Square Enix has a lot on its plate right now. After Sony's recent State of Play, it feels like the number of games the prolific Japanese publisher is releasing in 2022 has doubled, ranging from the Souls-like Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin to real-time tactics game The DioField Chronicle. Star Ocean: The Divine Force promises a more traditional take on an action-RPG adventure, while Triangle Strategy has proven to be a successor to turn-based tactics games of the past. There has even been a racing game in the form of Chocobo GP, and one of the bigger projects on the horizon is Forspoken.
Fans expect to learn about the future of Kingdom Hearts soon, and Final Fantasy 16's release date could be revealed this year. Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 2 is also waiting in the wings. However, Forspoken - formerly known as Project Athia - will be releasing this October after a delay. The open-world action-RPG stars Frey, a New Yorker who is trapped in the magical land of Athia. With the help of the magic bracelet Cuff, Frey must defeat the tyrannical Tantas on her way back home. All of that sounds like a good setup for an otherworldly adventure, but Forspoken's real highlight might come after Frey has returned to her world.
How a Return to Earth Could Work in Forspoken
Frey's status as some manner of chosen one allows her to use magic while in Athia. From control of the elements to the ability to leap great distances, Frey is unbound while exploring the mystical and dangerous world. Some of her abilities aren't dissimilar to ones found in superhero open-world games like inFAMOUS or Marvel's Spider-Man, and would probably work just as well in a city environment. That's not what Forspoken is going for, but it doesn't mean the game can't give a modern city some time in the spotlight.
Frey's return to Earth could come at the climax of Forspoken rather than its ending, and it would involve her either following or accidentally bringing a major threat back to New York. Perhaps one of the villainous Tantas could break into the normal world to conquer it, or maybe there is some sort of interdimensional merger happening. Frey could choose to leave her quest in a moment of weakness, and then resolve to finish what she started when trouble still finds her. Whatever the case, and whether Frey ends up fighting another spellcaster or a giant monster on the skyline of New York, it would make for a great set piece.
Merging Supernatural Battles with the Mundane Feels Exciting
Traveling from Earth to another world is the crux of many stories. This common trope is where the isekai genre sprung from, and Forspoken is a classic example of it. However, very rarely, elements from the other world can follow a character home. This can break up the story in a lot of interesting ways. The climax of several movies involve the main characters returning to their home world to deal with or escape from a threat. Sometimes, stories don't even wait for the climax to merge fantasy with reality; the first season of the Digimon anime had the story continue after the DigiDestined completed their initial goal of returning home.
Having magic and monsters infest a formerly mundane setting conveys higher stakes. The scene of Bayonetta fighting the dragon-like Gommorah over a Christmas-time metropolis in Bayonetta 2 provides a great visual contrast, and it's something that Forspoken could aspire to. The Square Enix title has a small advantage on this front, given that it is developed by Final Fantasy 15 developer Luminous Productions. Final Fantasy 15 contained a couple of outdoor urban environments, and the Ardyn DLC lets players warp around a portion of Insomnia, a place designed like a modern city. This is the perfect example of what Forspoken could do with a small chunk of New York, and Fray’s diverse set of abilities could make traversal even more dynamic than Ardyn’s. Hopefully, Forspoken will be able to offer a surprise of this magnitude once it is in players' hands.
Forspoken is set to release on October 11, 2022 for PC and PS5.