Featuring an open world that's traversable via magically enhanced parkour, Forspoken could finally deliver on the initial promise of Final Fantasy XV. It took a change in director, title and over a decade of time for Final Fantasy XV to finally release to overall favorable reviews. However, there are many who claim it simply did not live up to the hype or fully deliver on its promise.
Back when Final Fantasy XV was known as Final Fantasy Versus XIII, with Kingdom Hearts director Tetsuya Nomura at the helm, the initial trailer and interviews set certain expectations. Fans expected fluid, action-packed combat similar to what they had seen in the Kingdom Hearts series, within an open world that they could explore using the main protagonist's ability to teleport. On the surface, Final Fantasy XV seems to tick all the boxes of its premise. Yes, it's a more action-oriented experience, and the game features an open world. Yes, Noctis can teleport around the environment. But every box ticked comes with a caveat. Instead, Forspoken could be what fans always wanted from Final Fantasy XV.
All in all, Final Fantasy XV's combat is never as fluid or dynamic as it is in the Kingdom Hearts games. The game also stops being open-world after Chapter 9, and the truth is, Noctis never becomes nearly as agile as he seemed in the original Versus XIII trailer or even as agile as Kingdom Hearts' protagonists. This all left a bitter taste in the mouths of fans, especially those who had been keeping a close eye on the game's troubled development cycle. Fortunately, if Forspoken and even Final Fantasy XVI are any indication, Square Enix has not forgotten those fans but instead has decided to divide and conquer, fulfilling fan expectations with not just one game but several.
During a recent interview, Final Fantasy XVI director, Naoki Yoshida admitted that "in terms of whether Final Fantasy is successfully adapting to industry trends, I believe the series is currently struggling. We're now at a point where we receive a wide variety of requests regarding the direction of our game design. To be honest, it'd be impossible to satisfy all of those requests with a single title." This tells fans that Square Enix has perhaps gotten wise to feature creep and toned down its ambitions, spreading them across several projects rather than trying to create one perfect game to please everyone.
With combat that's almost reminiscent of Devil May Cry, Final Fantasy XVI seems to have the action-heavy combat part of the Final Fantasy XV promise covered. It's also dropped all pretense of having an open world to focus on individual area design instead, which is probably for the best. It has since fallen on Forspoken then, to fulfill the other parts of the promise, namely, the open world and fluid traversal through it. Even the development studio behind the game, Luminous Productions, was originally assembled to use Square Enix's proprietary engine to make Final Fantasy XV.
The use of the Luminous Engine isn't the only part of Versus XIII's DNA that lives on in Forspoken. Instead of Noctis' warping ability, a grappling hook-like spell lets Frey -- the game's protagonist -- zip around a fully open-world environment, which she can also swiftly run, jump and otherwise parkour her way through with ease. Footage has even shown her using an ice surfboard to travel on water, and if the now infamous ad is to be believed, she might even eventually gain the ability to fly, similar to the various Kingdom Hearts protagonists before her.
Suffice it to say, when Forspoken finally releases on Jan. 24, 2023, players can expect an action-adventure JRPG that differentiates itself by incorporating some western sensibilities and placing a heavy emphasis on agile traversal. Players can also expect a game that will perhaps scratch the power-trip itch that Versus XIII teased them with so many years ago.