Mesmo depois de todo o hate e flop desse jogo queria ver com os meus próprios olhos como ele era. E sinceramente eu entendi o porque das críticas, Forspoken prometeu muito e entregou nada, uma história que poderia ser bem mais explorada, foi completamente rushada e omitida por uma protagonista muito pobre em todas as características como personagem.
O combate é o ponto forte do jogo, porém a maneira em que o universo do jogo foi desenvolvido para por em prática a exploração e combate é extremamente genérica, repetitiva, sem vida, exploração complemente sem significado e sensação de recompensa, os desafios são todos idênticos, colocar na maior dificuldade me deu um up a mais porém os fatores que eu citei acima fez com que eu rushasse o jogo para terminar logo, se da para elogiar algo, o último boss foi pelo menos uma experiência interessante e desafiadora.
De maneira geral, é vergonhoso o que a Square fez aqui, gráficos extremamente ultrapassados, dá impressão que não houve planejamento, simplesmente fizeram de qualquer jeito, infelizmente não recomendo o jogo.
O combate é o ponto forte do jogo, porém a maneira em que o universo do jogo foi desenvolvido para por em prática a exploração e combate é extremamente genérica, repetitiva, sem vida, exploração complemente sem significado e sensação de recompensa, os desafios são todos idênticos, colocar na maior dificuldade me deu um up a mais porém os fatores que eu citei acima fez com que eu rushasse o jogo para terminar logo, se da para elogiar algo, o último boss foi pelo menos uma experiência interessante e desafiadora.
De maneira geral, é vergonhoso o que a Square fez aqui, gráficos extremamente ultrapassados, dá impressão que não houve planejamento, simplesmente fizeram de qualquer jeito, infelizmente não recomendo o jogo.
This game is really disappointing. The gameplay in the trailers looked really flashy and fun and the concept for the story sounded like it had potential. While the game lived up to the gameplay expectations imo, The story, characters, and overall writing fall exceptionally flat on its face. The story is boring after the 4 hour mark, the world is also boring after you've done all the activities like once and the characters range from annoying and unlikable to straight up forgettable. There's a lot of potential here but it didn't do anything to realize it at a $70 price point
analise em video :
https://youtu.be/yScIvXXRyEM
Boa galera, eu já começo a nossa análise adiantando para todos vocês que jogar Forspoken já é uma vontade minha há tempos. Porém, como eu jogo no computador e não tenho um PS5, por o game tá com uma otimização muito ruim, ele acabou se afastando mais e mais de uma realidade onde de fato eu ia jogar e curtir o game. Porem, recentemente, eu joguei dois jogos que ao ver comentários sobre eles, muitas pessoas falaram que repensaram e atualizaram suas definições de games ruins em relação ao Forspoken. Os jogos foram o Gollum, que eu joguei e zerei em 20 horas de gameplay, e o Redfall, que foram 18-19 horas de gameplay. Depois de ter jogado essas duas maravilhas, eu parei e pensei... nossa, acho que tô pronto para o Forspoken finalmente.
Desenvolvido e publicado pela nossa não tão querida atualmente Square Enix, Forspoken era um game que inicialmente, principalmente em seus trailers e gameplay, tinha sua ideia em ser um RPG de ação em mundo aberto, algo bem no naipe do Final Fantasy XV (15), que por sinal o game tava na mão de dois desenvolvedores do jogo. Então as referências em sua gameplay são impossíveis de não comparar um game com o outro. No game, controlamos uma jovem que é transportada do seu mundo, que é o nosso mundo basicamente, mais precisamente de Nova York para um mundo misterioso chamado Athia, que se encontra completamente isolado e devastado por um grupo de vilões. Com a ajuda de um bracelete dourado que lhe dá diversos poderes, você deve ajudar o povo de Athia ao mesmo tempo que tenta encontrar um jeito de voltar para seu mundo.
É bom, nossa história principal do game tem por volta de 10 horas de gameplay, quase sempre se passando no mundo de Athia, tendo um breve início e gameplay no mundo original de Frey. Ela, que é nossa protagonista principal, vivia solitária em seu apartamento com seu gatinho Homer, onde tinha o objetivo de juntar dinheiro para finalmente deixar Nova York e ter uma vida boa em outro lugar. Mas, por fim, acaba encontrando um bracelete mágico falante que a leva para o mundo de Athia.
O game também conta com um "Mundo Aberto", onde você pode explorar várias missões secundárias que lhe darão mais profundidade ao mundo do game e todos os seus mistérios. Mas, tirando esses fatores, o game é básico e direto em sua narrativa: você deve ajudar o povo desse mundo e tentar voltar para o seu.
E cara, dando um pouco da minha opinião sobre o game nessa parte de história, certamente esse é o ponto mais fraco do game. Não que o game seja horrível, horrendo ou terrível nessa parte... eu acho que quem fala isso certamente tá exagerando um pouco. ela é apenas curta e grossa e em alguns momentos até mesmo clichê demais. Bom, se você pegar o conceito básico do game de uma menina deslocada em seu mundo original, é mandada pra outro mundo, lá ela tem que ajudar um povo que de certa maneira a acolhe e depois disso tudo ela deve voltar pra casa. Só de imaginar toda essa narrativa, não é difícil chegar ao fim do game. Eu, por exemplo, já sabia o que ia acontecer só de me deparar com essas situações no game. A coisa que não me ajudou nem um pouco jogando o game é como ele simplesmente não se leva a sério. Simplesmente você jogando ele, apesar de não ser um game com foco na comédia ou algo do tipo, pelo contrário, ele é bem sério, ou ao menos tenta ser. Os diálogos e situações que o game vai colocar pra você em diversos momentos vai ser difícil levar a história a sério, principalmente quando a gente fala do nosso bracelete falante. Ele junto da Frey é uma fábrica de situações de vergonha alheia e sem graça. Apesar, claro, que a atuação da menina que fez a Frey e o bracelete serem bem legais, ainda sim a história em si não ajuda.
Falando um pouco agora da nossa gameplay, como dito antes, por ter desenvolvedores de FFXV trabalhando no game, ele bebe muito da fonte do game. Então aqui a gente tem um game que tenta ser um RPG em mundo aberto. Eu costumo colocar o nosso "mundo aberto" nesse tipo de jogo, porque nosso maior parâmetro de mundo aberto é nossa querida Rockstar e obviamente nenhum jogo chega perto desse conceito maravilhoso de mundo aberto, por mais que seja um jogo de 2012 como GTA V. E aqui, basicamente falando, o mapa do game é bem grandinho, os cenários têm seus certos níveis de diferenças um do outro. Porém, no fim, acaba sendo mais um game de "Mundo aberto", onde você sente que ele é genérico, tá cheio de atividades e sidequests genéricos, mobs genéricos e por aí vai. A sensação que dá é que os caras foram criando o mundo e faltou a ideia ou o tempo do que por como conteúdo, o que no fim acaba tendo aí um monte de conteúdo meia boca somente pra encher linguiça.
