User Score
3.7

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 1508 Ratings

User score distribution:
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  1. Sep 10, 2023
    6
    The game is not without its faults...A very generic Open World with lots of collectibles to collect, chests to open...In short, a basic Open World. The technical side of things is pretty average for a Next Gen exclusive...In the game, you'll find droopy textures, loading screens for little else, textures that pop...in short, it's a shame. As for the gameplay, it's just as basic, but veryThe game is not without its faults...A very generic Open World with lots of collectibles to collect, chests to open...In short, a basic Open World. The technical side of things is pretty average for a Next Gen exclusive...In the game, you'll find droopy textures, loading screens for little else, textures that pop...in short, it's a shame. As for the gameplay, it's just as basic, but very well mastered, with a multitude of spells to create new gameplay situations in every battle. The only downside is that some battles are too messy. The game's story is interesting to follow from start to finish, despite a few easy plot points... The game's musical ambience is very interesting, but it's not present enough and quickly goes round in circles, which is a real shame!

    In conclusion: Forspoken is a good game. Quickly criticized for its sluggish, guided start, it deserves to be played to its full potential. Admittedly, it has its flaws, but its story, atmosphere and gameplay deserve to be explored... This game deserves to be tested, perhaps not at its high price of 80euro.
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  2. Aug 29, 2023
    5
    i put into 10 hours of gameplay and finished beating tanta sila which was very easy since i had been treasured hunting and looting everything in sight but there are something that i have honestly deemed unnecessary
    the cutscene whoever made them was clearly lazy and did not give a 100% of his job, for example, the court scene in new york where the camera placement was so odd and those
    i put into 10 hours of gameplay and finished beating tanta sila which was very easy since i had been treasured hunting and looting everything in sight but there are something that i have honestly deemed unnecessary
    the cutscene whoever made them was clearly lazy and did not give a 100% of his job, for example, the court scene in new york where the camera placement was so odd and those blackouts, what with them? they were so many that i hated and found it a nuisance.
    the open world: the open world may have been huge and riddled with monsters and enemies but it felt empty as if there is nothing really there and were just wandering around with nothing much to do, although it is explained in the campaign why there no interactive npc in the open world and there is a limited amount of side quest but the upside is the traversal is very exciting
    the combat system is very new (i think) maybe it is somewhat similar to the infamous second son but there are more way to fight.
    as for the story, the story needs some work it kind of felt like it was in a rush to get the ending and there were definitely some plot holes or unanswered questions that remained unanswered, the only good thing is that there are no cliffhangers
    now for frey holland she is amazing what i really admired is cursing i found it relatable since i also have the mouth of the sailor lol the way she is portrayed is realistic to someone who was force to go another world and doesn't want to put herself in danger for the sake others but is forced to confront all the dangers in athia
    overall the game is pretty decent but i highly suggest to buy the game when it sale because i can't promise you can enjoy the game because many people mixed review
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  3. Aug 28, 2023
    7
    I don't think this is a bad game but it is also not a great game. Cuff is annoying even when his responses are turned down to minimal. The writing overall isn't top tier but it isn't as bad as people were making it out to be. The combat and movement are the best part about the game and they are really fun. My only complaint on the combat is that all the cool abilities aren't unlockedI don't think this is a bad game but it is also not a great game. Cuff is annoying even when his responses are turned down to minimal. The writing overall isn't top tier but it isn't as bad as people were making it out to be. The combat and movement are the best part about the game and they are really fun. My only complaint on the combat is that all the cool abilities aren't unlocked until right before the last missions. I didn't have the patience to 100% the game so I didn't use the new cool abilities much before finishing the game. Expand
  4. Aug 16, 2023
    5
    I love this game! And I hope the don't cancel the franchise because it has major potential.
    There is however the learning curve and the build up of this game.
    It all starts rather sluggish and a bit disorientating. But when you advance through the game, the gameplay gets better, your knowledge of athia grows and I was positively surprised at the flow later on in the game. For me it was
    I love this game! And I hope the don't cancel the franchise because it has major potential.
    There is however the learning curve and the build up of this game.
    It all starts rather sluggish and a bit disorientating. But when you advance through the game, the gameplay gets better, your knowledge of athia grows and I was positively surprised at the flow later on in the game.
    For me it was like playing a "good book" with a couple of plot twist, very decent action and a story wich more unfolds as a background story to a complete saga, then a single game primary narrative.
    So please Square Enix, give us the complete story
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  5. Jul 10, 2023
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The game suffers from horrible story pacing issues, side activities which become repetitive very fast, and the open world being wide as an ocean but deep as a puddle. The only redeeming qualities are the combat, and the story ending which has a fantastic message in current times, but even the combat can get annoying in certain circumstances when there are way too many enemies on the screen and you basically have no opportunity to attack. This is a classic shallow and overextended Square Enix game. Sometimes, less is more. Expand
  6. Jul 7, 2023
    5
    Played it without expectations because of all the hate it received, bad marks and all. And its not that bad. Tremendously flawed at some points, but not as bad as everyone says it is.

