In August, the word out went viral. It wasn''t for the developers and publishers at Square Enix who wanted it. A video was released on the gaming social media account that immediately caught the eye of the internet''s biggest meme-lords. There was God of War, Yakuza, Doom, and Devil May Cry, and some people even said it came off like a Joss Whedon joint (ouch).
Is it a beautiful and cruel new land? Is it a cast of artificial monsters? An array of magical abilities? Sentient jewellery!? Welcome to #Forspoken. pic.twitter.com/46diiLnQ7M
Stay tuned for me, the game isn''t that bad in your hands. Quite. Last night, I got to preview the title at Square Enixs offices, and while the dialogue is somewhat try-hard, it''s not bad. A trailer cannot accurately reveal how the game will play out in your hands, and the editing is incorrect, and there''s no context.
In a follow-up interview with Raio Mitsuno, my well-known creative producer, I''m so happy you mentioned the meaning context in the video above. It''s been the key thing for us in terms of how we''re making fun of this game without spoiling the story. It''s obvious that trailers and social media posts have limited context to understand it, and get a sense for it.
Even from the brief time I spent with Forspoken, it appears that Frey and Cuffs'' relationship evolves over time, and their relationship warms and cools as different things occur. Cuffs'' role is to sometimes mentor Frey, to sometimes be a friend to her, and to sometimes be a pain in the ass that just wants to banter back and forth, according to Mitsuno. Similar to the High on Life trailer we saw, or the New Tales from the Borderlands trailer that didnt
Yeah, it''s a little strange, but some of the memes were actually funny, Mitsuno. So, you know, the internet got a decent kick out of it for a while, but we were confident in the game. After all, we can hopefully show a side of the game that''s a little more understandable, without revealing much about the story. We see what happens, we see what people reacting to, and we figure out what will happen next.
That''s why, according to Mitsuno, the follow-up to the controversial trailer was a 10-minute gameplay video demonstrating off the more granular elements of Forspokens gameplay. That''s why, for the next marketing beat, were unlikely to see something quickly cobbled together from pre-existing assets, but rather something more curated.
Mitsuno continues to talk about it, and is open to it. It''s been a challenge for us: we want to show what the storys, and what the games bring together, without ruining any of it. And so much of the game and the dialogue comes down to context, right? That video that we put up on our social media channels, which was just repurposed from older trailers, I think it just brought more attention to the dialogue, and people took the wrong things away.
Mitsuno declares that the relationship between Frey and Cuffs is something that might hasn''t been seen in [Square Enix]''s campaign, but the developer does not appear to be confident.
When the game comes out, youll see how their stories are essential to the whole thing, according to Mitsuno. We believe that it is something that players will enjoy when they finally get their hands on the game.
On January 24, 2023, the forspoken PC and PS5 will be released.