Uma das coisas que eu achei legal no game foi o parkour, que também em batalhas serve como se fosse uma espécie de desviar. As magias ou poderes são equipados em 3 slots de magias diferentes, tornam uma gameplay um tanto quanto simplória pela pouca variedade de magias que você pode usar e que, na minha opinião, apesar de eu ter achado a gameplay e o parkour um tanto quanto legalzinha, ela não deixa de ser mega genérica. Depois de um tempo, você vai acabar enjoado de fazer sempre a mesma coisa toda hora, pelo combate acabar se repetindo basicamente toda hora. Apesar disso, você sente jogando que aquela gameplay que ela não é tão ruim assim e consegue ver até um lado positivo, porém não dura muito e você acaba caindo na mesmice.
Agora falando da nossa parte de visual e trilha sonora, bom, apesar de vendo o trailers, vendo gameplays e tudo mais, o game parecer um tanto quanto bonito. Afinal, ele segue a mesma direção de arte de FFXV, então quando você visualiza pela primeira vez, ele te passa bem essa sensação. Apesar disso, assim como os demais pontos que lembram FFXV, duram muito pouco. Logo, toda e qualquer ponto positivo que você poderia ter é totalmente consumida pelos pontos negativos do game, principalmente se você joga no PC como eu, onde a otimização do game para os computadores é simplesmente terrível, e não importa a configuração que você use, vai ser sempre uma experiência de mediano a ruim, mesmo nos melhores computadores e mesmo pela qualidade em si dos graficos, estando no alto ou no ultra, ainda sim o game deixa muito a desejar graficamente falando.
Não existe nada em Forspoken que eu olho e consigo falar "minha nossa, mas olha que game lindo". Simplesmente não existe... tudo nesse game é genérico, você sente muita falta de sutileza e polimento nesse jogo. Até porque o conceito e o corpo do game em si, eles são muito legais e, se fossem bem trabalhados, certamente teríamos um jogaço aí graficamente falando pelomenos.
Já falando da parte sonora, eu particularmente gostei dessa parte, por incrível que pareça, principalmente falando do tema principal, que logo no menu quando você abre, ele passa uma vibe e uma identidade muito única, onde você tem uma batida de pop misturada com algo mais clássico ou mais orquestral. É quase como a própria história da Frey, onde ela é uma menina de uma era um pouco mais moderna representada pelo pop, enquanto o mundo que ela vai tem uma pegada mais antiga e medieval, seguindo a parte mais orquestral. Então, eu achei isso muito legal na parte sonora, apesar de achar que poderia ter mais momentos como esse.
De maneira geral, Forspoken é um game muito, mas muito medíocre em quase tudo no game. Apesar de sim, eu ter me divertido em alguns momentos com o game, com o tanto de problema que ele tem fica um pouco difícil recomendá-lo. Mas ainda sim, se vocês tiverem a oportunidade de jogar de graça, sei lá, se ele entrar em algum serviço como Game Pass ou o serviços da Sony, lembrando que o game pode sim ir ao Game Pass, afinal ele não é um exclusivo do PlayStation e nunca foi, ele sempre existiu no PC e por tê-lo na Windows Store automaticamente ele faz parte do Xbox PC, então ele vai ter até mesmo o sistema de conquista do Xbox. Então, assim como Death Stranding, se junto um dia, então sempre é possível acontecer. Se for esse o caso, eu recomendo que vocês joguem sem muito apego, apenas casualmente, para se distrair um pouco. Quando eu terminei o game, eu sinceramente parei e pensei que se esse game fosse lançado na geração PS3, mantendo seu pé no chão graficamente e não enfrentando os problemas que está enfrentando, para época ele seria até mesmo um game ok, mas nos tempos atuais é simplesmente inaceitável um game AAA fazer o que esse game fez.
- Gráfico OK
- Trilha sonora OK
Pontos negativos:
- Narrativa sem alma
- Mega Má otimização no PC.
- Combate muito simples e repetitivo
- Falta de seriedade da trama
Versão usada para análise: PC
I really really wanted to like Forspoken. I liked the idea of a mage centric open world fish out of water fantasy game. I really like Frey's desgin and character. The flavorfull speach that a lot of people complain about I actually thought made sense and generally think it enhances the game. That's how people talk. Very great start to the game. Loved the transition from New York to the fantasty world. My problem with Forspoken is just how uneven and shallow everything is. Everything seems half baked and unfinished. Characters get very little screen time and have no character outside good or evil. The side characters and quests are meaningless as nothing is developed or even change by the end.
As for the gameplay it's a real mixed bag. All the powers and moves look and feel cool and you get a real good feeling like you are a high powered mage. Once you have all the moves and powers unlocked you really do feel quite powerful. The issue is the pace at which you unlock things is really slow. My first third of my playthrough I was still stuck on the same basic power that you start with. I eventually made the descion to stop messing around the world and doing side stuff and just progress the story so I could open up the combat. The world of Athia is really big and feels huge and there are collectibles littered everywhere, hundreds of them actually. The sucky part is that it's too bloated with stuff and none of it feels meaningful. So many hidden chests and treasures that give pitiful resources that are a dime a dozen. Even the character quips "Oh it's just one of these, at least it's a freebie" that doesn't relieve the tedium of work for no pay off. Lots of areas of clear this enemy wave or beat this monster here. I mean this game would make banjo and kazooie blush with it's collectible stuff. You can spend hours collecting stuff and it wouldn't give you remotely more of an edge than if you just sprinted to the finish line. One thing the game does do really well though is it's traversal. Using magic to get around the land feels fast and cool. Your speed runs feel like your moving fast, you even have a super mario style tripple jump and climbing is quick and easy. They really nailed this aspect. I would put it up there with Sony's Spider-Man in a good traversal gameplay.
The good really stops there though. The first third of the game felt like sludge with the terrible pacing then when it starts to get more interesting and good the game put it's story telling into hyper drive and force feeds you the rest through scripted walking sectiosn and just drops you into the final boss. I was flabbergasted when I saw the prompt for the final battle. I feel like there should have been ten hours or so of stuff left but nope. Completly rushed in every since. Really soured my whole experiance with the game. How can it start so slow then dash straight to the end. Clearly feels like more cut content than MGS5 with even more cutscenes and story left on the cutting room floor. I honestly felt like there was another five or eight hours of story and game left but nope. The ending was so awful and it's rushed nature shows and all the side characters where completely worthless and pointless. Frey's growth felt forced because the game needed it to be done at this piont. It's a shame cause I really liked the base idea of the game but it was so poorly thought out I can't see how they expected to be a franchise. It has the worst alternate ending I've ever seen lasting a whole 19 seconds, roll credits back to your last save. What was the point of even giving the player the option. Then the post credits scene was so dumb and our of character I stood in disbelief.
