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For decades, Square Enix (SE) has impressed players with its signature series, such as Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, and Dragon Quest. But the acclaimed Japanese publisher is exploring more opportunities to inject new life into building its own IP to remain competitive. Take Luminous Productions, a fledgling SE studio that was founded to create new IP using advanced technology and focusing on the company's world-famous art.
Forspoken, an open-world action RPG, is luminous Productions' first IP and a test of the studio's strength and potential. Under such high development pressure, SE decided to try a new strategy, bringing Western developers into the team to help create forspoken heroes and stories, while leveraging the experience gained in the world of Final Fantasy 15 to create a game that exceeded our expectations for SE. The final product is an astute and venomous young woman who is mysteriously teleported from modern New York to a magical land full of evil witches, dragons and magic, embarking on an adventure in an otherworld.
To get more information about SE's futuristic masterpiece, we spoke with the development team and found that Forspoken's charm goes far beyond powerful magic and unique ways to play. We have even witnessed an area that has never been seen before, and we have seen the diversity of the whole large world. Get ready to feel the fusion of magic and reality in Forspoken! This is not the fairy tale you envisioned, nor is there a development routine that continues the SE tradition.
Brand new route
Since the announcement of the project title "Athia" in 2020, SE has been slowly unveiling the mystery of "Forspoken", stripping away the magic, parkour and protagonist of the game. Much of the game's content is still unknown, and SE is silent about the general narrative rhythm and open-world gameplay. But we can see that Forspoken is a pivotal game for both SE and Luminous Productions, and they're caught up in a nervous atmosphere, and perhaps the game is a far cry from the publisher's past style of work.
Luminous Productions was founded in April 2018 with the goal of developing new AAA games using SE's self-developed Luminous engine. The engine debuted in Final Fantasy 15. Forspoken is Luminous Productions' first next-gen game for PS5 and creates additional challenges for the development team.
"We wanted to create a game that took full advantage of the performance of the PS5 hardware, and that was the starting point for the project." Luminous Productions head and Forspoken game director Yuki Aramaki explained that he pointed out that the new generation of SSDs and their fast loading speeds create a huge advantage for open-world games.
"We also felt like we could create a map that would both be a symbol of the gaming world and a representation of our way of expression," he continued, "and because of SSD technology, we thought fast-paced movement had become feasible, so Forspoken was designed based on those possibilities."
SE isn't known for its open-world games, but forspoken's development team, it's no stranger to the genre. Half of the members of Luminous Productions were involved in the development of Final Fantasy 15, a game that was both the debut of the Luminous engine and the abandonment of the series' traditional linear narrative, opening with a large open area.
"A lot of the content in this game was designed using the development experience of Final Fantasy 15," said Aramaki, "for example, some monster animations, you may feel a little familiar, which is influenced by our development experience on Final Fantasy 15."
However, Aramaki said that the development team also spent a lot of time reviewing the failures of Final Fantasy 15. Two of these are particularly prominent: story development and cutscenes. In order to compensate for these weaknesses, this team of mainly Japanese developers has set its sights on a new level of excellent developers in Europe and the United States. About 10% of developers in Luminous Productions are not Japanese. This proportion may seem small, but overseas employees fill many important positions, and Aramaki believes that this is an important change and in line with the studio's innovation mission.
"We've introduced new technologies, new designers and developers, and we really feel like the whole team has been sublimated." Aramaki said. "Many European and American developers have participated in the development of this game, such as in the design of the scene, which is a rare arrangement direction for Japanese studios."
The screenwriting team is the largest proportion of european and American developers. Gary Whitta (masterpieces The Book of Avery and Star Wars: Rogue One) conceived the basic concept of Forspoken, and he was primarily involved in world architecture during the early stages of development. On this basis, the highly regarded and talented Amy Hennig (masterpieces Uncharted and Jack and Dust) shaped these concepts into the entire story. Also working with Whitta in the early days of development was Allison Rymer, and Todd Stashwick, who has been working with Hennig since 2013, also put the script to life, bringing the characters to life with the dialogue they wrote.
"On this project, Luminous Productions gave Amy, Allision, and me a lot of creative freedom," Stashwick says, "and I had the same creative freedom when I created stories, characters, and scripts with Allison." The development team constantly encourages us to explore and innovate."
An unusual hero's journey
With creative freedom, Rymer and Stashwick create a backdrop world full of opposing ideas and flawed characters. Yahia may seem like a beautiful fairytale at first glance, but in reality it is being swallowed up by a mysterious evil fog called "Break", where people, animals and soil are corrupted.
