Forspokenwas released this week, more than 2 years after gamers caught their first glimpse of the title. Initially set for a May 2022 release,Forspokenwas delayed multiple times to improve quality. Fans stuck by the title through each delay, as pre-release trailers and gameplay footage promised a sprawling fantasy landscape and fast-paced gameplay mechanics. Once players got their hands on the title, however, some felt the quality could still use some improvement.
Though the traversal and combat were praised by some reviewers as fun and varied, the game’s exposition and pacing suffered in comparison. The problem was not the narrative itself, but the way in which it was presented. Cut apart by random transitions and moments of silence, dialogue and pacing inForspokencan be offputting, and struggle to maintain the momentum of its action-oriented gameplay.
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Forspoken’s Conversations Are Stunted By Frey’s Dialogue
Gamers were able to experience the early moments of Frey’s journey prior to release, asthe first hour ofForspokenwas leaked online. The game opens with the title’s heroine, Frey Holland, in a courtroom being accused of grand larceny and resisting arrest. The scene acts as a mini-tutorial for the game’s item interaction and file menu, as well as players' first glimpse of the title’s expository sequences. Immediately afterward, Frey is thrust into the first action sequence, avoiding enemies and performing basic traversal. In both scenes, Frey speaks to both herself and others many times, often saying things that don’t feel appropriate to the situation and don’t necessarily matter to the narrative.
Forspoken’s dialogue has been compared to that ofHorizon Forbidden West, a title that received criticism over how often Aloy spoke aloud to herself. Whether players are exploring, meeting someone for the first time, or engaged in a prolonged sequence of stealth, Frey always has something to share. Her personality feels taken right out of an early superhero film, as she chats and jokes in conflict and conversation alike. In one early sequence, Frey quips to herself and another character at full volume while sneaking through a courtyard, while character sneaking with her speaks sparingly in a whisper. This disconnect between Frey and her surroundings continues throughout the game and is made all the more jarring by the wayForspokendelivers its story.
Forspoken’s Cutscenes Bring Its Action to a Standstill
Forspokenemploys a variety of cutscene styles for major story beats. This is to be expected, especially sinceForspokenwas developed and produced byFinal Fantasyveterans. However, nearly every time the story switches between scenes, or from gameplay to a cutscene, the screen slowly fades to black. This provides a minor hindrance to pacing in the game’s towns and open world, but during moments of action like major battles,Forspoken’s fade-to-black transitions slow the action to a crawl.
The first boss fight ofForspoken, the Dragon, offers players a glimpse of the huge creatures awaiting them throughout Athia. The lead-up to the fight is dire. Frey, trapped in an open space with the Dragon, finds her means of escape blocked. With no other option, she engages the beast in combat. It’s here that players get a feel for how fast-paced enemy encounters can be. The battle provides the first major action setpiece of the game and appears to set up the type ofHollywood epic displayed inForspoken’s cinematic trailers.
Once players reach the halfway mark, however, that setpiece is disrupted by intermittent fades to black. The game jumps between Frey and the Dragon, each circling the arena, before thrusting the player back into combat. This cycle happens multiple times in quick succession, with the screen fading to black, accompanied by a brief moment of total silence, before fading in with epic sounds and action. This stands as just the earliest of such pacing issues, with the rest of the title also suffering from jarring moments of silence and fade-to-black scene transitions.
Forspoken Has Room for Improvement
The narrative quality and story beats ofForspokenare not the problem, as the game tells a compelling tale. The player’s investment in the narrative is simply hard to maintain, with the pacing and dialogue getting in the way of seamless, momentum-driven storytelling. Another of Luminous Productions' games,Final Fantasy 15, overcame early pacing issues similar toForspoken’s, going on to find a solid fanbase. The difference is thatFinal Fantasy 15’s pacing issues were a product of its early narrative being slow, not of its depiction slowing the narrative.
AsForspokenjust launched this week, Luminous Productions still has time to correct these issues. An update could fix the fade-to-black frequency, or speed to deliver a more seamless transition between scenes.Forspokenis the first big open-world game of 2023, putting its narrative in players' crosshairs. With a few key fixes, the title could become a glimpse of what the future of the genre has to offer.
Forspokenis available now for PC and PS5.
