“Cat people can’t be evil” – self-identity and ambiguity Forspoken

We review the open-world action RPG from Luminous Productions and Square Enix, look at its main problems and marvel at the next-gen movement and combat system.

Content

Disbelief

Forspoken has two fundamental ambiguities, which can be interpreted differently depending on your point of view. This is the main character of this story named Frey, more precisely, her character and problems, and the genre identity of the game itself. Two key artistic aspects of Forspoken turned out to be controversial, but they largely determine the success of the project. I’ll explain, but first a little context.

Forspoken can already be called another high-profile failure of Square Enix. The main reasons: extremely weak press, low user ratings on various platforms and, apparently, poor sales – to put it mildly, there was no excitement around the game.

Why didn’t the gaming community accept the new product?? You won’t have to look for an answer for a long time: the Internet is at your fingertips, study reviews from players and the press and draw conclusions based on them. You will think and you will certainly be mistaken, because most likely you will not find adequate theses, but the argumentation was asked to live for a long time. In a word, bias. In other words, generalized and formal, the game design is bad. In general, everything is bad there, but for ease of perception, let’s let all the dogs go to game design.

Game design as a matter is primarily academic, it is not the root cause of failure or success, it is not as important as people may think. Moreover, it is often difficult to say affirmatively whether he is good or bad, because he is different. In some it is intended to satisfy the player’s need for exploration, in another game – to immerse him in a world or role, in a third – to provide a sandbox. It’s like with words in songs: it’s cool if the text is of high quality, but first of all we pay attention to the sound, rhythm and presentation. And only then, if we liked the composition, we dig deeper. They meet you by their clothes, as they say.

In works of art, especially in video games, the main character is the same clothes. One of the most important aspects, along with the setting and genre, that we rely on. If we don’t like the main character, then we have to overcome the subjective barrier in order to enjoy the process.

It’s worse when the player knows in advance that the character given to him, I emphasize, under his control for many dozens of hours does not evoke sympathy at all. Then it becomes impossible to find a contact. The worst thing, but at the same time funny, is when he tries to systematize his subjective impressions and finds the reasons for his lack of involvement on the side of the game: “the heroine swears” – bad, “there is no consistency in battles” – there is consistency everywhere? Tragedy!, — “the emotional climax unfolds right in the finale!"Where has this been seen??! For example, everywhere.

The meme is funny, yes. The situation is by no means.

Sometimes it happens that this or that game is simply not ours. Not because the game design is bad or the script is weak, no. Because subjective preferences, at least at the stage of preliminary acquaintance with the work, will take precedence over any game design. The judgment is generalized – all people are still different – but in general terms fair.

Forspoken’s Frey is an unpreferred and confusing role model for many players. I emphasize that it is not poorly written or somehow crooked, oblique. She’s simply not someone players want to play as, much less be immersed in her tragedy. And the situation is aggravated by the fact that there is a lot of it. Literally the entire game is built around Frey.

Illustrate: there is a fire in Frey’s apartment, in front of her lies a bag of money and at the same time her dreams of a bright future. Somewhere in the kitchen her cat, Homer, was running around. Is the character stupid for not throwing his bag over his shoulder before rushing to save his pet?? If yes, then Forspoken is not for you. You are most likely biased, because the dramatic action characterizing the character was regarded by you as stupid, illogical, unrealistic. Although from a screenwriting point of view there is literally nothing problematic here.

There is something informal in the character – yes, there is. Unlike most of the main characters of this kind, Frey is not eager to help everyone, although under other pretexts she is busy doing just that, while simultaneously looking for a way to return to New York from fantasy reality. Also a kind of red rag – a good reason to systematize your disbelief in the character.

Are you ready to dive into Frey’s problems and spend a couple of dozen hours in her company?? This is the first thing you should answer first of all for yourself.

jRPG disguised as action RPG? Or problematic genre identity

What exactly should Forspoken be compared to?? It shows motifs from many different games, from Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor and Devil May Cry to the Horizon and Final Fantasy series. As I understand it, players were expecting something in the spirit of classic open-world action RPGs like The Witcher 3 and the latest Assassin’s Creed. We were expecting rich cinematography, like in top Sony exclusives with an emphasis on narrative content. Quite fair, but wrong, because Forspoken borrows the features of the jRPG genre, which completely lacks side quests at the story campaign level, but which gives the player an epic story about the struggle between good and evil.

Yes, in jRPGs it is common to accompany some actions with contextual captions and use a black screen as transitions from scene to scene. It’s not Forspoken’s problem that the main character feeds the sheep somewhere off-screen, and not through the corresponding animation.

But also as a jRPG, Forspoken seems weak because it has no spirit of adventure: you won’t meet a merchant or a character with a quest along the way, you won’t be asked to clear a dungeon of evil goblins, you won’t be able to surround yourself with a group of motley companions whose stories would gradually be revealed during the journey. Everything you will find in the open world is a scattering of classic questions, outposts. Space to strengthen your character so that he can defeat high-level opponents, and you can have plenty of fun with magical parkour.

Perhaps the side quests are the only real weak point of the game. Not even because they are written somehow wrong, but because they simply do not exist in our usual understanding. The developers didn’t lie about the lack of tasks in the spirit of “Give and Bring” – there are only a couple of them here, and one of them opens after completing the story. All other content is represented by small scenes or dialogues that shed light on Frey’s relationship with the citizens of Tsipal, the central city of Atia. And repetitive tasks where you have to follow the cat or bring photos to the kids. The uniqueness of the quests can be counted on the fingers of one hand, even the free ones will remain.

Forspoken borrows a lot from jRPG: a system for switching skills and the mechanics of their accelerated rollback (analogous to AP), a small number of equipment items from the main character, an invincible boss at the very beginning of the game, which will certainly motivate you to level up properly, an emphasis on battles with assorted opponents and large monsters, the logic of leveling up and, of course, the stability and vulnerability of enemies.

The game should be perceived as a magic-win.uk jRPG with a combat system in completely real time (time does not slow down on the hard difficulty level) and assessed accordingly, in the context of Japanese game design. But it’s hard, because Forspoken is not stylized as an anime, like the same Finals or games in the Tales of series, and also does not have many of their features, including wall-bound arenas and partners.

The result is a genre-hybrid game, vulnerable to comprehensive but stupid criticism. Especially if the reviewer did not like the proposed role model. Combine these two ambiguities in your mind – the main character and the genre identity – and you will understand why Forspoken is of little interest to anyone and why it has such low ratings.

Now that we have figured out the reasons for the failure of the game, I propose to move directly to its unbiased review.

A story about a cat lady with a criminal past

Frey is an orphan. Lives in a shabby, empty apartment, where the only personal belongings are a book about Alice and a few pairs of sports sneakers. Has a criminal record for theft. And now she is unlucky – the girl appears in court and gets off with hundreds of hours of educational work.

Upon returning home, Frey is ambushed by her accomplices and begin to extort the loot, but she successfully fights. For her, theft remains the last ticket to a better life: the money has already been collected, it’s time to take the last step. But a fire in her apartment – the arsonists were most likely her friends – makes adjustments to the plan. Frey manages to save only the cat Homer. And even that has to be given to a judge I know who just recently sued her for her criminal life.

There is no money, no one, no future – and now Frey is already looking at the streets of New York from a bird’s eye view. Whoosh, and something bright flies past. The girl, driven by interest in what it was all about, finds a magic bracelet and finds herself in another world, in Atiya, and the bracelet – just a bracelet – becomes her faithful companion, a guide to the unknown and a source of magical powers.

Atiya dies under the mists of corruption, most of the population died under its influence, and only Tsipal survived – a city in the very center of the country. This is where Frey ends up to begin his adventure and save the world from the tants, rulers and the strongest of people who have gone astray.

However, Frey is in no hurry to help those in need – the whole drama unfolds around this. Some see her as a savior, while others see her as a demon. The player, in isolation from the plot itself, is offered to witness the complex relationship between the Tsipals and Frey and immerse themselves in the experiences of the main character.

Frey is a complex and ambiguous character. Her poor life in New York left the strongest imprint on her, and among her family and friends she only has a furry baby. This leads to her capricious, sometimes selfish behavior. The girl does not believe until the very end that she is needed by someone, she reflects on this basis, but in the end she acts as she should.

The conflict built around the character is further complicated by the fact that Frey does not feel confident in her actions: she regrets that she got involved in all these games in the first place, because her presence seems to have made everything worse for everyone. People die because of her, and attempts to help certainly end in reproaches and threats towards her.

I won’t say that the story is written in an exemplary manner. A lot of things in it probably should have been done differently, for example, it was better to work with narrative shades so that the motives were easier to read. It’s just that otherwise an imbalance arises: on the one hand, Forspoken is a simple, good story about the fight against evil in the spirit of a jRPG, and on the other hand, it contains an overcomplicated dramaturgy that contradicts the plot concepts of the genre. Frey’s motivations are not limited to one conflict, which can confuse the player. However, I personally liked this – plus for the ambiguous image of the protagonist.

The epilogue hit me just right emotionally. Because the central idea, tied to a person’s need to be needed by other people, is probably close to everyone. You know when your family and friends turn away from you? When they don’t believe in you? The main character of Forspoken is portrayed as the scum of society for a reason, and the ending of the story leaves your eyes wet for a reason.

You are like the same cat at the window that Frey abandoned in the name of saving Atiya. There is no need to jump down – she will definitely come back for you someday, you will definitely find your safe haven and learn magical parkour. Then you won’t be afraid to jump. A good metaphor makes a scene even more poignant, and the meaning it carries can awaken hope. The motive is banal, but working.

Amazing story. It’s a shame that not everyone can experience it. Many will drop out during the prologue, when Frey, choosing between Homer and money, will save his favorite.

Nextgen movement

The Forspoken combat system will be by far the most developed aspect of the game. Immersion in the plot is determined by the ability to empathize with the main character, so everything is not so simple with it, and the side quests are weak even by the standards of other jRPGs. Movement is another matter, it’s outstanding in less than five minutes. The gameplay, based on the use of a rich arsenal of magical attacks, is beautiful and dynamic.

Frey’s abilities can be roughly divided into four types. First, it’s a custom attack. Each elemental branch – this applies in principle to all skills – has its own. Next are the charged skills, which require holding a button to use. There are three of these. The heroine, if she wields her own element of earth, can fire a burst like a machine gun, charge her shield and inflict great damage nearby or hit the area with a boulder.

Thirdly, these are support skills. They, unlike the already mentioned attacks, have a cooldown, which is reduced when using basic skills. You can place a flower turret, buff yourself for defense, hit with a healing vine, or remove poisoning. There are about a dozen of them. And the last ability will be a classic ultimate – a powerful mass strike, presented in a single copy for each of the elements.

The earth magic branch alone already makes the combat system complex and interesting. Now imagine that there are three more of these. There are no restrictions other than the cooldown of abilities; the player is free to use his full combat potential whenever he wants and how he wants. Summon all available summons, set traps from different branches, set up a fire arena that increases damage, and then swap to something else. Or even an ultimatum way to live out!

And that’s not all. I didn’t just say that such a division of abilities would be rough. There are also attacks that immediately switch active elemental branches – however, the input on the keyboard for these is not very convenient, you need to hold down Q + E + number – and leveling up others somehow improves parkour: it adds a whip to attract different surfaces or enemies, makes it possible to jump far, climb higher on rocks, surf on water or accelerate.

Do you think that’s it?? No. The game also provides skills for leveling up equipment or crafting resources. Initially, the amulet and cape undergo small, minor improvements, but as the game progresses, if you set such a goal, you can upgrade them comprehensively: increase a certain magical attack, strengthen defense or health.

Forspoken amazes not only with its rich arsenal of abilities, but also with its presentation, the way the action is animated, coupled with dynamic parkour, endless somersaults, feints and pirouettes. You feel the power put into the spell when you hit the area with your upgraded ultimate, burning a huge piece of land right in front of you; you feel your cool when you can deftly switch between branches, juggling different spells; you catch a visual orgasm when the heroine jumps on a wave of fireballs, like Raiden from MGR on rockets; when you deftly dodge attacks, counterattack with lightning speed, or go around the enemy with the help of magical parkour to plant a parkour attack in his back.

The sense of freedom and speed in combat and movement, the abundance of combat mechanics and skills, as well as the excellent presentation expressed in smooth, varied and complex animations make the Forspoken movement outstanding. It’s even somehow difficult to separate parkour and battles, because they are interconnected. Frey’s running is part of her magical skills, and speed is your main advantage over your opponents. At least until you pump up. Then the option will appear to simply click targets.

General provisions and features of Forspoken

Briefly about everything so that you can get an extremely accurate idea of ​​the game.

The story campaign is divided into two stages: in the first we run to one of the tantas, and in the other we visit Tsipal, note its metamorphoses after our actions and complete side quests. The path from the city to the boss is a wide corridor. If you just want to go through the story, you will most likely be disappointed in this structure, because it does not provide for interesting events. You win a number of mandatory arenas, reach the boss, watch cutscenes. The key battles, however, are richly and epically designed, but everything that precedes them is average at best.

The side quests are weak, but I still recommend completing them, because they cope with their task of immersing the player in Frey’s personal drama and better revealing the specifics of her relationship with the city. But I would like more. I’ll also note that after completing the campaign, the player will be given the opportunity to stay a little longer in the city and savor the victory – a nice little thing.

