Forspoken’s parkour is the best part of the game

Forspoken’s Frey can’t seem to catch a break.

She is arrested and charged with criminal offenses within the hour. Then she flees from the gang who threatened to kill her. Later, her house and savings are destroyed by the gang. Even when she’s given a golden ticket to escape, and magically teleports from the streets of Manhattan to the sprawling plains of a fantasy world called Athia, her luck continues to deteriorate. After being grabbed by the claws and claws of the dragon, she is dropped in town. Local officials then immediately take her into custody after an inept court trial.

Frey is faced with grim prospect both in Manhattan and Athia. She does however have one weapon in her arsenal: her magic powers. This powers drive the entire game. They release her from her tether and she can freely and joyfully move through their world. Frey’s world is dull and dark. They shine on Frey, making her glow with their golden motes. It’s one of the few points of light fun in an otherwise grim, serious game

The magic parkour, which the game calls the “Flow” ability, unlocks early in Frey’s adventure, while she’s fleeing from several monstrous bears. The mechanic is intuitive and fluid from the beginning. You just need to press a button while you run. The DualSense controller pulses with every leap as Frey scales over and around obstacles and walls. Even Frey, who is normally very skeptical of every encounter in Athia, says, “OK, this is awesome. I am catching some serious air.”

Bespoken has proven divisive these last few weeks — I myself have found fault in its script — but the Flow is nothing short of wonderful. It’s practical, and allows you explore the open world quickly and easily from the start — no mounts or special upgrades needed. This can be used to escape your enemies or give you an extremely generous dodge when fighting. Frey can also float a little while she is doing it so that you can make a chain of attacks from the air. As you use the skill, magic adorns Frey’s tattered sneakers with a glimmering gold that becomes a visual highlight of the game. This skill is great for visual stimulation in an otherwise dull world.

The mechanic also folds perfectly into Frey’s larger story. You meet a character that wants to escape the life she was forced into. You will see Frey running away from her gang, climbing several walls and fences as she does so in the intro. These hurdles are not difficult for Frey. (It seems like this isn’t Frey’s first time on the run.) These leaps and bounds, even though they are impressive, contrast starkly with what she can do using the Flow. Frey escapes from the corruption of her past with the magical parkour.