Forspoken - Worth Spending Over 50 HOURS On? (Review)

Today, we will be looking at Forspoken for what it's really worth, going over everything from the original announcement, events leading up to release and the very not-so-great (except if you love memes) launch of the game!
Forspoken is widely regarded as one of the worst games of the last few years, but listening to people on the internet about what is good or not isn't always the best idea, especially when their opinion might be influenced by a general conception even before THEY get to play it (Except for me, listen to me). So let's see if Forspoken is really as bad as people say, or if it just takes a deeper look to see what lies underneath the memes and cringe!
🕘Timestamps:
0:00 SEGA - Now With More Crime!
0:48 Why did Forspoken fail? - Trailers, Pre-Release Memes & Hate
4:50 How to Stop Wasting Time (and Food) - Hello Fresh Sponsor
7:43 Presentation - The First Hour of Forspoken
10:40 The Presentation Of Forspoken - Story, Graphics & Sound
22:15 The Gameplay of Forspoken - Magic, Traversal, MSQ, Items & Side-Activities
40:00 Is Forspoken WORTH Putting On YOUR Backlog?
The style of this video is similar to Scott the Woz and Arlo in parts. A large influence on this series has come from content creators like The Completionist and Spawn Wave.
📈 Which Game Do YOU Want To See Reviewed Next? 📉
|||||||||..................... 27% ⭐ Phantasy Star yt.strms.net/zQ3Nl
||||||||...................... 25% ⭐ Earthbound Beginnings yt.strms.net/mBSrU
|||||||||..................... 29% ⭐ Jet Force Gemini yt.strms.net/L1py0
||||||........................ 19% ⭐ Mario Golf 64 yt.strms.net/GmxGZ
📊 What's The Next Game We Should Play On Stream?📊
||||||||...................... 25% ⭐ Little Nightmares yt.strms.net/tULqD
||||||||...................... 23% ⭐ Resident Evil 0 yt.strms.net/pD7pm
||||||........................ 19% ⭐ Ashen yt.strms.net/0pzBO
||||||||||.................... 32% ⭐ Danganronpa yt.strms.net/nReMF
🚩Enjoy My Content? Click Here To Help Me Reach The Current Subscriber Goal:
bit.ly/InoujisKZbin
||||||||||||||| 60% |||............ 3K/5K
💌HUGE Thanks to our latest Subscriber 🤫Anonymous🤫!
🎯If you want to help support the Channel AND get some cool perks by doing so, consider becoming a Member! Check out this link for more infos:
vod.strms.net/j/UC7ez4QwnIjg_...
||||||||||||||| 80% |||||||||...... 12/15
💌HUGE Thanks to our latest Member VoidR! - Backlogger
🎁Wanna Join The Backlog Project Community? Join the Discord today and get in on all the talk happening in and around the channel with this link / discord
📻 Current Discord Members Goal:
||||||||||||||| 78% |||||||||...... 47/60
📹 Check Out the Channel:
bit.ly/InoujisKZbin
🎮 See the MASSIVE backlog:
bit.ly/TheBacklogProject
==================== What Is The Backlog Project? ====================
Everybody has it: A gaming backlog. The pile of shame - A gigantic list of games, bought but never touched, that is constantly nagging at your conscience. For some, this is a steam account full of games you got on several sales because you'll 'get to it eventually' - for others, it's a literal pile of physical media lying around in their house. For me, it was both.
The bigger this backlog got, the more I started to think if I even needed to buy new games, or older titles that were on a great sale, since I knew I wouldn't play most of them any time soon. But hype is contagious, so I continued to buy - wanting to play all those games at some point.
Well, I still do, and by playing through the world's biggest backlog, I'll help YOU to decide on which games are actually worth putting on YOURS. Because not all games are made equal, and sometimes you just need someone else to suffer through them to save you the pain - and maybe give you enjoyment in their suffering.
You might think 'I don't even care about that many games, just show me the ones I wanna see' and you are completely right about that! Which is why YOU get to decide which game is next on the review list for The Backlog Project - Just vote on the poll linked on top of the description and get the game you want to see featured next on the series!
============================ SOCIAL ============================
👾Twitch: / inouji
💬TikTok: / inouji_official
👥Instagram: / inouji_official
🐦Twitter: / inouji_official
🍿MyAnimeList: myanimelist.net/profile/Inouji
#forspoken #review #gaming

[@inouji]

Vooosh! Don't forget to check the video description for the poll for the next game to be reviewed! There's a new one each week, so it pays to come back once in a while!

[@donovanallen9793]

I have no words.. an actual review, thank you thank you. This product was the last infamous, prototype mixed with spellbreak game for me we’ll never get again. There isn’t any amount of cringe dialogue and bad press that can ruin the atmosphere, tone, and gameplay of this gem. And Whenever I play a game with great mechanics but can’t deliver to immerse me with dialogue, I just create my own narrative lol.

[@inouji]

Hey Donovan, really glad you enjoyed the video! :) I really hope Square Enix, even if they don't continue the IP, see the good points of the game and put these features to use in future titles!

[@Mykahaia]

In no way this comes even close to Infamous or Prototype in terms of mechanincs...movement and combat is way better in both of those games...they were almost all made more than a decade ago...But I agree that's what they sold in the trailers...

[@Evanz111]

It’s refreshing seeing a reviewer who actually seems to enjoy videogames review this. So many people seemed to loathe every minute spent and see it as a chore, as the game wasn’t the next God of War or Elden Ring. Too many people looked at elements in isolation and not the entire product as a whole, then just saw the game as sub-par and unremarkable.. Thanks so much for highlighting the other reviewers who just spammed R2 without using support spells or scanning and then said the combat is boring. That drove me crazy. I’m really grateful that you’re one of the few people who was open minded and decided to let themselves enjoy this game! It’s not a masterpiece, but it’s damn fun.

[@Evanz111]

Also it goes without saying: but this video earned an easy sub from me! Very glad that KZbin recommended this video to me. I love your style of commentary and presentation :)

[@inouji]

@@Evanz111 Oh wow it's Evanz! Super cool to see you here, I've been subbed to your channel for quite some time - never expected you to come across some of my stuff Also thanks for not only the sub, but especially the kind words! I really appreciate that and hearing something like this, especially from a creator I respect and watch, really made my day! I'm glad the game seems to be getting at least a bit of a second wind - as you said, it's not perfect, but it sure is fun to play and definitely deserves more people seeing beyond the memes and giving it a shot!

[@Evanz111]

@@inouji ​​⁠ ​​⁠ Hey wow, that’s an awesome coincidence! I’m genuinely impressed with the quality of your videos, and I had a lot more to say in my comment but didn’t want to give you a wall of text haha! I’m always really happy to see creators feel confident enough to see everyone saying one thing, but go in with an open mind, realise maybe there’s a lot of bias at play, then come out and challenge what people are saying & thinking. Honestly you’d have gotten a lot more views if decided to rip into the game, so it takes integrity to not do that and just do a proper review. Keep up the great work, looking forward to seeing more of your videos! I’m going through the Forspoken DLC atm, it’s got a lot of the same issues as the base game and powers you down quite a lot, but has the best explorable zone yet and fills in a big part of the lore with the Purge of the Rheddig!

[@corwinchapman8270]

cool video! i havent played it, but ill keep an eye out for it going on sale now for sure.

[@inouji]

Hey Corwin, sorry it took me so long to reply to this, had a busy few weeks that prevented me from tending to the channel! Really happy to hear you enjoyed the video! If you ever get around to trying the game out, I'd love to hear your opinion on it!

[@sovereigncrab8966]

your video quality was great, and it gets better still. this game I'd heard of folks downing on it hard, so I assumed it was just a bad game. it's good to be shown another perspective on it.

[@inouji]

Hey Crab, thanks for watching the video again - really glad to have you around here! As I said in the video, I can definitely see why people knocked it down, but there definitely are highly enjoyable aspects to it, so I wanted to give it a chance to shine a bit.

[@bullythebull260]

Great video! Very interesting

[@inouji]

Thank you Bully, very much appreciated!

[@OruAh]

Amazing in-depth review that perfectly sums up my experience with the game. Thanks for giving Forspoken a bit of deserved recognition.

[@inouji]

Thank YOU for watching the video, Oru! Really appreciate the kind words :)

[@Dinklr]

Ayo great video. also congrats on getting a sponsor that's epic. while I don't agree with all the parts of this review you have made this game look at least a little bit fun while still pointing out important criticism like the shit demo that 100% turned me off. there's two sides to every story and it's cool to see someone going against the internet hivemind(that I agree with in this instance) and share a well made honest review. Looking forward to the next video(which I think is ff2 right?)

[@inouji]

Thanks for being here, watching the video and even commenting, Dinklr! Yeah the Sponsor thing was actually what held the video back a few days, since there is more back-and-forth than I expected, but it was a great experience and working with Hello Fresh has been very good. They also allowed me to convey my honest impressions, so which was very important for me, because I don't want to promote a sponsor that I can't get behind. Also thanks for saying that about the video, really glad you enjoyed it! The next one actually won't be FF2, since we're a liiiiiittle (a lot) behind on the weekly reviews, due to this one taking so much time and all that private stuff that happened early in the year. So FF2 will be a few weeks out still, with Castlevania being next up on the list and then moving from there!

