What’s left of Athia is nothing more than a vast obstacle course, which makes one wonder if there’s anything there even worth saving. Lore tidbits dropped throughout the game talk about the world Athia used to be, and only end up underscoring how that world is pretty much dead now, thanks to the four bosses ruling the corners of the map. For all intents and purposes, Athia is a big and beautiful world, but it’s also empty of meaning. With what’s left of Athia’s civilization locked up in Cipal, the world outside its walls is almost completely devoid of meaningful character development. Unfortunately, the uncommon strength and coherence of Forspoken‘s core characterizations are undermined by the game’s structure. I won’t spoil them here, but a point in the game that would in any other hero story be the unequivocal “Bad Ending” feels like a valid, supportable choice in Forspoken, the kind of choice a person can respect, if not necessarily agree with. There’s a sense of humanity in their interactions that helps sell some of the late-game narrative twists as well. To their credit, her closest allies in Athia recognize that fact, even as they try to persuade her to come to their aid. She really doesn’t owe the people of Cipal anything in particular, not least of all salvation. Instead, I believe Frey when she says that line. Usually when characters say that “I’m not doing this for you,” you’re supposed to roll your eyes a bit and recognize that they’re just trying to hide their heroism. I empathized with Frey’s struggle and her desire to reject the heroic role these strangers and Cuff continued to impress on her. An excellent performance by actress Ella Balinska as Frey helps elevate the material, and Frey comes across as almost painfully human in the cutscenes. The story is a dramatic and interesting play on the all-too-familiar video game hero’s journey. The last free community cowers in the walled city of Cipal, and initially views Frey as a demon sent by the same Tantas to destroy the last dregs of mankind.įorspoken feels like it’s being pulled in two directions: in one way by its story, and another by its structure and mechanics. They’ve also gone insane, killing and oppressing what remains of the populace. The Tantas, the leaders of Athia, are the apparent source of the Break, causing it with their vast magical powers. The world is dying slowly, being consumed by a phenomenon called “the Break” that turns people and wildlife into monsters. Unfortunately for Frey, Athia’s even worse off. One might think that a person in such a bad place might view being transported to the vast fantasy world of Athia as a blessing. Granted a reprieve from incarceration by virtue of the Christmas spirit, she makes ready to skip town with nothing but the clothes on her back, her cat Homer, and a gym bag full of cash. That’s ironic, considering Forspoken‘s central dynamic is that of an odd-couple bond between Frey, its heroine, and her talking vambrace, Cuff.įound abandoned as a baby near New York’s Holland Tunnel (hence her surname), Frey Holland’s had a hard life and begins Forspoken in court for an attempted car theft. Though both parts of the experience are contained within Forspoken, they don’t really meet all that often. Meanwhile, the movie is about a young woman struggling to survive in an unfamiliar land full of strangers. The game is about running freely around a vast fantasy playground full of monsters, challenges, and wild landscapes. More accurately, it feels like playing a game and watching a movie at the same time. Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.Playing Forspoken feels like playing two games. Subscribe to my free weekly content round-up newsletter, God Rolls. Everyone believes Square Enix may be trying to get itself acquired by someone like Sony in the Great Consolidation Race of the current generation, but for now, no one may be biting.įollow me on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. Its president, Yosuke Matsuda, is leaving the company after a string of years where he tried to hard sell web3, blockchain and NFT games in the face of an industry that has overwhelmingly rejected them. But with Forspoken, it’s clear its problems extend beyond that. The struggles with games like Marvel’s Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, Deus Ex and Tomb Raider have been well-documented, and were part of the reason Square sold Eidos and Crystal Dynamics to Embracer Group last year. But outside of long-running series like that, Square Enix has had a tremendous amount of trouble crafting new series. Square Enix, of course, has Final Fantasy XVI coming out this summer, which everyone expects to be a hit.
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