Forspoken (2023)

Im genuinely convinced those who hate this game never even played it.

Yes the protagonist is insufferable at the start and the writing is off-putting to begin with, but thats the point of the character and story. Frey grows and develops as a character from selfish asshole into a noble hero by the end of it. Combined with epic gameplay, amazing traversal, beautiful visuals and landscapes, sweeping soundtrack, surprisingly great story, great voice performances from the main cast and production values, this game genuinely surprised me.

If your goal is to hate this game for the sake of hating it, then that says more about you than the game. But if you put all the negativity aside and try to give this game a fair chance like I did, you might actually find yourself enjoying the game despite the hate.

(If you can tolerate piss-poor writing like Kingdom Hearts or the obnoxious dialogue of someone like Deadpool, then there's no reason why you should be hating this game).

'So, lemme get this straight...I'm a MUTE, and some old DUMPSTER guy just showed me how to KILL PEOPLE and now I'm getting PHONE CALLS and I have a COCK MASK, and... no way! I have a baseball BAT??!!!!! And I just brutally killed russian mobsters who haven't hurt me?! And now I'm throwing up?!! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!! I MUST BE DREAMING!! '

'They call me jacket cuz I wear a Jacket...well it's better than being called Pantyhose...haw haw'

'I carried a drugged up woman to my house out of mercy?!! Did I just do that? I didn't just do that DID I??!!! AM I DREAMING??!!! THIS IS JUST LIKE MY CULT SHOOTY GAME!!!'

Some of the writing is genuinely daft, but this is the move overcriticized game since Mass Effect Andromeda. Playing as a thief who swears a lot is refreshing, that's basically who I am in real life and it's not something I can ever remember seeing portrayed compassionately in a video game. (I haven't committed a serious crime in almost a decade, thank god.)

I feel like people calling Frey's swearing unrealistic are out of touch. If anything, her use of the f-word is exceedingly tame. I've had entire conversations that were more expletives than not. People really do talk like that.

The game feels rushed, and criticism of the open world is definitely valid, but I'm having fun. It's been a great showpiece game for the new PC. 4k ultra settings with DLSS quality looks sweet, especially coming after playing Zelda - which is impressive for the Switch, but definitely not current.

I have to admit, it was a lot more fun completing tasks in the open world before end game than it is post end game. There doesn't really feel like a lot of point to any of it with the story complete. Unlocking new gear and stat upgrades don't have much use at this point. Not that gear ever really mattered aside from picking one cloack and one necklace and maxing them out.

Truth be told, the main thing keeping me going post end game is finding all the kitties!

Not long ago I promised myself no zombie games for at least a year or two. I need a big break from dealing with zombies, especially open worlds full of zombie hordes.

So, imagine my surprise when I learned that a big chunk of enemies in Forspoken enemies are just zombies or variations on zombies. Sigh, I didn’t know this was Squeenix’s Days Gone. Big open world, zombie hordes, one dimensional characters, lots of crafting supplies to collect, but hey, getting around the map is kind of fun 🙁

Although I’m enjoying the game there are two things I’m struggling with.

The first is the (potentially overt) thematic simplicity. I suppose it’s a symptom of other Squeenix RPGs, but so far this game staunchly black and white in its interrogation of morality isn’t particularly interested in nuance or subtlety. NPCs you pass in the street all ramble off lines that recite the themes of the game to the player. One NPC that takes you on a tour even explains class in the most rudimentary terms, explains precisely how the game’s social structure adheres to fairly common class structures that perpetuate inequity, and then walks you by six or seven NPCs that perform corresponding classist behaviour. Excuse the cliche, but there’s a lot of telling as opposed to showing. And it’s all deadly serious about it, with no sense of camp of self awareness to any of it. It feels like a documentary explainer presented in the simplest of simple terms.

The second, and perhaps this is not the fault of the game, is that I’m finding it very hard to have patience for Squeenix’s aignificant handholding, scripted sequences and lengthy cut scenes having just played TotK for a month. I enjoy the mechanics of this game and I want it to let me free out into the world to explore those mechanics, but I’m stuck in scripted sequences or chasing detours and ensuring I don’t miss anything because the game spends a lot of time reminding me that “I might not be able to do them later.” And they aren’t fibbing, if you don’t do them all you’ll find that yet another scripted sequences will play out that progresses the story, or changes the world preventing you from returning to those side tasks. I’m still enjoying the game, but I’m struggling with how deeply it adheres to conventional AAA structures and progression.