[@CodiMorphett]

So much technical talent here spent on this game and it's engine - unfortunately creative issues behind the scenes marred the story... There's room or improvement, side quests, better AI in some encounters, better environments for combat, etc. But a good portion of this team was certainly passionate about this project

[@fanrosefabrose9457]

It's strange that so much of the criticism for this game wasn't even for the gameplay but the dialogue and world building. Sure it's fair but it feels like nitpicking, consistently. I appreciate your balanced discussion and understanding, this game can easily be chalked up to Square Enix's inconsistency/shortcomings. Had the world/characters of forespoken been another installment of the kingdom hearts franchise the outrage wouldn't be nearly as awful

[@inouji]

Hey Rose, thank you for the kind words and watching the video! It honestly doesn't surprise me how most games are sequels or spin offs, when it is so hard to make a new IP successful and accepted by the existing audience. I completely agree that, had this game, especially the gameplay, been part of an existing series, it would've been a success.

[@astrasillage]

I love how excited you got about the cats, same here! :D I agree it's a relatively fun game, I loved the magic parkour and the spells. But somehow the game feels dated, maybe just with the sections in the city but it feels like a game from 2014 or something. I'm annoyed, it had so much potential. T_T The music is the biggest highlight for me, it's so good! I actually cried at the end section, after we learn the truth about what happened. When the last tanta shows you the memories and that beautiful music plays... ugh. I'm also annoyed at what they did with Cuff at the end, so much so that I'm contemplating writing fanfiction. :') He was so interesting.

[@inouji]

Hey Astra, thanks for being here and watching the video! I love cats, so I couldn't help but be happy to see them featured so prominently in the game! Shame they never really did anything with it - I would've loved to have them as combat pets or even just some sort of little feeding and cuddling minigame! Really glad you enjoyed your time with the game, even though it's not perfect! :)

[@marceltroscos6443]

Great Video, keep up the good work, love to see more in depth reviews like this one on newer games cute cat btw ;)

[@inouji]

I'll give my best! Thanks for the kind words Also meow

[@kazzykaz1981]

I was wondering why your new video took longer to come out, but now I know why. This is 100% your best video yet, even better than the Yakuza 0 video (and I say that as a giant Yakuza fan😅)! Really hyped to see your recent growth and with content like this, you’re sure to be big on KZbin in the future! Really glad I found this Channel, your videos are always fun to watch and make me want to play the games, even if I didn’t care for them before 😂

[@inouji]

Hey Kazzy, thanks for saying all of that, it really means a ton! Sorry the video took so long, I was hoping to put out some smaller videos in between but this one really took up almost all of my time. Glad it was worth the wait, at least! :)

[@MrMightyZ]

9 points for excellent use of language. (Plus one more point specifically for using the word “haughty”) You are a rare thing. A young person who uses language well and boldly. But naturally and confidently and humbly enough that you do not come across as haughty😁 This is crass but whenever my warrior-poet father came across a young’un like you he would command them to breed. If he’d had a drink or 2 he would point at you and say commandingly “Our language is besieged by laziness and mediocrity! It is your duty as a wordsmith to procreate in order to protect the utility, beauty and power of language in to the future now, get about it!” Then he would storm off. (Forgive him, it was a different time and he was joking at least partially. But he’s been gone for years now and he would weep at the state of our beautiful language if he listened to average KZbinrs today. But you’d’ve given him hope. Great work👍

[@inouji]

Thank you kindly! I do want to stress that, in the case of these videos, I have the inherent advantage of writing a script and being able to edit - which, of course, helps a lot in using language effectively. Your father sounds like a very fun person to be around and I feel honored that you brought him up. May he rest in peace and may we strive to live up his standard! (The breeding will have to wait, though 😁)

[@clintlechner4564]

This video is spot on in pretty much every aspect. One note - all modes on the PS5 were very smooth for me. The biggest issue is there's not enough of everything. The music is great but there's not much of it. There's a singular combat song, a singular song for environment changes, etc, etc. There's a few enemies but that's it. They aren't memorable, they aren't smart, they aren't challenging. The boss battles are simple to the point of ridiculous. I did not die once at a boss (other than one of the Tantas). This is a huge issue. For all that badass magic we are given, give us some challenging situation to use it in. The main story is stupidly short. 13 chapters with many of those chapters being boss fights or short scenes. You're left with a main story that is 10-12 hours. This could have and should have been twice as long. It all felt rushed. Ban, bam, bam, done. But oh is the combat and traversal simply amazing

[@inouji]

The smoothness depends a lot on when you played the game. Back when it launched, it was extremely rough on anything but Performance, so even though there is a patch now, I felt like I needed to include those aspects. I agree on everything you said except for the bosses - I don't find them simple at all. Actually, I thought they were well-designed throughout, just too easy. If they bumped up their health by like 50% and made them hit harder, the story bosses could've been a ton of fun to fight!

[@vicentesalasii1480]

While I'm not particularly the biggest fan of Reddit, it has its uses. I came across a great subreddit, just Google "How in the hell are people saying this game is 10 hours long?" r/Forspoken that has a spirited discourse on the subject. Most agreed that someone would really have to "straight-line" the main story quests, while barely touching any side quests/activities/detour exploration and on a lower difficulty setting with gameplay tweaks like auto-evade and decreased damage enabled to breeze through the main story that easily. But if you really take your time with it, soaking in all the sights, unlocking Labyrinths (Dungeons), gear hunting, grinding mana and objectives to level up magic, between main missions, it actually makes the experience more fulfilling. Anyways, anyone is entitled to play the story the way they'd like, but I just thought that was worth mentioning.

[@mikesales5339]

thank you for making this, it's the first review that isn't just "the game sucks don't get it" thank you.

[@inouji]

No thank YOU for this comment! Really, I'm just glad if some people give the game a bit of a chance after seeing the video.

[@AugustBurnsRedRyan]

Wow that’s rewarding review man you did a great job in depth review for game. Thank you 😊

[@inouji]

Thanks for saying that Ryan, really glad you enjoyed it!

[@VGM_Oscillo]

Coming from the point of view of somebody who was , in fact, pretty hyped on this game, leading up to it's release....that demo literally destroyed any hype I had, and the general press around the game at the time, wasn't really helping things....then performance issues...and that price tag. $70. Honestly, it's kind of a shame that they basically killed the game before it ever really had a chance, with that demo. Because the combat genuinely looks like there is some fun to be had. Even if I personally think that I likely wouldn't finish this game, I think I could at least get a few hours of fun out of it. I rarely finish games, to be honest, and this game looks like something I'd probably put down and never pick back up, but that's not an insult to the game really. It's an even bigger shame, that the damage has been done, and they'll probably wash their hands of this and never speak of it again...because if they could make a BETTER demo, and maybe drop the price to $49.99 (or something more fair...$70 seems like too much in my opinion) this game could easily get a second chance, and maybe people's opinions would turn around on it. Also if they fix the performance issues....lol Side note, congrats on 1.64k subs (at the time of this comment) and 3.9k views so far! (again, at time of comment!) You put a lot of work into this, and it really shows! Though, sometimes I wish you would have maybe used some more examples from the game when you'd talk about something. For instance, when talking about her dialogue, or a specific scene early in the game, it would have been nice to actually hear what you were talking about. But you know me, I have to be critical about something...otherwise it wouldn't be me. Also......holy crap this is long, man. Jeeze. lol

[@inouji]

Thanks for the detailed comment Oscillo! I think this game will have some sort of renaissance whenever it will get added to a subscription service or goes on a VERY deep sale, and lots of people get to check it out without having to spend tons of money on it. Word of mouth is already turning around, now that the social media hate has mostly stopped, so all it needs are people to actually play it and notice the good points. I get your criticism, and would like to include more pure game footage, but that could also lead to even more bloat - something I wanted to avoid with the video being as long as it is I'll keep it in mind for future videos, though!

[@symphonydmr]

What I don’t understand is they literally said the demo would be nothing like the game! They warned us! 🤣

[@clintlechner4564]

Doesn't matter. Don't put the demo out then. That was a horrible demo. It felt like they were actually torpedoing the game. I was extremely excited about Forspoken and that demo completely deflated me.

[@VGM_Oscillo]

@@clintlechner4564 I was the same way. It doesn't matter if they say the demo is nothing like the game. I have seen other demos that are different from the main game, but at least did a good job in making you feel awesome. Final Fantasy 15 Episode Duscae is a demo that I think is like, S Tier amazing. (Edited to fix the game name...whoops, thanks T.Valentine )

[@inouji]

I really don't get why they did that. They must've known the Demo would do more harm than good.

[@symphonydmr]

@@inouji you know how when you see a movie trailer now a days and it practically tells you the whole movie without even seeing it? Lmao I want to believe they did the demo like a trailer, but without giving everything away. Gave you the basics of learning how Frey operates/traverses and gives you an area to see their art/part of the world they created. They also let you fight enemies, which I believe is to give you an idea on her spell and her fighting system to give y’all an idea. I think they did that to keep it more of a surprise/makes you want to know more feeling when you actually play the full game. Try/see out the very basics without giving away the story and game…..or at least that’s my opinion 😊

[@inouji]

@@symphonydmr The problem is that the Demo didn't really confer the positive points of the game well, so many people never played the whole game BECAUSE of the demo. I think you might be right about their intentions, it just backfired pretty hard

[@mrt1208]

Felt like I was the only person loving this game. Sure the story is meh at points but I bought it for half price and wouldn’t have been mad at full price either. It’s actually good imo.

