You gain new upgradeable powers throughout the course of the game. Though I wish the lock-on mechanic wasn’t as finicky and that attacks felt more impactful, the overall fast-paced combat is easily the game’s best feature. If you’re feeling brave, you can also run headlong into enemies and vault over them while attacking. Since Frey can use magic parkour during combat, you can unleash deadly attacks while running literal circles around the bad guys. Swinging a flaming sword or hurling giant boulders is admittedly fun. If you’ve played any open-world game in the last ten years, then you know what to expect here.įrey has an arsenal of elemental magic attacks you can use against foes. Like those games, there’s a large explorable map filled with numerous activities to partake in and an endless horde of enemies to fight. Forspoken review: Gameplayįorspoken is an open-world action RPG akin to titles such as Horizon Forbidden West or Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. The only positive thing I can say about the story is that it serves as a good example of how not to write characters and dialogue. But being unoriginal isn’t the issue here.įorspoken’s narrative could have been wonderful with stronger writing and storytelling. (Image credit: Square-Enix)įorspoken’s story isn’t original, as even the game compares itself to Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz. I’d give Forspoken a harder time about its bad dialogue and writing, but it’s unfortunately in line with what you'd see in contemporary movies and TV shows - but I won’t go down that rabbit hole.įorspoken has an interesting, if predictable, plot. The rest of the cast talk like generic fantasy stereotypes, but at least they’re mostly likable. I liked Cuff's British accent, but that's about it.

I didn't find Cuff as annoying as Frey, but it's a close tie. I understand the writers wanted to make her seem like a street-wise New Yorker, but as a lifelong New Yorker myself, I’ve never met anyone who talks like Frey in my life.įrey has a talking vambrace she calls 'Cuff,' which serves to tell her (and us) about Athia. Her third-rate Joss Whedon-Esque quippy lines don’t help things either. As I said, Frey will flat-out tell you what she’s feeling instead of letting her actions show us.

Speaking of insulting, the dialogue has got to be some of the worst I’ve heard in any medium. Frey is magically transported from New York City to the magical land of Athia.

Forspoken ps5 review