Square Enix's Forspoken is one of the greatest new games of 2023, but its journey to release has been a bit rocky. Not only did many previews (including our own) highlight some of the game's major early flaws, but many websites have reported that they did not receive an early review code.
Forspoken's reviews are mixed at the moment, with the trend toward a little negative. Most of that praise is tempered by the reality that some of Forspoken's shortcomings are not readily apparent. Other publications have also been more concerned with these issues.
Forspoken has a score of 68 Metacritic and a 69 OpenCritic at the time of this writing. Those scores are likely to change in some way or the other as more reviews surface, but here's what some early reviewers are saying about the title.
Michael Damiani, Easy Allies:
“Forspoken emerges as a solid new IP. It does have its flaws, but the longer you stay in Athia, the more its world draws you in with its enticing combat and the simple pleasure of freely crossing massive environments with spellbinding abilities.”
Score: 8/10
Kyle Hilliard, Game Informer:
"Forspoken's narrative and combat fail to reach the heights of its movement and exploration, but thankfully those two latter elements make up the majority of the experience." I now have a vast world of hidden treasures and secrets that I'm eager to explore.
Score: 7.5/10
Variety: George Yang
Forspoken is a fun adventure despite its pacing issues, and the designers nailed Frey's parkour abilities and magic spells in the game's many collectibles. There's a lot of potential in Frey's character and Athia's lore that might make for more compelling stories."
Score: Unscored
IGN: Tom Marks
“Forspoken is a game you've probably heard before, from its typical fish-out-of-water fantasy story to its extensive open-world map with repetitive optional tasks. Its combat is fun and flashy enough to keep you interested throughout its brief RPG campaign, even if the overall collection of enemies isn't particularly impressive. There's a sort of person that might be enough for, willing to spend hours and hours uncovering every inch of Forspoken's ridiculous map after the main story.
Score: 6/10
Jordan Helm, a hardcore gamer, says it's "not that difficult."
"Where Forspoken should have been a striking and appealing fresh start for Luminous Productions, the end result sadly is a game that is not only unpolished, but also lacks a reason to care about its ongoing mystery." At times, it's what Luminous have for a game that ends up being the real let-down over a sub-twenty-hour adventure. Forspoken is stuck in a regressive, backward-thinking strategy that eventually fails.
Score: 2/5