Forspoken is a really hard recomendation and a complete disapointment because there are aspects of it I do like but it's unfinished nature and quite frankly awful story telling leaves a lot to be desired. I kinda wish that they would just keep the main character and fish out of water story in a magical story and throw away every other story aspect and reboot it. Maybe this is just an alpha concept and in another world they got a full fleshed out story and game.
As for the gameplay it's a real mixed bag. All the powers and moves look and feel cool and you get a real good feeling like you are a high powered mage. Once you have all the moves and powers unlocked you really do feel quite powerful. The issue is the pace at which you unlock things is really slow. My first third of my playthrough I was still stuck on the same basic power that you start with. I eventually made the descion to stop messing around the world and doing side stuff and just progress the story so I could open up the combat. The world of Athia is really big and feels huge and there are collectibles littered everywhere, hundreds of them actually. The sucky part is that it's too bloated with stuff and none of it feels meaningful. So many hidden chests and treasures that give pitiful resources that are a dime a dozen. Even the character quips "Oh it's just one of these, at least it's a freebie" that doesn't relieve the tedium of work for no pay off. Lots of areas of clear this enemy wave or beat this monster here. I mean this game would make banjo and kazooie blush with it's collectible stuff. You can spend hours collecting stuff and it wouldn't give you remotely more of an edge than if you just sprinted to the finish line. One thing the game does do really well though is it's traversal. Using magic to get around the land feels fast and cool. Your speed runs feel like your moving fast, you even have a super mario style tripple jump and climbing is quick and easy. They really nailed this aspect. I would put it up there with Sony's Spider-Man in a good traversal gameplay.
The good really stops there though. The first third of the game felt like sludge with the terrible pacing then when it starts to get more interesting and good the game put it's story telling into hyper drive and force feeds you the rest through scripted walking sectiosn and just drops you into the final boss. I was flabbergasted when I saw the prompt for the final battle. I feel like there should have been ten hours or so of stuff left but nope. Completly rushed in every since. Really soured my whole experiance with the game. How can it start so slow then dash straight to the end. Clearly feels like more cut content than MGS5 with even more cutscenes and story left on the cutting room floor. I honestly felt like there was another five or eight hours of story and game left but nope. The ending was so awful and it's rushed nature shows and all the side characters where completely worthless and pointless. Frey's growth felt forced because the game needed it to be done at this piont. It's a shame cause I really liked the base idea of the game but it was so poorly thought out I can't see how they expected to be a franchise. It has the worst alternate ending I've ever seen lasting a whole 19 seconds, roll credits back to your last save. What was the point of even giving the player the option. Then the post credits scene was so dumb and our of character I stood in disbelief.
Forspoken is a really hard recomendation and a complete disapointment because there are aspects of it I do like but it's unfinished nature and quite frankly awful story telling leaves a lot to be desired. I kinda wish that they would just keep the main character and fish out of water story in a magical story and throw away every other story aspect and reboot it. Maybe this is just an alpha concept and in another world they got a full fleshed out story and game.
This review contains spoilers
All cards on the table, I recognize this game's many faults. It's got shaky performance even after a lot of updates, a pretty obvious twist, a black protagonist with no black writers and a lot of other little issues that build up.
...but when it works? It really, really works. Traversal is snappy, quick, tasty with lots of options to keep even walking straight forward from being boring and average. Mechanically its dense with a system that takes a lot to get used to and it rewards you for getting used to it with some surprisingly interesting interactions that you can play on to do some surprisingly complex stuff. The character writing, while not amazing all the time, can be genuinely interesting and Cuff has an astounding presence as a villain with some of the greatest VA work I've heard in a modern video game. It's eternally a shame to me that people wrote this off and now this studio's gone because it genuinely deserves a sequel to iron out the kinks. This game reminds me of the PS2, man. It doesn't feel like a cynical, every day open world game, it felt like it was made by someone with a serious vision. Down to the magic system itself which isn't just procedurally generated physics engine pushing tech demo shit but these outstandingly particularly organized pops of elemental graffiti that create gorgeous murals when weaved together.
Genuine sleeper hit, man. I expect this game to get a reevaluation in 5 years.
...but when it works? It really, really works. Traversal is snappy, quick, tasty with lots of options to keep even walking straight forward from being boring and average. Mechanically its dense with a system that takes a lot to get used to and it rewards you for getting used to it with some surprisingly interesting interactions that you can play on to do some surprisingly complex stuff. The character writing, while not amazing all the time, can be genuinely interesting and Cuff has an astounding presence as a villain with some of the greatest VA work I've heard in a modern video game. It's eternally a shame to me that people wrote this off and now this studio's gone because it genuinely deserves a sequel to iron out the kinks. This game reminds me of the PS2, man. It doesn't feel like a cynical, every day open world game, it felt like it was made by someone with a serious vision. Down to the magic system itself which isn't just procedurally generated physics engine pushing tech demo shit but these outstandingly particularly organized pops of elemental graffiti that create gorgeous murals when weaved together.
Genuine sleeper hit, man. I expect this game to get a reevaluation in 5 years.
fuck you
the magic system is great, spells are flashy and feel good when used. world felt....empty for lack of a better term, and the main character felt very uncomfortably out of place in it. i had a lot of fun playing it though, the magic and parkour were great. story became nonsensical, predictable, and quite lazy by the end.
Forspoken is yet another game that I wanted to like more than I did, since I usually have a knack for loving games that draw the ire of chronically online gamers. I was one of the 5 people who truly enjoyed Saints Row 2022 in fact!
Overall, after spending close to 20 hours with it, I think the reviews Forspoken has received from both critics and the larger gaming public are largely true, if somewhat hyperbole (as usual).
Yes, the dialogue has its rough patches, but outside of the handful of scenes that have made the rounds online, it's largely bland as opposed to being painful. The dialogue we hear from protagonist Frey and the entire supporting cast do feel more like 'written by committee' than by one or more people with a clear vision. You can really tell that this game had issues with there being 'too many cooks' in the writer's room.
Frey herself, despite being well-portrayed by Ella Balinska, is a deeply frustrating and stubborn character. It's understandable that she should have a chip on her shoulder given her being a rough and tumble orphan who falls into an generic Isekai story. But it feels like they forgot to make her likable outside of that. The winning moments of her character come almost exclusively from occasional good bits of banter with her companion Cuff (aka 'we have Wheatley from Portal 2 at home') and the various cats you meet along the way.