[@inouji]

I agree. I bought the game full price when it came out and couldn't play for a while after I got it. Still never regretted getting it and I would definitely do it again!

[@Masdrako]

You deserve so much more views the level of depth and context you brought to this review very little other reviewers go beyond like you. Thanks so much for the video

[@inouji]

Hey there! Thank you so much for the kind words Glad you enjoyed the video :)

[@majimbatheschmeckles]

The Max0r one got me

[@inouji]

Gotta aim for the highest peaks or something

[@jordangan3246]

I’m surprised nobody has mentioned Monica Barbaro’s (Phoenix from Top Gun Maverick) performance as Auden. She actually does a really convincing British accent and I legitimately thought she was either a different actor or actually British and was surprised to find that it’s actually her and that she’s American. She needs to do more voice acting as she was just that convincing.

[@inouji]

I loved Auden's character, and a good part of that was due to the great voice acting! I think I also said that in the video, but I would've liked for her (and some of the other supporting cast) to have a larger role in the story. They kind of fumbled a lot of potential interaction with some interesting characters with how they set up their narrative.

[@samq1004]

Bravo!👏An actual honest review of Forspoken. You have a new subscriber. I really enjoyed this game, include the In Tanta we Trust dlc. I'm so disappointed there probably won't be sequel.

[@inouji]

Hey Sam, thanks for the kind words and even a Sub - really means a lot! I haven't gotten around to playing the DLC yet, but once I do, I'll share my thoughts in another video

[@roses-castaway327]

Lol fr fr no one really gave it a chance it’s sad but true I’ve had fun playing this game since I’ve got it pre ordered and I still play 🤗

[@inouji]

Hey Roses, thanks for watching the video, I really appreciate you being here! Also really happy you're enjoying the game! Even if it's not perfect, it can be so much fun if you give it a chance and I'm glad I'm not the only one to think so

[@SoloBoardGamingKnight]

After hearing so many bad reviews, I held back and didn’t buy it on launch. This past week, it was on sale and I picked it up. The dialogue can be bad at times and cringy in some parts (the reviews were right about that but made a bigger deal out of it), however, the gameplay is awesome! I have thoroughly enjoyed the game and I’m glad I gave it a chance. Maybe if the writing would have been better for the protagonist the reception would’ve been different. With that written, it didn’t break the game. It doesn’t even bother me that much considering how fun the gameplay is. In a few years from now, people will be talking about how overlooked this game was due to the bad reviews. Something tells me people are going to enjoy it more in the future.

[@inouji]

Although I didn't find the dialogue to be bad, I can see how people would think that - I do absolutely agree on everything else you said, though. Looking forward to seeing how the game is perceived in a few years' time. Also, thanks for watching the video!

[@mrCHOUchou0097]

Fantastic video , thank you for actually reviewing the game , hopefully your review gets the recognition it deserves

[@inouji]

Hey there, thank you so much for the kind words and watching the video! Super happy to hear you enjoyed it!

[@Timberpelt]

Hello, I myself just finished playing The Forspoken demo and the game seems to have a very interesting premise. However, it is in a battle between hogwarts legacy and final fantasy sixteen for that open world fantasy game with magic combat of the year. The game is currently half off on sale. And I'm not sure whether or not I'm sold on it quite yet. I guess when Looking at it in the grand scheme of things, I could always just buy both games and purchase them.. The demo did feel a little overwhelming with under explanation of the core game mechanics, and it was kind of surprising to just be dropped into it without a tutorial that really goes in-depth on the controls and what abilities you have at that exact moment. But I feel like I could enjoy the experience. Just not really sure if it's worth it. I myself am a really big fan of open world games, I just recently started playing nier automata. I loved Elden ring. I loved final fantasy XV, and Breath of the Wild, and I'm just not 100%. Sure if this game is all up my alley but so far I have high hopes. I was incredibly confused when I tried looking up reviews of the game to see whether or not had some hidden fatal flaws. That would just be too much to go around but in the grand scheme of things, I mean, it's a $35 game on sale. And it's something that could entertain me for hours. I don't see why people make such a big deal out of some of these things sometimes. Thoughts are welcome, I want to learn more. Because this game is really interesting to me. After having played the demo, that is.

[@Timberpelt]

As an additional thought; I do enjoy gear focused RPG play, but what I noticed about forspoken? What with how you can customize traits for your gear? Is that they, as in the developers, wanted the player to be able to not only experiment with their gear and find something that works for them. But they also want you to be fashionable and wear the things that you like to the most. A comment I saw somewhere criticized how the gear wasn't really all too different from each other and it didn't matter what you wore and I think the reason behind it was just because if you like to sit specific cloak or necklace, you could just wear that all the time you just need to use. A little bit of resources to get the things that you want on it. I can't say for certain about the stats. That boost magic and/or your health and defense though. I'm not sure if that plays a super duper in Portland role but in the demo I was able to effectively triple the health of a specific cloak very quickly. And I'm pretty sure you could do the same thing for the others. And in the end, they all kind of reach the same stats, I'm sure.

[@inouji]

Hey Timberpelt! Thanks for checking out the video and asking for advice here, I hope I can help you in making a decent choice! While I think I answered most of your questions in the video itself, I do want to give you a bit of additional input to maybe clear some things up a bit more. I have played neither Hogwarts Legacy nor FFXVI yet, so I can't really speak to their quality in comparison to Forspoken - from what I heard, though, FFXVI at least is a good deal better overall and doesn't share some of the more glaring problems that Forspoken had. However, I do still think that Forspoken is a decent buy, especially at half off! Personally, I believe that most of the game's problems were a bit overplayed and the game itself, from a gameplay-perspective, is more than fun enough to justify a purchase. The combat is fun and the enemies, while not comparable to Elden Ring or other Souls games, offer decent variety and require some amount of strategy to fight on higher difficulties. The open world is.. not that great, to be honest. There's enough to do and visually it's very interesting and grand, but I would be lying if I said it was a lot more creative than your average Ubisoft title in its open world execution. If you can see yourself having fun with the combat and traversal in a great looking and sounding, but very safely-played open world, I can definitely recommend the game to you! Regarding the gear: I see your point and can agree on that. It's not really super important what you wear, and you can modify your gear enough that it becomes even less of an issue. I personally would've liked a bit of a deeper gearing system, but I'm a classic JRPG nerd and this isn't really the game for that, so I was personally more than fine with how they solved the 'issue'.

[@Timberpelt]

@inouji Hey there thanks for the reply! I looked at the other comments to glean some extra information, And I had only written this when I was about halfway through the video, sorry about that. Sometimes I get side tracked and forget to finish a video so I wrote this comment just in case. Thanks for your input!

[@HiCZoK]

I absolutely love this game. The atmosphere, combat, parkour and music on safe house? Yes. And the game was patched a ton. Better graphics and performance. Even cats run around with you!

[@inouji]

Oh god the cats are amazing I would’ve loved if they did some more stuff with them

[@NeoN-PeoN]

I just don't see how a single player RPG can have shit dialogue.

[@inouji]

In my opinion, it certainly can. But I wouldn't classify Forspoken's dialogue as generally bad. It doesn't always hit the mark but I think it's also not as bad as people often make it out to be.

[@o0sl1msh4dy0o]

Thanks, a lot. I have watched at aleast a dozen review videos, and I was still undecisive on whether or not to get forspoken now that it's on sale on the PS digital shop. You have absolutely convinced me :) great job with the video!

[@inouji]

Hey there, sorry for the late answer but I just wanted to thank you for the kind words and I hope you‘ve been having some fun with the game! :)

[@o0sl1msh4dy0o]

@@inouji Thank you! Loving it 😉

[@Usagizaka46]

I’ve never, ever once seen this game in a good light. Something happened recently that’s made me question the opinions of others and as a result, I’m a bit more open minded. Thanks to you, I will be checking out the demo of this. I do expect the writing to be horrendous but the MC’s behavior is pretty on point for a New Yorker.

[@inouji]

Would love to know if you ever did try it out and what your thoughts were!

[@Usagizaka46]

@@inouji hi. I did try the demo. The gameplay isn’t unbearable but I didn’t particularly enjoy it. I didn’t outright hate it either. I also swapped the language to French.

[@inouji]

@@Usagizaka46 thanks for getting back to me on this. Also props for being honest and giving the game a shot - being open like this goes a long way to find new cool stuff to enjoy, even if it doesn’t always work out :)

[@Tsumefan2]

you know when cuff first spoke i was like omg is he going to be the bad guy at the end?

[@inouji]

Might be on to something there...

[@LuisCarlos190]

Thanks for this. So many bad reviews out there gives me a reason to try the game and oh booy. Perhaps is not the greatest game of all time but im in love with him.

