Out of all the upcoming games for PlayStation, Forspoken is the odd one out in several respects. Far from being part of an established series, Forsaken's extended trailer and recent appearance at the PlayStation Showcase make it look like an ambitious project.
After going through many changes, Forspoken emerged as players see it in trailers today. Following a young woman transported from modern New York City to a magical open world and gifted magic powers of her own, she must battle several evil matriarchs to save her new home. To handle the story elements, Square Enix has brought in four writers to work on Forsaken, each bringing unique experience to the project.
The PlayStation Showcase trailer for Forspoken showed off not just the magical abilities of main character Fey and the enemies she must face, but the dialogue of the game as well. Fey's dialogue in particular is enthused and irreverent, with grounded side characters. This makes sense considering one of the writers is Amy Hennig, writer for the first two Uncharted titles. If there's anyone who can bring character relationships to life in a fun way, it's the writer who made Nathan Drake and his crew so engaging.
Further backing up this writing team is Gary Whitta, famous for several book and film writing credits. Foremost among these is Star Wars: Rogue One, one of the most successful standalone Star Wars films to date. More importantly, it contains the blend of magic and real world solidity that Forspoken is showing off, playing up the mystical nature of the Force and ensuring the story's pacing remains urgent and on point throughout. Hopefully Forspoken will continue to showcasing his strengths as a writer.
Allison Rymer, by comparison, has fewer writing credits to her name, and most of them are for television shows. However, she has extensive experience in continuity departments, specializing in keeping stories on track. Considering Forspoken's evolution over time, this is no doubt invaluable to make sure the story does not have any massive plot holes or holdover plotlines from previous incarnations.
Finally, Todd Stashwick is more famous for acting than for writing. He is prolific, with multiple roles across a variety of TV shows. Previously working on a cancelled Star Wars game, his extensive experience with characters could come in handy making sure Fey and the rest of Forspoken's cast stay interesting. If the writing of these four matches Forspoken's amazing looking graphics, the game could well be one to remember.
Forspoken is set for release in Spring 2022 for PC and PS5.
Source: PlayStation