Forspoken has the best map in gaming
Forspoken launched a couple of weeks ago on PC and PS5 as a console exclusive and it immediately stood out. The story had excellent character development in how Alfre evolves and the magic parkour really stood out. We noted the game as a genuine story of humanity in our review. One thing that hasn’t been getting much attention is the game’s map. It is loaded with detail, and I’m about to break down why Forspoken has the best map in gaming.
To begin with, the map is absolutely gigantic. While size of the map doesn’t always equate to it being good in a game, Forspoken has so much to do. Every aspect of the map is covered with a total of 186 points of interest. There are 74 monuments to find, locked labyrinths, photo spots, cat companion statues, safe house (fast travel), belfry (fast travel), ruins, villages, mutants, field bosses, side quests (called detours) and more. In addition to all of this, enemies are scattered about the land which you will need to take full advantage of your magic and parkour skills in order to succeed.
That’s the overall map. As impressive as it is, the game’s map in the menu is actually three full maps in one. The default map is the standard type of view you would see when opening the menu. You get a basic view of the land, points of interest and general topography.
Then there’s a bird’s eye view that shows the entire map at once including all fast travel belfry’s and refuges. You can fast travel to any one you have unlocked or place a waypoint on one you haven’t. You can also place up to five waypoints at once in the map that are numbered 1-5. Trying to place a 6th one replaces the original #1 with this one and so on. It’s a seamless transition as well. By this, I mean you can place two waypoints in bird’s eye, two in a standard and another zoomed in without messing any of them up. The 3D topography map is truly where Forspoken shines though. Take a look here.
When zoomed in, you may notice that it resembles a lot of what the maps in Fable 3 looked like. I found this to be ironic considering I mention in our review how much Forspoken’s story is similar to Fable. As you can tell in the video above, I break down just how useful and detailed the map is, especially in 3D zoom.
There are going to come points where you are staring up at a mountain asking yourself “Ok, how the hell do I get up there?” If you bring up the map in 3D zoom, you can navigate the topography in fully rendered form and see exactly where you need to go in order to move forward. You can see that you’ll need to run around, up, back, then down a slope in order to get to your location – a feat that would be impossible without sheer luck of exploration or this map. The entire thing is so beautifully detailed, and you really see how the UE5 development aided in the process with the Luminous engine.
All three maps in Forspoken were blended and worked so well together. Each one served its own individual purpose while being integrated into the other two. With so much detail in each map, the game’s overall environment and impact the map had on gameplay and exploration makes the map in Forspoken the best overall map in gaming.
Be sure to check out our Forspoken Guides: