Forspoken: The Kotaku Review
Forspoken tells a great story, but suffers the technical jank of an iffy PS3 game
Forspoken is a painfully flawed game. With a variety of rampant inconsistencies, its stilted presentation belies a gem of a story that centers women and feminine expression. In some ways that makes Forspoken a welcome breath of fresh air for fantasy games, as its 15 to 20 hour open-world campaign follows a woman of color who not only must overcome a great fantastical evil, but must also overcome the effects of life-long trauma and marginalization. Given its many technical flaws, Forspoken is a tough game to recommend, but its story pays off with a wonderful protagonist who exists in a world full of narrative twists and turns.
Released on January 24 of this year, Forspoken comes courtesy of publisher Square Enix and developer Luminous Productions. The game is an open world action-RPG that follows Alfrey "Frey" Holland as she is warped from her hometown of New York City to the fantastical realm of Athia, where she is tasked with fighting off an evil force encroaching on the last human city. The subject of many jokes and much head-scratching over its polarizing, non-stop dialogue and uncomfortable character animations, Forspoken was likely dead on arrival for many. And sure, it can sometimes feel clumsy as it tries to pitch a story about reclaiming a shattered matrilineal heritage.
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Forspoken deserves better than what shipped on January 24. The strength of its story and protagonist do outpace its many problems, but much like Frey's early struggles in seeing her own greatness, it's clouded by unfortunate circumstances.
