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Forspoken delayed to October, so keep playing Elden Ring

By Otto Kratky Updated March 16, 2022

Forspoken, Square Enix’s upcoming title, has been delayed by five months to October 11, 2022. The game was originally slated to release on May 24 and would have been one of this spring’s biggest releases.

https://twitter.com/Forspoken/status/1500863854359846913?t=-RLtOG9Q-5LgJbCnmO4R1w&s=19

In a post on the game’s official Twitter account, the game’s developer, Luminous Productions, wrote: “Our vision for this exciting new IP is to deliver a game world and hero that gamers across the globe will want to experience for years to come, so getting it right is extremely important to us. To that end, during the next few months, we will focus all of our efforts on polishing the game and can’t wait for you to experience Frey’s journey this fall.”

When it launches this October, Forspoken will also be console exclusive, although just for a limited time. The game will be released simultaneously on PS5 and PC and will remain available on only those two platforms for a whopping 24 months. After that, players can expect the game to be released on other platforms, although realistically, it will likely only come out on Xbox Series X as well.

It shouldn’t be much of a surprise that Forspoken has been delayed. Square Enix has kept the game largely under wraps over the course of the past few months leading up to its former release date. However, the game’s delay also leaves the publisher’s midyear release schedule feeling light. Square Enix’s next release is Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, which is set to launch on March 18.

Thankfully, nobody should be starved for games by the time May rolls around, especially with Glover heading to PC on April 20. Oh, and there’s always Elden Ring.

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Otto Kratky is a freelance writer with many homes. You can find his work at Digital Trends, GameSpot, and Gamepur. If he's…

Gaming

Forspoken cloaks: all cloak locations and abilities

Frey uses fire magic in Forspoken.

Frey is from New York, but she can't wear her normal attire for long once she's whisked away into the fantasy world of Athia. Among Frey's new duds is her flowing cloak. Aside from looking awesome, this is one piece of gear in Forspoken that you can swap out and upgrade for stat buffs. It may not seem like a particularly strong armor piece, but once you see how much a good cloak can improve your abilities, you'll be glad to know how to get them all.
What cloaks do

Cloaks serve as Frey's primary piece of gear, along with necklaces and nail designs. They give different stat boosts, can be upgraded, and have a nice visual flair too. You will get them through a variety of tasks, such as defeating bosses, found in the world, and completing quests.
All cloaks, what they do, and how to get them

Computing

I can’t believe I’m recommending Forspoken on PS5 over PC

Frey using magic in Forspoken.

I'll almost always recommend a PC release over a console release. You have access to more graphics options, more opportunities to optimize your performance, and a community-driven support system for modifying or repairing your games. That's especially true as the current generation of consoles begin to show their age.

But there is still an unsung advantage of playing games on console over a PC, and Square Enix's Forspoken brings that advantage the PS5 has over PC into the spotlight.
Forspoken on PS5
Forspoken PS5 Quality vs. Performance vs. Ray Tracing

Gaming

Despite divisive dialogue, Forspoken gets a lot right about open-world games

Frey jumps in a magical New York City in Forspoken.

Games can learn a lot from Forspoken’s traversal mechanics, but you probably wouldn't glean that from the discussion surrounding it right now.
A lot of the chatter around Forspoken has been quite negative due to its lackluster story, but there are still things that the Square Enix and Luminous Productions game does quite well. Primarily, exploring the vast and beautiful open world of Athia is quite enjoyable because of all the helpful mobility options Frey has at her disposal. As Forspoken does some critical aspects of gameplay well, it’s a shame that the conversation surrounding it primarily focuses on the shortcomings of the game’s writing.
Forspoken Deep Dive | Exploring Athia
Yes, the story pacing and writing are its weak point, but that’s also not the only thing Forspoken has to offer. Good or bad, every game brings something to the table that both developers and players can learn from. The whole industry would benefit if we were willing to engage with what works in games like Forspoken as much as we discuss what doesn't.
What Forspoken gets right
After slogging through several hours of linear story content, Forspoken finally opens up, and players can truly get a feel for its traversal mechanics and its open world. That’s when they’ll discover the game’s real magic. Frey feels weighty like a human character would in a game like Uncharted, but can reach higher speeds by dashing around with her Flow ability.
This gives the game a great sense of momentum, as every step feels satisfying and powerful as Frey speeds up. She’ll naturally parkour over smaller objects too, so forward movement isn’t inhibited by the environment too often. This only becomes more of the case as the game continues, as players can eventually unlock magical abilities like Zip to grapple or swing upwards, Glide to surf across the water, and Float to glide and break Frey’s fall in the air.
Forspoken makes traversal more involved than just pushing forward and holding the circle button. As part of open-world exploration, players can encounter Fountains that will give them abilities like Soar, Shimmy, Rush, and Scale. These give players movement boosts like more jumps or a momentary speed boost if they time button presses correctly. While it’s only a recurring timed button press, it adds some depth to traversal that ensures that the player will pay attention to the game and everything they see in its world.

The only thing holding a player’s movement back is the stamina bar and the number of skills Frey has at her disposal. Even then, that helps pace out explorations and gives players a tangible feeling of progression as it increases throughout the game, making them feel quite strong. At its best, Forspoken is actually a lot like the imaginary AAA Avatar: The Last Airbender game that I’ve always wanted, using multiple element-based abilities to feel powerful as I traversed its large landscapes.
Couple all of that with a satisfying open-world design that ensures that you’ll always gain something useful from whatever you encounter, and Forspoken’s traversal and open-world mechanics become something that other games can learn from.
Give games a chance
Because Forspoken is frontloaded with a focus on its divisive story and dialogue, the gameplay aspects of it aren’t getting the time of day they deserve currently. And as it's an open-world action-adventure RPG, it's a pretty big oversight to not consider what the playable aspect of this game does quite well because of a couple of awkward banter exchanges, some of which are optional.