Forspoken showcases its parkour action in a zippy new trailer

Since its unveiling, one of the most enticing aspects of Luminous Productions’ new action-RPG Forspoken has been its fluid parkour traversal system, but how exactly does it work? The game’s latest trailer expands on that, detailing the game’s basic flow and stamina mechanics, as well as some of Frey’s more advanced parkour moves. There are also various challenges to complete that will improve your parkour skills. Eventually, Frey will be able to levitate, summon platforms to leap through the air, and glide across water on a magical surfboard, essentially transforming him into a fantasy superhero. You can check out the Forspoken Parkour Deep Dive below.

To look good! If Luminous Productions can supply the tech to support their parkour mechanics, traversing the world of Forspoken should be loads of fun. Here’s a rundown of Frey’s various moves…

• