• Huge open-world
  
• Varied and satisfying combat
  
• Collectables galore
  
• Hit or miss graphics
  
• Amazing traversal movement
  
• Could use more super bosses (unconfirmed)

So, if you are still here... Let's get down to it:

Originally posted by The five dollar note dude:

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt.

First of all, let's get the dirt off the discussion table: Optimization is on par with past games such as Witcher 3 and Skyrim so if you see this as a dealbreaker you should wait for more updates and fixes. And about the media flaming and other unrelated critiques just check the forums, I am reviewing the game, not the drama. My interest in what would later become Forspoken started back in 2012 when Square-Enix released the tech demo called Agni's Philosophy, from there I have been somewhat far from their games as my main platform went PC so I missed everything after the PS2 era (still waiting for KH collection to land on Steam). So when this game got announced all I could see was a huge open world with a combat system comprised of magic attacks and focused on over-the-top high mobility. Being a huge fan of the likes of Prototype and modern Spider-Man games, this sent me over the moon... so yeah, I AM that biased to talk so I will focus on everything else for reviewing sake.
The presentation itself reminds me a lot of the 80's Dungeons & Dragons TV show and also The Neverending Story book, so quite highly considered inspirations, I just hope that this motif won't be forgotten down the line as up to this point (about a third in the main campaign) the protagonist is still struggling to find his own reason to fight other than merely surviving the otherworldly threats and finding her way back home. The magical companion has me more interested as their backstory is more mysterious and I am hoping for its identity to be an interesting revelation to the plot, otherwise would be another misstep. Aside from this, the exotic and unforgiving world is outstanding in its vastness to the point of scaring off some players looking for a better-contained playground, which is understandable given we are talking about a world lacking population and any other activity that is not treasure-hunting or killing monsters.
Gameplay wise I have but a few complaints, the fast-paced battles are flashy and some monsters are close if not faster than you, so one must make use of the abundant traversal skills not only to progress but to survive. Fighting is bombastic in the least and I can see some users wishing we had a particle intensity slider in the options, but I can't deny how satisfying it is to drop a nuke-sized rock on hundreds of enemies at once. Getting the game to run smoothly can be an obstacle in itself, but if you manage that and enjoy exploring every inch of a magical open world while zipping at lightning speed like myself, you are in for a treat.


TL-DR: There is an awful lot to improve, but what it does well, it does amazingly well.

[h1]A rather misunderstood step in a "better" direction for ARPGs[/h1] [list] [*]Huge open-world [*]Varied and satisfying combat [*]Collectables galore [*]Hit or miss graphics [*]Amazing traversal movement [*]Could use more super bosses (unconfirmed) [/list] So, if you are still here... Let's get down to it: [quote=The five dollar note dude] Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt. [/quote] First of all, let's get the dirt off the discussion table: Optimization is on par with past games such as Witcher 3 and Skyrim so if you see this as a dealbreaker you should wait for more updates and fixes. And about the media flaming and other unrelated critiques just check the forums, I am reviewing the game, not the drama. My interest in what would later become Forspoken started back in 2012 when Square-Enix released the tech demo called Agni's Philosophy, from there I have been somewhat far from their games as my main platform went PC so I missed everything after the PS2 era (still waiting for KH collection to land on Steam). So when this game got announced all I could see was a huge open world with a combat system comprised of magic attacks and focused on over-the-top high mobility. Being a huge fan of the likes of Prototype and modern Spider-Man games, this sent me over the moon... so yeah, I AM that biased to talk so I will focus on everything else for reviewing sake. The presentation itself reminds me a lot of the 80's Dungeons & Dragons TV show and also The Neverending Story book, so quite highly considered inspirations, I just hope that this motif won't be forgotten down the line as up to this point (about a third in the main campaign) the protagonist is still struggling to find his own reason to fight other than merely surviving the otherworldly threats and finding her way back home. The magical companion has me more interested as their backstory is more mysterious and I am hoping for its identity to be an interesting revelation to the plot, otherwise would be another misstep. Aside from this, the exotic and unforgiving world is outstanding in its vastness to the point of scaring off some players looking for a better-contained playground, which is understandable given we are talking about a world lacking population and any other activity that is not treasure-hunting or killing monsters. Gameplay wise I have but a few complaints, the fast-paced battles are flashy and some monsters are close if not faster than you, so one must make use of the abundant traversal skills not only to progress but to survive. Fighting is bombastic in the least and I can see some users wishing we had a particle intensity slider in the options, but I can't deny how satisfying it is to drop a nuke-sized rock on hundreds of enemies at once. Getting the game to run smoothly can be an obstacle in itself, but if you manage that and enjoy exploring every inch of a magical open world while zipping at lightning speed like myself, you are in for a treat. [table] [tr] [th]Feature[/th] [th]Rating[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]Length[/td] [td]15-23 hours for the main game, 40 and still counting for me...[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Combat Difficulty[/td] [td]Below DMC standard, more like Kingdom Hearts[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Graphics[/td] [td]Luminous Engine goodness, but not mindblowing in 2023[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Soundtrack[/td] [td]Has the Final Fantasy flair but is too classic for this game[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Gameplay[/td] [td]KB+M works best due to manual aim[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Story[/td] [td]Sekai recipe, could be more similar to The Neverending Story[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Gameplay Loop[/td] [td]When it reaches its flow state, it is tasty![/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Closest Thing[/td] [td]A Spider-Man and Kingdom Hearts fusion where every attack is a Limit Break[/td] [/tr] [/table] [b] TL-DR: There is an awful lot to improve, but what it does well, it does amazingly well. [/b]