Forspoken and Pokemon Legends: Arceus couldn’t be more different in some respects. Forspoken is an action RPG with stunning, realistic graphics, while Pokemon Legends: Arceus is a turn-based game that preserves the colorful, stylized look of its franchise. In terms of narrative, though, Forspoken and Pokemon Legends: Arceus could turn out to have some things in common. Frey Holland is a very different person from the Pokemon Legends: Arceus protagonist, but she is grappling with a perfectly comparable life change. Forspoken’s world could feature a variety of stories and characters that come across as more mature takes on the themes that Pokemon Legends: Arceus explored in its own isekai narrative.
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Forspoken and Pokemon Legends: Arceus’ Possible Similarities
Frey and the Pokemon Legends: Arceus protagonist already seem to have a lot in common. They each start out simply: Frey is a seemingly normal human living in New York City, while the PL:A protagonist is an unassuming teenager who may know little about Pokemon. Both characters have power and responsibility thrust upon them when they’re suddenly transported to another world, where they discover talents and abilities that they must use to protect the world around them. Forspoken will undoubtedly have a more complicated take on this structure, since Frey has a more detailed backstory, but the similarities between her and the PL:A protagonist are clear.
Beyond the player characters, Forspoken has the chance to include other narrative elements that tap into the isekai concept like Pokemon Legends: Arceus does. For instance, Pokemon Legends: Arceus lets players interact with another displaced character, Ingo, and features lots of characters with different feelings about these strangers coming to the Hisui region from other worlds. Forspoken will almost certainly include a lot of scenes where Frey’s origins on Earth come into conflict with the experiences and beliefs of Athia’s residents. What’s more, Forspoken may have characters besides Frey who have been transported to Athia from Earth, following in Ingo’s footsteps.
Forspoken’s Potential After Pokemon Legends: Arceus
The similarities between these two games should get fans of isekai games excited. After enjoying Pokemon Legends: Arceus’ fun but fairly simplistic angle on being whisked away from one’s time and place, Forspoken could offer a more robust, nuanced exploration of the isekai experience. When compared in this way, Forspoken and Pokemon Legends: Arceus could show the breadth of possibilities available to games when they tell their own isekai stories. In other words, in the wake of Forspoken and Pokemon Legends: Arceus, this style of storytelling could get even more popular in the game industry thanks to the variety introduced by Game Freak and Luminous Productions.
Even if Forspoken doesn’t lead to an isekai revolution, it’s still interesting to see how this game reflects other recent trends or landmarks in the game industry. Luminous Productions seemingly intends to put new twists on a lot of recent phenomena. Forspoken has major similarities to Horizon: Zero Dawn too, for instance, but it still promises to provide a story and world all its own. Although Pokemon Legends: Arceus is probably too recent to have truly inspired Forspoken, PL:A does shed light on the clever combination of familiarity and innovation that holds Forspoken up. Forspoken and Pokemon Legends: Arceus may accomplish very different things, but they’re still quite the dynamic duo.
Forspoken releases October 11, 2022 for PC and PS5.
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