At one point in time, it looked as though players would be getting ready to play Square Enix’s Forspoken by now. Last year, the Japanese publisher gave Luminous Productions’ new IP a tentative May 24 release date. However, thanks to the recent pandemic and its impact on the gaming industry, the PC and PS5 action-game has since been pushed back into the traditionally crowded holiday period.
Due to its unique blend of humor and fantasy themes, there’s still a decent chance that Forspoken will stand out from the crowd. Provided Square Enix hits its latest release date, players will be able to explore the world of Athia this October. From each of the trailers that have been released so far, one of the biggest selling points of the game will be the intriguing ways Luminous is approaching the concept of magic.
Athia’s Magical Identity
Since Forspoken was unveiled alongside the PS5 as Project Athia back in 2020, it’s been clear that magic would influence every aspect of Luminous Productions’ ambitious new project. While the gameplay side of things is the part of the equation fans will spend the most time with, the mystery that unfolds around Frey will be influenced by magic too. What’s more, from everything that’s been shown off, it appears as though different schools of magic are being meshed together.
While the exact circumstances of how Frey finds herself transported to Athia from New York are currently shrouded in mystery, the concept behind her transportation has been explored by other franchises. The wormhole that’s been visible throughout most of Forspoken’s marketing trailers appears to be a homage to The Chronicles of Narnia and Peter Pan. In ‘portal-fantasy’ franchises like these, magic tends to be a feature of their worlds that’s as natural as oxygen and water. Based on how Luminous is seemingly invoking both, it stands to reason that magic will operate in a similar fashion in Forspoken's Athia.
Beyond being populated by other magic users and fantasy monsters, Athia appears to be influenced by distinct magical forces. Even though Square Enix and Luminous have been cagey when it comes to specific story beats, it’s known that a dark magical phenomenon known as the ‘Break’ has been sweeping across Athia. The Tantas, the matriarchal magical leaders of Athia, have seemingly been caught up and corrupted. This suggests that, like a lot of fantasy media, light and dark sources of magic exists somewhere within Forspoken's world.
Forspoken’s Practical Magic
Coming of age stories and how battles between good and evil influence them are one thing. What’s arguably more intriguing about Forspoken is how magic works practically. Since the game’s debut trailer nearly two years ago, over 20 different spells have been spotted by fans. These appear to be broken down into distinct elemental classes, such as earth, water, and fire, and can be selected via a weapon wheel. Unlike contemporary games like Hogwarts Legacy, Frey channels these spells via her sentient bracelet companion Cuff, rather than through traditional incantations.
Adapting a magic system like this has seemingly allowed Luminous Productions to go all in with its combat mechanics. Forspoken’s spells can subsequently be broken down even further into three distinct categories. ‘Attack’ spells will allow Frey to summon fire-swords, or shoot lightning from her hands like a gun. While ‘Support’ spells will be available to place traps and buff the protagonist's stats. A third option has also been teased, which appears to feature super-like abilities. Mixing and matching each form of magic, whilst keeping enemy resistances to each in mind, should be a challenging yet compelling experience.
Cuff isn’t the only source of magic that will be available to the player. While it remains to be seen if the humans of Athia are capable of wielding magic on their own, it appears as though enchanted items are a common sight. Frey alone has been shown to wield charmed cloaks, nails, and necklaces, which allow her to use Forspoken's various ‘Magic Parkour’ abilities. Luminous has teased that the protagonist has some natural affinity with magic though, such as her immunity to the Break, which could explain why each of these can be upgraded within the game’s skill trees via Mana points.
Even though little has been revealed about how it works in practice, based on a few hints, it appears as though players will be able to craft potions in Forspoken. Traditionally, games within the same genre have let players collect ingredients from their open-worlds, before using brewing magic to create regenerative elixirs. The presence of a potion icon on Forspoken’s UI, and the fact that Frey uses stamina during combat, suggests that a similar system will be featured. Based on Luminous’ impressive commitment to the concept of magic, it wouldn’t be too shocking to see even more concepts appearing in its game either.
Forspoken releases October 11, 2022 for PC and PS5.