Forspoken and Demo Now Available

Square Enix announces the release of Forspoken, a new fantasy action/RPG for Windows and PlayStation. You can find the PC edition on the Epic Games Store, Steam, and the Xbox Store. As seen in our review roundup yesterday, reviews are mixed, and the game reportedly has performance issues, so the playable demo on Epic and Steam may come in handy. Also, according to GamingOnLinux, desktop Linux users must spoof being a Steam Deck to play. Here's the Cinematic Trailer and here's word on the game and the demo:
Today, Square Enix® announced that the much-anticipated, debut title from studio Luminous Productions, Forspoken, is now available globally on the PlayStation®5 (PS5™) console and PC via STEAM®, Epic Games Store, and the Microsoft Store. In this story-driven action-RPG, players will become extraordinary while utilizing magic-enhanced parkour and wielding a vast array of powerful spells and abilities in order to save the lands of Athia.

Square Enix and Luminous Productions also released a free playable PC demo (via STEAM®, Epic Games Store and Microsoft Store) today. In the PC demo, players will face-off with a variety of enemies and test their fighting abilities with an extensive arsenal of attack and support magic that will prepare them for the high-octane action they can expect to encounter in the full game.

Forspoken puts players in the shoes of Frey Holland, an ordinary young woman who has been mysteriously transported to Athia, a fantastical land that is devastated by an unknown force known as the Break. Having somehow survived this strange phenomenon and armed with a magical sentient bracelet called ‘Cuff’, Frey now offers Athia a last beacon of hope and must harness her newfound magical abilities to save Athia and find her way home.
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23.
 
Re: Forspoken and Demo Now Available
Jan 25, 2023, 23:20
23.
Re: Forspoken and Demo Now Available Jan 25, 2023, 23:20
Jan 25, 2023, 23:20
 
Slick wrote on Jan 25, 2023, 09:42:
How's the direct storage working out? This is the first title to support it, pretty exciting stuff.

There are some parts where artsy transitions or intentionally pausing for suspense may be hiding load screens during the story sequences, it's hard to say. I do see the little swirling icon in the corner for a few moments at times. But there's barely a second between pressing 'Continue' on the main menu and being back where you left off and able to move around, same with fast-traveling to different spots on the map... So that's right on par with how it is on PS5, according to the Digital Foundry analysis of the demo I watched the other day. It's pretty awesome.
22.
 
Re: Forspoken & Demo Released
Jan 25, 2023, 17:59
Nucas
 
22.
Re: Forspoken & Demo Released Jan 25, 2023, 17:59
Jan 25, 2023, 17:59
 Nucas
 
i really wanted to like this game. steam says i made it 28 minutes.
Avatar 49584
21.
 
Re: Forspoken and Demo Now Available
Jan 25, 2023, 13:42
21.
Re: Forspoken and Demo Now Available Jan 25, 2023, 13:42
Jan 25, 2023, 13:42
 
VaranDragon wrote on Jan 25, 2023, 09:31:
RogueSix wrote on Jan 24, 2023, 20:20:
But other than that... meh. The game feels as generic as it gets. The console heritage requires you to be Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart on the fucking keyboard to master the controls and the combat/evasion/movement system.

I take it you've never played a Souls game or Elden Ring?

Of course not! I have actual taste and self-respect, you know! Wink

P.S.: I have in fact had the misfortune to have played Dark Souls Remastered for an hour or two.

Saboth wrote on Jan 25, 2023, 10:51:
Is this the 32 GB RAM game? Anyone tried running it on 16 GB to see if it actually uses all the ram up or if it was just a marketing agreement between game makers and memory manufacturers?

I have monitored my system stats with the MSI Afterburner overlay while playing the demo. It got close to hitting 16GB in 4K resolution with DLSS and everything on max. The RAM usage was between 13GB and 14GB. I don't know how representative the demo area is of the full game but there isn't much of a buffer if you only have a 16GB PC.

