Square Enix has accomplished incredible things within the RPG genre, but it keeps finding ways to push boundaries. One of its next big projects is Forspoken, an action RPG from Square Enix subsidiary Luminous Productions. In Forspoken, players control Frey Holland, a young woman from New York City who is magically transported to the land of Athia where she gains incredible magical powers and decides to make the most of them. Players are encouraged to master Frey's magic, obliterating monsters with extravagant spells and soaring through the landscape with Frey's magically enhanced dexterity.
Although there's a lot that players have yet to learn about Forspoken, it seems there's a lot to like so far. The combat looks explosive and satisfying, while the setting looks like another highly detailed fantasy world out of Square Enix. Perhaps one of the greatest selling points for Forspoken is its graphics, as the environments look to have an incredible level of detail. Forspoken clips and trailers make it clear that Athia is a beautiful world thanks to the hard work of Luminous Productions, and this could very well set the standard for many next-gen games to come.
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Forspoken's Detailed Environments
By the looks of things, Luminous Productions hasn't cut corners on a single element of Forspoken's environment. Everywhere Frey seems to go, players can see the fine seams between bricks and the discoloration of individual stones. In places where Athia has fallen into ruin, Luminous has made every fine crack and bump in a broken wall's surface visible; buildings have crumbled in sloping, realistic ways that result in textured surfaces players can practically feel.
The wilderness of Athia looks fantastic too. At a glance, no two trees in Forspoken look the same. Square Enix has revealed that Forspoken makes use of procedural generation in creating its environments, so these trees could be a result of that tech. If that's the case, it definitely paid off. One Forspoken gameplay clip shows Frey climbing buildings that are coated in ivy, and each building seems to have its own pattern of growth. The individuality of each plant in Forspoken results in a more realistic and immersive world.
It's not just physical aspects of Athia that make Forspoken a sight to behold. The game uses ray tracing, and tons of the landscape shots Square Enix has revealed so far, both as still images and gameplay clips, put an emphasis on the shadows cast by Athia's terrain. Trees and foliage form near-perfect silhouettes on Athia's wilderness, enhancing the feeling of moving through a real forest in Forspoken. Every shadow seems to accurately echo the shape of its source while showing off how light sources affect the environment.
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Why Forspoken's Detailed World Matters
The work that Luminous Productions puts into Forspoken's environment means a lot for its gameplay experience, as well as the game's potential legacy. Traversal is a major selling point of Forspoken; lots of gameplay clips put an emphasis on Frey's magic-enhanced acrobatics as she parkours across rooftops, bounds through forests, and glides up cliff faces. The implied level of freedom in Forspoken's traversal sounds fantastic, but if players will really spend that much time running around Athia, it's important that Athia is worth looking at. Signs so far suggest that every corner of Athia is breathtaking, meaning players won't get tired of traveling on foot so quickly.
Forspoken's graphics are also important because of what they symbolize for next-gen games. The PS5 and Xbox Series X spent a long time promising stunning graphics, and Forspoken may be evidence that these consoles really can deliver. Fans without PS5s may be disheartened that it's not coming to PS4, but it wouldn't be surprising if the PS4 simply couldn't handle the kind of graphical detail that Luminous Productions had in mind. Instead, it's developing Forspoken with the intend to make the most out of next-gen console power.
If the final version of Forspoken really looks as good as trailers suggest, it could become something of a goalpost for future games on PS5, as well as Xbox Series X. Next-gen console users expect the best out of next-gen games' graphics. That demand was recently made clear when Grand Theft Auto fans disliked a trailer for the PS5 version of Grand Theft Auto 5 on YouTube, with one complaint being that the graphics didn't look significantly better. By leaning into high-quality graphics, Forspoken could become a game that other AAA titles try to emulate.
Forspoken Makes the Most of the PS5
It should be noted that Forspoken's environments are just one aspect of the game's graphics. Players can see every little spark of fire and every little drop of water that Frey conjures whenever she blasts an enemy. Character models look impressive too, whether it's the fine engravings on Cuff, Frey's sentient bracelet companion, or the tiny and elegant shapes that form Tanta Sila's helmet and jewelry. There's lots of evidence for Luminous Productions' eye for detail outside of environments.
The game seems determined to become Square Enix's next big hit, and potentially even the beginning of a new franchise depending on where Frey's journey takes her. Hopefully Square Enix will start revealing new details about the game soon, for as wonderful as it is to have so many trailers that emphasize the game's graphics and aesthetics, there's also a lot of things players still want to learn about the core gameplay. It's hard to say how long the wait for gameplay details will be, but at least fans have some gorgeous landscapes to appreciate in the meantime.
Forspoken releases in spring 2022 for PC and PS5.