    Story: 5 Tipical story of hero taken to another world, the script is not memorable and its difficult to care about the main character because of her personality, too Netflix-esque and written for a teenage
    Played it without expectations because of all the hate it received, bad marks and all. And its not that bad. Tremendously flawed at some points, but not as bad as everyone says it is.

    Story: 5
    Tipical story of hero taken to another world, the script is not memorable and its difficult to care about the main character because of her personality, too Netflix-esque and written for a teenage target.

    Gameplay: 2
    The control is really awful, and it truly drags down the whole game. It totally lacks accuracy and has input lag. The parkour is clumsy and too automatized in a bad way.

    Art direction & visual: 7
    The graphics feel good without being top noch. As for the art direction, the world of Athia lacks a bit of personality and feels a bit generic, like the whole game.

    Sound: 7 Just as the visual part, the sound works without standing out. It lacks energy at some points.

    All in all, a beautiful concept of enjoying the discover of an open world that is flawed in its execution, specially (but not only) in the inaccurate control of the main character. The story can be entertaining without being memorable, because it clearly follows a formula that we have already seen too many times.
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  7. Jun 24, 2023
    6
    Weak game I think, very very unsympathetic main character and very unclean graphics and performance. The game is really not polished in general. Gameplay, however, is really fun in some places.
  8. Jun 4, 2023
    6
    Thanks to the fun combat and parkour, this is a good 10-15 hour experience if you ignore most of the open world content (which is bland and repetitive). The story has some good moments and some bad, but way too much exposition. The pacing is terrible. The map is terrible. Needing to run over glowing spots to get upgrade points is terrible.
  9. May 29, 2023
    5
    Not as bad as rated. Mix of Spider man, final fantasy and Harry Potter.
    pros: well crafted, has some complexity, flashy gameplay, decent combat animations.
    cons: hero development progression lacks depth, open world is bland with repetitive tasks thrown around. zero uniqueness. gameplay, no complaints. ovarall a decent game for people without any or with short gaming history. For games
    Not as bad as rated. Mix of Spider man, final fantasy and Harry Potter.
    pros: well crafted, has some complexity, flashy gameplay, decent combat animations.

