Forspoken: 10 missed opportunities

Forspoken may have had high hopes and succeeded on some bases, but despite its success, some missed opportunities.

Forspoken finally launches in 2023, and despite some success, there are still missed opportunities throughout the game. It's clear that the game is ambitious, and it's certainly on display in terms of visual innovation, while also using a new glowing engine designed by its titular production company. Its magic is imaginative, and the movements of main character Frey are one of the best aspects of the title.

However, more work could have been devoted to taking full advantage of the potential created by Luminous. Some moments could have been polished, and while many exciting aspects of the game came to fruition, some elements may not have lived up to the hype. There are plenty of video games with dark backstories rooting for their heroes and heroines. But whether narratively, graphically, or mechanically, Forspoken creates these opportunities without fully exploiting them.

Protagonist Personality

Forspoken introduces viewers to a brand new protagonist who should theoretically lead the team into the future. The protagonists are so important, some of the biggest franchises currently have major heroes like Kratos, Hitoshi Sakai and Ellie - all of these names will stand out A chord that elicits an illegal emotional response. But Frey Holland doesn't have the same effect.

As one of the few young black protagonists in the medium, Frey's arc deserved more collaboration, but her unique perspective was never shown on screen. Frey is given all the hallmarks of a classic millennial character, full of irony and self-doubt. She could have been truly unique in her narrative, but ended up with a missed opportunity.

Unique Dialogue

Some of the best games, like Forspoken, make sure every dialogue is memorable, or say something extra to the characters involved. Banter is just one of the overwhelming elements that many people may notice while playing. The screenplay could have done more, but there are plenty of instances where the dialogue gets bogged down by the many tricks and tropes of modern Hollywood. Random repetitions, weak jokes, and goofy asides plague the entire title's dialogue.

Very few NPCs are given real shining personalities, and their dialogue never talks too much about them as individuals or what they bring to the story. In fact, Frey's own description is also lacking here. this If the opportunity is not missed, the potential of the story will be enhanced.

An Accessible System

All video games with the best melee combat hold the player's hand as they make their first move, and one aspect of Forspoken that cannot be criticized is its gameplay mechanics. There's a fluidity to the way Frey moves through the open-world landscape: the locomotion system and combat design work together to showcase the medium the game can offer in an elegant and beautiful way. However, learning Forspoken has a steep learning curve.

Forspoken largely throws Frey and the audience into the adventure, but actually mastering the system takes some time. It could be an innovative showcase of how a title is built, but it feels less graspable and thus a missed opportunity for development.

Running At Full Power

As many Redditors predicted on Forspoken, visually there are three options to choose from, and unless the user has an incredibly high-end system to run the game on, the game will likely run at 30fps. It's a pity because using Unreal Engine 5 in the game The development of the title should help boost it on all systems. But with PlayStation, the situation is slightly different.

Performance, quality, and ray tracing all bring something different to the game, but in the end, unfortunately, with next-gen technology on display, the combination of elements doesn't really make the most of the image. Despite the hard work, some choices made Forspoken look unremarkable.

A Detailed World

There are many polished open-world video games that feel lifelike in their construction, but Forspoken isn't one of them. Athia's premise is interesting, with the vastness of the open world abandoned by human life due to a horrific takeover. That means a lot of the landscape is pretty barren, with few secrets to uncover, and no NPCs or proper side quests to interact with.

A fantasy game should feature world-building, reveal various facts about the lore itself, have recognizable landmarks that aid in traversing the Plains, and be forever associated with the game. Forspoken's natural elements may be gorgeous, but Athia doesn't try to impress at all.

Limited DLC

Although there are many important facts To understand Forspoken, limited DLC details are sure to dampen enthusiasm for future development of the game. Forspoken's DLC is called In Tanta We Trust. But since the mainline games have already spent so much time exploring Tanta in detail, there isn't much narrative room to build out the DLC.

More importantly, when it comes to pre-order bonuses and additional content fans can look forward to in the future, there isn't much to get excited about, and no clear roadmap has been drawn yet. With so few narrative threads available for other installments, the scope for opportunities to explore additional content is limited.

Character Animation

One element that cannot be criticized is Frey's attention to detail in character animation as she travels across Athia and becomes involved in magical conflicts in the realm. But in terms of cut scenes, perhaps some improvements could be made in the video game's post-event content.

There are some elegant and inventive displays of how to move the protagonist, and the studio should be commended for their work here. But during every interaction, except for action scenes, Frey stands awkwardly There was little movement. When she's treated like a statue in every scene, her personality doesn't come through, and these clips show a huge missed opportunity in the animation department.

Unique Narrative Premise

Narratively, Forspoken could be criticized for dancing out of many well-known fantasy series without bringing any new ideas to the dance. The story begins with Orphan Frey, who is randomly transported through a portal in New York to this mysterious world, where she becomes the chosen one in a coming-of-age story.

The video games with the best lore always find a way to involve the protagonist in the narrative premise in an organic way. Here, the main tropes of the genre are followed to a tee. As the story progresses further, Forspoken's potential becomes apparent, but the original setup is sure to be a missed opportunity, depending heavily on what happened before.

Modeling Details

Frey is a great character model and does a great job of helping convey emotion during some important film sequences. While her animation may be limited, the details of the character's visual design help tell her story, while the costume design firmly places Frey in the fictional world.

But like many failed, expensive video games, Forspoken failed to get well-designed NPCs right. The character models, supporting characters, that Frey meets on her journey are sometimes hard to fully identify. The beast the protagonist also faces feels like a missed opportunity due to a lack of imagination, making it difficult to fully comprehend what's on screen. The limited details are mostly lost.

Bringing Back For More

The sign of a great title is whether it is replayable: whether the viewer will return to Forspoken again and again to experience the same story and its twists, while trying to learn new secrets of the legend of Athia. In fact, Forspoken's greatest missed opportunity lies in its ability to bring players back.

Action video games with the best storylines also have many other irresistible game elements. Forspoken's combat and travel mechanics can be fun, but combined with some of its other flaws, it doesn't feel like enough to keep fans coming back after one playthrough. Forspoken may have been a franchise builder, but it might not look like it right now.