"Anyone who gets into a rift becomes a twisted monster," creative producer Rayson Mitsuno explains. "Wild animals used to live carefree in the wild, but now they are mutated beasts and monsters. Despite the dire situation at the moment, it is still beautiful and moving inside."
Yahia clearly needs a savior, but Frey, the protagonist, presented by actress Ella Balinska (the new version of Perak), is not a typical heroic figure. When we met Frey, she was at the low point of her life, and she grew up in a foster family, surviving the difficult environment of growing up, planning to live bravely in New York City with her cat Homer. According to Stashwick, she is a person with a good heart, but desperate circumstances keep her in bad situations.
"About Frey, we intend to portray a lonely young woman who feels like she has no sense of belonging in this world." He explains, "She's just going through a tough encounter as an adult and is at a turning point in her life. She can only live with herself, and New York is merciless to such a person. But the focus of the story is still Yahia, because at the end of the day, it's all a passionate fantasy journey, like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz to the kingdom of Oz, and in order to figure out her true mission, Frey must go to Yahia."
Frey and Acharya
When Frey appeared in Yahia, she was greeted by a spiritual bracelet. She gave the bracelet the right nickname, "Cuff." In the game, you will reveal the secret of how Ah Handcuff makes a sound, and he often fights with Frey. The relationship between them develops in quarrels, and Ah Handcuff will even laugh at your gameplay, such as when you dodge and laugh mercilessly. But he is also an important companion, and when you get lost, he will help you point out the right path and even remind you to prepare for an upcoming enemy attack. He also gave Frey the ability to scan her surroundings, search for items, and craft materials.
"Frey and Handcuff have a mutual attachment relationship, but it's not what you think it is." Story writer Allison Rymer said. "No matter how hard Frey tries, she can't get rid of the handcuffs wrapped around her wrists!" What's more, Ah Handcuff not only has a knife mouth, but also has particularly high requirements, and Frey hates to be pointed out, so the two sides are not compatible at first. But as the two men fought side by side and got to know each other, their relationship also changed and progressed. They began to respect each other, like two old stubborns who had watched each other."
Like Dorothy, Frey is mysteriously teleported into a strange world and must find a way home. In the blink of an eye, however, she has acquired magical powers, and an extra talking bracelet appears on her hand, which will guide her through this medieval world. Beneath the mysteries, Frey's primary goal is to escape from this upheaval fantasy world.
However, Frey has a special ability: she is not affected by the rift, and part of the story will also revolve around the reasons behind this, and Frey will also encounter her own conflicts. When asked for details, Stashwick revealed only: "A Hell's Kitchen gang; the New York legal system; the Council of Yahya; the evil witch; her suspicions about herself; a strange beast and a dragon."
It's important for the writers to make Frey a flawed protagonist who can elicit empathy. As Rayson Mitsuno said, "We think Frey's personality qualities will resonate with her." He also mentioned many times in our interviews that Frey would not accept the role of hero just because Yahia needed help, and that she would not always say or do the right thing. She needs time to adjust to the pressing issues of the moment and to find the confidence in her heart to unravel Yahia's predicament and break through her own personal obstacles.
Yes, Frey may be at war with the dragon, but the uneasiness of New York life and the problems of parental abandonment will also follow, manifesting in unexpected ways in this extraordinary place. "We wanted Frey to be an anti-hero," Rymer says, "and when you first met her, she wasn't the kind of person who would fight to the death for strangers." This can't be blamed on her, after all, no one has paid for her like this, at least not now. Through Frey's perspective, we want to tell a story about human nature. Even in the darkest of times, there is hope and goodness. Sometimes we need a little help to understand, and what Frey needs is to be thrown into a strange new world."
The writers called it "Frey's journey of self-discovery," a journey that, like her life, was not "easy," especially since she had to confront the evil witches, the female rulers of different parts of Yahya.
"The development team wanted the witch to represent virtues such as strength and justice," Stashwick said. "Then we explore the multifaceted nature of these virtues, such as the two extremes. This comprehensive consideration will reveal the impact of corruption on them. Beyond that, they are not monotonous characters, but people with pain, sadness, humor, and empathy."