    cons: hero development progression lacks depth, open world is bland with repetitive tasks thrown around. zero uniqueness. gameplay, no complaints. ovarall a decent game for people without any or with short gaming history. For games with several years of experience, stay away.
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  10. May 19, 2023
    5
    Bought this game on sale from PlayStation, the fact that it didn’t even release a year ago and I bought the digital deluxe version for a little over $50 as opposed to $95 says something. The opening of the game is a huge slog to get through and the amount of hand holding is ridiculous. The story isn’t half bad, I don’t hate it, but I’m not particularly invested in it either. Unlike manyBought this game on sale from PlayStation, the fact that it didn’t even release a year ago and I bought the digital deluxe version for a little over $50 as opposed to $95 says something. The opening of the game is a huge slog to get through and the amount of hand holding is ridiculous. The story isn’t half bad, I don’t hate it, but I’m not particularly invested in it either. Unlike many others I don’t think Frey is an awful character, she definitely has her issues though. Conversation between her and Cuff range from cringe to kind of funny, getting a chuckle out of me every now and again, over heard far worse dialogue between characters before though, so this isn’t something that I will crucify this game for. Fighting is very fun, especially against bosses or bigger enemies and taking out huge amounts of enemies in an arena style battle is very entertaining, but out in the world coming across 4-5 normal enemies it become very repetitive. Open world is boring and just landscape you run through, nothing worth noting there. Graphics are beautiful and I really like how they did the haptic feedback, it’s the first game that I can recall who did so much with it. All in all it is definitely not the best game ever, but not the worst game I’ve ever played either. Definitely do not pay full price for it, but pick it up while it’s on sale if you’re looking for something to kill time between other titles releasing. Expand
  11. May 16, 2023
    7
    It's really a game that's not worth $70, but it's not a garbage game either, this game is on sale at $30/$40 if it's worth it, I'll buy it at this price and it's very entertaining, graphically it's not wonderful but it's worth it play it, I don't understand the bad reviews, I guess because of the high price. This game should have been $50 really, advice never buy a launch game
  12. May 12, 2023
    6
    The combat in particular is its greatest weakness, but there are some good elements here. The world is a wasteland, but we've seen our share of those at this point. The story is unoriginal if you watch isekai anime. The characters are hit or miss in their likeability. Overall, it's underwhelming. But it absolutely does not deserve so many 0 scores, that's ridiculous.
  13. May 10, 2023
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Forspoken isn't the best game ever, but it does have a few things going for it. The magic system was pretty good. Being able to quickly swap between types of magic was fun, and the different types of magic did feel unique. The magic parkour was definitely the highlight of the game, and I hope it gets refined and used again in future games.

    The pacing and story were the worst offenders in Forspoken. It did take some time for the story to really kick in, but it was interesting once it did. Then we get to the third act, and, well, there really wasn't a third act. You no sooner get the last type of magic then you go to the final boss. I didn't even play around with it beforehand because I thought there would be more story.

    The dialogue was okay. I wasn't as annoyed by Frey and Cuff as others were, though some of the repeated lines did get old fast. New York looked amazing, but the fantasy world (can't even remember its name) was a little on the dull side. Music wasn't bad. The characters were written okay, but we hardly got to know the Tantas or more than a handful of characters. Only one who stood out to me was the one justice tanta with her Gollum/Smeagol bit. Overall, an okay game with a few high points but many more low ones.
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  14. May 8, 2023
    7
    In all honesty, this game’s not bad.

    ALL the criticisms are legitimate, to a degree. The dialogue is rather mid. The clips circulating the web at the game’s release had taken the dialogue out of context. But when heard in-context, it’s not so bad. Could it be better? Yes. They hired a head-writer with absolutely nothing to her name, and the game suffered for that. And
    In all honesty, this game’s not bad.

    ALL the criticisms are legitimate, to a degree. The dialogue is rather mid. The clips circulating the web at the game’s release had taken the dialogue out of context. But when heard in-context, it’s not so bad. Could it be better? Yes. They hired a head-writer with absolutely nothing to her name, and the game suffered for that. And unfortunately, some of the voice-acting is rather dull and unpolished as well. Combine the two, and it makes for a couple of rather cringe moments during the game’s 10-hour main campaign.

    But it’s not atrocious!

    Also – and what remains my main complaint about the game – the graphics are also very mid. There have been a couple of patches, and they seem to have helped. However, for a “next-gen” exclusive, the graphics are still way behind what should have been produced for the hardware, and for the price. Granted, I had just come off of playing The Callisto Protocol (which sports near movie-like quality animations), but the NPC animation in Forspoken is/was shockingly bad. There’s no excuse for that. Frey herself was looking like a early PS4 character model, before these aforementioned patches. Frey’s animation is better now, but unfortunately, I don’t think the NPC animation will ever get better. Square Enix just decided to put their resources elsewhere in the game.

