It turns out that the original draft of Forspoken, the latest RPG released by Square Enix, was actually quite different from the final fantasy-focused product. The writer credited with developing Forspoken’s original concept says the game went through quite a few changes before landing where it did earlier this year.
Writer Gary Whitta, credited with developing the original Forspoken concept, was featured on Sony Santa Monica writer Alanah Pearce’s Video Game Writing 101 podcast. Whitta has written for games and movies, including numerous The Walking Dead Telltale series, Star Wars: Rebels, and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
On the podcast, Whitta explained how he developed the initial concept for the open-world game Forspoken, which was incredibly different from the final product, and how he couldn’t come back to the project when Square Enix asked him when things would go. have changed because of others. . Commitments It’s worth noting that Whitta says he didn’t write much, if any, for Forspoken’s dialogue and the final narrative in general.
“I made some foundational world-building debut on Forspoken,” says Whitta. “Square came to me five or six years ago and said ‘we have this idea, would you be willing to help us build the world, the mythology and the story'”, followed by Whitta who was directing a writers room for the game. .
“One thing I do know is that I contributed to the (completed) game that has the name of the world: Athia,” adds Whitta. “It’s literally the only thing I know for sure about myself that’s in the game.
“A few months after that, they came back to me and one of the other writers and said ‘we’re going to start over and completely restart the story, we want it to be like this now,'” which, according to Whitta, was pretty close. final narration and editing.
“The version we made had nothing to do with it,” Whotta says of Forspoken’s final fantasy game storyline. “At the time, the problem was that neither me nor the other writer were available, and they wanted us to write everything,” adds Whitta, explaining how he may have come back to write the whole game under the new fantasy isekai (think being transported to a new world, like Spirited Away) story direction.
Thus, Whitta’s involvement with Forspoken was largely limited to the game’s early development, with some of his ideas being incorporated into the final product.
Forspoken was met with mixed reception, with both the overall state of the game and the joking character writing being two of the most contentious talking points. That being said, Square Enix is planning a Forspoken update to “overhaul” almost the entire game, with many post-launch projects.
If you’re just diving into Forspoken or want to return to Athia, our Fospoken map breakdown and the best Forspoken setup for your PC will make your journey much easier.