Can your PC run Forspoken?

After the release of Final Fantasy XV, Square Enix’s internal studio Luminous Productions has been hard at work creating a new game that showcases the capabilities of the Luminous Engine. Enter Forspoken, a magic-filled open-world action RPG that takes a hapless New York teenager into the supernatural world of Athia to fend for her life.

Armed with magical sentient bracelets and new spell-casting abilities, protagonist Frey must journey across the devastated kingdom in search of a way home. Read on to see if his PC can handle the dazzling magical splendor that Forspoken has to offer.

Frey challenges a supernatural beast (Credit: Square Enix)

What can you expect from Forspoken?

Despite its focus on casting magic, Forspoken is a fast-paced action game. Magic in RPGs tends to be slow, clunky abilities with long charge times, or puny point-and-click projectiles. Neither system feels satisfying to use in practice, especially if the RPG in question offers viable melee builds.

Forspoken throws these conventions out the window and incorporates magic into all aspects of his combat. He conjures a flaming sword and slaps a zombie with it, or turns it into a spear to spear an enemy from a distance. He peppers targets with stone shrapnel or throws an explosive bomb that turns into a stalagmite. Engulf the battlefield in flames to upgrade yourself or drag targets into a swirling storm of ice. Skills are assigned to buttons that you can tap or hold for different effects. You can switch between skill sets on the fly and even modify which spells you can use during combat via a scroll wheel.

If nothing else, the unique magical systems in play should keep you interested and engaged for a solid period of time. Still, Forspoken offers a robust game world to explore, packed with treasures to find, upgrades to collect, and challenges to complete.

Where can I buy Forspoken?

On PC, you can buy Forspoken through the Epic Games Store (Opens in a new window)or steam(Opens in a new window) for $69.99 starting January 24. Forspoken is an exclusively next-gen release, so it’s only available on PlayStation 5 and PC. With that said, let’s take a look at the PC system requirements.

What are Forspoken’s minimum system requirements?

• operating system: Windows 10 (64-bit)

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 1600 or Intel Core i7-3770

• Memory: 16GB RAM

• GPUs: AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT or Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060

• DirectX: Version 12

• Free space: 150GB

With these minimum specs, you can expect to play the game at 720p resolution at 30 frames per second.

What are Forspoken’s recommended system requirements?

With these settings, you can expect to play the game at 1440p resolution at 30fps.

What are the Forspoken Ultra system requirements?

With this PC rig, you can expect to game at 2160p (4K) resolution at 60 fps.

Some Thoughts on Forspoken System Requirements

These are surprisingly demanding system requirements; 16GB of RAM is a pretty high total for base specs, considering the game only displays at 720p/30fps. Even more surprising are the recommended requirements that call for powerful GPUs, but only promise 1440p/30fps. More alarmingly, 60fps is the exclusive playground of top-tier PC builds.

However, that may be because Forspoken is the first PC game to fully support Microsoft’s DirectStorage technology, which promises to deliver super-fast load times.

How can you play Forspoken?

Forspoken is optimized for controllers, but you can expect keyboard and mouse controls on PC. It is not yet known to what extent these controls can be customized. Likewise, Steam Deck compatibility has yet to be revealed.

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Why you should play on a PC