bit of jank about them, but I’m not sure Forspoken even knows who it’s targeting.

Those who stick out Forspoken until the end may derive enjoyment from how certain elements were tackled like I did, though, ultimately, it’s all too little too late. At the very least, exploring the open world and completing optional tasks after completing the story can be fun, albeit in brief doses, since there’s not much of interest within the environments.

Forspoken is a disappointing outing from a developer that touts 'key members' of the Final Fantasy XV team, one which feels at best uninterested in its Black protagonist, and at worst resentful of her.

There's a lot I can't get over with Square Enix, but the fact that they made such a big investment in a new brand was a big deal for me. If only Forspoken could have taken the opportunity given by Square Enix much better. At least we still have Final Fantasy XVI on the horizon, right?

Forspoken would be a passable PlayStation title if it were released a decade ago, but it drops the ball as a contemporary AAA game due to its awkward voice performances, muddy visuals, and many bizarre design choices.

Altogether, this is not just a keenly disappointing full-price PS5 exclusive, it’s also particularly discouraging as a female-fronted production with a story focused on the magic of relationships between women, and a rare triple-A game with a Black lead. Its message is almost entirely lost in the pyroclastic flow of missteps and missed opportunities. [Issue#25, p.78]

Forspoken is an absolute disappointment with ridiculously cringe storytelling, a dead open world and lacklustre AI that prevents the creative combat system from really reaching its potential. With obnoxiously bad optimization for both PC and consoles, this is a game that just tries to be an average open-world experience with some assumed original twist but fails even to meet its mediocre expectations.

Forspoken may be a game of squandered potential, but there remains an argument that it’s still worth playing, not just for the simple joy of zipping through its world, but for the occasional glimpse at the potentially genre-defying tentpole it could have been with clearer vision and better collaboration. Because, in this world of stagnation over innovation, even just the groundwork can be worth savouring.

A competently made game, which unfortunately colors a little too much within the lines of the genre.

Forspoken represented a huge risk taken by newcomer Luminous Productions. While the story may feel a bit contrived at times, the Flow method of traversal and combat more than makes up for it. Frey may annoy some people as the protagonist, but stringing together a chain of magical commands within just a few seconds while deftly avoiding incoming fireballs is rewarding, and ultimately, I came away from Forspoken having enjoyed my time helping the people of Athia.

Forspoken lacks the kind of refinement expected of a AAA title. If the concepts had received more attention, then the entire package would have been more cohesive. Still, despite its issues, there's definitely something here to enjoy if you can focus in on what the game does well: narrative, accessibility, and writing.

Forspoken has a great combat system, a cool way to move through the game world, minuscule loading times and is presented in an acceptable way. Unfortunately, the weak dialogues, the much too short story and the soulless open game world full of repetitive activities mean that the mediocre level is only surpassed at a few moments.

Forspoken offers a unique and thrilling experience with its impressive combat and smooth traversal mechanics. The story and open world may fall victim to the pitfalls of its genre and the largely formulaic side quest design only shines occasionally, but it's an overall satisfying and well-crafted action RPG with fast-paced and energetic gameplay.

Forspoken is a unique game, with a very distinct gameplay, setting and story that compose a very fun and interesting experience. It suffers with its short duration, problemactic camera, lack of variety in side missions and it needs a few adjustments to its gameplay, but its one of the most beautiful games on the PS5 so far and a title that deserves everyone's attention.

Forspoken should and could have been a better game than it actually is. Its strengths lie in its core gameplay, which is fast, fluid, and great fun at its best. However, unnecessary open world clutter hampers exploration, and the combat system only begins to hit its stride hours into the adventure. If you can push through a poorly paced story, packed with desperately dull characters, then you might find enjoyment in Frey's fantastical abilities, which undoubtedly steal the show both in and out of battle. It's not quite the disaster that the memes would have you believe, but it's certainly not the PS5 showpiece that was once promised, either.