[@inouji]

Hey Luis, thanks for the kind words! Glad to hear you're enjoying the game!

[@jameswalton5896]

Wow I should have explored more because some of the enemies on here I didn’t see or face 😮

[@ICDedPeplArisen]

Yeah this game was rough. Despite that, I really enjoyed my time with it and I play it from time to time just to dash around the map completing random quests. Now that I took in all the story, I'm doing a new play through and skipping the lackluster exposition parts. Main things I disliked was the super slow story progression which includes cutscenes, walking to cutscenes with long patches of no gameplay (especially the sheep), the weird dialogue at times. What I liked was the combat and traversal. The map is also very beautiful, idk why people say it has no art direction. Each of the areas have a specific look to them and theres no mistaking between them. The graphics are also amazing but I don't feel they warrant how demanding the game is, especially during launch. The devs did provide a huge patch that did fix a lot of performance issues, but it could definitely run better. Can't wait for the DLC coming in May hopefully they also provide performance optimizations as well.

[@inouji]

I think the DLC has a lot of potential, since it takes place before the Break. Really looking forward to seeing how this one turns out, it could give the game a much needed second wind!

[@aniken6877]

If I was thrown into another world and develop magical powers, and was told that I was the only one to stop the destruction of the land. “Yay D&D woohoo, oh god I’m gonna die.”

[@inouji]

worth the 10 seconds of greatness

[@Oceanstalker]

I couldn't agree more. A game does not need to be a 9 or 10 to be fun and valuable. And fuck if the story's not deep or cringy, it got it's message across and it's still good to read through. People talk about her being ego-centric but she actually have some positive traits that were brought to light, like displaying remorse for her actions, and the fact that they deliberately bush passed them say A LOT MORE about them then her! Hypocrites!!

[@inouji]

While I agree that Frey is well-written, I wouldn't go as far as calling people with a different opinion hypocrites. Although I do believe most people should've tried judging the character for themselves, instead of relying on internet opinions.

[@dib327]

When your game is a full price $100, it better be perfect or close to it. And what positive traits does Frey have exactly? She's constantly rude and aggressive towards innocent people for no reason.

[@vicentesalasii1480]

Yes!

[@briansmith2113]

@@dib327 she actaully isnt rude to innocent people through the game what did you play? people dropped their entire society on a stranger she responded with the enrgy she got and dint take from an authority she didnt even recognize. imagine being dropped in a random country and told you're the sole person that fights for them and then those same people try to charge you for fighting for them when you saw a kid being murdered. fuck all of them at that point lol.

[@briansmith2113]

@@inouji I stick with hypocrisy because so many people were defending cuff and swearing on the entire game and cuff outright admits to being verbally abusive the entire game lol

[@randomloverofcheese]

Bruh how are you going to compare the dialogue to something like She Hulk, which is literal bottom of the barrel garbage, and say no one complains about it? People have been shitting on MCU for ages now, and rightfully so.

[@inouji]

Hey Shcibby - First of all: thank you so much for watching the video! Second of all - I agree! This was a hyperbolic statement to make a point, but also (and mostly) just to lighten the mood a bit with a little gag. Going at it a bit more seriously, there are many examples in recent media that people don't seem to take nearly as badly, even though the tone is very similar. Take the recent Spider-Man 2 trailer, for example. I'm not comparing the games here, only the tone and 'maturity' of the dialogue - there's a lot of overlap, but people seem to be fine with it.

[@randomloverofcheese]

@@inouji I think you'll have to break it down for me with an example I don't think the tones really match

[@inouji]

@@randomloverofcheese My opinion on this seems to deviate a lot from the general public's, but as someone who has no connections or feelings of fandom for Spider-Man, the whole trailer screamed 'teenagers written by non-teenagers' to me, especially the interactions between Miles and his friend. Add to that Peter Parker following up with corny, angrily-cool lines - like his 'so do I' at the end - and I got a very similar impression as from Forspoken: easily taken out of context and not really hitting the notes it tries to hit. Maybe it's something that's totally 'Spider-Man' and I just don't get it, but that was my point with Forspoken. It's easy to misunderstand and misinterpret when you don't give it the time of day.

[@randomloverofcheese]

@Inouji I dunno man the writing in spiderman is not even comparable to Forspoken imo, having seen a playthrough of about half the game before I gave up. Also people didn't just not give the game the time of day, everyone who reviewed the game played through the entirety of it and still came to the same conclusion.

[@inouji]

@@randomloverofcheese I disagree on that, but this is ultimately just an opinion piece, so I won't argue on who's right or wrong here. But that's one thing that intrigues me so much about this game - I've seen people have wildly differing takes on it, especially now that the memes have died down a bit and some more people got to play it due to sales.

[@AzzyOhm]

I loved the review. It felt honest and non-biased. It came with praises, criticisms, AND SOLUTIONS (thank you for that!) Square has a habit of making a lot of their games feel the same when you play them, and I think they took a ton of inspiration from Forspoken and incorporated it into their next game FFXVI. I wish that the culture war online didn't kill the momentum of the game, but that's life. Not every Square game is going to be a banger. Not an amazing game, but a good game nonetheless!

[@inouji]

100% agree with everything you said Azzy! Also, no need to thank me - I'm just glad there are people like you around that enjoy my work, so thank YOU! In my opinion, there's enough negativity and hate in our everyday lives, no need to bring that into gaming, a hobby that is supposed to be a fun getaway from those exact problems.

[@mariobarbara2893]

Please don’t compare bad dialogue with bad dialogue(forspoken with she-hulk), specifically because she-hulk was criticized exactly because of it’s bad dialogue and script, and very very very hated on as much as forspoken.

[@inouji]

Hey Mario - thanks for watching the video and even taking the time to comment, I really appreciate it! I can see how my comparison might be a little off if you take it too seriously - it was mostly meant as a hyperbolic joke and reminder that much, much worse things exist in media. To clarify though: to me, as someone not into Marvel, most of the MCU movies & content I've seen hit a very similar tone as She-Hulk, even if not as badly executed. It feels like those franchises get away with it because they've had an established fanbase for centuries, and if they just came out today - like Forspoken did -, they would probably face similar ridicule.

[@mariobarbara2893]

@@inouji I can see your point now, thank you for taking the time to explain it :)

[@MrHellgate82]

Definitely buying this one when it goes on playstation store sale next time

[@inouji]

Great idea! Let me know your opinion on it after you've played it!

[@NickRichards]

It's on sale, $35 and dlc for $12.50

[@MrHellgate82]

@@NickRichards yeah I bought it 😉. I'm gonna play it some other time though, now it's Diablo 4 time

[@NickRichards]

@@MrHellgate82 awesome 😈 ⚔️

[@ZeroKitsunei]

It's crazy that you did an actual review and didn't just do a super cut of "cringe dialog."

[@inouji]

I think the game deserved that much. I hope you enjoyed it or at least got something out of the video :)

[@soulstech414]

For some reason the gaming community has gotten to the point where if a game isn't completely amazing than its automatically a 2/10 piece of shit.. and I don't get it. Whoever actually plays this game and says it's a 2/10 or says it's the worst game in years, is lying. It's a 6 or 7/10, I had a good time with it. I went into it just wanting a game with good action and fun traversal and I got exactly that.

[@inouji]

I think most people are just searching for the next thing to WOW them and anything that isn't that has a hard time even being given a decent shot. Real shame, but it's just how the modern world operates, I guess

[@timkitchen692]

The only people that claim that the way the characters talk isn't accurate to the age bracket of the characters all come from that generation. I had no knowledge of the game going in at all. No trailers, no pre-hype, just bought it based on the cover. I overall enjoyed the game but not enough to invest 50 + hours. 1 playthrough was enough for me.

[@mistrjt9213]

I wish that first dragon ate Frey.

[@inouji]

A true S-tier story

[@mistrjt9213]

If you like running around an unnecessarily ginormous map to collect thousands of little things, this game is for you. If you have to pay for a game, go for immortals of avium instead. The protagonist is cute and not obnoxious.

[@inouji]

I actually want to try that game out, it looks really fun. Will probably get it and make a video on it when it's a bit cheaper!

[@sweetpoison8470]

Decent video clip. Thanks for your effort. A simple example of misinterpretation 16:50 the fast load it's how the game runs on PC (if you have a decent machine). Here's a word of advice. Play the demo version on PC. If you are happy about the performance and combat go for the full game. It only gets better.

[@inouji]

Hey there sweetpoison! First of all, thank you for watching the video and even taking it apart like that - I appreciate any input! However, I do feel like I have to correct you here. First of all, my video is in no way made to inspire hate or anything like that - I don't even really know how you come to that conclusion just from me stating that the PS5 version loads very fast. Now, to the actual example you provided: I credited the loading itself, in correlation to the M.2 drive, to the PS5's tech because it is, in fact, one of the mainly advertised features of the console and I am glad to see it used properly. That doesn't mean I discredit the PC version, though. It just means I reviewed the game on PS5 (as a small channel, I don't really have the luxury to review a game on multiple platforms and compare the versions) and I was impressed by how smooth it was. If the PC version does it just as well, or potentially even better, that's great! When I wrote this review, however, the PC version, according to other sources and reviews, ran noticeably worse than the PS5 game. It might have changed since then - and that would be great - but it didn't back then. I am happy you seem to like the game, and so did I! I still can't see how I 'twist the perception of the game', though.

