There are over 100 spells to wield in Forspoken – many of which appear genuinely exciting. It does like good fun, though, as we mentioned in our previous preview. It wasn’t until the very end of my playtime that I unlocked the much more interesting fire magic, for example, which sadly meant I wasn’t able to wield it.
I do fear that being restricted to these fairly basic abilities for so much of the start of Forspoken isn’t the best way to introduce its combat systems, as it offers barely a taste of its promised excitement. I had fun mixing these standard spells with much more interesting support skills, such as conjuring roots from the ground to tie down enemies and summoning a little plant turret friend to help out in sticky situations.Īll of these abilities belong to the earth-based magic skill tree, one of four different elemental types you’ll acquire over the course of the adventure. Once new unlocks start presenting themselves, however, it all becomes a whole bunch more interesting. That primary ‘fire’ can be toggled between Scatter, Burst, and Shield Shots, effectively acting as a magical assault rifle, SMG, and shotgun respectively. This can lead to early stretches feeling a bit one-note as you hold the trigger to fire chunks of rock at enemies while occasionally dodging an attack. There are over 100 spells to wield in Forspoken – many of which appear genuinely exciting in gameplay trailers – but you’re limited to an unexceptional select few in those first chapters. Its quick nature and the way it always keeps you on your toes as you juggle its many magical abilities harbours genuine tactical promise.
Regardless of my defeat at the hands of more daunting foes, combat is where Forspoken is at its most engaging. Encouragingly, some of those fights really can be a challenge, and I definitely encountered some fascinating foes that I was simply far too underleveled to take on despite my best efforts. The open world of Athia is littered with things to do including side missions, dungeons, and battles aplenty, its variety of activities is not going to come as too much of a shock to those who have played a game in the genre. I was able to play through chapters two, three, and five, which allowed me to gain a pretty good grasp of Forspoken’s rhythm. The latest action RPG from Square Enix definitely does display some potential thanks to a promising combat system that could become excitingly nuanced over time, but its opening sections sadly often feel uninspired. This all sounds like it should be very exciting, but in truth, so far Forspoken feels like a game getting in its own way. Across my roughly three hours of time spent hands-on with Forspoken, I arrived in a fantastical new world, battled a dragon, and took part in a prison break.
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