Lifting The Fog On Side Activities In Forspoken

The story is very important in Forspoken. It ties into the central quest. Forspoken does not follow a specific path. With such an open, vast world, it is difficult to imagine what would happen if you stray from the main quest. To satisfy our curiosity, we recently sat down with developer Luminous Productions and got our first look at the game’s various side activities and optional objectives you can find around the map. In addition to seeing the magic parkour at work and the abundance of crafting materials scattered around the world, we were also shown how the team guides you through crafting in Refuges, improving stats at Monuments, discovering knowledge in Guild towers, as well as exploring the Depths.

A Quiet Place

Like the name implies, refuges are located throughout Athia and provide Frey with a safe haven from the ever-looming fog and other hostile creatures. The retreat we saw, Water Garden: Central Refuge, reflects Athia’s current state. Its exterior is plastered with images that evoke the ecclesiastical imagery of our world’s Medieval and Renaissance periods. It is clear that Athia had a vibrant culture and a long artistic history. However, these images are now fading, and the area is covered in a dark cloud. The building’s roof is missing patches, and its stone foundation is starting to crumble.

The game informs you that we are now in a shelter. Frey is heading towards a cobwebbed corner and workbench. Here players can make new or upgrade existing gear. There are many crafting possibilities, including the ability to make potions or increase the size of medicine and material pouches. A helpful note on the table across from the workbench details the world’s lore, including information on Athia’s once-benevolent but now Break-corrupted rulers, the Tantas. This information can be found in a tab on the menu that can be accessed later by players. Probably the most intriguing data gleaned from the Refuge’s manuscripts are the locations of various other shelters in the nearby area, all of which are automatically populated on the player’s map so Frey can venture out to find them later. The system is a great way for players to get an idea of where to go in the world, without having to wander aimlessly through the Break.

Knowledge is power

Nearby the Refuge is a map that shows the Lutetia Guild. Although it may not be on the path of critical importance, the tower-shaped map marker is too fascinating to overlook. It can be marked on the map and a floating icon will appear in the game, making it easy for people to find the Guild. Frey makes a stunning display of the magic parkour system as she leaps off cliffs.

Forspoken’s traversal system truly seems like one of its biggest draws, and the open world is a perfect playground to revel in Frey’s enchanted dashing. According to the game’s co-director Takefumi Terada, the developers put a ton of effort into perfecting the fast-paced and fluid movement abilities. This work is evident as we watch Frey bound across the landscape and, in a matter of seconds, reach the façade of an imposing stone building. The tower is larger than Refuge and houses many books as well numerous crafting tools, including unexpected enemies.

A group of scholars once graced this location’s halls, and by rummaging in their abandoned research, Frey discovers clues connecting to the lore of her own quest along with more points of interest to explore. We discover that the descent is just as enjoyable after climbing the many flights of stairs up to the summit. Frey leaps off the roof at stories high, activating a gravity-defying spell that cushions her fall. A good thing, because the developers confirm there is fall damage in Forspoken, so be careful not to plunge over a precipice without the necessary magic!

Carved In Stone

On your travels through Athia, you’ll occasionally find lofty memorials that offer Frey the chance to increase her stats, called monuments. The Monument to Strength was shown in preview. Its shape recalls an Egyptian Ankh, pointing to one of the game’s real-world cultural inspirations. Raio Mitsuno, Forspoken’s creative producer, explained that the team was interested in weaving ideas from our world into Athia’s. Mitsuno says this was where developers came up with the idea of stat-boosting nail varnish. “Much like how in Ancient Egyptian and Babylonian societies decorating and adorning one’s nails was part of the culture, it’s very much the same with Athia,” Mitsuno says. With the game’s unusually expansive female cast, this system raises a few concerns, but it’s difficult to say how the final game will execute the idea.  

It’s easy to imagine that the massive monument would have made an impression when it was first erected, but its worn, cracked platform currently conveys only long-faded grandeur. The walkway is being eroded by the elements, with grass starting to grow through the cracks. Frey dispels any illusory aura surrounding the shrine by using her magic. The corrupted shell then cracks and slides away.

Frey is able to extend her hand towards the new monument to receive an upgrade in her defense. This is a sensible boon to get from the Monument to Strength – a memorial connected to Athia’s Tanta Sila, who embodies the same trait. The other monuments you’ll find throughout the world will similarly link to the other Tantas, and they will likely boost a stat related to each ruling woman’s defining characteristic.

The Mist

Luminous Productions had previously introduced Break Storms to players at an event. This is a type of fog that sweeps across the country, swallowing everything in its way. If Frey gets swept into the phenomenon, she’ll face hordes of incredibly difficult enemies, but the team promises the challenge will be worth the reward. We didn’t get to see what happens at the end of a Break Storm, as Frey died during the fight. The developers showed us a completely different phenomenon, Depths of Corruption.

Many realms have a corrupting fog-dominated area. We saw Frey venturing into one realm’s most Break-infested area, its grassy fields quickly giving way to the mist. Frey is standing in fog-like landscape at its densest. The player will be prompted to enter the pit. Frey seems to have fallen into the deepest part of the water. There is also a strange land at the bottom where there are many challenges.

Along with specific landmarks and dangerous Break sites, Forspoken’s open world offers abandoned villages to explore, geological features to leap over, and treasures to plunder. There are even small dungeons called Seat of Reflections to fight through – though we will dive deeper into these later this month as we continue to celebrate Forspoken as our March cover story.