The Magic Parkour inForspokenis one of the strongest features that the game brings to the open-world genre, due to how it reworks the mounted traversal from similar titles. On top of the strength of being able to quickly activate speedy travel at the press of a button, this also means that the traversal mechanics are able to work their way intoLuminous Productions' dynamic, magical combat.
This improvement given by the Magic Parkour could be what helpsForspokenstand out in a genre that has become oversaturated by AAA, indie, and shovelware titles. Even some of the best open worlds to explore likeElden Ringoften run into trouble when it comes to allowing players to explore some these expansive landscapes at a comfortable pace.
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Instant Activation of Magic Parkour
One of the toughest struggles for crafting an open world for players to explore is making sure that they can travel at a pace that keeps the experience from dragging while also not causing players to skip over content. However, many examples of quick traversal often take the form of a mount likeElden Ring’s Torrent, which gives players more speed in exchange for horse controls. This is without even noting the ways that Torrent himself improves the mount mechanics of most open world titles, where the horse, car, or magical DLC unicorn spawns somewhere off-frame and has to approach from a distance.
Instead of using the more common mechanic of having a mount appear somewhere in the distance,Forspoken’s Frey Hollandis able to move at high speed herself. This means that not only is the faster movement available more readily, but it also allows her to keep the more free movement that mounts usually limit in exchange for speed. The result is that both open plane traversal and high-speed platforming have just as tight of controls as any normal movement around the world.
It should be noted that some recent open worlds have started to work on the frustration of the mounts that appear at a distance, such asPokemon Scarlet & Violet’s Koraidon and Miraidon who both appear right under the player when summoned. This is the same case for Torrent inElden Ring, who can also be summoned directly into mounting. However, there are still limits on where these mounts can be summoned, based on the specific terrain the player is standing on or whether the location doesn’t allow that type of travel. So, the ability to activateForspoken’s Magic Parkourat any time is a great step forward toward smoothing out the frustrations of mounting.
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Magic Parkour in Combat
Another impressive showcase for Magic Parkour is how the mechanic can be used in combat, both to position the player in and out of attacking range, as well as allowing Frey to easily run away from fights. This is something that some open-world games have tried to include for their mounts, but it is rare for mounted combat to feel like anything besides a gimmick that loses its luster after a short time. The fact that Magic Parkour is interwoven directly into thedepth ofForspoken’s combatmeans that there is no contention between traversal and fighting.
This merging of combat and traversal is something that too few open-world titles are comfortable diving too far into. It is understandable that making mounted combat too useful will mess with balance and lead players to only fight while on the back of a horse or vehicle. However, by allowing it to intermingle with themagical combat inForspoken, that worry of balance isn’t a problem, since encounters and stamina can be built around using Magic Parkour as a constant part of the experience.
Forspokenis set to release on May 18, 2025, for PC and PS5.
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