Capping off today's first-ever Square Enix presents stream, the company revealed that the previously titled Project Athia will now be called Forspoken. While a silly name, at least we have something proper to call it instead of all the working titles the company has been fond of. Along with that proper title, it seems Forspoken will be shedding its previous PS5 exclusivity and is planned for a release on Sony's new console and PC's in 2022.
The game, itself, looks to be meshing the current day with the fantastical. We see a pretty modern-looking woman coming almost face to face with a dragon. A short snippet of gameplay looks incredibly similar to what was shown during Sony's PS5 gameplay reveal, which looks to be an evolution of the engine used in Final Fantasy XV.
The official website for the game reveals a few extra tidbits that the trailer didn't. "Thrust into the dangerous land of Athia, the young hero must learn to harness magical abilities to survive," reads the description. "She'll face many fearsome foes and overcome treacherous trials on a journey unlike any other."
The main character, Frey Holland, will be portrayed by actor Ella Balinska (who featured in 2019's Charlie's Angels reboot). Speaking on her role, Balinska said, "As the first video game I've worked on, it's remarkable to see the incredible world and story of Forspoken come together, blurring the lines between reality and fantasy."
Developer Luminous Productions touts the PS5's unique capabilities as what allowed the studio to bring Forspoken to life. It likely is referring to the super-fast SSD, which makes large-scale open-world titles load almost instantly. With PCs being equipped with similar tech, I wouldn't be surprised if that version requires an SSD to be playable.
Whatever the case, we're bound to learn more about Forspoken when Square Enix hosts its next presentation in the summer. The game does have some spectacular visuals and it seems lessons have been learned from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild's freeform design. It will be interesting to find out if there is any connection to Final Fantasy.
Source: Square Enix