Highlights

  • On its one-year anniversary, Forspoken deserves a second chance because the gameplay and story improve after defeating the first major boss, with plot twists and emotional moments that leave players surprised and engaged.
  • The humorous friendship between Frey and her companion Cuff adds depth to the story, with Cuff stealing the show with his witty and sarcastic comments.
  • The game offers a dynamic and fun combat system with four spell trees that unlock unique and impressive spells, providing a variety of play styles and strategies in battles.

Games like Forspoken prove that a great idea and premise can sometimes fall short. The hype for Forspoken was big, so big that when the game released and didn’t hit players’ expectations, it was instantly criticized, and many players deemed it unplayable. However, a year after it debuted on January 24, 2023, it seems the view on Forspoken is shifting slightly, with more positive reviews than negative being posted on services such as Steam and Metacritic in the last month.

These positive reviews praise the game in many ways, from highlighting its breathtaking world and exhilarating parkour to celebrating its interesting story and deep lore. The reviews are proof that Forspoken deserves a second chance, as they highlight plenty of reasons to give this underrated fantasy game another look on its first anniversary.

forspoken - freya and magic
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Forspoken Review

Forspoken promises an intriguing world with a deep magic combat system, but it struggles in presentation and execution.

Why Forspoken is Worthy of a Second Chance

The Gameplay and Story Improves After Defeating the First Major Boss

Forspoken may have the issue of starting a little slowly, but that doesn't mean the whole story is slow. In fact, the story is interesting and captivating early on, as Forspoken really clicks after the first big boss, Tanta Sila, is defeated. The game quickly picks up the pace and grants players a new combat style, which is arguably the best in the game. From that point onwards, Forspoken quickly becomes an even more enjoyable experience, especially when players are venturing through the lush green forests of Tanta Prav’s region, Avoalet, or encountering the other fascinating and sinister Tantas (the corrupt rulers of Athia).

Another strength worth highlighting is the music. Forspoken 's score is great, especially in the final chapters of the game and whenever Frey is in a Pilgrims' Refuge or her room in Cipal.

After Sila is beaten, the story gets much better since it quickly picks up the pace with plot twists that will leave players surprised and emotional moments that can bring a tear to the eye. Not only is the story an interesting experience full of twists and emotional moments, but Frey Holland is a very intriguing protagonist with lots of character development. She goes from being a reluctant hero to putting the needs of others before her own, becoming the people's hero. What makes Frey unique is that she’s a woman from 21st century New York who gets lost in a fantasy world, and not many games attempt isekai stories.

Cuff and Frey Have a Humorous Friendship

Many protagonists in games have a companion of some sort, and Frey is no exception. Although in Forspoken, Frey’s companion comes in the form of a sentient vambrace that is stuck on her arm that she likes to call Cuff. The relationship between the two offers lots of surprises that players won’t expect, and these moments add to the story significantly. Even though Frey is the protagonist, Cuff steals the show with his humorous remarks and his witty and sarcastic comments.

Traversing through Athia is a great experience when listening to the conversations between Cuff and Frey, as their dialogue can be quite humorous. Not only that, but Cuff is also very good at giving sage advice during combat and will protect Frey when he can. Cuff always has something entertaining to say, and much to Frey’s dismay, he will occasionally try out some puns to lighten up the mood.

A Dynamic and Fun Combat System

Forspoken comes with four spell trees that are unlocked as the player progresses through the game. These spell trees mean that there is a wide variety of unique and impressive spells in Forspoken, from projectiles of magical light that will attach to foes and explode when Frey charges her next attack to a powerful flaming sword that can cause devastating damage as it slices into foes. Switching between these magic types in battle can be very fun, especially when using mind control spells from Olas' spell tree to turn enemies against each other and then running into the fray with a flaming sword from Sila's spell tree to deal even more devastating damage.​​​​​​​

  • Frey’s Magic: Nature Element
  • Sila’s Magic: Fire Element
  • Olas’ Magic: Electricity and Psychic Element
  • Prav’s Magic: Water and Ice Element
forspoken game world
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Forspoken Composer Discusses Using Music to Build a Game World

Forspoken's co-composer sits down for an interview, explaining the process of crafting the fantastical soundtrack for the game.

A Must Have for Cat Lovers

If there’s one thing about Forspoken that deserves love for, even more than some of the amazing combat styles and parkour, it’s the cats and familiars. Forspoken is a must-play for any cat lover, with the number of cats that the player can encounter and the familiars that the player can collect. What’s fun about collecting and befriending familiars is that they will accompany Frey on her journey.

If players purchase cat toys from the vendor in Cipal, then some familiars will show up in Frey's room and can be seen playing with these toys.

At least one familiar will travel the lands with Frey, and the rest will show up in her room in Cipal, at Pilgrims Refuges throughout Athia, or will occasionally appear whenever Frey camps out in the wilderness. Each one of these adorable familiars will be seen doing their very own cat-like activity, whether that’s sleeping in a basket, scratching at the walls, cuddling up to Frey as she goes to sleep, or just chilling and looking cute.

The Open World Can Be Addictive

Forspoken has a big open world known as Athia, and it is beautiful to look at. There are lots of activities to do in Forspoken, and they all provide various advantages for Frey that can give her powerful boosts and rewards, as well as simply being fun for the player to complete. As the game progresses, the temptation to complete Forspoken’s open-world activities, such as going into a labyrinth to obtain new gear, finding and befriending a new familiar, or even just the desire to tick off each location in an area, becomes strong. The gear in Forspoken is certainly worth a mention as each item is beautiful to look at, from the small details on the nail art to the intricate design of the necklaces and cloaks in Forspoken. With so many strengths, Forspoken is absolutely deserving of a second chance.