Battles in a fantasy world
In order to better represent the design and gameplay of the whole world, SE showed us a live gameplay, showing an undisclosed area of Avoalet. Compared to Praenost in the trailer, Avoalet is more colorful against the backdrop of lush vegetation, making you feel like you're walking through a beautiful forest, while the latter has a reddish-brown hue and a dry desert landscape. Since the territory is overseen by Prav, the witch who represents the virtues of justice, the designers wanted the place to embody her philosophy of gravity and water.
"These areas will adopt a color grading style," Mitsuno Says, "Avoalet chose blue-green vegetation and water bodies, but the rift caused great damage to the scenery of this area."
In Forspoken, as players explore these areas, the more they can feel the destructive power of the rift and witness the transformation of the entire world. The intensity of the rift will determine the degree of distortion and danger of the enemy. Now, we're seeing clear skies and deer-like creatures walking around, but as we saw in the demo, it gets darker.
A living witch
During Frey's journey, the mad witches who ruled the shattered territories of Yahia played a pivotal role, each of them representing a virtue. So far, SE has shown the witch Sila and Prav, voiced by Janina Gavankar (True Love Like Blood, Star Wars: Battlefront 2) and Pollyanna McIntosh (Walking Dead).
Sila represents strength, while Prav represents justice. "All witches were once the benevolent rulers of Yahia," said the creative producer Mitsuno Reson, "and when the rift struck, they suffered some changes, so they became extremely distorted and no longer spoke for these virtues."
Sila, the Witch, had fought on the front lines to protect Yahya from the invaders, but now she had become dictatorial and wanted to crush all obstacles in her path. Once a hero, he is now the enemy of the protagonist. Gavankar called her "the fiercest woman in the land" and called her voice acting a thrill.
"The witch Sila always makes me feel the blood flowing, it's really the state of blood boiling." 」 She said, "When she showed her might, I couldn't stop shedding tears and enjoying the process."
The witch Prav was once Yahia's moral model, but her quest for truth has become distorted. In the game, you will witness her inner struggle for justice, but the corrupt side ultimately wins and destroys this virtue. McIntosh is used to playing shady roles, but she enjoys the "grunt-like inner conflict" and finds a lot of fun in her almost insane laughter. "Prav is a character with a complex heart, in this ingenious world," she says, "and you can see from the script that the story draws me to the character."
Several of Yahia's female villains stand out in Forspoken, and the two witches we see represent strength and justice, respectively, but under the twist of the split, the rulers of the land clash with the heroine Frey. These conflicts may pave the way for a more detailed plot followed, while also triggering a series of magical battles.
Forspoken seems to be a clever combination of combat and exploration, the latter experience amplified by magical parkour. Under Frey's sensitive sprints and exaggerated jumps, the movements in the game look both smooth and sensual. In our demo, she can swing over a branch and fly into the air, or use some spells to reach a higher position. Her quick-moving spell, which allows her to catapult quickly between anchor points, contrasts with Avoalet's steep rock walls, making it easier for her to find stops. Due to the game's fall damage setting, you can't fly in the air without fear, but you can use spells to eliminate the damage caused when you land.
"We put a lot of effort into making sure that parkour can give people a enjoyable experience," said co-director Takeshi Terada, who emphasized that the development team did a lot of trial and error to ensure that obstacles such as architecture did not hinder the player's parkour and became something that the player would like to rush through. However, this does not mean that there are no challenges.
"Players can't come and go around the world without hindrance," Says Takeshi Terada, "and some places have to walk at normal speeds or need to find the right route to cross specific areas."
Parkour is not only a common way in this world, but also one of the means of combat. While you spend most of your time unleashing magic, you can also use the magic parkour advantage to dodge impending attacks. It is worth noting that some enemy specific attacks cannot be dodged, and the use of resource slots for magic parkour is also limited, so it should not be blindly abused.
As far as spells are concerned, we see a variety of forms, from slashing enemy fire swords to water column-like protective spells (the latter blocking incoming ranged attacks). Some spells, such as a spell called "Shot", shoot bullet-like pebbles, like infinite bullets. Other spells, such as cluster bolts, cause arrows to fall from the air to cause range attacks, but have a cooldown limit.
Mitsuno's favorite is "Naedre", a snake-like spell that tracks enemies and is particularly effective against those who move frequently. Finding useful spell combinations can give you an edge in battle, which is also part of the fun of fighting. Whether it's using spells to stop enemies from moving, or creating huge buffs for the next attack, there's plenty of room for players to experiment.
