Each year, the holidays are a time for reflection. I’ve been looking back at all of thearticles I’ve writtenand the gamesI played the mostas a result. When looking at myPlayStation Wrap-Up 2023results, I was surprised that Luminous Productions and Square Enix’s controversial magic RPGForspokenwas among my most played PS5 games. Fittingly enough,Forspokentakes place during Christmastime, as that’s when Ella Balinska’s Frey is whisked away to the world of Athia in anAlice in Wonderland-like manner.
The revelation has me reflecting on my time spent playingForspokenand the frustrating discourse surrounding its release earlier this year. It was initially derided and heralded as one of the year’s worst games by many Scrooges, an opinion I never fully agreed with.
Now that we’re at a time of year more fitting for experience Forspoken, it’s time for all of us to embrace the magic of Christmas and show some goodwill toward a game that didn’t deserve the humbug it received.
Forspoken is good, actually
Christmas-themed video games are a surprising rarity, and admittedly, much ofForspokendoesn’t call back to the holiday much after its real-world intro. Setting the game at a time of year that emphasizes family plays into Frey’s insecurities about not knowing her parents and not feeling like she belongs or deserves to be loved and appreciated. Coming around on that is a core part of Frey’s journey throughForspoken, and at times, the character drama can be surprisingly compelling.
Unfortunately, only a few initial reviewshighlighted those aspectsat release. Instead, emphasis was put on its corny, quippy dialogue and pacing problems. Those are issues that Icalled out in my review, but I believe the critiques are a bit overblown. Players can turn thebanter frequency downin the Settings menu, andForspoken‘s humor isn’t all that different than what we see in popular games likeGod of War: RagnarokandMarvel’s Spider-Man 2.
Unfortunately,Forspoken‘s characters, narrative, and writing were put under much greater scrutiny than other titles with similar weak points. A common theory posits that the adventure gained an extra harsh backlash from a certain strain of gamers due to it having a Black female lead. Regardless of why it became a laughing stock, the shortcomings dominated the discourse surrounding the game. Now that we’re 11 months removed from launch and in a much nicer, more reflective time of year,Forspokendeserves a reassessment, especially by those who didn’t engage with the game outside of poking fun at some out of context clips on social media.
Even with my qualms against the game, there’s a lot I can look back on and see that the game does well.Moving aroundForspoken’sworldis a joy once every elemental power and traversal ability is unlocked. While the UI is messy, combat is flashy and intense, makingForspokenone of the best-looking games on the PS5. It’s the game that most closely resembles anAvatar: The Last Airbendergame.
In many ways,Forspokenhas been treated like The Grinch this year, being outcast and ignored by gamers. It has underperformed sales-wise, and developer Luminous Productions was evenfolded back into Square Enixfollowing its release. Even if it’s far from perfect, Forspoken isn’t bad enough to earn the legacy it’s marching toward. It always saddens me to see new, creative IPs likeForspoken,Immortals of Aveum, and even films likeThe Creatorunderperform whilesafer franchise sequelsare celebrated.
Forspokenmay appear on some Worst Games of 2023 lists, but it doesn’t deserve that dishonor. This year showed us what truly terrible games can look like, fromThe Lord of the Rings: GollumtoSkull Island: Rise of Kong. But there’s something to be learned from those experiences, too. For the malignedSkull Island, it’s the fact the developers of these gamesdeserve better working conditions. Get pastForspoken‘s flaws, and you’ll find some best-in-class traversal and open-world design packed into a secret Christmas game. That accomplishment deserves a little holiday cheer.
Forspokenis available now for PC and PS5.
