Forspoken has been hotly anticipated, though it has seen a few delays. It is currently slated for an early 2023 release, and hopefully the long wait will be worth it. The game shows potential thanks to the strong team behind it, though some gamers are still apprehensive about whether Luminous Productions will be able to pull off its ambitious project.
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Bigger Isn’t Always Better
Final Fantasy 15 sports an impressively large open world, and everywhere one looks there are curious structures in the distance and landmarks waiting to be explored. It is a dangerous world where monsters lurk, but is also one filled with interesting characters with fairly complex backstories. Eos is far too large to travel on foot, but luckily Noctis and his friends have the sleek Regalia to ride in, which makes traversal a sightseeing adventure.
Exploring the open world is made even more fun by the fact that Noctis is accompanied by his friends, making the journey feel like an epic road trip. With Prompto, Gladiolus, and Ignis at his side, Noctis is ready to take on whatever dangers may come his way, and through the outdoor camping and photos they take, players inevitably grow a strong bond with their team. Although the open world is a beautiful and inviting one, it does have many flaws, with the most obvious being its emptiness.
Players can go for long stretches without seeing or interacting with anything of note, and after a few hours of gameplay, it becomes apparent that huge swaths of the map are merely rocky plains and patches of grass. It gets monotonous very quickly and the desire to explore is extinguished. Forspoken appears to also have an impressively vast world, which means it runs the risk of falling into the same pitfall as Final Fantasy 15. To prevent this, developers should ensure Athia is populated with enough monsters, settlements, and things to discover so that exploration never becomes a chore.
Forspoken Shouldn’t Rely On DLCs
Although Final Fantasy 15 has its fair share of fans, it also faced quite a bit of criticism upon release and in the months and years that followed. One of the issues constantly brought up by fans is that the main game feels incomplete and that it relies far too much on DLC to fill in the blanks. Each of Noctis’ friends received DLCs expanding their stories, and there is a prequel focused on Ardyn. Though the DLC expands the main game, it left some gamers feeling like they had to pay extra to experience the entire story.
It has already been revealed that Forspoken will have DLC, with the first being In Tanta We Trust. Though details surrounding the DLC have not been revealed, the name suggests it will be connected to the Tantas, who are the main antagonists of the upcoming. While additional content on its own is not a bad thing, Luminous Productions should take care to not overdo it, especially if the expansions will have a price tag attached to them.
The connection between Final Fantasy 15 and Forspoken makes comparisons between the two impossible to avoid. However, this does not mean that Forspoken should be a clone of FF15. Instead, it can learn from its mistakes and strive to be a better game in all dimensions.
Forspoken is scheduled to release on January 24, 2023, on PC and PS5.
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