Luminous Productions' upcoming JRPG Forspoken is still months away from launch. Originally teased as "Project Athia" during Sony's Future of Gaming showcase in 2020, Forspoken follows New Yorker Frey Holland as she gets thrust into the harsh, yet gorgeous land of Athia. Frey utilizes her newfound magical powers to battle fearsome monsters across various landscapes to find her way back home.
After Square Enix announced a Final Fantasy 16 delay last year, this shined a spotlight on Forspoken.Forspoken is created by former members of the Final Fantasy 15 team, as well as Gary Whitta (Prey) and Amy Hennig (Uncharted). Since its announcement in 2020, the game has released seven trailers showcasing gameplay mechanics, various enemies, and some of the lands that Frey will visit.
Every Forspoken Trailer So Far
"In a world not her own" were the first words shown during the initial glimpse into what was known as "Project Athia" at the time The minute-and-20-second video released by Square Enix during Sony's 2020 Future of Gaming gave players a taste of what to expect from Luminous in terms of the game's protagonist, world, and mechanics. Forspoken's teaser trailer also featured some of the magic wielded by Frey, such as trapping a few wolf-like creatures in vines.
In early 2021, Square Enix uploaded a brief "Square Enix Presents" video that revealed the official title Forspoken for the first time. This announcement trailer showcases more fast-paced gameplay across the land of Athia, as well as a dragon with a leaky-lava chest: one of Forspoken's huge enemies. To push that Frey is truly a fish out of water, she is shown in modern, casual clothes as she hides from a dragon during what may be her first moments in the realm of Athia.
An AMD trailer released in June 2021 carried an emphasis on the graphical technology behind Forspoken, as Square Enix partnered up with the manufacturer for this game's development. Within the trailer, viewers can see more of Frey traversing through Athia's forests, leading up to a confrontation with a massive, angry bear. Players can also catch more of Forspoken's defensive magic designed using various particle effects.
Last year's PlayStation Showcase featured a three-minute trailer for Forspoken, the longest yet. The trailer offered a deeper look into the game's story, as well as that of protagonist Frey's home life in the streets of modern-day New York. Frey wishes that she could be somewhere else, and a portal rips open that drags her into the fantasy reality known as Athia. This trailer also introduces one of the main antagonists of the game: Tanta Sila.
A trailer at The Game Awards 2021 featured even more gameplay and story. More of Frey's magical abilities were showcased through combat, from surfing across water to cloaking herself and sneaking past enemies. It was also the first time Square Enix gave a concrete release date of May 24, 2022 and announced the game would be available for pre-order.
This year's State of Play in March gave Forspoken more screen time and informed prospective fans that Forspoken's release date would be delayed to October. The "Worlds Collide" trailer centered around Frey's elemental-focused magic and the many kinds of enemies she will face during her adventures in Athia. The star of the show is that same lava-bellied dragon from previous trailers.
In April, Game Informer released almost 10 minutes of Forspoken gameplay. While not technically a trailer, the video shows a lot of different mechanics as Frey traverses what is deemed a "sideways city," a fortress-like town that has been twisted to provide another look at parkour in Forspoken. With E3 2022 cancelled, fans are hoping Square Enix will host its own showcase of Forspoken as part of 2022's Summer Game Fest.
Forspoken releases October 11, 2022 for PC and PS5.