Forspoken

According to director Takeshi Aramaki, the gameplay was designed to be focused on terrain traversal speed and fluidity. Square Enix also described the game as a "narrative-driven adventure". The character exists in an open world game format where players are able to travel anywhere at any time.

The player character, Frey, has access to a variety of magical spells. Following each combat encounter, the player earns experience points. Frey's cloaks and necklaces can be swapped and upgraded in order to improve her combat efficiency and stats while applying nail polish unlocks special abilities. The player can also craft new items, or rest at a safe location in order to restore health.

The protagonist, Alfre "Frey" Holland (Ella Balinska / Umeka Shōji) is a young woman who is transported from New York City to the fantasy world of Athia. She uses magical powers to journey through it and survive in order to find her way home. Athia is under the tyrannical rule of the Tantas, which include Tanta Sila (Janina Gavankar / Yū Sugimoto), Tanta Prav (Pollyanna McIntosh / Rika Fukami), Tanta Olas (Claudia Black / Mie Sonozaki) and Tanta Cinta (Kendal Rae / Kikuko Inoue). Other characters include Frey's sentient bracelet Cuff (Jonathan Cake / Satoshi Mikami), the archivist Johedy (Keala Settle / Kyo Yaoya), and Auden (Monica Barbaro / Sanae Kobayashi).

Frey, a young woman abandoned near the Holland Tunnel as a newborn, appears in court for theft and is sentenced to community service. She is ambushed by the gang who forced her to steal but escapes to her house and her cat, Homer. The gang sets the building ablaze, but Frey and Homer escape. Now homeless, Frey entrusts Homer to her sentencing judge and visits Holland Tunnel on her birthday. She is drawn to a strange bangle, which activates a portal that draws her in.

Forspoken is the debut project for Luminous Productions; the company was originally assembled from employees working on Final Fantasy XV. Earlier in development, the game was known under the title Project Athia. It was developed to take advantage of the graphical capabilities of the PlayStation 5 and will also release for Windows. Technologies featured in the game include ray tracing for greatly enhanced lighting effects, and procedural generation for the creation of large-scale locations.

Initially set to be released on May 24, 2022, Square Enix delayed its release to October 11, 2022, and then to January 24, 2023. The game was set as a PlayStation 5 console exclusive, alongside the PC version for two years following its initial launch. However as of September 2026, more than a year after the game's PlayStation 5 console exclusivity was set to expire, it is yet to be released on other consoles such as the Xbox Series X/S.

Forspoken received "mixed or average" reviews from critics, according to review aggregator website Metacritic, and 30% of critics recommended the game according to OpenCritic.

Ash Parrish of The Verge praised the game's parkour system, saying it made the game's otherwise empty world "enthralling" to traverse, although they felt the combat was "one-note" and "kinda useless" in comparison. Kyle Hilliard, for Game Informer, stated it was unfortunate that the game "makes a bad first impression", noting "Athia's environments look great" and the "story and dialogue improve the deeper you get". Chris Moyse of Destructoid highlighted an "inescapable" comparison between Forspoken's "open-world adventure" to "Ubisoft titles such as Assassin's Creed, Watch Dogs, and Far Cry" since its framework is very similar "to the veteran Ubisoft mold". While he felt it was "undoubtedly fun to traverse" the world, he also felt the "design methodology" was "out-of-step with the possibilities provided by the title's story, characters, themes, and combat".