That being said, while the narrative is lacking and feels like a speedrun of Joseph Campbell's 'The Hero's Journey', the combat, over-the-top magic effects, parkour, and overabundance of adorable kitties REALLY help hold this game together and secure its status as 'decent' for me. Honestly, the traversal in this game alone is up there with Spider-Man PS4 for me. It just never stopped being fun darting around the world and doing sick flips.
So yes, to summarize:
+ Sick flips
+ Fun combat
+ CATS
+ System-overloading particle effects
- Everything else
6/10
Overall, after spending close to 20 hours with it, I think the reviews Forspoken has received from both critics and the larger gaming public are largely true, if somewhat hyperbole (as usual).
Yes, the dialogue has its rough patches, but outside of the handful of scenes that have made the rounds online, it's largely bland as opposed to being painful. The dialogue we hear from protagonist Frey and the entire supporting cast do feel more like 'written by committee' than by one or more people with a clear vision. You can really tell that this game had issues with there being 'too many cooks' in the writer's room.
Frey herself, despite being well-portrayed by Ella Balinska, is a deeply frustrating and stubborn character. It's understandable that she should have a chip on her shoulder given her being a rough and tumble orphan who falls into an generic Isekai story. But it feels like they forgot to make her likable outside of that. The winning moments of her character come almost exclusively from occasional good bits of banter with her companion Cuff (aka 'we have Wheatley from Portal 2 at home') and the various cats you meet along the way.
That being said, while the narrative is lacking and feels like a speedrun of Joseph Campbell's 'The Hero's Journey', the combat, over-the-top magic effects, parkour, and overabundance of adorable kitties REALLY help hold this game together and secure its status as 'decent' for me. Honestly, the traversal in this game alone is up there with Spider-Man PS4 for me. It just never stopped being fun darting around the world and doing sick flips.
So yes, to summarize:
+ Sick flips
+ Fun combat
+ CATS
+ System-overloading particle effects
- Everything else
6/10
A great game that suffers from a poor start. Although the story is rushed, the final hours of the game are phenomenal. Where the game truly shines though is in the gameplay. The traversal is fun, and the combat is amazing.
Yeah, we can blame Joss Whedonism for the writing in this yadayadayada… but this brand of quippy banter that doesnt make sense half the time has been par for the course with SquareEnix major release for a while now and especially with FFXV and Stranger of Paradise so like… why are you people surprised? Because of the project Athia hype? There’s also literally an option to turn off the banter in this game which I havent seen anyone talk about, so just do that if you can’t stand the writing. Tbh havent played much of this game, half the reviews I’ve seen are how it feels unfinished which is unsurprising for this project, but the other half of the negative reviews I’ve seen are just straight up racist or misogynistic so… yeah fuk u nerds I hope to get into this soon.
Gotta give it to Square for their commitment to mega dark angsty depictions of New York between this and Parasite Eve
Gotta give it to Square for their commitment to mega dark angsty depictions of New York between this and Parasite Eve
Why?
"Cringey dialogue". "Unlikeable protagonist". "Woke trash". Jeez, the hatred spouting from keyboard warriors for this open-world adventure is, quite frankly, overblown to a ridiculous degree. To the point where it's now commonplace to follow the mass in their loathing without actually giving the game a chance. Could it be because the central protagonist is a strong and assertive female who speaks her mind? Knowing today's toxic environment, I wouldn't be surprised. Yes, Frey and Cuff talk to each other non-stop with limited variance in dialogue exchanges, but it's fairly easy to block out and is no where near as relentless as people would lead you to believe.
The game itself is actually very good, in my opinion. And the main reason for its greatness is Frey's fluid traversal. Gliding, sprinting, rushing and generally performing parkour to get from side of the map to the other. It's just damn fun and suits Luminous' engine (FFXV players will know...). Then an experimental element-based combat system (equipped with a temperamental lock-on system) adds more oomph to the...fray. The story itself is fairly grounded with a decent character arc for Frey, abandoned at birth with a huge resentment towards everyone (naturally...) and then magically transported to Athia where she learns to become altruistic for the fate of a civilisation. The lore is imaginative and welcomed compared to the usual open-world copy-and-pasted ventures...
...and speaking of 'Ubisoft' open-world design, that's Forspoken's weakest area. There's just no real incentive and want to explore every landmark and hidden treasures tucked away in Athia's expansive landscapes. You can literally complete the main campaign easily without having to visit a single side location, which defeats the point of the open-world. It's beautiful no doubt, it just needed to be implemented in a way that incentivises exploration. It's also "empty", but it doesn't present itself as an issue due to Frey's rapid-paced parkour. Fields populated with enemies can be blitzed through in seconds, in comparison to over favoured open-world bores like 'Assassin's Creed Valhalla'.
Basically, ignore the haters, give it a go with an open-mind and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
The game itself is actually very good, in my opinion. And the main reason for its greatness is Frey's fluid traversal. Gliding, sprinting, rushing and generally performing parkour to get from side of the map to the other. It's just damn fun and suits Luminous' engine (FFXV players will know...). Then an experimental element-based combat system (equipped with a temperamental lock-on system) adds more oomph to the...fray. The story itself is fairly grounded with a decent character arc for Frey, abandoned at birth with a huge resentment towards everyone (naturally...) and then magically transported to Athia where she learns to become altruistic for the fate of a civilisation. The lore is imaginative and welcomed compared to the usual open-world copy-and-pasted ventures...
...and speaking of 'Ubisoft' open-world design, that's Forspoken's weakest area. There's just no real incentive and want to explore every landmark and hidden treasures tucked away in Athia's expansive landscapes. You can literally complete the main campaign easily without having to visit a single side location, which defeats the point of the open-world. It's beautiful no doubt, it just needed to be implemented in a way that incentivises exploration. It's also "empty", but it doesn't present itself as an issue due to Frey's rapid-paced parkour. Fields populated with enemies can be blitzed through in seconds, in comparison to over favoured open-world bores like 'Assassin's Creed Valhalla'.
Basically, ignore the haters, give it a go with an open-mind and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
So much wasted potential for something that could've been great; Forspoken almost gets it right. The combat is there, it's fun, and it's flashy. It feels like Luminous (RIP) took the complaints against Final Fantasy XV's combat and really fleshed it out. Swapping between elemental styles of magic each having different abilities and effects is fun to play with, and provides something deeper than what was found in XV's combat design.
Forspoken's world is interesting. It has a really unique approach to how the world uses color. The color of the skies and the landscapes almost never match, resulting in an almost alien world. Trees will be scorched with blue crystals. Cliffsides stained with glowing crimson rock and mineral. Enemies adorned with gold fangs or spikes. It all clashes, but in a way that creates a unique world space for Forspoken. I don't know any game released recently that utilizes such rich and saturated colors for their environments, but the way Forspoken uses it is very endearing.
