Forspoken is a PS5 exclusive because last-gen can’t handle it

Forspoken is joining the small but growing list of games that aren't being held back by last-gen technology, dedicating itself to the PS5 and harnessing all of the console's capabilities.

While we wait for the Forspoken trophies to drop for PS5, Square Enix has let us in on why Forspoken is a PS5 and PC exclusive — and why it chose to leave the PS4 in the past. Our Forspoken preview showed off the lush world and impressive combat on offer, some aspects we certainly could see being limited by the capabilities of the PS4's hardware.

Forspoken is a ture PS5 RPG

PS5 provides Forspoken a next gen-RPG feel, unlike PS4

In an interview with VG247, Luminous Productions discuss how the PS4 would have held the PS5 version of Forspoken back and would have provided players with a sub-par experience because of it. Hence, the devs decided to leave last-gen behind and focus their efforts on the here and now with the glorious PS5.

Forspoken director, Takeshi Aramaki, had this to say on the matter: “From the very early stages of game design, we always thought about doing something that could only be done on PS5. Bringing that full power out was something we’ve been aiming for since day one. So I don’t think it would be possible to have Forspoken on PS4 at all, in terms of the engine, or graphics, or anything that we’re doing with gameplay.”

Imagine all those fancy particle effects on PS4, it would be a mess!

Aramaki went on to discuss some of the PS5 exclusive features that they took advantage of, something that would have been impossible to do if the Forspoken development was split between PS4 and PS5. We noticed in our preview that the haptic feedback for when you are casting different spells — something that feels incredible might I add — does make considerable use of the fantastic DualSense that accompanies the PS5. You also have your Cuff companion which speaks to you through the controller, further adding to the immersion.

“The colour of the light bar in your DualSense controller changes according to the magic type you’re using, and the haptic feedback you’ll feel in the triggers is unique to the different kinds of magic, too. For the PS5, the haptic feedback is something we really wanted to explore and we wanted to see what it could do, and that goes for the visual effects, too; we wanted to create something very readable for the spells, something that’s never really been done before. So, we wanted to put the spells in people’s hands, too, so that they can feel them properly, as well as seeing them, as they’re casting them.”

Forspoken is worrying fans, but hopefully, Square Enix can pull them back in.

While the game is also coming to PC, Takefumi Terada made sure to point out that the game has been fully optimised for the PS5, "[Forspoken] was created from the beginning with the capabilities of the PS5 in mind, and as such, it has really been optimised for that platform.” The devs made sure to make use of the PS5's built-in SSD so that you could experience streamless and breathtaking gameplay at its very best.

There you have it folks, the reason as to why the devs kept their focus on the PS5 and didn't branch off trying to bring Forspoken to PS4 as well. While the game is currently being lambasted for a pretty mediocre demo — something Square Enix knew about — there is still hope that the game can sway opinion once more on release. Let's hope these PS5 enhancements can draw people back to the fold. What do you make of all this? Happy to see Forspoken was created primarily for the PS5? Let us know in the comments below!

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Written by Sean Lawson

Sean is a Staff Writer with a focus on the geekiest Sony news. He writes stories about unobtainable PlayStation trophies, the best PS Plus games, as well as RPGs and Fighting games. He is also excited for Tekken 8, Wonder Woman, and Dead Island 2 to launch on PS5. Sean’s favourite games include Mass Effect, Tomb Raider, Tekken, and Persona.