Forspoken is a tough sell, a game that has so much going for it and an asterisk attached to every positive element in its design. It has an elevator pitch that sounds fantastic for anyone who is jaded by the usual onslaught of sandbox games that look to monopolize the precious few hours a day that you have to yourself, but it also falls firmly into the camp of open-world games that are bloated with needless chores.

On the surface, Forspoken should be a slam-dunk win as a game that pulls plenty of inspiration from Isekai anime, gives you a rich tome of spellcasting powers, and features one of the most likable protagonists in recent memory. That said, Forspoken’s greatest strengths are undone by its uneven design, a running theme that forms a core part of its DNA. It’s not the worst game ever made, and I encourage you to ignore the online discourse that has cherry-picked moments from its story to present them as out-of-context clout bait. But, even dismissing the noise, Forspoken is a game that will make you sigh at the missed opportunity to create something truly special.

The genesis of Forspoken is Alfrey “Frey” Holland, a New Yorker with an upbringing that has transformed her into a streetwise survivor with a chip on her shoulder. After finding an enchanted bracelet and being sucked through a magical portal, Frey’s tumble down the mystical rabbit hole lands her in Athia, a nation that is straight-up having the worst time of its existence. A powerful corruption known as the Break has swept across the land, mutated all living organisms into homicidal murder-monsters, and the sworn protectors of that nation, the all-powerful Tanta, have become tyrants.

As the only person immune to the Break and capable of wielding magic, Frey finds herself cast into the role of an unwilling savior to the populace cowering in the last stronghold that hasn’t been transformed into a hellhole of mutants and monsters. That’s a terrific setup right there, and if you’ve been watching any anime over the last decade, you’ll be well aware of just how popular the genre of Isekai has become.

Forspoken leans heavily into those themes, but with Frey as the star, the idea of a stranger in a fantasy world manages to feel fresh. Sure, there’s some cringe dialogue here and there, but in the context of the story, it works. What also works wonderfully here is Frey’s very real reaction to being stranded in a land where she’s either fleeing from monsters or dealing with class warfare, as her first venture into the city of Cipal sees her branded as a demon and lowborn peasant.

Frey is all too real in these moments, as Ella Balinska delivers an award-worthy performance that accurately captures the emotional rollercoaster of highs and lows that Frey experiences. In one moment she’s elated to discover that she has earth-bending elemental powers, the next moment she’s absolutely horrified at the realization that she has had to commit murder to survive in Athia’s harsh wilderness. There’s a lot to criticize Forspoken about, but Balinska’s portrayal of an unlikely magical messiah isn’t one of them.

It’s a pity then that such a great performance–and several others, such as Jonathan Cake’s role as talkative jewelry partner Cuff–is overshadowed by a story that has no idea how to pace itself properly. Forspoken’s storytelling languishes throughout most of its campaign, which can easily be completed in around 12-15 hours, and only in its final stretch does it seem to find its feet and finally kick into gear. This is a world with some terrific art design, fusing nightmare fuel monstrosities with spellcasting that looks like Renaissance brushstrokes come to life.

And, hilariously, there’s a seismic shift in the story that only makes sense if you’ve been going out of your way to collect lore pages and entries for your diary, as the main campaign barely drip-feeds vital narrative information along Frey’s journey. Forspoken’s story ends with a fantastic moment of fist-pumping glee as all of its pieces come together, but the process of getting to this point is the gaming equivalent of hammering a square peg into a round hole.

On the other side of the equation, there’s the gameplay of Forspoken that is at war with itself. Magical parkour is an absolute blast to experience, making Frey feel like she’s connected to the Flash’s Speed Force as she leaps and dashes across Athia, and the core combat is a delight when you juggle in hard-hitting spells with satisfying acrobatic momentum. Where it falls apart, though, is in the fluidity of how you switch between spells and elements that you slowly acquire, as Forspoken’s radial menu doesn’t quite feel right for the action that it throws you into.

On a positive note, Forspoken has an elegant gear system to invest in. As Frey explores, her options boil down to cloaks, necklaces, and fingernails that she can customize for various stat boosts and passive bonuses. I can’t honestly say that I went out of my way to find new cloaks and fingernail designs, but with each one of the three gear categories unlocking new perks that could be retroactively applied to older items, it’s a nice bit of subtle transmogrification that adds a welcome and seamless layer of customization to the experience.

There’s an undeniable feeling of antiquated game design here as you switch between Frey’s arcane arsenal of spells. If you’re sticking to one pool of elemental attacks and you fiddle with the accessibility options to add some fluidity to your support abilities, then Forspoken’s combat sings as you bounce between bears on steroids and drop a magical flaming sword directly into their belly. There’s a Devil May Cry influence here as your XP gains are determined by your style, varied attacks, and ability to avoid being smacked down, and with developer Luminous Productions calling the technical shots, the action looks terrific without needing to oversell all the particles and special effects on the screen.

That level of visual fidelity doesn’t extend to the rest of Athia though, because for every golden demon that looks like a Baroque painting come to life, there’s a child on the streets of Cipal that looks like they’re trying to smuggle squirrels to safety within its cheeks. That uneven graphical design can be incredibly jarring and is present throughout Athia as if there’s some sort of cosmic balance that needs to be maintained between jaw-dropping boss fights and a range of poor lighting, shadows, image quality, and more.

Forspoken has constant frame-rate issues, and if you’re planning to play on PS5, or if you have the right PC hardware, it’s better to stick to the 120hz performance mode to get the most visual bang for your buck so that combat can still feel mostly precise. For a more technical breakdown, it’s worthwhile to turn to the boffins over at Digital Foundry for their look at what does and doesn’t work with Forspoken’s graphical presentation. It’s a game with a gorgeous art direction, but a temperamental attitude. 

It’s worth mentioning that on PS5, Forspoken does some incredible work with the hardware. Over two years since the console launched, playing Forspoken on it made me realize just how spoiled I had become by the SSD that drives the sales pitch of this machine. I’ve seen plenty of games make good use of the hardware to drastically cut down on loading times, but Forspoken puts them to shame with near-instantaneous fast travel and a cold boot from PS5 UI to in-game action in just under 10 seconds. Combined with superb DualSense controller integration that makes every magical attack pop in your hands, and Forspoken is a great example of why the PS5 is a terrific console.

Still, it’s hard to become invested in Forspoken. For every moment in the game where I wanted to slay corrupt demigods and explore a land that is a beautiful perversion of nature, I was slapped with technical and narrative sequences that made me groan in response at the squandered potential playing out in front of me. Forspoken is a game of incredible highs and lows, a tech demo of fascinating ideas that don’t always land. If you can endure its uninteresting opening hours, you’ll find a title that is ultimately solid but unfortunately forgettable once the end credits roll.

You can play Forspoken now on PS5 and PC.


Forspoken review

All style and very little substance, Forspoken trips on the starting line and struggles to hit its stride in a barebones world of fantasy cliches and uneven storytelling. It has its moments and it ends on a high note, but getting there involves slaying several janky dragons along the way.

 6
Forspoken was reviewed on PS5