    But, regardless of these issues… There’s a good story here. A story of hope, and courage. A story about finding your purpose. Frey grew on me. She’s the classic reluctant hero, and once she fully embraced her calling, the game really paid off! At least in my opinion. And Ella Balinska plays a relatable Frey Holland. She gave the character her heart and her spirit.

    One last point. There is absolutely no reason for this game to be rated M. The only reason it’s rated Mature is because – for some reason – Square Enix decided they wanted to have a protagonist who said the f-word every other sentence. It’s unnecessary. And it’s a shame, too. Because the story would be wonderful for a young child to play. The game would have been improved with the Teen rating. In my opinion.

    If you’re on the fence about Forspoken, I say try it. It’s better than what the pro-reviewers and the internet-haters have said. Is it Game of the Year? Heck no. But it’s an enjoyable romp through a really neat fantasy-land and with a great feel-good message to it.
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  15. May 5, 2023
    7
    Forspoken is the 'Order:1886' of this generation, a highly hyped exclusive that supposedly used all the bells and whistles of the 'superior' PS5. The end product looked worse than 'last gen versions' of PS exclusives such as Ghosts of Tsushima and the Horizon series. Ironically, Square bought Studios such as Crystal Dynamics to create these types of Western style games and every timeForspoken is the 'Order:1886' of this generation, a highly hyped exclusive that supposedly used all the bells and whistles of the 'superior' PS5. The end product looked worse than 'last gen versions' of PS exclusives such as Ghosts of Tsushima and the Horizon series. Ironically, Square bought Studios such as Crystal Dynamics to create these types of Western style games and every time they always complained about their 'under performance'. So much so that they sold of these studios. Guess what? Their so called in house team couldn't achieve even half what these Western Studios have achieved through the Tomb Raider and Deus Ex series. While it gets better on the second half, and you start to see that hey...no loading times between scenes, it is still an underwhelming experience. Forspoken ended up as a big flop, and Square Enix's fate hangs in the balance on the success of their next exclusives, FF 16. Maybe Sony might buy them next year? Who knows? Worth a try, but not a full price. Expand
  16. Apr 12, 2023
    7
    On the whole, "Forspoken" unfortunately can't quite live up to its claims. The storyline is really neat, but unfortunately it's over after six hours. The fights and the possibilities of magic are basically super, but unfortunately the game keeps tripping itself up here. The open game world and the graphics are well-intentioned, but simply weakly implemented and thus gave away a lot ofOn the whole, "Forspoken" unfortunately can't quite live up to its claims. The storyline is really neat, but unfortunately it's over after six hours. The fights and the possibilities of magic are basically super, but unfortunately the game keeps tripping itself up here. The open game world and the graphics are well-intentioned, but simply weakly implemented and thus gave away a lot of potential. More would have been possible here, but at least buyers can look forward to the upcoming expansion. Undecided players should try out the demo version of "Forspoken" in advance. Expand
  17. Apr 10, 2023
    6
    This game is a completionist’s worst nightmare, for the wrong reasons mostly. Athia, for starters, is way too big. It has some vast and beautiful vistas, but it is also sorely lacking in any exciting content. Although, the game actually doesn’t lack content at all—in fact, it has so much uninteresting filler (side) tasks and activities, it quickly becomes a painstaking chore to completeThis game is a completionist’s worst nightmare, for the wrong reasons mostly. Athia, for starters, is way too big. It has some vast and beautiful vistas, but it is also sorely lacking in any exciting content. Although, the game actually doesn’t lack content at all—in fact, it has so much uninteresting filler (side) tasks and activities, it quickly becomes a painstaking chore to complete any of them… As much as I tried to hate the game though (fueled by all the negativity surrounding this game), I was never quite able to. For all this game does wrong it also does a lot well. I especially liked the gameplay and parkour. It didn’t outstay its welcome during my playthrough and it kept evolving just enough to keep me hooked, until the credits rolled. The graphics, at times, were also quite impressive. My advice would be to pick this game up for at least half price and do a full playthrough of just the main story, without bothering about any of the extremely dull side quests and activities. This way you’ll have your money’s worth. Expand
  18. Mar 28, 2023
    5
    Seemed like a walking simulator for 90% of the first 90 minutes. I could see how some could like this at least. Once I finally got past walking and cutscenes, i found the combat subpar and forced. I didnt catch any woke bs, but the cutscenes made me lose most interest pretty quick, so I could have missed it. I did like the exploring aspect.
  19. Mar 10, 2023
    6
    A very boring open world game or a dead open world, but there are high-quality graphics, and also the gameplay is acceptable, but the story and the open world are very stupid. If this game $ 30 will be good to try
  20. Mar 5, 2023
    6
    This review is after beating the game, almost 100% it. If you play only for the gameplay like I did I'd say it's an 8/10, otherwise I'd say 4/10. My main complaint when only playing for the gameplay is that there's not a lot of bosses and all the bosses are easy.
  21. Feb 24, 2023
    6
    The game has some lows and some highs. Graphically it's not great, but the combat system is quite good, and the more you progress, the more interesting parkour and combats become. The open world if full of useless things to do, that do not give any meaningful rewards. The writing is ok, some characters are very interesting, but the main antagonist, not at all...
    Could have been a good
    The game has some lows and some highs. Graphically it's not great, but the combat system is quite good, and the more you progress, the more interesting parkour and combats become. The open world if full of useless things to do, that do not give any meaningful rewards. The writing is ok, some characters are very interesting, but the main antagonist, not at all...
    Could have been a good game, but lack polish (especially in New York)
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  22. Feb 22, 2023
    7
    Not that all negative reviews aren't legitimate, but it's sad to see this game partially review bombed because it's "woke" - in other words, because it has a female lead who's black. There is nothing political going on in this game, so I can't see what would be woke about it.

