Forspoken Review: Missing the Magic

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Major video games, like any other mass-market products in these times, are plagued by conservatism. A brief sift through significant releases of past few years will reveal an alarming conveyor belt of sequels, remakes, and remasters of varying degrees of merit. Smaller, independent games are probably the final garrison of innovation and art in the medium, with a few exceptions. Big publishers and developers, for understandable reasons, have to play it safe. The stakes are high and a new intellectual property that doesn't bear a recognisable name involves risks.

Forspoken, which came out January 24 on PlayStation 5 and PC, is exactly that. It is also not that. It is a completely new IP, unattached and unfamiliar to industry precedent. It is neither a sequel, nor a part of a pre-established universe with existing social capital. But then, it is also helmed by Square Enix, a behemoth of the industry, with a name as recognisable as names can get. And, at the same time, Forspoken is also treading conventional terrain. It is an open-world action RPG with an interminable map where points of interest dot every sliver of space like a particularly bad case of measles. Sound familiar?

Developed by Luminous Productions, a Square Enix subsidiary, Forspoken flits between many such contradictions, zig-zagging though the good and the bad, but — to its credit — it never flirts with the ugly. It's a game that often presents incredibly fun escapades, through its flashy combat and frenetic traversal. It is also, in many places, as far removed from the concept of fun as a dental exam. Forspoken's open world is a playground when you're whizzing through it on magic NOS. But, when you stop and take stock, it resembles a classroom.

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