Burrito of Peace wrote on Jan 25, 2023, 08:00:
Yeah, I'm not downloading 150GB to confirm "this game sucks" when there are already a plethora of reviewers saying the same thing. It's a hard pass from me, dog.

To be fair, the demo was only a ~30GB download or so. You luckily don't have to download the full game.

-=Threadcrappeur Extraordinaire=-
20.
 
Re: Forspoken & Demo Released
Jan 25, 2023, 12:35
20.
Re: Forspoken & Demo Released Jan 25, 2023, 12:35
Jan 25, 2023, 12:35
 
Well after watching that I finally got some sleep.
19.
 
Re: Forspoken and Demo Now Available
Jan 25, 2023, 11:05
19.
Re: Forspoken and Demo Now Available Jan 25, 2023, 11:05
Jan 25, 2023, 11:05
 
I know the story has been done plenty before in movies or games but I also had The Longest Journey vibes if anyone ever tried that. That one is purely click and move adventure game, old school, similar to the King's Quest type games. Basically playing this chick in college in a futuristic city where portals begin to occasionally open up around her, dropping hints of a fantasy world co-existing. Eventually you end up transporting there and cross between both as you progress.

I never beat that game but had those vibes from reading about this game's story. Granted one's a college student and another is a criminal, but they couldn't exactly copy and paste a previous story, right?

EDIT - AND if we want to make this about race, one's a white girl in college, the other is a black girl whose a criminal, lol. Not that they're working off stereotypes or anything, lol.
Avatar 16605
18.
 
Re: Forspoken and Demo Now Available
Jan 25, 2023, 11:05
Slick
 
18.
Re: Forspoken and Demo Now Available Jan 25, 2023, 11:05
Jan 25, 2023, 11:05
 Slick
 
WaltSee wrote on Jan 25, 2023, 09:52:
eRe4s3r wrote on Jan 25, 2023, 03:53:

I feel like they played RNG story generation here... oh wait... my god. It is GPT3 generated isn't it holy crap, it all makes sense now. AI wrote this.

Hah-hah...;) Pretty funny and right on point...;) (AI = garbage in, garbage out.) Thanks guys, for saving me the trouble of getting the demo. Reading through the Steam reviews, such as they were, yesterday, I was surprised to see a repeating theme, that the trailers (there are a bunch of them) are noticeably better looking than the actual game graphics. Old game engines have their limits. Pass. $70 asking is insulting.

So you're upset that they're asking $70, which is by all accounts, (and has been for some time now) the standard price of AAA games, but you won't try a demo?

It's true that most games release at full price and you have to rely on reviews to gauge if it's worth your time, but this is specifically because there aren't any demos these days. Now we have a demo, and instead of forming your own opinion, you're fine taking taste cues from randoms? You'll probably hate it, if I've gleaned anything from your character... But there's a sure-fire way to know, without having to part with $70. They fixed that part of the decision-making process, if you didn't catch that.

Truly boggled.
Avatar 57545
17.
 
Re: Forspoken and Demo Now Available
Jan 25, 2023, 10:51
17.
Re: Forspoken and Demo Now Available Jan 25, 2023, 10:51
Jan 25, 2023, 10:51
 
Is this the 32 GB RAM game? Anyone tried running it on 16 GB to see if it actually uses all the ram up or if it was just a marketing agreement between game makers and memory manufacturers?
16.
 
Re: Forspoken and Demo Now Available
Jan 25, 2023, 09:52
16.
Re: Forspoken and Demo Now Available Jan 25, 2023, 09:52
Jan 25, 2023, 09:52
 
eRe4s3r wrote on Jan 25, 2023, 03:53:

I feel like they played RNG story generation here... oh wait... my god. It is GPT3 generated isn't it holy crap, it all makes sense now. AI wrote this.

Hah-hah...;) Pretty funny and right on point...;) (AI = garbage in, garbage out.) Thanks guys, for saving me the trouble of getting the demo. Reading through the Steam reviews, such as they were, yesterday, I was surprised to see a repeating theme, that the trailers (there are a bunch of them) are noticeably better looking than the actual game graphics. Old game engines have their limits. Pass. $70 asking is insulting.
It is well known that I cannot err--and so, if you should happen across an error in anything I have written you can be absolutely sure that *I* did not write it!...;)
Avatar 16008
15.
 
