New Forspoken Update Adds Very Hard Mode, New Abilities, Improved Early Story Pacing & More

Square Enix and Luminous Productions have announced that their action-adventure Forspoken has been updated to version 1.20, instilling new gameplay features. Firstly, Tantas Familiars will now follow Frey out onto the field instead of solely at Pilgrim Refuges and will aid in obtaining mana and other resources.

A new consumable called Stormshard has been added, and utilizing it will summon a Breakstorm where you can face off against massive Nightmare enemies. Additionally, the new Revivifier will revive Frey when fallen.

Moreover, the Very Hard difficulty has been added with the following features:

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

In this mode, more meant for those in the endgame, Frey’s attack and defense boons will be mitigated, and you’ll deal more damage the higher your battle grade is. Alternatively, choosing Ultimate Mode when beginning a new game will start you in Very Hard.

Regarding movement, Frey can now do a quick midair jump and perform the Cuff Crush. The latter enables you to strike an enemy below while above them with magic parkour.

Next up, the Curiosity Shop is now a fast travel spot, and adjustments have been made to Frey’s and Cuff’s banter so there’s less repetition and greater variety in the subject matter. Spells can now be switched by pressing instead of holding a button, too.

One of the most interesting set of changes is the following:

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.

For more details, check out Square Enix’s blog.

The Forspoken: In Tanta We Trust DLC will launch on May 26, 2023, but it is now available for those who own the Digital Deluxe edition.

This prequel story occurs 25 years before the base game. Following the ending of Forspoken, as protagonist Frey Holland is seeking to eradicate the Break phenomenon that continues to wreak havoc across the land of Athia, an unknown voice guides her to an area that transports her to the infamous Purge of the Rheddig, which is the event that caused the Tantas to lose control of themselves. Frey will team up with Tanta Cinta and wield new abilities to save Athia and perhaps even herself in the process.

In case you missed it, check out our review of the game’s PlayStation 5.