Unfortunately, where Forspoken truly fails is in its main narrative and character writing. I do not like Frey, at all. It's very clear that the story was written by a white person. Those same bemoaned writing tropes and quips found in your big blockbusters are ever-present in Forspoken dialogue and don't really ever go away. Frey as a character is not interesting, plain and simple. She has a small character arc, and that's most of her character development. What we are left with is a snarky and obnoxious lead character that I just cannot get invested in. A big help is playing with Japanese VA, the lips aren't synced but at least the voice acting isn't horrible to accompany the already horrible writing. To make matters somewhat worse, when stripped of its characters - Forspoken is your base standard isekai. There isn't anything particularly unique about it, which is a shame because the world itself holds interesting and deep lore.
In what could have been a great game; Forspoken's combat, world, and art style can only take the game so far until forced to interact with the story.
Forspoken's world is interesting. It has a really unique approach to how the world uses color. The color of the skies and the landscapes almost never match, resulting in an almost alien world. Trees will be scorched with blue crystals. Cliffsides stained with glowing crimson rock and mineral. Enemies adorned with gold fangs or spikes. It all clashes, but in a way that creates a unique world space for Forspoken. I don't know any game released recently that utilizes such rich and saturated colors for their environments, but the way Forspoken uses it is very endearing.
Unfortunately, where Forspoken truly fails is in its main narrative and character writing. I do not like Frey, at all. It's very clear that the story was written by a white person. Those same bemoaned writing tropes and quips found in your big blockbusters are ever-present in Forspoken dialogue and don't really ever go away. Frey as a character is not interesting, plain and simple. She has a small character arc, and that's most of her character development. What we are left with is a snarky and obnoxious lead character that I just cannot get invested in. A big help is playing with Japanese VA, the lips aren't synced but at least the voice acting isn't horrible to accompany the already horrible writing. To make matters somewhat worse, when stripped of its characters - Forspoken is your base standard isekai. There isn't anything particularly unique about it, which is a shame because the world itself holds interesting and deep lore.
In what could have been a great game; Forspoken's combat, world, and art style can only take the game so far until forced to interact with the story.
pretty mediocre
you know this game isn't as insufferable as i expected it to be, its not like the greatest game of all time, or that enjoyable but it definitely is probably the best flop I've ever played, like I didn't walk away feeling that offended by this one
Even though I was a little disappointed because of its grandeur (I expected it to be more epic than it was), Forspoken is far from a bad game.
I believe that most of the people who badmouthed the game didn't play it and were only influenced by the media, but of course the game is far from perfect...
For me, its main weakness is certainly the story and the quality of its script, in addition to being really simple and easy to predict the progress of the story. But I must praise its final plot, which even though it was simple I liked (after all, I'm a very simple guy in general). But the conclusion could have been faster.
And the strong point is obviously the gameplay which is really good, it's really fun to do some parkour in the mountains and jump off the cliffs (I even got butterflies in my stomach when I jumped)...
Another point that I really liked was its open world that really had a lot to do and was also quite beautiful.
Well, in general it's a good game that is very wronged, but that clearly has its problems but nothing as serious as they're talking about.
In the future I intend to revisit Athia to make a beautiful freeroam gameplay when I have time.
I believe that most of the people who badmouthed the game didn't play it and were only influenced by the media, but of course the game is far from perfect...
For me, its main weakness is certainly the story and the quality of its script, in addition to being really simple and easy to predict the progress of the story. But I must praise its final plot, which even though it was simple I liked (after all, I'm a very simple guy in general). But the conclusion could have been faster.
And the strong point is obviously the gameplay which is really good, it's really fun to do some parkour in the mountains and jump off the cliffs (I even got butterflies in my stomach when I jumped)...
Another point that I really liked was its open world that really had a lot to do and was also quite beautiful.
Well, in general it's a good game that is very wronged, but that clearly has its problems but nothing as serious as they're talking about.
In the future I intend to revisit Athia to make a beautiful freeroam gameplay when I have time.
Played the demo and yeah… no.
Not gonna give my 2 cents about everything else but I will say that the combat is terrible. Just mash R2 to shoot weak little spells and dodge. That’s it. Everything this game does has been done to death or just better
Not gonna give my 2 cents about everything else but I will say that the combat is terrible. Just mash R2 to shoot weak little spells and dodge. That’s it. Everything this game does has been done to death or just better
In Forspoken you play as Frey a young woman dragged from her home on Earth to the fantastical realm of Athia. In the process you find yourself attached to a magical talking vambrace and also in possession of powers that soon draw the attentions of the other powerful beings of this world.
The game has left me utterly frustrated at its wasted potential. This open world action rpg is very thin on meaningful content. Yet it has a very fluid and beautiful combat/traversal mechanics. The story is very basic and by the numbers so quickly you start to get bored of the whole affair but the design of its main bosses (tantas) are very unique and pleasing to behold. The open world environment is ridiculously wide and beautiful but are barren landscapes that again start to bore you as you move through them to another meaningless and optional map marker that grants either a piece of armor with minimal combat effects/xp/stat upgrades. Side quests are few and far between and completely forgettable it’s all just set dressing. You get the most out of this game sticking to the main path which has you take down the once beloved protectors of Athia; the Tantas. These were powerful women who prior to the events of the game succumbed to a blight that ate away at their minds and (much of the world) until they became twisted versions of themselves.
I honestly cannot recommend anyone play this game (unless it’s at a heavy price discount and you mainline it) it feels like a mostly empty and generic experience which is a shame as the mechanics are sound. Ugh.
The game has left me utterly frustrated at its wasted potential. This open world action rpg is very thin on meaningful content. Yet it has a very fluid and beautiful combat/traversal mechanics. The story is very basic and by the numbers so quickly you start to get bored of the whole affair but the design of its main bosses (tantas) are very unique and pleasing to behold. The open world environment is ridiculously wide and beautiful but are barren landscapes that again start to bore you as you move through them to another meaningless and optional map marker that grants either a piece of armor with minimal combat effects/xp/stat upgrades. Side quests are few and far between and completely forgettable it’s all just set dressing. You get the most out of this game sticking to the main path which has you take down the once beloved protectors of Athia; the Tantas. These were powerful women who prior to the events of the game succumbed to a blight that ate away at their minds and (much of the world) until they became twisted versions of themselves.
I honestly cannot recommend anyone play this game (unless it’s at a heavy price discount and you mainline it) it feels like a mostly empty and generic experience which is a shame as the mechanics are sound. Ugh.
For the record I only played this to test out fsr frame generation and it's a bit underwhelming.
Erm…well THAT just happened!!!