Forspoken is a far better and more compelling game than I had feared, but it also doesn’t reach the heights I dreamt of. There is a lot of fun to be had exploring Athia and the main quest keeps things interesting even when you get bored with the open-world checklist. But at the same time I can’t help but be disappointed with how safe Forspoken plays the open world, and I am unlikely to go back to clear out all of those rote points of interest. And I also can’t deny there are some eyebrow-raising moments as to how the writers chose to portray a black woman like Frey, despite personally liking her quite a bit when viewed through the lens of having finished the game. There is a lot of diversity in the cast too, in a way we don’t usually get from big-budget RPGs. I am not sure how many steps forward versus how many steps back Forspoken takes, but there are steps taken forward. In the end, I recommend Forspoken to anyone who loves Final Fantasy XV or Ubisoft-style open worlds and especially anyone who has a thing for character mobility. Yet, the game has a certain charm that I believe makes it worth giving a try to anyone.

Luminous Productions clearly had a vision for Forspoken, and it shines through brilliantly when the player is unshackled and left to their own devices in the gorgeous game world, buoyed by Forspoken's atmospheric music. Unfortunately, the narrative's pacing has left it feeling as though it was significantly scaled back during development. Forspoken is sprawling, awing in its scale, and a treat to look at, and while the gameplay is snappy and engaging, it's not necessarily impressive enough to completely distract from haphazard discussions with NPCs and a narrative that should have been given more space.

Forspoken is ambitious action RPG with the promise of a new world and gameplay possibilities, but some of them felt flat. Unambiguous heroine is a challenge but her view of the world is satisfying and there is a lot to fight for. Magic parkour and combat is solid, but controls are occasionally frustrating.

It's a shame, because Forspoken's terrible story and its unlikable main character largely bog down what's otherwise a competent action RPG. There's a foundation for something good here, but it sadly doesn't realize that potential.

While Forspoken is a much better time than chatter on social media might suggest, those who opt to take on Frey’s journey will likely encounter bumps and stumbles that are hard to ignore, as well as have to deal with some unpleasant traveling companions strapped to their arms. Folks who can put up with those shortcomings, though, will find a dramatic and very pretty adventure as a stranger running freely across a strange land.

If Forspoken had been a tech demo, it would have been amazing. As a game it is just a collection of inexplicable decisions that ruin the entire experience. The game - just as its hero - does not have a clearly defined identity, the pace is slow while the world is huge, the controls are clumsy at best, the animations are stiff, and the AI is limited to a few patterns. The around 30 hours required to complete the main story feel painfully long, and it is hard to justify investing twice as much time to uncover everything. You can see the hard work put in some aspects of the game, which makes it even harder to explain the neglect of the rest. Forspoken is nothing more than a foot note in an essay about wasted potential.

Forspoken is a game of ups and downs. The title is much more focused on the story than on the open world component and this is not a bad thing at all. The narrative is enjoyable, but not without flaws, while the open world is very classic in style without particular flashes of originality.

Overall, Forspoken is a failed experiment. The few moments of joy are rarely not succeeded by the most absolute boredom or by questionable gameplay decisions. Look for something else, really.

Forspoken is a game that has great potential, expressed in a precise, fast and fun combat system. Sadly, everything else in the game lacks novelty or interest in exploration.

This damn thing should have been linear. It absolutely, positively, should have been linear, and in decades past, before the game industry had boiled everything down to a handful of trends, it would have been. You could have had the parkour, you could have had the combat, and on top of that you could have had some real direction, pacing, and a streamlined experience without so much self-defeating fluff. It should have been linear.

Forspoken is a magic-by-numbers game that is marred by a generic narrative. While the world of Athia can feel bland, the occasional spark of magic from the combat helps it along.

There's a lot to love about Forspoken despite its technical issues. It makes up for that with great traversal, a fantastic DualSense implementation, and solid storytelling. It might not be for everyone, but I enjoyed my time in Athia and will be checking out the story DLC when it launches in the future.