[@sweetpoison8470]

@@inouji I had a full list of comments loss by a power outage. Here is what I was about to mention. M2 drive has become a regular thing and is also at about same price with mechanical hdd and sata ssd. Advertising PS5 for the presence of well accessible technology is like advertising for extra shiny paint on the screws that holds the case. Marketing misdirection to ignore the presence of cheap CPU (sorry, AMD is a company build on lies and false advertising, same as nvidia). Shooting Frey on the street would had eliminate any chances to recover the stolen vehicle. So that part is actually covered by the story for those who have an open mind and didn't hear what they should see on the game. The game requirement is not that exaggerated and on a machine that cost me $1600 to build it (same price as a video card 4090) I manage to play the game capped at 60 FPS (no point to run the game higher than display refresh rate) and 1080p with all maxed out except fog, clouds, and no stupid RT which brings nothing good to justify the performance cost. Those are not empty words, I can provide footage of how the game looks and feels like on my machine. I'm impressed and pleased you mentioned the music. Well done. One aspect which was a source of hate is the dumb cutscenes. Well, there are not. A technical aspect of streaming assets game engines: choke points have to be placed in order to provide resources and time to build up shaders and load assets. Hated or not, there are much better than having loading screens. Overall, there are 2 story points where I think the developers could had been better. First, cheap food for the cat while having a bag full of money (I would never do that to my cats). Second, the constant desire to go back to NY. I found that motivation artificial and unjustified. Other than that, great story and Frey integrates perfectly in it. 21:30 that pause during dialogs is a result of multiple language support. The animation and timing is set to cover any language and it's much better than editing audio file and stretch it (I've seen that on different games and it's awful). And here's the influencer part and ho it works. Adding cricket sound to make the dialog gap noticeable. Now I notice the gap. That's where a review crossed the line and become a manipulative media. You wanted me to notice something which otherwise I was not aware and didn't bother me at all. And that what haters are doing on youtube, they want people to hate the game and they will do anything for that (rolling eyes, exaggerate reactions, out of context images and comments). This is a decent video and I apologise for exaggerated first reaction.

[@inouji]

@sweetpoison8470 First of all, thank you for taking the time to type all of this out. I do appreciate any input and critical conversation, especially if they're this well put together! I agree that an M2 isn't really all that mindbreaking for tech enthusiasts like us, but for the general audience that consoles tend to target, it's definitely a massive upgrade as opposed to the PS4's drive, so I don't really they're to fault when using it in their marketing. Also, marketing in general is used to sell stuff as well as possible, so buzzwords are just the norm and I don't really see that as a problem. I actually never thought about that angle of the shooting scene, but you might be onto something. I still think the whole presentation of Frey's character in that scene was dumb and made a bad early impression. I do believe you that you can run the game on your machine very well, and so can I with a beefy PC. The problem here is, as mentioned before, most people don't have that. Not to mention that even the system you brought up is more than thrice as expensive as a PS5. So I'm not saying the PC version is inferior, I'm just saying the PS5 version is impressive for the hardware it's on. Glad to see another cat lover! I was also a bit hurt when I saw Frey do that, but it's not really a plot point I thought too deeply about For your last point: guilty as charged. At least somewhat. I won't deny that I, like any Content Creator taking their work seriously, try to make my videos engaging, fun to watch and keep people on them as long as possible. It's, unfortunately, how KZbin - or media consumption in general - works nowadays. However, I think you took that whole joke a little too seriously. My goal here was never to manipulate people into hating the game - why would I, I liked it a lot - but to throw a bit of shade at a weirdly annoying quirk of the game that constantly stood out to me. I wanted that section to be funny, nothing more. Sorry that it didn't hit home with you. Anyways, I really do want to thank you for bringing up so many points of discussion and also for the apology at the end there. I want games, and the related media, to be a place where people can have fun, so I'm glad that we got to talk this out a bit in a peaceful manner.

[@matthewapril3119]

After seeing all this video and having been obsessed with FF16 for months. I cannot believe it, but based on your review, this game actually seems better than final fantasy 16. It least in terms of gameplay this game has way more to do. I actually wishlisted the game because of your video thanks. Hopefully after a massive sale (games are expensive and I'm cheap) hopefully I'll get to try this game.

[@RichieRK7]

I really enjoyed the lore and world building of this game, there were a lot of secrets..you just had to find them. I did not like the main character much because she was so "boohoo woe is me" but overall I enjoyed the games story/plot & gameplay.

[@inouji]

Glad to hear other people pick up on the qualities of the game! Also, thanks for watching the video Atlas, means a lot!

[@mattraffle4847]

I enjoyed it...playing the DLC now

[@inouji]

Glad to hear it, Matt! How's the DLC? I haven't found the time to give it a shot yet, but definitely will as soon as I can!

[@marcusbell-dixon4733]

The dlc was pretty good. I think its more of a reset before the make the the the sequel

[@inouji]

@@marcusbell-dixon4733 I'd love a sequel - gonna be interesting to see what happens with the franchise over the years

[@claymore1602]

If this was ported on PS4 for a decent price I'll consider it. Since it's on PS5 and PC I'm not touching it.

[@inouji]

I'd love for the game to be available to more people, but realistically, it probably won't come to PS4 =/

[@zerobob8586]

I had tons of fun with the combat. Its much better than I thought its would be.

[@inouji]

Glad to hear you enjoyed it!

[@jameswalton5896]

No wonder why the music is good in the game god of war tracks I can listen to all day

[@inouji]

Crazy to think that composers behind such monumental titles worked on this

[@MegaBloodrain]

This game had so much potential. The spell casting and combat mechanics were honestly some of the best I've played in a long time. You feel like a powerful elementalist, but it felt incomplete and left me wanting more, which can be a good thing depending on how you look at it.

[@inouji]

It did! I enjoyed the game for what it was, but it could definitely have been much more! I guess all we can do is hope that Square Enix gives the franchise a second chance and improves on the problems while expanding on what was already good.

[@TheProbori]

😢e0

[@Saftigersaftling]

I just realized its you😂😂😂 i just clicked on a random video and realized later ayo wait i think i knkw this voice

[@inouji]

Haha glad to hear my voice has a bit of staying power in peoples' brains Hope you enjoyed the video man, thanks for watching!

[@walkerofwind5371]

Give it a couple years ppl are gonna start doing retrospectives on it a start calling it gem.

[@inouji]

I can see that. Lots of people that might have genuinely enjoyed it didn't even bother to give it a shot due to the bad reputation.

[@calebmurphy8003]

Thank you for an honest review! I loved this game and thought it was 100% unique. I've been gaming for years and have played all types of games and this was a favorite. I didn't understand people saying the dialogue was "cringe" because it's exactly how I would have been. The sarcasm really hit home for me and the more lore you uncover about cuff, it just adds another layer of humor. Im so sad this game wont get a sequel because i'd love it so much

[@inouji]

Hey Caleb! I'm glad to see there are people like you out there that give the game a fair chance. It's certainly not perfect, but it can definitely be a lot of fun. I also think that a sequel is unlikely, but maybe we'll at least see some of the fun systems used in other Square Enix games in the future! Also thanks for watching the video, I really appreciate it!

[@HiCZoK]

Agreed! It’s a fantastic game and people hated it because it dared to be fun. It’s Japanese cringe. The good kind. But the music and atmosphere is so heartwarming. When you enter your safehouse with cats? Magic.

[@Eitachi5656]

I dunno, I feel like there were many hypocritical reviews going at this game. For example, you state that the "game shoves lore in your face" like NO other game does this... when it's the SAME EXACT thing games like Last of Us did. If I recall correctly, Last of Us opens with litteral lore shoved in your face when they show the intro cutscene where Joel's daughter dies. So, that was okay? but it's not okay here? I'm confused. Another thing that makes me feel like certain people are just bitching just to bitch about this game: The fact that she talks and curses in a medieval setting. Yeah okay, like YOU wouldn't be talking like we do in the modern age if YOU were somehow teleported into the past? Yeah YOU'D be talking old English just like everyone else.... Oh and cussing? yeah most people speak with cuss words thrown in randomly... is there ONE person out there that DOESN'T do it? Oh but it's bad when a video game does it? Addressing the open world emptyness. So have you ever, EVER played Zelda breath of the wild? or Skyrim? or The Witcher 3? they are ALL among the top rated games of all time.... and guess what? I've played and loved them all and also .... guess what? The open world in those games was empty AF too, ESPECIALLY in Zelda. It's actually TERRIBLE in Zelda BotW. Oh but it's okay in that game huh? still made it to one of the best games in video game history? okay. In most "reviews" I get the feeling what people dislike (and I don't know why... maybe I do but, I'm giving certain people the benefit of the doubt) is the fact that the protagonist is a black female. Let's see... ZElda BotW? White male protagonist (which I can't stand anymore btw, it's always, ALWAYS been this way, the white male protagonist is WAY overplayed by now) Skyrim? That one is neutral because you can make your own character. The Witcher 3? Pretty much a white male protagonist. The last of us? White male protagonist. Hmmm so pretty much there's an issue when there is a black female protagonist? I remember when Assassin's Creed Origins (a VERY good game that totally reformatted the AC games btw) was getting massive hate because the protagonist was black and not a white dude. See the trend here? It doesn't take a genius to see. I've played Forspoken, and its just a different story with the SAME sequence of story building like ANY other video game out there. The world, like ANY other open world out there is serviceable and enjoyable for what it is, like ANY other open world out there. The gameplay is actually REALLY fun if you decide NOT to follow what the sheep do and actually play for more than 10 minutes and unlock vastly different styles of gameplay. Overall the game is really enjoyable and fun for the time you spend playing. I didn't have any problems with Forspoken and actually enjoyed it very much. It's not different to MANY games out there and actually does a few things BETTER than games like it. I hope people don't miss out on how much fun the game is due to some hypocrisy floating around.