Played and completed the demo so my experience will be based on that because I am NEVER spending $70 on this game lmao. Not least of which is because I don’t have a PS5 nor do I ever plan on getting one, but also because the game runs like crap on my PC (I cranked the resolution down to 720p and it still stuttered like crazy) and the game itself is very…blah. Combat is actually kiiiinda fun with the different spells you can mix together, but it’s also pretty easy to kill things and lacks any satisfying crunch + enemies barely react to your attacks at all nor do they really try to attack you. Parkour is kinda fun but it‘s mechanically shallow and the game performs most of it for you as you automatically vault over obstacles, there’s very little skill expression to be found outside of the context sensitive grapple pull. The world itself is pretty boring, the most lifeless and generic grass forest wasteland I have ever seen in a video game, barring like one or 2 setpieces, and the dialogue that comes out of Frey’s mouth makes me want to die. It’s not overly offensive like I thought it was gonna be but I’m also positive I’ve seen everything the game has to offer in one fell swoop.
Played and completed the demo so my experience will be based on that because I am NEVER spending $70 on this game lmao. Not least of which is because I don’t have a PS5 nor do I ever plan on getting one, but also because the game runs like crap on my PC (I cranked the resolution down to 720p and it still stuttered like crazy) and the game itself is very…blah. Combat is actually kiiiinda fun with the different spells you can mix together, but it’s also pretty easy to kill things and lacks any satisfying crunch + enemies barely react to your attacks at all nor do they really try to attack you. Parkour is kinda fun but it‘s mechanically shallow and the game performs most of it for you as you automatically vault over obstacles, there’s very little skill expression to be found outside of the context sensitive grapple pull. The world itself is pretty boring, the most lifeless and generic grass forest wasteland I have ever seen in a video game, barring like one or 2 setpieces, and the dialogue that comes out of Frey’s mouth makes me want to die. It’s not overly offensive like I thought it was gonna be but I’m also positive I’ve seen everything the game has to offer in one fell swoop.
e esse jogo, que tem um senso de humor bem similar ao do queridinho de 2023, hi-fi rush, mas foi destroçado pelas pessoas por causa de um trailer? da protagonista? porque decidiram que esse tipo de humor deveria ser feito apenas quando os personagens estão estilizados com cel-shading e nenhuma outra escolha estética é válida? porque a frey é mulher?
bom, tanto faz, acho irônico, porém, que justo forspoken sofreu isso considerando que é um jogo que passa boa parte do seu tempo matutando sobre rejeição. a reação de desconforto ao ver que a frey rejeita athia ao invés de abraçar e se agarrar a toda a beleza de seus ambientes e aos poderes que ela ganha lá, como em muitas obras de ficção onde um personagem que vive no nosso mundo real é transportado para outro.
a frey não é uma personagem que teve uma vida fácil, abandonada quando criança, não conseguindo se encaixar em nenhuma família que a adotou, ela tem de roubar pra conseguir levar a vida dela e acaba sem-teto logo no começo. ela não tem mais energia nem muita esperança - a única forma que ela vê o mundo da ficção é com ironia e descaso, não existe muita beleza no sobrenatural se a única coisa que você consegue sentir vontade é de sentar em algum canto e fechar os olhos pra deixar o destino decidir por você o amanhã.
isso poderia ser diminuído se assim que a frey demonstrasse poder e capacidade de enfrentar os males que assolam athia, o povo se reunisse e clamasse por ela, tratasse ela feito uma rainha - mas assim que você conhece a cidade principal, todas as posições de poder dela rejeitam frey e apenas a parcela classe baixa da cidade consegue oferecer um mínimo de aconchego pra ela.
não é atoa que vemos ela se compadecendo com outros ostracizados da cidade, com crianças ladras que também foram abandonadas ou frey simplesmente preferindo ficar em casas de bruxas que estão espalhadas pelo mundo (agora todo isolado fora da cidade principal) cuidando de seus gatos mágicos, tanto por causa de sua vivência mais isolada no mundo real quanto pela sua posição de um ser sobrenatural em athia.
é muito fácil reclamar de um personagem que "não tem carisma" ou "não age como protagonista", mas a personagem é a personagem, independente das vontades de quem está engajando com a obra e poder ver a boneca pouco a pouco também criando afeto pelos ambientes lindos, pelas acrobacias super legais de executar e as magias coloridonas e variadas faz valer a pena nem que seja só pra fazer você sentir que ajudou um pouquinho essa protagonista a apreciar o mundo pela primeira vez.
bom, tanto faz, acho irônico, porém, que justo forspoken sofreu isso considerando que é um jogo que passa boa parte do seu tempo matutando sobre rejeição. a reação de desconforto ao ver que a frey rejeita athia ao invés de abraçar e se agarrar a toda a beleza de seus ambientes e aos poderes que ela ganha lá, como em muitas obras de ficção onde um personagem que vive no nosso mundo real é transportado para outro.
a frey não é uma personagem que teve uma vida fácil, abandonada quando criança, não conseguindo se encaixar em nenhuma família que a adotou, ela tem de roubar pra conseguir levar a vida dela e acaba sem-teto logo no começo. ela não tem mais energia nem muita esperança - a única forma que ela vê o mundo da ficção é com ironia e descaso, não existe muita beleza no sobrenatural se a única coisa que você consegue sentir vontade é de sentar em algum canto e fechar os olhos pra deixar o destino decidir por você o amanhã.
isso poderia ser diminuído se assim que a frey demonstrasse poder e capacidade de enfrentar os males que assolam athia, o povo se reunisse e clamasse por ela, tratasse ela feito uma rainha - mas assim que você conhece a cidade principal, todas as posições de poder dela rejeitam frey e apenas a parcela classe baixa da cidade consegue oferecer um mínimo de aconchego pra ela.
não é atoa que vemos ela se compadecendo com outros ostracizados da cidade, com crianças ladras que também foram abandonadas ou frey simplesmente preferindo ficar em casas de bruxas que estão espalhadas pelo mundo (agora todo isolado fora da cidade principal) cuidando de seus gatos mágicos, tanto por causa de sua vivência mais isolada no mundo real quanto pela sua posição de um ser sobrenatural em athia.
é muito fácil reclamar de um personagem que "não tem carisma" ou "não age como protagonista", mas a personagem é a personagem, independente das vontades de quem está engajando com a obra e poder ver a boneca pouco a pouco também criando afeto pelos ambientes lindos, pelas acrobacias super legais de executar e as magias coloridonas e variadas faz valer a pena nem que seja só pra fazer você sentir que ajudou um pouquinho essa protagonista a apreciar o mundo pela primeira vez.
It's not that bad? It's certainly okay at best, but there's a lot of interesting things attempted in Forspoken. It's gorgeous to look at, the world and character designs are neat on top of that. These mechanics and story just don't fully hit the mark, so even though there are flashes of fun movement or interesting battles, the flaws and short comings seep through more often than not.
for spoken? this game is for nobody
Force Pokin: The Eric Adams Experience
Amy Hennig blink twice if Gary Whitta is holding you hostage
Man, this is the most "ok" video game of all time
It's just a video game, it's playable, though it doesn't mean it's fun it's just playable
It has a story, it's not really good but it's a story
It has an open world, it's pretty good looking but it's pretty boring
Do you see what I'm getting at? Well, that's Forspoken for you, just a safe AAA release in the veins of a Ubisoft game.
