Forspoken has been a commonly talked about video game leading up to its launch due to its trailers, seemingly questionable dialogue, flashy combat, and engaging open-world traversal. Just before launch, it received mixed reviews from various outlets.
Whether you think the game is good or bad, having played through it all, played only a little, or have only seen it through footage, every game has flaws, and there are always aspects that could be improved. Forspoken could go from the middling game it is to a genuinely great experience with a handful of adjustments.
8 Better Pacing
Although short, Forspoken's first three chapters are a real drag, taking its sweet time to set up the story and world before allowing you to traverse through the open world. Then, on the opposite side, it rushes to get out all the essential information in the chapters near the end instead of presenting it in more reasonable chunks over time.
Chapters are also very inconsistent in length, as some take an hour or more to complete, while others only take around 15 minutes. This raises the question of why these shorter chapters were their own chapters instead of being included as part of another. All separating them does is provide unnecessary padding.
7 More Background About Frey's Life In New York
We get limited information about how Frey's life has turned out before going to Athia, but it lacks details, so we only get to know her a little before she's thrust into the fantastical world. If we had gotten to know her better before she departed from Earth, it might have been easier for the audience to understand her personality better.
This would also allow Frey to parkour around New York more, so you would have more time with the basics before dealing with magical enhancements. Not only that, but it could have drip-fed hints of something magical happening as Frey ventured throughout the city instead of a portal opening up seemingly out of nowhere.
6 More Consistent Writing
Forspoken's dialogue has been a hot topic of debate. It has been compared to that heard in more well-received games and the various media within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. For some, these comparisons are used to justify it, while for others, it's grating to hear that dialogue somewhere else, and then some claim these are bad comparisons.
The dialogue also fluctuates in quality, as some is understandable when examining Frey's reaction to her dilemma. Simultaneously, other moments seem entirely out of character for her, Cuff, and a few others depending on the situation. Doing more to let us know these characters better over time and writing their personalities more consistently would significantly improve Forspoken's basic story.
5 More Enemy Variety
While it's fun to traverse around the vast open world of Athia, its lack of enemy variety leaves something to be desired. There are different types of enemies with various weaknesses, but as soon as you figure out what kind of magic they're weak to, it becomes easy to take them down, even after bulkier enemies are introduced.
When there are hordes of different enemies clustered together, it encourages you to switch between magic types, but Frey typically does enough damage that you don't have to. None of these enemies keep you on your toes, even with various weaknesses, so you don't have to change your attack strategy much, either.
4 Saving During Event Scenes
Between cutscenes, there are brief moments of gameplay called Event Scenes, which may have Frey walking from one destination to another or have her stay in one area. Saving is not allowed during Event Scenes despite them providing the perfect opportunity to do so.
Being able to save during these types of moments isn't even an uncommon feature, as it has been possible in a variety of games for well over a decade. Hence, it's baffling that this would be excluded from a PlayStation 5 console-exclusive game, particularly when there are still plenty of similar spots that do allow saving.
3 Graphical Improvements
Despite flashy combat and some cool enemy designs, Forspoken's graphics don't seem to be up to par with other recent big-budget PlayStation 5 and PC games, looking more like something that would have been released around a decade ago.
Between blurry textures, odd NPC faces, and frame rate changes that don't improve much, Forspoken's graphics could use an upgrade. Whether this can improve over time through updates or require some kind of enhanced edition is unclear, but anything that can improve Forspoken's graphics to be on par with its contemporaries would help make it a better game.
2 Free Movement At All Times
Another odd design choice in Forspoken is that there are brief moments where you can't move around as freely as usual, even though it's so integral to the game. There will be chats between Frey and Cuff where Frey can ask Cuff questions about Athia or recent events, but Frey can't even walk normally during these chats, standing still instead.
In the main city of Cipal, with some exceptions depending on the chapter, Frey cannot use magical parkour to move throughout the city faster. Frey's regular parkour is still possible but only helps a little in the multilevel area. It can also be tedious when accepting and completing side quests for the citizens of Cipal.
1 More Accessibility Options
Forspoken has several accessibility options but could always use more. Since movement is a main crux of the game, an auto-run feature, and auto-hook while out in the open world, could help those who may have a slow reaction time or prefer not to hold a button down for extended periods.
Because some lore is vital to Forspoken's story, Frey must glimpse some of it. While some don't mind reading, for those that do as well as those who have trouble with on-screen text, there should be optional narration from Cuff. It would also make sense story-wise since Frey is just starting to learn how to read Athian.