    The game's shortcomings are much more mundane. The open world design is not very interesting, and the writing
    Not that all negative reviews aren't legitimate, but it's sad to see this game partially review bombed because it's "woke" - in other words, because it has a female lead who's black. There is nothing political going on in this game, so I can't see what would be woke about it.

    The game's shortcomings are much more mundane. The open world design is not very interesting, and the writing misses the mark a lot of the time.

    It's not that it's necessarily bad writing, but the game's premise is already hard to take seriously as it is. This is made worse by the characters themselves constantly making light of everything. Is this a comedy or am I supposed to care about this place?

    Your parkour abilities are too strong, so the landscape barely matters unless they put massive cliffs everywhere to block you, which they do. You might feel like exploring once you get through the intro, but good luck with the dozens of massive cliffs funneling you to where you are supposed to go instead. What you can find often just turns out to be a health potion in a chest, though.

    As for what's good, well, the combat is alright, the spells are alright, the graphics are decent, and the faces look good. It runs well on the PS5. The accessibility and difficulty options are vast.

    The game's issues are pretty common in these sorts of games, so I really can't say it's a complete disaster of a game. They haven't reinvented the genre, nor have they solved its most pressing issues. If you never played an open world style RPG before maybe you wouldn't mind.
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  23. Feb 18, 2023
    5
    I appreciate the effort but a few bad director's issues:

    The main character is unlikeable. She is a thief, not an troubled-yet-good-heart underdog; just a thief that did not do anything in her past, without any special skills. That is lazy writing, not knowing how to write a likeable underdog thief. The enemies are mostly badly designed. The game spams you with effects, but sometimes
    I appreciate the effort but a few bad director's issues:

    The main character is unlikeable. She is a thief, not an troubled-yet-good-heart underdog; just a thief that did not do anything in her past, without any special skills. That is lazy writing, not knowing how to write a likeable underdog thief.

    The enemies are mostly badly designed. The game spams you with effects, but sometimes it is hard to see what the actual enemies are doing, unless you watch the indicators: that is completely different to, say, Elden Ring or Horizon Zero Dawn. The movement and control behaviour is not as good as in other games, sometimes clunky. The cities feel stiff, unimaginative, dead sometimes, with NPCs standing around, doing weird or no things.

