As an outlier in Square Enix’s usually sequel-filled AAA launch slate, Forspoken is a hard sell, especially since the words “the developers of Final Fantasy XV” doesn’t inspire confidence. Make no mistake, Luminous Productions don’t deserve the brunt of the blame for what happened with the latest mainline Final Fantasy installment. It’s not the studio’s fault that it got handed over what was an absolute mess of a project and asked to make the most out of it. For what it’s worth, FF15 was just a DLC away from being remembered as one of the better FF entries. Instead, the perplexing ending is what the majority of the gaming community is going to remember - not the storybook ending that was exclusively told in novel form. With that said, reading through much of the comments about the Forspoken demo so far, there’s one thing that stands out - it’s very much like Final Fantasy 15. This shouldn’t come off as a surprise as the two games share the same engine, development staff, and in some ways, ambition. You’d be forgiven if you referred to Forspoken as a Final Fantasy game in all but name, yet it’s also so much more. Despite the mixed reviews, the Forspoken demo accomplished what Square Enix wanted - it got people talking. With only a few weeks to go before it comes out, Forspoken needed a huge marketing push. Judging by how receptive gamers have usually been with the demos Square Enix released before, most recently for Valkyrie Elysium, the Japanese publisher went with a familiar route. It remains to be seen if this demo is enough to move the needle and get people to buy Forspoken. But, we do at least suggest that you give it a try. The Forspoken demo is available on the PlayStation Network (it’s exclusive for PlayStation 5 owners) and will take you through the first couple of hours of the game. If it hasn’t sold you yet in that time, Forspoken might not be for you. Speaking of Forspoken, while the demo will be exclusive to the PS5, the RPG will also come out on the PC when it launches on January 24. Unfortunately, Xbox owners will have to wait for two years to enjoy Forspoken.
