Square Enix has released a cinematic trailer for the upcoming open-world action RPGForspoken. Although some ofForspoken’s marketing has not been received positively, this latest trailer highlights the divide between protagonist Frey Holland’s life in New York City and her magical journey in the world of Athia.
Developed by Luminous Productions,Forspokenis one of January’s biggest gamesand one of publisher Square Enix’s most prominent for this year. As a title also being pushed as a PlayStation 5 console exclusive, the title is also meant to be a showcase for that system’s power, meaning a lot is riding on the title to succeed from multiple fronts.
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Forspoken’s latest trailer follows Frey in both her home in New York City and adventuring in Athia, with footage of both cutting back and forth as she is being chased by different threats. Where her experience differs is that while she can only run from the people chasing her in New York, she is readily able to fight back against the monsters in Athia with great magical powers. By the end of the trailer, she is able to escape her original threat by mixing her combat abilities and traversal skills but comes face to face with another of a far greater scale.
Although it shows no gameplay and is cinematic, the trailer highlights what the player will spend much of their time doing in the game, that is using an assortment of spells to fight while navigating the environment with a superhuman amount of agility. It also hints at the story with Frey being at a troubled point in her life by the time she leaves New York with her smile at the end showing potentially newfound confidence with the time she spends in Athia.
Square Enix has also been open to giving anyone interested a chance to play the game, releasing a demo in December to gather player feedback. While that may be the most hands-on approach to showing whatLuminous Productions has learned fromFinal Fantasy 15, cinematic trailers like the newest one help to get as many eyes on the game as possible.
WithForspokenset to launch this month andFinal Fantasy 16slated to release in June, Square Enix is set to have a lot of attention for the first half of 2023. IfForspokencan live up to its potential, it could prove to be an excellent start to the year with grounds to iterate on a new IP.
Forspokenwill release on January 24 for PC and PlayStation 5.
