The Forspoken Demo Has Left Gamers Divided
Last week, fans got the great news that "Forspoken" was available to play through a demo on the PlayStation Store. After the game's multiple delays, the demo was proof that Square Enix might finally launch the game on the planned Jan. 24, 2023 release date. However, the decision to release a demo may have backfired, because it seems to actually be convincing fans not to buy the game.
On the surface, "Forspoken" sounds like an RPG lover's dream. Frey Holland, a young woman from New York, suddenly gets isekai'd into Athia, another world full of magic and mystery. The game also features a Black female protagonist, which outlets like HP Critical have pointed out is a rarity for the fantasy genre as a whole.
However, despite all the promising aspects "Forspoken" seems to bring to the table, the game isn't wowing all of its potential fans. In fact, "Forspoken" has fans split. Some thoroughly enjoyed the game, while others are leaning towards skipping it entirely after playing the demo.
Forspoken's highs, lows, and everything in between
Some features of the "Forspoken" demo had players on completely different sides of the fence. Take combat as an example: The combat system in the game combines magic with parkour, and some fans had a lot of fun with it. Others didn't get much enjoyment out of it, with some fans feeling iffy on the controls and overall feel of the combat. Others just felt like there wasn't much challenge to be found in the demo. One content creator, Rino, explained that some of the parkour elements of the game weren't properly explained to players in the demo, but they add a lot of potential to the game and might negate some of the bad experiences of the demo.
Other parts of the game simply annoyed some people, such as Frey's constant talking (which can actually be turned off or reduced in the settings) and the mindless enemies that don't really seem to try to fight back. Some even experienced some pretty major issues with input lag that made the demo less enjoyable.
While there were many extreme opinions from players, others weren't swayed in any one direction. A large number of players remarked that the game felt middling overall, but that it might be a fun game to buy at a discount, but not for full price and definitely not on release day. It remains to be seen if the response to the demo will convince Square Enix to hold the release of "Forspoken" any longer.