The upcoming debut title from Square Enix's Luminous Productions, Forspoken, turned a few heads when it was first announced. The brand-new IP will be a third-person action RPG from a team compromised in part of ex-Final Fantasy 15 developers and will introduce players to a whole new world. Forspoken follows Frey Holland, a New Yorker who gets thrust into the magical (and incredibly dangerous) land of Athia as she battles monsters and other deadly foes.
Although the game was a hotly anticipated title for the first half of 2022, it seems players will have a little longer to wait thanks to the recent news that Forspoken has been delayed until October – five months from its original release date. However, although some eager gamers were disappointed by the pushed-back launch, this does give developers more time to properly polish the game and make sure it's capable of living up to fan expectations. Not just in terms of a vast new world for players to explore or gameplay systems to experience, but also to create a character in Frey that stands up against a recent slew of amazing video game heroines.
Frey And The World Of Forspoken
Some of Forspoken still remains shrouded in mystery, but the developers have revealed enough to give players a sense of the world of Athia, as well as some of the characters that call it home. Frey Holland is a young native New Yorker who is magically transported from her world into the realm of Athia. The once prosperous and peaceful region is now beset by a corrupting miasma known as the Break which harms everything it touches. Everything, that is, except for Frey, who has an inexplicable immunity to the corrupting force.
In addition to battling against the monsters that roam the land, Frey comes up against the similarly corrupted rulers of Athia – The Tantas. These matriarchal magic-wielding leaders serve as some of the game's major antagonists and oversee Athia with a tyrannical grip. Although powerful female characters are no strangers to video games, it's unusual to see a setting with a matriarchal leadership, particularly in a fantasy game. It will be interesting to see how Frey – a modern woman who seems more than capable of sticking up for herself – will interact with these formerly benevolent matriarchs, and their confrontations will no doubt lead to some fascinating story beats.
From what gamers have been told about Frey so far, she seems like a really intriguing and complex character. Frey is on the cusp of turning 21 and is trying to figure out who she is while growing into her responsibilities. As an orphan, her life has been tough, and she often uses humor as a defense mechanism to handle adversity – a relatable quality that will help endear Frey to players. Her sarcastic quips to her sentient bracelet Cuff show off her personality and irreverent humor and provide a nice contrast to the more weighty fantasy elements that might be present in the story.
Measuring Up To Other Heroines
Although the history of female characters in video games has had its ups and downs, the last few years have given players some truly amazing heroines. Whether it's the incredibly nuanced and tough Ellie from The Last of Us series, the resourceful and heroic Aloy from Horizon Zero Dawn and its sequel, or the grittier Lara Croft from 2013's Tomb Raider and its follow-ups, there are plenty of examples of well-written women. They represent examples of where developers have broken away from the stereotypes of females in video games that used to usually find themselves in one of two camps – sweet but useless damsels in distress, or sexy seductresses with a villainous streak a mile wide.
Frey seems to have that same grit and determination that made these other female protagonists stand out from the crowd, giving dimensions to their characterizations that are often reserved for their male counterparts. However, while displaying these traits, she also maintains elements that are traditionally considered feminine, like the fact that wearing different nail polishes will unlock abilities for Frey – an unusual mechanic that will be intriguing to see in practice. Although it's sad that the developers haven't been able to move away from other harmful stereotypes, as Square Enix recently came under fire after performance director Tom Keegan commented that Frey, who is Black, had a "hip-hoppy kind of walk".
Characterization aside, a fundamental aspect of what makes a great game protagonist is how fun they are to play. Thanks to her magical abilities, Frey is a powerful and formidable fighter with elemental moves and dynamic traversal options. Most of the gameplay that has been revealed so far shows Frey zipping about the impressive environments and traveling around the open world, offering lots of intriguing opportunities to explore and making combat look fast-paced and engaging. Time will tell if Frey can measure up to the strong showing of video game heroines from recent years, but early signs seem promising.
Forspoken releases October 11, 2022 for PC and PS5.