I don't really have much to say about this game honestly I can't remember half of this darn game... So I'll try to point out some of the positives I remember from this game.
The graphics are really nice and reminds me of Elden Ring with cool broken towers and castles though it just ended up making me want to play Elden Ring instead of this game.
Some of the dialogue is pretty cute and wholesome and even with how "cringe" and "marvelish" it is it does have some moments I liked with some decent and some boring characters, this game is one huge mixed bag of boring and decent.
The gameplay is alright, it starts off as a terribly boring "Spam R2 to deal 1 damage to bullet sponge enemies" to somewhat decent but still suffers from the bullet sponges enemies and just being spam R2 for the entire game, worse of all it's boring and pressing R1 repeatedly hurts my weak little wrist.
Even if the open world looks good the content in it is awfully repetitive as it's just "Kill X enemies to get reward" or "Visit X spot to take a photo" so just the average crap you'd find in a AAA open world just to complete the worthless completion list for worthless reward. In my playthrough I skipped almost all of the side content because it just wasn't interesting at all, I'll give a thumbs up to this game for letting us rush straight to the boss without being forced to do random side quests.
And the most controversial part of the game, the story and dialogue. It's bad, it's just not original and I feel like I've seen this story a billion times before. I got nothing else to say about it the writing is just bad and it's all so predictable it's painful.
Sorry, that was a messy review but it's Forspoken I doubt anyone will bother reading this.
Should you buy this game? for like 20$ sure but fuck 80$ at release? that's a scam.
Was it worth playing? Not really but I'm sure some people can find some enjoyment in this game.
Should you play it? No idea.
My favorite part was when you use the fast travel in the game she says "Wow that was fast" because fast travel is instantaneous on PS5.
It's just a video game, it's playable, though it doesn't mean it's fun it's just playable
It has a story, it's not really good but it's a story
It has an open world, it's pretty good looking but it's pretty boring
Do you see what I'm getting at? Well, that's Forspoken for you, just a safe AAA release in the veins of a Ubisoft game.
I don't really have much to say about this game honestly I can't remember half of this darn game... So I'll try to point out some of the positives I remember from this game.
The graphics are really nice and reminds me of Elden Ring with cool broken towers and castles though it just ended up making me want to play Elden Ring instead of this game.
Some of the dialogue is pretty cute and wholesome and even with how "cringe" and "marvelish" it is it does have some moments I liked with some decent and some boring characters, this game is one huge mixed bag of boring and decent.
The gameplay is alright, it starts off as a terribly boring "Spam R2 to deal 1 damage to bullet sponge enemies" to somewhat decent but still suffers from the bullet sponges enemies and just being spam R2 for the entire game, worse of all it's boring and pressing R1 repeatedly hurts my weak little wrist.
Even if the open world looks good the content in it is awfully repetitive as it's just "Kill X enemies to get reward" or "Visit X spot to take a photo" so just the average crap you'd find in a AAA open world just to complete the worthless completion list for worthless reward. In my playthrough I skipped almost all of the side content because it just wasn't interesting at all, I'll give a thumbs up to this game for letting us rush straight to the boss without being forced to do random side quests.
And the most controversial part of the game, the story and dialogue. It's bad, it's just not original and I feel like I've seen this story a billion times before. I got nothing else to say about it the writing is just bad and it's all so predictable it's painful.
Sorry, that was a messy review but it's Forspoken I doubt anyone will bother reading this.
Should you buy this game? for like 20$ sure but fuck 80$ at release? that's a scam.
Was it worth playing? Not really but I'm sure some people can find some enjoyment in this game.
Should you play it? No idea.
My favorite part was when you use the fast travel in the game she says "Wow that was fast" because fast travel is instantaneous on PS5.
Square Enix’s fantasies take different forms, but none are quite like Forspoken. This action RPG’s fantasy isn’t final and blends its fantastical elements with a splash of modernity thanks to its unique isekai premise. But rather than being a refreshing take on the types of games Square Enix is known for, Forspoken is a deeply flawed experience that jumps from gripping highs to embarrassing lows, while all too often occupying the mundanity between those extremes.
Read the full review here:
https://www.comingsoon.net/games/reviews/1261886-forspoken-review-ps5-worth-buying
Read the full review here:
https://www.comingsoon.net/games/reviews/1261886-forspoken-review-ps5-worth-buying
if you're into video games exclusively for stories and characters you will not like this game! i think there's some okay ideas in a pretty poorly written package. character motivations are frustrating and seem pointless and overall it's one of the most generic and boring stories like ever. the voice acting is genuinely really solid for the most part, there's some really great performances but again it's for a poorly written story/characters.
if you're like me though, where you're fine skipping some cutscenes and just generally don't care if a story is bad and just want some really fun traversal and combat this game is pretty solid for that! the world itself is pretty interesting and very gorgeous, it is a bit open and empty in spots, but i don't really mind because traversal is so fast and fun that i'm down to run around big open fields to get to new areas. the side quests and general missions are very generic open world for the most part, it's not anything special but i still find myself wanting to run off to things i saw in the distance and do them real quick again because traversal is so fun!
the combat is really fun! it starts a bit slow, and in my opinion it takes a bit too long to really get going. once it does get going though, there's a ton of spells that work really well together and feel really satisfying to chain together. the fire set was my favorite for sure. i just generally prefer melee combat + all the fire effects were sick and the grapple hook it gives you was super fun for traversal. i don't think any set is weak though, it takes a second to level them up but they all fill solid niches and have cool spells.
this game isn't gonna rock anyone's world, and there's the giant asterisk of you need to be the kind of person that doesn't care if the story is mediocre/straight up bad. if you are that kind of person it's already getting absurdly cheap because the internet decided to make this game its punching bag for a few months and i'd recommend it! nothing that will stick with me forever but some really fun traversal and combat made this a pretty good time overall!
if you're like me though, where you're fine skipping some cutscenes and just generally don't care if a story is bad and just want some really fun traversal and combat this game is pretty solid for that! the world itself is pretty interesting and very gorgeous, it is a bit open and empty in spots, but i don't really mind because traversal is so fast and fun that i'm down to run around big open fields to get to new areas. the side quests and general missions are very generic open world for the most part, it's not anything special but i still find myself wanting to run off to things i saw in the distance and do them real quick again because traversal is so fun!
the combat is really fun! it starts a bit slow, and in my opinion it takes a bit too long to really get going. once it does get going though, there's a ton of spells that work really well together and feel really satisfying to chain together. the fire set was my favorite for sure. i just generally prefer melee combat + all the fire effects were sick and the grapple hook it gives you was super fun for traversal. i don't think any set is weak though, it takes a second to level them up but they all fill solid niches and have cool spells.
this game isn't gonna rock anyone's world, and there's the giant asterisk of you need to be the kind of person that doesn't care if the story is mediocre/straight up bad. if you are that kind of person it's already getting absurdly cheap because the internet decided to make this game its punching bag for a few months and i'd recommend it! nothing that will stick with me forever but some really fun traversal and combat made this a pretty good time overall!