[@inouji]

Sorry if I misunderstand your comment, but the way I see what you're saying, you're just making general statements here, and aren't taking issues with what I said? Because I didn't say most of the things you're calling out here. I personally never played any of the games you mentioned here and tried to review Forspoken on its own merits and demerits, not comparing it to other games. Regarding the whole black female protagonist thing: to be honest, I couldn't care less about WHO I play in a game, as long as they're well-written or an otherwise fun character. Frey, for the most part, was fun to see develop and relatable enough to make me enjoy her journey, so I never even really thought about her gender or ethnicity during my time with the game. Besides that, I agree with most of what you said and hope my video is able to get a few more people to give the game a fair shot, because it deserves that and, especially around launch, didn't really get it. Also, thanks for watching the video, I really appreciate you being here, Eitachi!

[@justgamesandtoys]

I'd play it, if it comes to PS+

[@inouji]

Great idea! If it ever does, I'd love to hear what you thought of it after playing!

[@vicentesalasii1480]

Bravo, sir! This all needed to be said. The game is excellent and very beloved by its fans still continuing to enjoy it, myself included. Forspoken unapologetically dares to be bold, step outside of the box of conventions, and combine things that you traditionally don't find combined together in this type of genre. But just as history has shown us, time and time again, the initially rejected stones, the proverbial "black sheep" eventually become the cornerstones and set the standard for the next evolution of what is possible. Forspoken succeeds in introducing certain innovations previously unseen in the open world action/adventure RPG genre. What other game do you know of that seamlessly blends gameplay elements and stylistic feel of Infamous, Final Fantasy, Dragon's Dogma, God of War, Horizon, Zelda, Assassin's Creed all together in an isekai fantasy JRPG package and actually makes that fun to play? Forspoken and Forspoken only. Once the plague of bandwagon hatred towards it dies down, more and more people are actually going to experience its magic for themselves, and that'll elevate it to cult classic status. Pop culture society has made worse mistakes before. Apocalypse Now, which is widely heralded as one of the greatest films of all time, was critically panned at the time of its release and roundly ridiculed.

[@inouji]

Thanks Vicente, glad you enjoyed the video! I definitely think this game will at some point in time be considered a flawed, but overall fun game that was a bit too controversial for it's time, when more people get a chance to check it out with a clear mind. Happens a lot in art, so even though it's a shame, we can at least expect that! I just hope Square Enix will not let the whole idea behind the game die - they probably won't build on the IP, but I hope they at least take the well-regarded systems, improve on them and use them in their future titles.

[@dib327]

How are you calling Forspoken "stepping out of the box" when it's the most generic open world game out there, there's almost nothing unique about Forspoken at all.

[@vicentesalasii1480]

@T. Valentine That's how you know someone hasn't played it at all or did the typical bandwagon lemming hate think-tank nonsense and only played (or watched gameplay clips/streams of) the first couple of hours and thought they had it all figured it. When you say nonsense as pretentious, impossibly stupid, and inaccurate as your comment right there. Anyone who has thoroughly explored its open world, side quests/activities, and played through its entire story knows there is nothing generic or run-of-the-mill about Forspoken. It's a perfect blend of familiarity (newsflash, genius, there has to be a degree of that in every game or property) with uniqueness and innovations not experienced in any game before. I don't know if you're a fan of Souls-like/Soulsborne, Rogue-like, battle royale, survival, FPS, JRPG, MMORPG, open world crime sandbox, crafting sandbox, MOBA, fighting, sports, action/adventure, etc but if you are, you're a damn hypocrite, because 99% of the games in those genres recycle and repackage a gazillion of the same genre tropes and mechanics ad nauseam. If you call Forspoken, which masterfully blends so many gameplay elements together that have never been blended together before while simultaneously introducing new ones "generic", but don't acknowledge all the recycled sameness of the popular games in the genres that you enjoy, you truly are a hypocrite.

[@vicentesalasii1480]

@T. Valentine Just came back from briefly observing the types of games you're into and like to play. The sheer audacity and hypocrisy, for someone like you to call Forspoken "the most generic game out there" proves to me you haven't played it for yourself, you're just parroting/regurgitating trending hate and do you don't actually know what generic means. Generic is something bearing characteristics of relating to a group or class of things. Forspoken is in a class all its own. Generic is also if something doesn't have a brand or trademark. Forspoken is published by Square Enix, one of the longest running brands and staples in gaming history. If that's not a trademark, nothing is.

[@dib327]

@@vicentesalasii1480 Okay then, you explain to me then what makes Forspoken so unique that no other open-world game has. Tell me.

[@cornparade6874]

No, I wasn't.

[@inouji]

What exactly did you dislike about it? Just genuinely curious, I like hearing others' opinions on stuff, even if they disagree with me

[@Greger1971]

I agree the game is great, i enjoying every minute of it.

[@inouji]

Glad you're having fun!

[@brentlee082]

We lost an original ip and a talented studio to a half dozen youtubers killing it out of the gate. Thanks for a real review

[@inouji]

Glad you liked the review Brentlee! The game has been seeing a bit of a resurgence with the DLC and recent sales, so maybe not all hope is lost yet

[@saiyanleague653]

The sheeps hating on this game i've always found very odd. Spider Man one of my favorite games of all time is praised as being the second coming of christ yet everyone who reviewed Spider Man never criticize how incredibly awkward the dialaouge is with new york citizens. They all act like robots, yet you never hear the same of level of complaints. Unfortunately there's another issue "ADULTS" lol. Adults take the fun out of everything and many people are victims of political warfare, so there was a lot of jokes about her being a chocolate lady and the haters calling it "woke" when it's really that Anti social Justice warriors are just as sensitive as Hyper SJW'S. Frey can be cringe at times but that is HER character & are we not going to pretend that Dante from DMC doesn't have cringe moments? I love Dante but he can also be a cringe legend. Yet again you don't hear the same outrage. Unfortunately adults allow politics to intervene in everything they do & it actually brainwashes them into illogical thinking because of their biasness. Does this game have flaws? absolutely but those flaws aren't bad enough to for hiveminds to act like it's the worst game or even one of the worst games ever made. I really hope they make a 2nd one and go even harder & bigger the 2nd time. This game is totally worth $40 bucks or under imo.

[@inouji]

I actually said a similar thing when I watched the trailers for Spider Man 2 - not that the game looks bad, but that to me, it comes across as very similar to Forspoken in terms of dialogue. Yet, no one seems to mind. I think Forspoken - while certainly not perfect - was a victim of ridicule for no apparent reason, and would have been received a lot better if people went into it with an open mind.

[@ACatHandler]

i'm actually mad after playing it how influencers just hated on the game and tanked it's sales based on some clingy writing in the beginning, meaning we probably won't get much more content added too it. This is one of the few games in recent years that felt like a video game, it was meant to be fun and the combat and movement reflected that desire perfectly, this is what video games should be about, not political messaging, battle passes or a focus on cutscenes over the damn gameplay. Forspoken is an easy 9/10 for me, bordering on 10/10 if the writing was a bit better

[@inouji]

Glad to see you liked it that much! Even with its shortcomings, it was a breath of fresh air to me in an industry that is, unfortunately, very filled with cookie-cutter formulas. Not that Forspoken was completely free of those (the pretty barebones open world, for example), but it did take a few liberties and it paid off in my opinion!

