New Forspoken update adds new cat features, new parkour moves and more!

The new patch adds new gameplay features, including new Tanta familiar functionality, and “Stormshards”, reduces banter and more.
By Takeshi Aramaki
Tags: Forspoken

Hi everyone, this is Takeshi Aramaki, the Director of Forspoken.

Ahead of Forspoken: In Tanta We Trust which releases in just a few days, we’ve dropped a new update for Forspoken today. This update, version 1.20, enhances playability and introduces some new gameplay content. I’d like to walk you through some of the changes that are included.

First up, let’s talk about some new gameplay features. Let’s start with everyone’s favorite: Tantas Familiars. Instead of just showing up when Frey takes shelter at a Pilgrim’s Refuge, these magical felines will now follow Frey out in the field and help with finding resources and mana!

The next two features are geared towards those looking for an additional challenge. The first is a new consumable called a “Stormshard.” By using this item at specific locations in the world, you’ll be able to summon a nasty Breakstorm and face off against the Giant Nightmares!

The second new feature for those looking to test their skills, is the addition of a “Very Hard” difficulty setting. Under this difficulty setting, the following options will be locked to the following:

  • Spell-Switching Slowdown: NONE
  • Damage Received: DEFAULT
  • Stamina Recovery Speed: DEFAULT
  • Automatically Use Healing Items: OFF
  • Enemy Knockdown Time: DEFAULT
  • Auto-Evasion: OFF

In addition, the higher your battle grade, the more damage you will deal, and some of Frey’s attack and defense-boosting effects will be less potent. While this difficulty setting is probably more appropriate for those who have reached endgame Frey, you can choose to play at this difficulty when starting a new game. Just choose “Ultimate Mode” when prompted.

We’ve also introduced some new actions that expand on Frey’s already impressive magic parkour movement. The first is the ability to perform a quick midair jump. This is an extension of her basic parkour maneuvers so while it may not redefine traversal, it is extremely useful when you just need that extra bit of reach or when getting back to a ledge after an inadvertent jump.

The second new action is a pretty big one, and it’s called “Cuff Crush.” When you leap over an enemy using magic parkour, you can hit the button prompt to perform a powerful attack. It consumes half of Frey’s stamina so you can’t spam it endlessly, but it has a high chance of knocking down enemies and the attack itself has an area of effect. The more stamina you spend, the higher the damage. It’s satisfying to pull off and useful in just about every situation.

1.20 introduces another new consumable, the “Revivifier.” This item can resuscitate Frey when she runs out of health, allowing her to get right back on her feet. A welcome addition for all, but especially for those looking to try out the Very Hard difficulty.

Speaking of welcome additions, the Curiosity Shop has now been added as a fast travel destination. If you don’t know what the Curiosity Shop is, I highly encourage you to take the time to explore Athia!

We’ve also made various adjustments to the banter between Frey and Cuff. While the dynamic between these two are one of our favorite aspects of Forspoken, there were some issues with repetition and general frequency of their conversations. Some lines were heard more often than others, and there would be times where they’d suddenly jump onto a new topic in the middle of a conversation.

We tweaked these settings across the board for every Cuff Chat setting, so everything should feel much more natural now.

We also improved the pacing for the earlier chapters by trimming transitions, shortening fades, and reducing the amount of time control was taken away from the player. These are very subtle adjustments but greatly improve overall immersion. While we were not able to make changes throughout the entire game, we felt the early chapters would benefit most from these changes.

We’ve also added some new settings to further improve playability. We’ve introduced a toggle for custom camera controls, which when enabled, allow you to set the camera’s maximum rotation speed, camera acceleration speed, and the stick response curve. These settings will be used in place of the regular camera rotation speed.

Last but definitely not least, we’ve added the option to switch spells by pressing instead of holding a button. This, paired with the updated magic HUD that lets you see which support spells are ready and which are still recharging, should make switching spells much easier in the heat of battle.

We hope you enjoy these new updates, and look forward to Forspoken: In Tanta We Trust, which launches on May 26, 2023 at 6AM PDT / 2PM BST. If you already own the Digital Deluxe Edition or the Digital Deluxe Upgrade, you’ll be able to download and play the DLC starting on May 23, 2023 at 6AM PDT as part of the early access!

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