Re: Forspoken and Demo Now Available
Jan 25, 2023, 09:42
Slick
 
15.
Re: Forspoken and Demo Now Available Jan 25, 2023, 09:42
Jan 25, 2023, 09:42
 Slick
 
From the previews I've read they all talk about how the first hour or two is pretty basic, but they've seen the how the combat will evolve and it looks like as you progress it becomes alot more fun.

How's the direct storage working out? This is the first title to support it, pretty exciting stuff.
Avatar 57545
14.
 
Re: Forspoken and Demo Now Available
Jan 25, 2023, 09:31
14.
Re: Forspoken and Demo Now Available Jan 25, 2023, 09:31
Jan 25, 2023, 09:31
 
RogueSix wrote on Jan 24, 2023, 20:20:

But other than that... meh. The game feels as generic as it gets. The console heritage requires you to be Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart on the fucking keyboard to master the controls and the combat/evasion/movement system.



I take it you've never played a Souls game or Elden Ring?
Avatar 58327
13.
 
Re: Forspoken and Demo Now Available
Jan 25, 2023, 08:00
13.
Re: Forspoken and Demo Now Available Jan 25, 2023, 08:00
Jan 25, 2023, 08:00
 
Yeah, I'm not downloading 150GB to confirm "this game sucks" when there are already a plethora of reviewers saying the same thing. It's a hard pass from me, dog.
"Just take a look around you, what do you see? Pain, suffering, and misery." -Black Sabbath, Killing Yourself to Live.

“Man was born free, and he is everywhere in chains” -Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Avatar 21247
12.
 
Re: Forspoken and Demo Now Available
Jan 25, 2023, 04:25
12.
Re: Forspoken and Demo Now Available Jan 25, 2023, 04:25
Jan 25, 2023, 04:25
 
Leper wrote on Jan 25, 2023, 00:37:
Props for providing a demo. Rare thing these days.
There was a demo for consoles so it's not hard for me to believe that a PC demo could be released with a low amount of effort and given the game isn't very good, a demo can only help.

This comment was edited on Jan 25, 2023, 04:42.
11.
 
Re: Forspoken and Demo Now Available
Jan 25, 2023, 03:53
11.
Re: Forspoken and Demo Now Available Jan 25, 2023, 03:53
Jan 25, 2023, 03:53
 
jacobvandy wrote on Jan 24, 2023, 21:59:
RogueSix wrote on Jan 24, 2023, 20:20:
And it's true what people have said about the character and story. Sheesh. Frey and the narrator are extremely annoying. What a cringefest. Dumb comment after dumb comment. The only saving grace is that some comments are so dumb they are almost funny again .

That's the main thing I came here to say after playing for a couple hours so far -- if you're a person who gets annoyed by a chatty protagonist or sidekick, don't even bother because this game has both and they converse all the time. They are deliberately not subtle about this being an Alice in Wonderland story, so the culture clash between modern NYC teenager and medieval fantasy setting is a persistent theme. As is the Japanese developer influence... Everything from the girl's origin story and how the intro plays to yeah, the combat, feels very JRPG. So I'm not surprised at all that someone might feel overwhelmed by all the systems when they're thrown into a mid-game combat scenario. These types of games take dozens of hours to slowly introduce all the individual mechanics and build on top of previous ones, giving you time to practice along the way so that the complexity is easier to digest. That's not really something that is feasible to allow for in a demo.
She is a person of color
was found abandoned under a Bridge
And the Bridge is how they named her when she was found
Oh, and in NEW YORK of all places

I feel like they played RNG story generation here... oh wait... my god. It is GPT3 generated isn't it holy crap, it all makes sense now. AI wrote this.
Avatar 54727
10.
 