[@Kenshin6321]

I kind of disagree on the demo part. The demo pretty much showed exactly what you would be getting. How you play in the demo is pretty much how you play in the real game, just with more spells. Many of the spells just do the same effect, which is weak. Chaining spells is non-existent because none of the spells animation cancel. 80% of the spells can only be executed standing still, meanwhile, the game is throwing 20, 30, sometimes 50 enemies at you simultaneously off screen. I've beaten the game, 100% the mapped, and all side quest around 130 hours, and I can honestly say it feels like the game thinks you're stupid. The game has items scattered all throughout the map, which seems like a good idea at first, until you realize those same items are found in the countless treasure chests. Why did I just waste nearly 10 minutes fighting a hord of nightmares only to find a chest with 4 freaking Balm Flax!?? ARE YOU FUC**** KIDDING ME! And this happens countless times, which makes getting the treasure chests feel like a chore more than a reward. There's no focus in the combat or the exploring. Speaking of exploring, how about how the game punishes you for doing so? Wanna explore that area that might be too tough for you? TOO BAD! The game will just straight up teleport you like "you're not supposed to be here yet." The story is laughably bad. With hundreds of Isekai stories to draw from, the game decides telling not showing is the best way to learn the story. Text dumps longer than this comment has crucial context about the story, and the game expects you to just read it. The voice acting is fine, the music is terribly bland, with only two or three soundtracks that are good in the entire game. The music is what makes exploring SO BORING! The only good exploration music is the music that played for Junoon. The rest of the music is just bland foreboding music that does nothing to enhance the environment, the world, or even the mood for exploring. Then there's the characters....or should I say lack thereof? There's like four characters in this whole game, Frey, Auden, Cuff, and Bob. Everyone else feels like a side character with hardly any purpose other than being a beat stick. Spoilers, but I don't think it matters. Wouldn't it have been cool to see the Tantas get corrupted BEFORE you fought them? Too bad you have to read a giant text dump to even know that. Wouldn't it have been cool for the "Flashbacks" you find throughout the world to actually be Flashbacks and not random challenges? Wouldn't it have been cool to see a special cutscene about what happened to the people there if you completed the challenge successfully? I guess that takes effort. And why is Frey so unlikeable? There's a difference between coming off as "too cool for school, I don't need nobody's help" and just being a flat out b****. She curses like a sailor, she treats her "friends" like sh**, she's even mean to children and people who adore for no reason at all. She wants to go back home to New York? WHY? SHE HAS NO LIFE THERE! SHE'S POOR, WITH NO FAMILY, A CRIMINAL HISTORY, AND HOMELESS, but she's just dying to go back home. At least in Athia she's a God, nigh unstoppable, but nah, let's go back to New York where I can get back to living on the streets, living in abandoned buildings and nearly freezing to death every night. She's just plain stupid and unlikeable. Can you even call her arc "character development?" Her powers were literally just given to her. She didn't earn it, she didn't prove herself, it was basically "Hey you're the chosen one, you're special because we said so." I rate this game a pair of dirty white jordans/10.

[@inouji]

While I disagree on some points, you are making some sound arguments, some of which I have also talked about in the video. There is a lot of potential in the lore of Athia that just went wholly unused or thrown into the glossary for people that are interested to read. The game would've been a lot better off if they actually made people interested in the world and lore instead of giving the few people that WANT to dig the chance to do so. Also, thanks for watching the video, Kenshin! I appreciate you taking the effort to give your own opinion in such a well-written comment and it's honestly really interesting to see someone who has completed the game despite not liking it.

[@danielashiru5363]

Imo I honestly think that ppl hated in the game cause it was less female protagonist and it was black balled the demo was the icing on top. The game’s honestly awesome and I’ve had an awesome time w it especially after completing game. A majority of the time I spent was on exploration and that world is massive. I honestly don’t get the hate for the game The games awesome I would say the story was also great and I loved it. If you look past the inconveniences there’s a gem in this game. Frey was an amazing character when I sympathized w her. (I’m from NY as well)

[@inouji]

Awesome to hear the opinion of a NY citizen on the game, I found it a bit hard to judge it for something I have no real experience with! Also happy to see how much you enjoyed the game! Keep up the positive vibes, makes the hobby a lot more fun! :)

[@saintsaber8491]

I don't care what you think i like it, if i want a story i'll read a book, i'm having fun you obviously didn't and we/i don't want to hear about it, all i expect out of youtubers is whats type of game it is is etc, etc ,etc

[@inouji]

Uh... did you even watch the video? I mostly praised the game and said it was very fun Even though you seem to have misunderstood my intentions, I'm happy to hear you're having fun with the game

[@ataridc]

Why dont i have a question?

[@inouji]

I really don't know.

[@euj0]

Massive copium

[@inouji]

Sounds like you don't like the game. What did you dislike about it? I'd love to hear your input!

[@KirsGM]

I still struggle to understand what is so cringe about an extrovert acting shocked. "The I move shit with my mind' is 100% in character and adequate to the situation she is in. Sad people find it so hard to get.

[@inouji]

I mostly agree - while people are certainly entitled to their opinion and interpretation, I think the scene wasn't nearly as bad as what it got made out to be and most of the game isn't like that one snippet, so it's very harsh to dismiss the whole thing because of it.

[@edgarcabrera6102]

I play this in 120 hz mode in PS5, perhaps the best 120hz games to date... the combat is the best, people hate it because is strict, to kill a monster is not enough, you must kill it with class and refine, I think people are so lazy, but this makes you a master, you must kill with grade A or Star at least, it's brilliant

[@inouji]

Would love to try it in 120hz, shame my TV setup can only do 60. At least that gives me a reason to go back to it if I ever upgrade my TV

[@Tsumefan2]

why yes it is you babies XD

[@inouji]

Sure is, I had quite a bit of fun with the game!

[@Tsumefan2]

i found alot of kitties @@inouji

[@Tsumefan2]

my only complaint is the stupid dance pilo has you do omg @@inouji

[@arbernuka3679]

Were youtubers paid to bring this game down or what, it had performance issues like every new game nowdays but saying it had bad dialogue graphics, story, combat its beyond me. Everything is above average or too good.

[@inouji]

The problem with KZbin, and content creation in general - as with any sort of media job -, is that controversy and hate tend to generate a lot more traffic and thus revenue. It's a shame, but that's just how this business works if you want to get the most money out of it. I personally like to give everything a fair shot and that enabled me to enjoy Forspoken for what it is - a really fun game with some obvious problems, that aren't bad enough to ruin the experience, in my opinion. Glad to see others, like you, enjoyed the game - keep up the positive vibes and maybe we'll get some of the initial haters to give the game a try down the road and enjoy it as well!

[@mercury_black1743]

the game was bad and need work and va didnt get a good lines and game was so predictable, live action movie and tv show start doing this too people complain aswell so what u on about the clip of M-SHE-U

[@inouji]

Hey Mercury! That scene with the MCU clip was just a hyperbolic joke, no reason to take it too seriously. I don't agree that the game was bad, but it definitely could've been a lot better - the VAs did an amazing job with what they had to work with, in my opinion!

[@GothamiteYT]

"Im not trying to throw the integrity of other critics under the bus..," I will. Vast majority of people do not play games, they regurgitate the popular opinions of e-celebs who provide surface level analysis so they can move onto the next flavor of the month. The Last of Us 2 is the best example of this, while Forspoken is the most recent example. But Square Enix shoots themselves in the foot all the time

[@inouji]

I agree that people should think for themselves as much as possible, and make their own opinions on things. With gaming, especially nowadays, it's very easy to buy into something that doesn't meet your expectations and wastes your money, so I can completely understand why most people want to consult reviews and such before taking the plunge on a new game, especially a new franchise! This is also the reason why I take a lot of care to write my reviews as objectively as I can, while still making sure to stress that this is my opinion, and certainly not the be-all end-all. I want to give people a nudge to get a decent overview about the qualities and problems of a game, but ultimately want them to make their own opinions on it - which is also why I love and encourage when people come back to my videos and tell me about their experiences with a title! I also agree that Square Enix certainly didn't do a good job at making this game a success, which it very well could've been if it wasn't handled as shoddily as they did.

[@lostdeeply397]

i agree with you i think it was attacked because of the culture wars

[@inouji]

Yeah the game did pick up a few hard-to-sell topics that didn't exactly make it easier for the game to succeed. Glad to hear you still had fun with it!

[@Mykahaia]

Didn't see this negative posts about the game...could have saved a few bucks and not have boight this pile of shit...

[@inouji]

Hey Mykahaia! What exactly did you hate so much about the game? Genuinely curious.

[@Mykahaia]

- The world is bland, no incentive to going to a landmark you see in the open area it gets repetitive and boring after some time. There are some cool landmarks but everything else is just copy and pasted; - The characters are uninteresting and poorly written and the game locks you in unskippable dialogues and cutscenes with them, why can't I skip this filler dialogues; - The story had potention but is just to bad add in these unbearable characters and it just gets worst; - Why can't you parkour in the city? The trailers gave me the impression that you would be able to do so, I thought the movement would be as good as in Infamous or Prototype but it is incredibly underwhelming and clunky; - the combat is boring as hell just mash dodge and R2 and you win, the only "strategy" in it is to choose what the enemy is probably weak too and often you don't really need to do that; - the main characters just don't shut up with repeated dialogue when running or fast traveling or entering a new safe house. I've been noticing this more and more with recent games characters sayinh shit like "maybe try dodging" after you get hit or spelling out the solution to puzzles 1 second after it's presented to you....STFU game! stop backseating! - the "unique" enemies are locked as dungeon bosses and look unfhinished; - the dungeons are extremely boring too, just corridors and large square rooms and a boss at the end; - the customizations feel just uninspired...change the scarf or paint the nails? And they don't really matter so why should I go through the side activities; The list goes on but to me this feels like a cashgrab. this was one of the only games I was looking forward this year but off to a bad start I guess... I feel like people defending it just want to be contrarians. if it's a choice between being an ok game or a bad game to me it's easily a bad game and I wouldn't recomend buying this to anyone...

[@Mykahaia]

Jesus after rewatching I think I disagree with almost every point in the video...

