The flawed fairy tale that cast a spell on me: PETER HOSKIN reviews Forspoken trends now
Forspoken (PlayStation, PC, £64.99)
Verdict: Both bad and bewitching
Rating: ***
Seeing as this game is called Forspoken, might I, er, forspeak — and cut straight to listing its bad points at the very start?
It features — in the conversations between its main character, a scrappy Noo Yawker called Frey, and the sentient piece of jewellery that's pulled her into a fallen fantasy kingdom — some excruciating attempts at funny dialogue.
It has moments of gameplay that are so pointless as to be insulting.
One early sequence has Frey and another character ducking and sticking to the shadows to avoid the city guard — except you don't actually have to duck or stick to the shadows. The game does that. You, the player, simply press forward.
The game features — in the conversations between its main character, a scrappy Noo Yawker called Frey - some excruciating attempts at funny dialogue
There's always a ponderous, scripted cutscene to interrupt the flow. And each of those cutscenes seems to contain a dozen fades-to-black
Even when it does let you play, it doesn't let you play for long.
There's always a ponderous, scripted cutscene to interrupt the flow. And each of those cutscenes seems to contain a dozen fades-to-black. It's weird, disjointed and irritating.
In short, Forspoken is not a good game in any traditional sense. And yet… I kind of loved it.
Forspoken is not a good game in any traditional sense. And yet… I kind of loved it
The reasons I loved it are all the things I haven't mentioned yet, starting with Frey's magic powers
Frey runs up walls, shoots rocks from her hands, and calls tree roots to her aid. All this looks fantastic, but, more importantly, it feels fantastic too.
The reasons are all the things I haven't mentioned yet, starting with Frey's magic