The open world isn’t exactly open. Territories are spreading out from the plot corridors, consisting entirely of questions, but they won’t let you go far from the path. The game is essentially linear.

It makes no sense to dwell in detail on the content of the open world, because everything comes down to battles: defeat enemies in time, simply defeat enemies, enlighten activities in the region, open a shelter, reach the point where they will give a new ability or strengthen Frey, catch a cat familiar or go through a dungeon. Activities are rehearsal, although sometimes they try in vain to diversify gameplay circumstances. For example, pit two groups of enemies against each other or offer to protect people from waves of evil spirits.

The process of clearing points on the map quickly begins to tire, but for end-game content, if you still want to run around the world, it’s just right. Activities are completed quickly (except for mini-bosses) and conveniently, because you don’t need to search for anything, and rewards are immediately marked. In addition, you will hardly get tired of moving from point to point over rough terrain using magical parkour – the exploration process itself is pleasant. In addition to the main activities, there are also regular chests. Sometimes you’ll have to figure out how to climb a cliff to get to them, and some of them are locked behind a puzzle. Gradation of tags by difficulty available.

Passing the game on a high level of difficulty, which is noteworthy, is difficult. Frey deals significant damage, there is no time slowdown when changing spells, and without the use of auxiliary mechanics and vulnerabilities, even ordinary opponents can send you to a checkpoint, which, by the way, is not at all a fact that it will be close. Save often.

The most difficult scene in the game is the dance in the QTE, for completing which you will receive an achievement. Just like in the good old days, you have to remember the sequence of buttons! I’m not sure the human reaction can cope with such speed.

Marigolds! Physically correct and realistic! In fact, just a small accessory that allows you to slightly adjust the build.

Visual diversity of locations insofar as. The game features two biomes: desert and forest. There are transition zones, there is a forest with levitating rocks, in different color shades, with or without rivers, with or without foggy haze, at different times of the day. Also, fel-infected stones may differ in color depending on the region. But one way or another the environment becomes boring. This aspect is not critical, because the game itself is beautiful and visually rich, but in this regard it could be better. As for me, she literally lacks one biome for feng shui.

Forspoken is not Watch Dogs 2. They don’t talk in memes here and don’t pretend to be fashionable and youthful. Frey swears, often jokes, bickers with bracelets and generally expresses herself in everyday terms, but there is no so-called cringe in her delivery, nor are there any stereotypical excesses. Doesn’t look like CJ, no rapper ghetto style.

As a reward for leveling up, you are given mana – a resource necessary to unlock most abilities. Since mana is generously scattered across the map, the need to gain experience and levels is partially eliminated, especially if you are exploring the open world. The priority activities for leveling up will then be challenges. Each skill has its own, and for fulfilling the condition they give some bonuses to the characteristics. It’s interesting, motivates you to use everything and study the intricacies of mechanics.

You can buy all sorts of toys for familiar cats, and then watch how the guest plays with them: scratching a board or rolling a ball. The game basically has an obsession with cats.

The technical condition of the game on PC is still suffering. There are no bugs, the drop in frame rate is tolerable – at least in the heat of battle you understand where the power of the GPU is going – but there is a problem with texture streaming. Eight gigabytes of Forspoken video memory is not enough to load all textures correctly in Full HD. FSR (upscale technology) saves the day, but some small objects still remain in low quality. I don’t think it’s the hard drive, otherwise the problem would be temporary. Current at the time of writing.

To summarize

Behind a powerful hurricane of criticism – even if it is as biased as possible, who will understand it?? – it can be quite difficult to see Forspoken as a good game. By and large, it all depends on the attitude and expectations with which the player approaches the work. If he is infuriated by the main character on a cellular level, then he will not care deeply about her complex character and reflection. But if there are no prejudices, but there is the ability to believe in what is happening, to believe in the ambiguity of human character and to accept the author’s intention, then Forspoken can give pure emotions: it can touch, make you laugh and make you empathize.

On the gameplay side, everything is much simpler – the wealth of mechanics, abilities and outstanding presentation make battles in Forspoken beautiful and exciting, especially in battles with story bosses or difficult opponents. And moving around the map using magical parkour gives you a feeling of freedom and scale. The game lacks only sane side-quests to further immerse the player in a new world and recreate the very adventure for which jRPGs are famous. But you can live with it. Forspoken has something to compensate for its weaknesses – an amazing movement and an inspiring story.