A new Gameplay Showcase of Square Enix’s upcoming magical RPG Forspoken has revealed new details about the game, including an illusory segment which places hero Frey Holland in a modern recreation of New York City. While teaser images and videos of the game’s setting have depicted a traditional high fantasy world of Athia, this is the first good look we’re getting at the main character in her hometown, however real it may be.
Although the 11-minute video (which is hidden behind an age restriction but can be viewed here on Square Enix’s YouTube Channel) does not touch on New York until the final segment, Ella Belinska, the voice actor portraying Frey in the game, drops a reference to the Big Apple in her opening introduction. She calls Frey “a young New Yorker unwittingly thrust into an incredible journey of magical fantasy and self discovery.”
Starting around the eight-minute mark, Bellinska explains the section of the game involving the modern setting is the result of Frey trying to find her way home and an enemy “using this desperation to their sinister advantage.” Tanta Olas, one of Forspoken’s antagonists, utilizes illusion magic to try to convince her that she’s made the journey home. “To Frey, it sure looks like her beloved hometown, but some things aren’t quite as they seem.”
The video shows off a familiar skyline and Frey walking through a busy urban environment, but as she sits down at an outdoor café with a familiar face, she begins to realize holes in the illusion, which starts disintegrating all around her, as a gift box, buildings, and people on the street start breaking apart into green rectangular shards. After calling out Olas, the illusionist appears, and Frey is shown using her magical parkour skills to try to escape the illusory prison.
While it isn’t clear just how much of the game will take place in the illusion, the Gameplay Showcase also depicts Frey using an array of combat magic in other scenarios. The opening segment depicts a detailed boss fight with another of the game’s antagonists, complete with plenty of cinematic segments, and another section takes her into the wilderness, where she must face off against massive beasts corrupted by “a devestating blight” known as The Break.
Square Enix is far from done promoting the upcoming RPG. A playable demo is now live on PlayStation 5, and an official live stream on Twitch is scheduled for Monday, December 12, at 7 PM GMT, 2 PM ET, and 11 AM PT. The stream is scheduled to include more gameplay footage, a Q&A session with fans, and signed poster giveaways. Forspoken is scheduled for release January 24 on PlayStation 5 and PC.
