Shane
You are Alfre ‘Frey’ Holland. A lost teen on the mean streets of New York city doing whatever it takes to survive.
But young Frey (Ella Balinska), who’s parents are a mystery and was raised in foster homes, has gotten in with a bad crowd.
Living alone, with a stray cat she adopted, Frey has been planning her escape from the life she lives, after a recent brush with the law.
Things don’t go as planned. Frey soon finds herself alone, hungry, lost and homeless. Desperate… until fate steps in.
Finding a golden snake like cuff in an abandoned store Frey’s world literally changes forever.
Forpsoken is an ambitious and epic RPG set in a fantasy realm called Althia. A place that Frey was transported to once adorning the cuff.
There are, in fact, two characters in one. Frey and cuff, who’s powers you rely on to survive.
Cuff, or Vambrace as he prefers to be called has sass, a dry sense of humour and a well-to-do accent.
Throughout your entire play there will be chatter between cuff and Frey. At times vital, other times helpful and other’s annoying. but you can toggle the chat option to your liking.
The world of Athia is huge. Exploration is a must. There are literally so many goodies, hidden secrets and loot to be found.
Your enemies vary from beasts to zombies to larger than screen dragons and more.
As mentioned, your cuff (or Vambrace) is your unlikely best friend, albeit an annoying one.
It gives you the magical powers to parkour up vertical surfaces, quick dash out of harm’s way, fire upon baddies and more and can be upgraded.
Forspoken uses a skill tree much like many other RPG’s. It’s real simple to use and as you likely guessed it, as you gain Experience you will Level up and increase your skills and / or offense and defense.
There’s a lot to do in Forspoken. Asides from your main quest you may pick up side gigs here and there and you will end up in an unexpected brawl, especially if you’re exploring (which I fully recommend you do).
In villages or areas that have abandoned buildings you will come across crafting benches. It’s here that you can mix and build from components and plants that you’ve picked up throughout your play across the vast terrain.
Increase the defense and abilities of your cloak. Up your health stats and concoct life saving health remedies that you’ll most definitely need later.
Your main objective is to save the people of Athia, even if they are suspicious of you, an outsider.
Sometimes aided and other times impeded by NPC’s Frey’s journey as a hero and self discovery is an ever engrossing narrative that, for me, compelled me to play on.
From encounters with the Tanta’s, the overseers of Althia that are just as corrupt as the corruption they are spreading throughout the world, through to some adrenaline fueled parkour moments lifting you to a point of a breathtaking vista of the lands and surroundings.
In Forspoken, if you can see it in the distance, you can get there and explore.
RPG’s are my fav genre and this can make me critical of some that don’t quite tick all boxes. Forspoken is not one of those. There’s enough going on to keep you in game for a lot longer than you’d realize.
If, like me, you love a good RPG, one that gives you the freedom to play how you want, get back to the main story when you’re ready and has so much to do within the gameplay’s rich story, Forspoken is a must.
Released: January 2023
Rating: M15+
Platforms reviewed: PlayStation 5
Genre: RPG
Developer: Luminous Productions
Publisher: Square Enix