Re: Forspoken and Demo Now Available
Jan 25, 2023, 00:55
10.
Re: Forspoken and Demo Now Available Jan 25, 2023, 00:55
Jan 25, 2023, 00:55
 
Played the whole 40 minute demo. Hate the main character and her bracelet. The lines are just randomly picked and a lot of them don't even sound like they are talking to each other, they sound exactly like someone saying a random thing and someone else saying another random thing right after. Not to mention she sucks as a person.
Graphics? Pretty good.
Controls? Plug in a controller. Hold B. Spam right and left trigger. Win. Seriously. Even the boss at the end of the demo. (Bonus boss, I guess?)
If I ever find myself really bored...I'll probably pick one of a million other games to play. Nothing in that 40 minutes of playtime enticed me to ever really want to fire this game up again.
9.
 
Re: Forspoken and Demo Now Available
Jan 25, 2023, 00:37
9.
Re: Forspoken and Demo Now Available Jan 25, 2023, 00:37
Jan 25, 2023, 00:37
 
Props for providing a demo. Rare thing these days.
8.
 
Re: Forspoken and Demo Now Available
Jan 25, 2023, 00:22
8.
Re: Forspoken and Demo Now Available Jan 25, 2023, 00:22
Jan 25, 2023, 00:22
 
I downloaded the demo, played for about 4 -10 minutes, it's not horrible or great. IMO Anthem was better, and Fallout76 kicks the shit out of it. I'll give it another try tomorrow when I don't have to get up at 0400, but so far it is pretty underwhelming.
Avatar 15164
7.
 
Re: Forspoken and Demo Now Available
Jan 24, 2023, 22:22
7.
Re: Forspoken and Demo Now Available Jan 24, 2023, 22:22
Jan 24, 2023, 22:22
 
Not only performance issues.

I played around with it and the ray tracing graphical options don't do anything ( as in inoperative, not as in "there's no difference" ).

Try it yourself, you'll see.
6.
 
Re: Forspoken and Demo Now Available
Jan 24, 2023, 21:59
6.
Re: Forspoken and Demo Now Available Jan 24, 2023, 21:59
Jan 24, 2023, 21:59
 
RogueSix wrote on Jan 24, 2023, 20:20:
And it's true what people have said about the character and story. Sheesh. Frey and the narrator are extremely annoying. What a cringefest. Dumb comment after dumb comment. The only saving grace is that some comments are so dumb they are almost funny again .

That's the main thing I came here to say after playing for a couple hours so far -- if you're a person who gets annoyed by a chatty protagonist or sidekick, don't even bother because this game has both and they converse all the time. They are deliberately not subtle about this being an Alice in Wonderland story, so the culture clash between modern NYC teenager and medieval fantasy setting is a persistent theme. As is the Japanese developer influence... Everything from the girl's origin story and how the intro plays to yeah, the combat, feels very JRPG. So I'm not surprised at all that someone might feel overwhelmed by all the systems when they're thrown into a mid-game combat scenario. These types of games take dozens of hours to slowly introduce all the individual mechanics and build on top of previous ones, giving you time to practice along the way so that the complexity is easier to digest. That's not really something that is feasible to allow for in a demo.
5.
 
Re: Forspoken and Demo Now Available
Jan 24, 2023, 21:49
5.
Re: Forspoken and Demo Now Available Jan 24, 2023, 21:49
Jan 24, 2023, 21:49
 
phinn wrote on Jan 24, 2023, 21:09:
Considering this uses a much newer version of the Final Fantasy XV engine which came out SEVEN years ago it's pretty pathetic how this game turned out.

Humm, Unreal Engine was released in 1998. I wonder if the current minimum requirements are because it's a much newer engine then the one release 24 years ago. Just a thought their little buddy.
Avatar 15164
4.
 
Re: Forspoken and Demo Now Available
Jan 24, 2023, 21:09
4.
Re: Forspoken and Demo Now Available Jan 24, 2023, 21:09
Jan 24, 2023, 21:09
 
Considering this uses a much newer version of the Final Fantasy XV engine which came out SEVEN years ago it's pretty pathetic how this game turned out.
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