Open world games are a dime a dozen, yet Square Enix's upcoming title, Forspoken, is trying its best to stand out in the crowd full of heavy hitters like Elden Ring and Horizon Forbidden West. Despite numerous delays, developer Luminous Productions is looking to keep the excitement up for Forspoken with a new snippet of footage from the title. However, the footage has had the exact opposite effect with some fans questioning the quality of the dialogue.Unfortunately, Forspoken has been delayed three times since its official reveal back in 2020. Delays are pretty common in the industry with development teams opting to take more time to polish their games. The most recent delay came as a "strategic" choice from Square Enix as the publisher wants to make sure this title resonates with gamers.The newest footage comes from the official Forspoken Twitter account and features 30 seconds of the game's signature combat as well as some dialogue from the main character, Frey Holland. In the trailer, Frey is discussing her current situation in the story which revolves around her being transported to a different world full of monsters and magic. In order to get home, Frey must master the magical abilities she's gained while being in Athia and through the aid of a magical, sentient cuff akin to Iron Man's J.A.R.V.I.S. The immediate reaction to the trailer was definitely not something Luminous Productions could have anticipated.
Fans were quick to criticize Frey's dialogue and tone. Given the gravity of being transported to Athia after living a quiet, unhappy life in New York and being thrown in a life-or-death situation, Frey's delivery of her dialogue came off as overly lighthearted. Fans were quick to point out the flaws with plenty of responses and quoted replies pointing to her nonchalant attitude. One fan in particular was quick to point out the dialogue has an almost identical tone to what the Marvel movies have popularized since the inception of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Now, there's nothing inherently wrong with Frey's dialogue delivery. However, with Forspoken targeting an "18" rating and Frey boasting an overly lighthearted tone in the face of death, it seems like the writing has some fans very concerned as to what message Luminous is trying to convey with Forspoken.
Forspoken releases January 24, 2023 for PC and PS5.