It’s always going to be on my desktop or my PlayStation, and I’m gonna keep going back to it every once in a while because it’s really relaxing to hold down the parkour button and go through this huge world to unlock stuff and find new quests.

Despite its flaws, I enjoyed my time with Forspoken. While the narrative is janky at times, the premise is compelling and the world of Athia is exceedingly well-built. The movement is where the game shines, making exploration a joy instead of a chore. The postgame is also surprisingly competent when it comes to dealing with the implications of the main story’s twists and turns, a rarity for open-world games. I didn’t know what to expect when I started playing Forspoken but I came out feeling satisfied.

Forspoken was once one of the big reveals for the PS5 in 2020, but aside from using the SSD for open world magical parkour and the ultra quick fast travel, it is difficult to really see how it takes advantage of the latest console generation. The world of Athia looks good, and the combat is full of flashy magic, but there's no major side quests to divert from repetitive activities and a predictable main story.

You can spend hours completing spell challenges, exploring dungeons, fighting enemies, and activating altars to upgrade your powers. But that fun is often held back by the story. Forspoken's pacing could be better. The game takes you away from what you want to do. We often wanted to explore to our heart's content, but the game forced us to spend minutes that felt like forever in uninteresting storytelling.

The focus went to combat which is fun and refreshing but enemies aren't varied enough for it to carry the whole game. There are many weak points in Forspoken... be it the mediocre side-content, or the repetition, or how unimpressive the game looks, etc. Storytelling disappoints too. Sure the game is ambitious, but the end result is far from being satisfying. Still, combat-focused lovers may find something to like here.

Even with its unfortunate first impression, I’d (heartily) recommend Forspoken. Its exceptional gameplay is more than enough to make it worth playing and is all the more noteworthy, given it’s a fresh new IP. If nothing else, it lays the groundwork for a new series that has plenty to build from and could go on to be remembered for far more than some rough dialogue.

Forspoken has a good foundation, with great combat design and parkour, but the contents of this world are not as good and, consequently, struggle to keep the player engaged.

Despite its flaws, Forspoken is a fun adventure that nails the minute-to-minute gameplay with Frey’s parkour abilities and magic spells.

In the cut-throat race for your attention, Forspoken feels like a new IP that’s trying to run full pelt alongside heavy-hitting franchises from other big publishers. But it ploughs, shin-first, through every hurdle along the way. Its stuttering start belies a combat system that’s worth investing the effort to learn, but takes so long to get up to full speed that it’s already on borrowed time.

I don't know what happened during the development of Forspoken, but this can't be what they were aiming for. The traversal, story and graphical elements of the game all suffer from the same issue: untapped potential.

Forspoken is a fun action game that shines best when you're taking advantage of the great magic parkour to soar through the fantasy world of Athia and blast enemies with overwhelmingly cool spells. However, its content is underwhelming, its RPG systems are weak, and its visuals are less advanced than advertised. As such, Forspoken's potential is largely unrealized in its current state. It's still a decent romp for genre fans to go through, though waiting until it gets a discount or is added to one of the many subscription services is recommended.

Want to explore a beautiful and desolate fantasy world without being stomped into the ground by every enemy you meet? The power fantasy of 'Forspoken' might just be the game for you.

Despite some moments of genuine enjoyment, with a combat system that does its best to entertain, Forspoken never makes the most of its potential. Ultimately, there are bigger, bolder and more inventive action games both already out there and soon to be upon us in an already stacked 2023 release schedule.

It might not seem like it right now, but Forspoken had some very good ideas, and I ended up still having some fun with it. It feels like it needed a little more time to figure out its real identity instead of its disjointed little-of-this, little-of-that experience. I think it's true form, which it hinted at, is as a young-adult, Bayonetta-adjacent ass-kicker, that needs to pick a tone and lean into it. If that's what it had been, we'd be onto something.

Forspoken has a good foundation, but is a mess in execution due to a horrible protagonist, dull combat and technical problems. While there is enough to do in this pretty-looking open world it amounts to very little and so does the story.