Forspoken Demo Update Review – What to Expect

Forspoken, an action RPG developed by Square Enix’s Luminous Productions, is a game that many players were excited about—until the demo dropped on Dec. 9, 2022.

In trailers, it promised spectacular visuals, an interesting story, and unique gameplay, featuring numerous fighting skills and magical parkour. However, the PS5 demo had mixed reactions from fans and faced a lot of backlash online for its sub-par worldbuilding, clunky combat, and graphics that just don’t look next-gen, especially considering what a beast the PS5 is.

As a response to the online criticism that threatens to dampen Forspoken‘s big release on PC and PS5, planned for Jan. 24, the developers updated the PS5 demo on Jan. 17. This article explains what the update includes and what our final impression is before the game comes out officially.

Forspoken Demo Update Changes

The updated Forspoken PS5 demo promises to fix:

• Text size
• Button mapping
• The lock-on that used to disappear when enemies moved off screen
• Various technical issues

Alongside the demo update, developers also revealed the game’s PC requirements:

Forspoken Demo Update Review: Should You Buy Forspoken?

While it is commendable that developers listen to the feedback and that they’ve decided to update the demo a week before the official release, Forspoken is still bound to cause clashes in the months to come.

The demo patch fixes some minor issues, which improves the in-game experience. Magical parkouring does have an appeal, and the fighting style offers interesting opportunities once you get used to it. Another great point for this demo is the generous size of the map and the activities it offers.

Still, even after the update, the Forspoken demo just doesn’t look that great. From what we get to see of Athia, the main impression is that this world is quite bleak, and not because of what happens in the story. The visuals of the surrounding world are still quite underwhelming and washed out, and it constantly feels like you’re playing something from 10 years ago.

This aspect hits even harder when you know that there are visual masterpieces like Horizon Forbidden West or God of War Ragnarök out there, looking spectacular even on an older PS4 Pro.

Of course, there is a chance that the game itself will be an improvement in this regard when it officially comes out, and the final decision is yours to make. Luckily, if you own a PS5, you can download the free demo, check everything out for yourself, and decide whether the game looks promising enough.