You can use any kind of magic at any time, which means there's no limit to the skills you can equip at the same time. To make it easier for you to switch between various skills, pressing L1 and R1 will bring up a circular menu, during which the battle speed will slow down, giving you enough time to find the spell you want to cast. There are several magic skills that are unlocked by advancing the main line, but you can also earn mana points through world activities, such as defeating enemies or completing specific events. Mana points can be used to upgrade spells that you find useful, or to continue looking for new spells to replace skills that are not in hand.
"Some spells have different levels, which is related to how you plan to develop your character and the distribution of points in the process," Mitsuno said, "Some spells are already fully formed, there are no levels, it depends on whether you want to strengthen the old spells or learn new spells, and these choices will determine how you fight in Forspoken."
Having magic doesn't mean you can only fight from a distance, and if it's not your preferred style of fighting, the game also gives you other options. Luminous Productions created a combat system with multiple gameplay in mind, creating a series of spells to support different combat strategies.
"We have a lot of ways to fight to suit any player's needs," Mitsuno said, "and if you're going to be strategic, you can set traps; if you're inclined to be defensive, you can use ranged attacks while staying away from the enemy; if you're like me, you like melee fighting and combos, and we've got a lot of melee-style spells."
Choosing which spells affects more than just your gameplay, each enemy has different weaknesses, and if you want to solve them as soon as possible, you can make the most of these weaknesses. Mitsuno says that this is not the decisive factor in the success of the battle, and Luminous Productions created the system to allow players to use the spells they want to use, rather than being bothered by the spells that are exchanged for it. Your attacks can weaken enemies and can also punch hard and create opportunities for executions. Mitsuno revealed that the core of the battle is to learn the behavior patterns of the enemy and pay attention to the surrounding environment. When a boss in the game fights you, there are usually reinforcements to distract you.
On the long journey, we see enemies of all stripes, from the poor natives of Yahya transformed into zombies under the corruption of alienation, to the enforcers under the witch Prav. These normal enemies will attack in groups, set up strong barriers, and use ranged attacks to stop you. However, they are only appetizers, and the game's little boss is really challenging, such as an enemy called "The Pitiless Arbiter", which has the flavor of Dark Souls. In keeping with Prav's style, the boss dresses like a judge in black, holding a balance of justice and a giant axe. The arbitrator's appearance is astonishing, desperately brandishing his axe. When it decides what to do next, the scales will light up blue, and Handcuffs will point out that it is "weighing what to use next." If you don't want to be hit by it, you can grab such a gap to attack it.
SE has confirmed that Forspoken does not include in-app purchases, but will introduce DLC in the future.
Explore the fun
When you go out and explore, you can find a sense of exciting exploration by interpreting the mysteries and upheavals of the world. According to Takeshi Terada, side quests further extend the game's backstory and focus on two main areas: location and characters.
"As the protagonist travels through a world that has become a ruin, you will see on the map buildings or things that once existed but have now declined," Terada explains, "you can use the map to go back in time and figure out what really happened to this land and the history behind the world." The second aspect is a story related to people, obviously, there are many people in the background of the story who have died or suffered, and by communicating with NPCs and understanding more details about their experiences, you can learn more side stories."
The game demo gives us a glimpse of some side events in this big world. The Seat of Reflections is a side challenge dungeon distributed over Yahia, usually ending with a dangerous boss. This is designed for players who are eager to challenge, but it is also worth the average player to play through, as these dungeons usually reward high-value items such as crafting materials and new equipment. SE didn't specify exactly how many dungeons there are in the game, but Takeshi Terada said players encounter these areas frequently, believing that the development team "has prepared a lot of content for players to enjoy."
Each witch has her own special monument, which can be found in the game world and cleared the rifts to return the buildings to their original appearance and give Frey an attribute boost. In the demo, we saw that Frey gained a 5 defense boost due to the Restoring Strength Monument.
You'll also find different "sanctuaries," which are safe areas that are protected from enemies, where Frey can craft items such as healing potions, increase the capacity of items to carry, or upgrade equipment such as cloaks and necklaces. According to Mitsuno, there is always something else to be found in these buildings, and you can learn more about the backstory of the world by picking up artifacts inside each shelter. If you want to learn more about the backstory, the guilds are also parallel places, because they used to belong to yahia scholars, where you can explore their research. However, unlike safe havens, monsters often hide in these empty areas, ready to interfere with your journey of discovery.
If that's not enough to satisfy your curiosity about the world, visit abandoned villages. These corrupted areas are full of enemies, but like the Seat of Reflections, if you're willing to face the risks head-on, you'll reap the rewards. In the demo, Frey unlocks a new cloak after exploring a village, which is Frey's main piece of equipment, which can give her a great attack or defense boost, which will change her appearance, so it is also a way to customize the style.