    I believe that the biggest issue is probably the unlikable main character... The writers messed this up. Think Darkpool: not exactly a good hero, doing sometimes horrible things, yet somehow the writers managed to make him likeable. The Forsaken main character is written by some ex-students instead.
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  24. Feb 13, 2023
    5
    A game of mixed parts (some things good and others bad or awful) make this a difficult game to review. story is okay but the protagonist is difficult to like. Voice acting is good but the script has some weak spots. Graphics for the models are nice but the environment is bland. Combat is good but it takes way too long to unlock all the parts. Movement is fluid for somethings and not others.
  25. Feb 12, 2023
    6
    Looks pretty good. Has some control issues. Extremely repetitive voice work. Story is uninspired. Gameplay isn’t bad.
  26. YFA
    Feb 10, 2023
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. So I did a review on the game a while ago when I was about 10hrs in I think, I finally finished the game and honestly, it's not the best. I had a few questions in my mind as I'm progressing through the story, and I'm not sure if I didn't focus enough on the storyline or if it's an actual plot-hole. for example (--SPOILER ALERT--) why tf Cinta was the only one who turned into a dragon and other Tantas just went crazy? and obviously Cinta didn't go crazy right? because she protected Frey and told her the whole truth about her life. idk I felt like at the end it was sooo rushed that so many things in the story didn't make sense to me. and Cuff, even before it was revealed that he was the "devil" he just felt really off and he gave so many hints that maybe he's the enemy. it wasn't the best plot twist. it just feels like they put so much effort on the combat (which btw it's amazing) that they forgot about the rest that makes a game, "a good game". honestly it had so much potential but they rushed it at the end to get that cash. Another point that I forgot to mention, the dialogue will give you cancer, trust me. I played a lot of "cringey" games that made me die a little inside, Forspoken by far, made me decay. Genuinely had to pause the game a few times from the cringe. Expand
  27. Feb 10, 2023
    5
    Game its not a 0 like some people say. Game is bad, but in the end its enjoy enjoyable
  28. Feb 8, 2023
    7
    I played the game until the end: it's not nearly as bad as the campaign to smear it makes it out to be. It turns into a fun exploration game with magical parkour that's actually a lot of fun to play. There are a ton of spells from a few different classes of magic that you can switch between, so you can play your own way.

    I enjoyed the story.

    I give it a 7/10, would buy again at half price
  29. Feb 6, 2023
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Eu curti o jogo. O combate é divertido. Fácil, mas divertido. Esperava um pouco mais. Os gráficos foram simplificados, alguns diálogos são muito repetitivos e a história do meio para o final da um acelerada sem motivo. Quem sabe o próximo se tiver seja melhor. Mas vale a pena jogar. Expand
  30. Feb 5, 2023
    5
    Good combat and movement system and decent performance in performance mode. Quality and RT modes are in my opinion unplayable in this game.

    If anyone wants to play this game for an interesting story, lore or characters then they should start looking for other games.
Metascore
64

Mixed or average reviews - based on 125 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 32 out of 125
  2. Negative: 16 out of 125
  1. Oct 10, 2023
    60
    Forspoken has plenty of other glaring issues like its occasionally janky platforming that results in Frey falling off buildings or its less than memorable soundtrack. It also has a number of additional points to praise like the scale of its cities and the cast of cute cat chimeras that Frey can lay down and cuddle with. This duality of fantastic ideas with less-than-stellar execution places Forspoken in a place where very few games end up — smack dab in the middle. It’s not so bad that it should be burned by fire, but not nearly good enough to make anyone’s game of the year list.
  2. Jun 23, 2023
    60
    Forspoken feels like an interesting blend of gameplay elements from Square Enix projects past and present, but we're not certain it all comes together. A middling story and combat make its fun parkour harder to bear.
  3. Mar 13, 2023
    60
    World exploration in Forspoken can bring you some real joy, and same could be said about the combat system. And yet the writing, weird visual presentation, and overall direction can really bring the whole experience down.