[@inouji]

@@Mykahaia Hey again! Wow, thanks for actually taking the time to answer my question like this! I don't necessarily agree on the world being bland when it's kind of the whole point of the game, being a wasteland and all. I do agree that it doesn't make for the best setting for a game and said as much in the video. Same for the dungeons - I share your sentiment here, even though I didn't find it AS grating. They were alright to do, and some of them were actually unique, but it would've done the game a whole lot of good if every dungeon was its own thing. I disagree on the story and characters. I liked them quite a bit, despite some of their shortcomings. I do see how they are a lot different from your usual RPG characters, so it's not that I can't understand your opinion here - I just don't share it. I'm very glad you brought up the parkouring in the city, because I completely forgot to write about that in my script, even though I had that exact question on my notes when playing through the game. I get why it was like that in the beginning, they wanted to keep Frey's powers a secret. But after the incident with Sila, at the latest, you should've been able to fully use the parkouring magic in the city! I don't really agree on the combat being boring, I loved it. On what difficulty did you play? I shared my settings in the video and think that that was a pretty good way to enjoy the gameplay - although it was still rather easy for the most part, even on the hardest difficulty. Did you know you can disable the banter? There's an option to decrease the amount up to the point of completely turning it off, if it annoys you that much. I personally lowered it a bit, but didn't turn it off completely and thought that was a pretty good setting. You can also turn it up even more, but don't ask me who would ever do that Anyways, thanks again for taking the time to write your opinion out like this, hope you have a better time with whatever game you pick up next!

[@Mykahaia]

@@inouji I played on Normal but if you do the totems and explore the map and do the dungeons the game becomes ridiculous. I didn't bother to change it to hard because I just wanted to finish the game. About the characters, they are just plain. It is noticible that they're just doing what the story requires them to do. None of them really have a disticnt personality, they're just templates. "I'm the annoying vocal dude that's gainst you!", "I'm the one with an attitude but a heart of gold", "I'm the brih'ish sarcastic one", "I'm the grumpy no bullshit 'blacksmith'","I'm the imposing but just leader" none of them is unique. I don't think I smiled with any of the jokes the characters made, everything felt kind of forced. The moment the gangsters didn't shoot her a single time (they could have shot and missed) I felt something was off and when they gave you the option to get the money and she basically says "No the story requires me to get out of the room" I kind of already knew it wasn't really going to be a good story but still I had hopes for the open world and the mechanics. To me the trailers oversold the shit out of the game, they reminded me of Infamous and it was from Square so I blindly pre-ordered it, but when I played it it was clear that they just had some assets and maybe the concept art and some renderings of the overworld for POCs. I think just slapt it all together and tried to make some generic story that fit it all... Also, the parkour in the city even if you wanted to hide in Athea you still used parkour to run from the gang erlier, why not use it in the city to run from the guards? maybe she could hide in the hood of the town where people don't trust the council or whatever, they could have added some cool dinamic in the city, done some world building. I really don't think the people involved in the game cared enough. It is a game, you can parkour, there's combat and things to do in the overworld, but I wouldn't recomend buying it full price...but I wouldn't call it a good game, being generous it's a game I don't disagree with the criticisms the game got. But maybe we got spoiled by RDR, GTA, Elden Ring, The Witcher 3, etc.

[@jajkomaster]

Stop it. Get some help.

[@inouji]

I enjoyed Forspoken. I am beyond help

[@dib327]

This review is nothing but lies. Saying the graphics and art design are great in this game has to be the most outlandish take I've seen about this game. The City of Cipal looks like a PS3 game, and the open world environment is terrible compared to the Horizon games. The game is not 20 hours long at all, I played on hard mode and beat the game in 9 hours.

[@inouji]

Hey T. Valentine - Thanks for the feedback and watching the video, but I'm definitely not lying here. I stand by my point on the graphics - yes, there are spots in the world that look worse than others, especially Cipal is pretty stale in comparison to the outer zones. But isn't that the point of the game? I talked about conceptualization in the video, and the game excelled at building a world, both visually and in lore, in line with their concept. I can't properly compare this to Horizon, since I haven't played it, but judging from footage, it does look beautiful! I don't see how that takes away from Forspoken's world, though. As I said in the video, not everything has to be 'the best' to be good and enjoyable - You'll often find yourself having a better time if you don't constantly draw comparisons. As for the length: I'm impressed at you getting through the game in 9 hours, given that even the full-on cutscenes are over 5 hours long and there's a lot of dialogue and gameplay in between. I'm pretty sure my 15-20 hours are very close to what the average player would take for a story playthrough of this game.

[@pixelcount350]

@@inouji I'm pretty sure he rushed through the whole game without completing it entirely.

[@dib327]

​@@inouji How Is Cipal having bad graphics the point of the game? The story and lore aren't built well at all, it's a cliche isekai story with zero depth to it. Forspoken is a PS5 exclusive and objectively has the worst graphics out of all major PS5 exclusives. Compare this game to any other PS5 exclusive and you can see just how bad the graphics are in this game. The writing is terrible in this game, Frey is constantly rude and disrespectful towards innocent people for no reason the entire game until right near the end. Cuff saves Frey's life numerous times and Frey is a complete asshole towards him constantly, not even apreciating what he has done for her. The expostion in this game is insane, the game will talk to you about what is happening instead of allowing you to experience it yourself. A perfect example is the end part of the game, the game forces you to walk around and watch holograms from the past for a whole hour, it's like they just dumped the entire story right into the end of the game instead of sprinkling it throughout the main game like most games do. Hell, even before cuff reveals himself, frey is already calling him an asshole for no reason, it's like Frey is just assuming everyone is an evil asshole before they've done anything bad to her.

[@inouji]

@@dib327 What I was trying to say is that Cipal, being the last bastion of human society on the brink of destruction, makes sense to look desolate and uninviting. I'm not arguing for the graphics of the game being amazing in any form - in fact, I said in this very video that the graphics aren't great, but the game manages to look visually pleasing (for the most part) due to great art direction and spell effects. I disagree on the writing being terrible, though. While you could argue than Frey's character is very controversial (which she is) and using a character such as her as the protagonist in a game that focuses HEAVILY on said protagonist is very risky (which it was), I think Frey is a very realistic character. Too realistic for an Isekai setting, in fact. She grew up in a social structure that is very punishing to showing weakness and compassion, so she hides her vulnerability by hurting others. I do agree on the story being very backloaded and I can see why you wouldn't like that late-game lorebomb. I found it engaging, because I read a lot of the glossary entries before finishing the story, which got me very invested in the War of the Rheddig, so seeing that part of the lore get picked up, even if very late, had me interested, rather than annoyed. By the way, thanks taking the time to share your opinion here. While we may not agree on many points, I think seeing the takes of someone who gave the game a chance, but didn't like it, is very interesting and helps a ton in giving me food for thought to improve upcoming videos!

[@vicentesalasii1480]

The only lies here are your comments. There's no way in the universe you beat this game on "Hard" in only 9 hours. Your best best would have been to turn on "auto-evade" and "significantly decreased damage" and even then it would be a stretch unless you did zero side activities to unlock other gear, acquire more mana, level up magic, to clock in 9 hours TOTAL play time. That's absolute horsesh!t. Guess what, looking up plot spoilers and gameplay here and there to later return to and edit your comment to reflect that, doesn't count as actually playing the game to completion for yourself. As many others noted, Frey is not just some "unreasonable asshole" with no explanation for why she has this chip on her shoulder. Anyone who played the story from beginning to end knows that she isn't "mean" or "rude" to everyone. Frey is socially awkward and confrontational to most people she comes across because she has severe trust issues and trusts almost no one. That stems from her psychological traumas and stigma of being an orphan and believing her whole life she was abandoned and not loved by her parents. You'd be more of an @$$hole than you are now, if that happened to you. But Frey has a soft side for some. She shows this towards cats as they remind her of her cat, her closest friend Homer. She is not hostile towards Judge Bird who has repeatedly shown her mercy and recognized hope and potential in Frey where even Frey didn't see. She began to really care for little orphan Olevia who she related to and took her death really hard. And she was mostly kind to Robian and Auden except for when things got really conflicting. It was smart of the writers to make her so grating towards Cuff, even as they endeared us towards Cuff' character and his increasing friendship with Frey. But it justified why Frey was so hostile towards him. She has severe trust issues, but strong survival instincts and something was telling her something was off about him the whole time. You went online and looked up the reveal of Cuff's betrayal after reading about it in others' comments and came back and edited your comment to justify your stance. I know this because I remember seeing your silly comment complaining about Frey being rude to Cuff and initially ignored it. But your previous comment didn't say anything about Cuff revealing himself as the villain. You edited that in later.

[@mrverminski7914]

I mean, there are people who enjoy getting shat on. So SOMEBODY might like this soulless, boring, by-the-numbers excuse for a game?

[@inouji]

Hey there - First of all, thanks for watching the video! I think I did a decent job of going through both the positives and negatives about the game, so you probably already know that I disagree with your stance on it. But hey, you're free to have your opinion If you actually haven't given the game a shot yet, though, and get the chance to do so at some point, please do. I've seen quite a few people actually liking it a good bit after trying it out despite the general perception