The team working on Forspoken is aiming to achieve the best visuals ever seen in an open world game upon the title's release. Forspoken was first announced in June 2020 at a PlayStation 5 reveal event. At that time, however, it was simply known as Project Athia.
After a prolonged period of silence from developer Luminous Productions (a subsidiary of Square Enix), it was finally revealed that Project Athia was officially named Forspoken in March 2021. Here, actress Ella Balinska, famous for her role in 2019s reboot of Charlie’s Angels, revealed that she will star as Frey Holland in Forspoken. While little details about the actual story were given away, Balinska did also reveal a new clip from the game, which saw Frey hiding from the unexpected arrival of a dragon.
Since then, nothing more has been heard regarding Forspoken. However, in a new video from AMD, Takashi Aramaki, Studio Head and General Manager at Luminous Productions, revealed that the company is “aiming to achieve the highest quality visuals ever seen in an open world game” when Forspoken releases in 2022. Aramaki states that the studio’s vision is to “… create games unlike anything ever experienced before” and that the developers will do this by combining the latest advancements in technology with art. This will include “high frame rates at 4k” to allow for the best possible player experience.
While there is still not much known about the plot of Forspoken, there have already been several theories bounced around the internet about what is going on. In the trailers revealed so far, Frey has found herself in a “world not her own”. The protagonist is dressed in sneakers that do not lend themselves to being an original part of the environment that she is in, leading many to predict that she has come to this mysterious land of Athia through some sort of portal. Thus far, she is also the only human to have been shown existing in this strange and monster-laden land (although a bodiless voice does appear to offer some sort of companion or guide role when Frey is hiding from the aforementioned dragon).
With 2021 now marching on confidently towards Forspoken’s 2022 release date, however, more details will likely be revealed soon. So far, though, Forspoken already looks set to be another excellent addition to the libraries of PlayStation 5 owners. Its various trailers showing off the game’s open world map have already teased several exciting locations to explore, while the traversal itself appears smooth and swift. As for the monsters that will be encountered when Forspoken finally releases, they already appear to be both terrifying and beautiful in equal measure. If the developers can fulfill their lofty ambitions toward the game's appearance, it should be a real gem.
Forspoken will be available on PS5 and PC in 2022.
Source: AMD/YouTube