As mentioned earlier, Forspoken does have a production system, so there's absolutely no harm in the "three-light" gameplay. "Players can accomplish two things through the crafting system," Takeshi Terada states, "first by making healing and recovery items, and then by adding attributes or additional abilities to your equipment or accessories." This is somewhat similar to the familiar Custom Elements of Final Fantasy production."
About Cipal
Cipal was the only place unaffected by the Rift, and the Axia people who had escaped the Rift lived in this town. This will be a crucial stop on Frey's journey, and she will continue to return to this place.
"Cipal is definitely the central area of the game," said co-director Takeshi Terada, "and this is the last place for humanity in this world." Because of this, many NPCs and important characters live here. If the player wants to understand the world and create her own character image, she has to let Frey interact with these characters, and you will find that through her interaction with these people, Frey herself is gradually growing."
Earth-shattering
This demo will put the best part into the finale, giving us a clear picture of how the whole world is deeply transformed in the corruption of fission. The deer we saw earlier will become more threatening and their appearance will become more distorted, and they will begin to show more metallic luster on their skin. Enemies have three different levels of corruption, and the more severe the corruption, the more gold and silver tones will be on the design, which also symbolizes different difficulties.
Today, we're in an area called The Untrodden Forest, which Luminous Productions calls "The Depths of Corruption." The blue sky and the colorful Avalette we had seen earlier vanished, and only a dark and gloomy mist enveloped the land. "Corruption Deep is what we call the Deep Discrepancies in each region," Mitsuno explains, "and everything looks more evil and dangerous."
The former castle town of Avoalet has been reduced to ruins, each area is affected differently by the rift and manifests itself in different qualities, and for Avoalet, everything is twisted and the whole city is tilted. It is now a vertical city for Frey to explore. Not only does this give people cool visuals, but it also provides plenty of magical parkour opportunities, and seeing this "distorted reality" unfold in this way is indeed an interesting transformation. But what really stunned us was the last cutscene.
We finally meet prav the witch and learn about Frey's character and the struggles she faces in acting as a hero in this strange world. The cutscene begins with a quarrel between Frey and Frey, who says she doesn't want to kill Prav, but Frey tries to instill a sense of guilt in Frey, reminding her that no one has the same abilities as her, that it is her mission to use them, and that if she doesn't solve Prav, the remnants of Asia will die. Frey's idea was that she might be able to persuade Prav to stop the rift, after all, she was a witch of justice.
When Frey meets Prav, both hands are chained to wooden shackles. Handcuffs gave us a brief introduction to Prav, saying that she could see through any lie, so lying was useless. The road to Prav is long, and two ruthless arbiters will lead us to trial. Prav is imposing and rhymes with every sentence. Frey was not cold about this, and directly complained, "If you are going to rhyme every sentence, you might as well kill me."
Prav wants Frey to be tried and questions her about her past behavior. Frey didn't want to be tried; she just wanted to negotiate with Prav. At this moment, Prav's words and deeds suddenly changed, and she began to roar, and each sentence added a sense of majesty to her. "I'm the questioner, and you're the answerer!" Do you understand?" The corrupt side has taken over her, which is terrifying.
Prav asks Frey how she plans to confess her guilt, and Frey is urged by the handcuffs to say that she is not guilty, and Prav shouts, "Lie!" And he rebelled against her by waterboarding. "Judgment of Water!" Prav laughed maniacally and sent Frey into the deep, dark blue water. The cutscene came to an abrupt end, and it was one of the most gripping segments we've seen so far, thanks in part to voice actor Pollyanna McIntosh's vivid interpretation of the image.
"The witch Prav is contradictory," McIntosh bluntly says, "she is a witch of justice, she used to be a fair and just ruler, but now because of the influence of the split, she has become a person who seeks revenge and is illogical." She's been battling her two faces, and that has finally pushed her to the brink of madness."
If this encounter is just the tip of the iceberg of the conflict scene in the story, then we can say that we are looking forward to the full content of the game. Luminous Productions may have a lot to prove itself on the new IP Forspoken, especially open-world design and distinctive storytelling, but this determination to challenge the SE status quo and strive for innovative change is hardly untenable. Time will tell if the efforts of this development team will pay off, at least for now our interest has been hooked.
Translated | Stark Young
Edit | Zoe