It’s sometimes hard to look back and believe Forspoken launched this year.

2023 has been busy. Since then we’ve had the likes of Hogwarts Legacy, Jedi Survivor, Tears of the Kingdom, and in a few days Final Fantasy XVI. And that’s before we get to the second half of the year.

The game had an aggressive marketing campaign going in, Sony heavily invested in its release as one of their timed exclusive third party releases. But shortly afterwards, following a mixed reception, the game just sort of got dropped. We kind of talked a bit about that in our DLC review for In Tanta We Trust.

And look, even after a bunch of updates and tweaks, the game still isn’t perfect. What game is? But truthfully, I’ve been more invested in this journey since I blazed through the DLC. It gave me a real taste of everything the game has to offer in a short, sweet way. Now I’d go as far as to say, I appreciate Forspoken.

I think, traversal wise, this is one of the most enjoyable ways to get around an open world game since the original Assassin’s Creed titles. Before they got too big, that is. The parkour Frey pulls off lets you easily whizz around the map, clambering up onto high ledges and really seek out collectibles and other assortments flows wonderfully, it’s pretty easy going to control and fills you with a semblance of satisfaction.

That sort of blends in beautifully with the combat as well as you duck, weave, cut corners and even round your enemies in quick fashion to blast them down with machine-gun spells and tentacle whips. With its Devil May Cry meets Gears of War style battles, I think Square really nailed down a smart niche that we’ve not seen quite work this well. And it’s definitely one of the better parts of the game.

But looking back at the initial criticism and how it’s now been addressed, it seems people were pretty discontented with how much Frey and Cuff bantered back and forth. As someone who’s only recently dived into the game post updates, I don’t feel like their conversations have grated on me. In fact, I’ve laughed a few times. But the game seems to have done a good job getting to the point, keeping the story well paced and interesting enough to keep you playing.

The back and forth is certainly no more irritating than some games I’ve played. On that note, I also see some of the earlier scenes have been shortened a bit, and it has definitely helped with the pacing and keeping interest levels high. I flew through the initial chapters and that really helped me get my foothold in the game and stick with it. But likewise, I didn’t feel I was missing any key information. Especially since In Tanta does a good job of establishing things.

It also seems there’s a few new moves to trial and some things have been made a bit more user friendly compared with before. Looking back at some old videos, I can definitely see how the game might have seemed padded, clunky and not as user friendly at first. But with this being my first, fresh look at the game, not only was I impressed, I was glued to the action.

Unfortunately, they still didn’t do anything about the bag of money and fire sequence right at the beginning. C’mon Frey, I appreciate the love of pets and the sentiment, but you could have done both at once.

There’s some silliness about the game in that way. Some of the jokes don’t land, some textures look a bit rough, and there’s a few plot holes, but there’s an interesting world that’s been crafted underneath this. One I’d love to explore a little bit deeper.

There’s a basis of a solid romp that may have gotten a bit overlooked with the initial issues, but if this year has taught us anything, it’s after a few updates a game can truly turn around. Take Jedi Survivor. And I really feel this game is better for the very same updates it’s just received.

Will this game get featured in many Game of the Year noms? Probably not. The dust kind of settled, sadly, and it’ll always be the game that launched in a ridiculous ear of continuous bangers. C’mon, we’ve still got Armored Core, Alan Wake 2, Spider-Man 2, and Starfield to come. And God knows what else Nintendo have in store for us.

But I think it’s a game that deserves a second chance. Another look, because the developers have made efforts to address some of that initial criticism. And the game flows so much better for it.

The Way In Tanta We Trust leaves off, there’s room for a sequel. There’s clearly an interest and desire there, and honestly, the potential seems to suggest we would go deeper into this intriguing fantasy world which is all we ever really wanted.

Will it happen? It’s so hard to say right now. Maybe once this timed exclusivity is up there’s an opening to bring the game to Xbox and find a more attractive window to push it again, maybe bringing it to GamePass. But with the cool use of DualSense and the game already receiving some hefty discounts, it’s definitely one to keep an eye out for in a sale, I’d reckon.

If you’re somehow in the hunt for yet another open world adventure to lose yourself in the year of the AAA Renaissance, this one is great and is so much better for having extra time in the oven. Don’t let this one get lost to time.