"I am fighting freaking dragins" hell na this facebook mum levels of corny bro💀💀💀💀
This review contains spoilers
Forspoken is like Twilight in that there's a lot of serious, legitimate complaints about it, but they're all overshadowed in mainstream discourse by people hating it because the lead is a teenage girl.
Legitimate criticisms:
• SE has the worst fucking marketing department in the world. Not just this game, they have been so bad at marketing literally every game over the past few years. They picked by far the worst dialogue in the game for that trailer and didn't include anything from the first 20 min, which is far more interesting?! Also, the trailer made the game seem super PG when this is an M-rated game and the intro is dour and gritty?! Most of the game takes itself very seriously and Fray is serious and mature in a lot of scenes, the banter stuff is mostly just when it's her and Cuff alone and I actually didn't think it felt grating or cringe.
• This is a story about a black woman in NYC who is an orphan and a repeat offender, who avoids major jail time because the black woman judge decides to give her a second chance. This is explicitly a story about American blackness, but they didn't have a single black writer working on the game. I like that premise for an isekai and there are a lot of interesting possibilities there, but an affluent white writer is absolutely not the right person to tell that story!
• The "twist" and ending are infuriating because you can tell the writers think they're so fucking clever, but it's obvious, cliche, and dodges all of the difficult and interesting aspects of the story to do a boring "The power was within you all along" happy ending. Things not addressed: Tanta Cinta thought New York City in 2001 was the most peaceful and wonderful place on earth? And nothing happened around then to change that perspective? Frey's dad didn't take care of her and didn't have any friends/family to take care of her either? Is that because he died in 9/11 around the same time the corruption started in Athia?! If the premise for your game is that this fantasy apocalypse happened at the same time as 9/11, why don't you address that?!
• Reading the archive entries after the fact, they directly tell you that the Rheddig invaded Athia and found Susurrus, a demon defeated by the first Tanta, locked away in the Locked Labyrinths and considered him a hidden super weapon, so they freed him as they were retreating after losing the war. That's an interesting and reasonable story and it's fitting that Frey has to seal Susurrus away again, like the first Tanta did, and like the 4 Tantas were unable to do. However, in the dialogue in the story quests, the Tantas say they started the war with the Rheddig (no reason given) and wiped them from the face of the Earth and then Susurrus implies he's the last of the Rheddig and doing this to get revenge for them? What the fuck?! You absolutely cannot say that the victims of ethnic cleansing are in the wrong in your story!!! Why is there such a huge disconnect between these two things?! The first makes Frey wearing Cuff again seem like a fun "Devil on your shoulder" frenemies thing (which is the tone they want for him), but the second feels like you're enslaving the last person of the race your mom genocided, which is extremely fucked up.
Gameplay:
• The magic parkour feels like Jet Set Radio Fantasy, which makes me wish Cuff was more like Professor K.
• The combat clicked for me when I encountered a horde of 20-30 zombies. There were so many of them that the AOE and crowd control aspects of the spells really shone.
• The combat and movement absolutely rule once you get a feel for it. Circle-strafing enemies and holding O to automatically dodge attacks feels so good when you're cartwheeling through the air while shooting a machine gun behind your back. Cycling through spells to put them all on cooldown makes me feel really cool and smart, even though it's not that complex to do and I'm not using that much strategy.
Legitimate criticisms:
• SE has the worst fucking marketing department in the world. Not just this game, they have been so bad at marketing literally every game over the past few years. They picked by far the worst dialogue in the game for that trailer and didn't include anything from the first 20 min, which is far more interesting?! Also, the trailer made the game seem super PG when this is an M-rated game and the intro is dour and gritty?! Most of the game takes itself very seriously and Fray is serious and mature in a lot of scenes, the banter stuff is mostly just when it's her and Cuff alone and I actually didn't think it felt grating or cringe.
• This is a story about a black woman in NYC who is an orphan and a repeat offender, who avoids major jail time because the black woman judge decides to give her a second chance. This is explicitly a story about American blackness, but they didn't have a single black writer working on the game. I like that premise for an isekai and there are a lot of interesting possibilities there, but an affluent white writer is absolutely not the right person to tell that story!
• The "twist" and ending are infuriating because you can tell the writers think they're so fucking clever, but it's obvious, cliche, and dodges all of the difficult and interesting aspects of the story to do a boring "The power was within you all along" happy ending. Things not addressed: Tanta Cinta thought New York City in 2001 was the most peaceful and wonderful place on earth? And nothing happened around then to change that perspective? Frey's dad didn't take care of her and didn't have any friends/family to take care of her either? Is that because he died in 9/11 around the same time the corruption started in Athia?! If the premise for your game is that this fantasy apocalypse happened at the same time as 9/11, why don't you address that?!
• Reading the archive entries after the fact, they directly tell you that the Rheddig invaded Athia and found Susurrus, a demon defeated by the first Tanta, locked away in the Locked Labyrinths and considered him a hidden super weapon, so they freed him as they were retreating after losing the war. That's an interesting and reasonable story and it's fitting that Frey has to seal Susurrus away again, like the first Tanta did, and like the 4 Tantas were unable to do. However, in the dialogue in the story quests, the Tantas say they started the war with the Rheddig (no reason given) and wiped them from the face of the Earth and then Susurrus implies he's the last of the Rheddig and doing this to get revenge for them? What the fuck?! You absolutely cannot say that the victims of ethnic cleansing are in the wrong in your story!!! Why is there such a huge disconnect between these two things?! The first makes Frey wearing Cuff again seem like a fun "Devil on your shoulder" frenemies thing (which is the tone they want for him), but the second feels like you're enslaving the last person of the race your mom genocided, which is extremely fucked up.
Gameplay:
• The magic parkour feels like Jet Set Radio Fantasy, which makes me wish Cuff was more like Professor K.
• The combat clicked for me when I encountered a horde of 20-30 zombies. There were so many of them that the AOE and crowd control aspects of the spells really shone.
• The combat and movement absolutely rule once you get a feel for it. Circle-strafing enemies and holding O to automatically dodge attacks feels so good when you're cartwheeling through the air while shooting a machine gun behind your back. Cycling through spells to put them all on cooldown makes me feel really cool and smart, even though it's not that complex to do and I'm not using that much strategy.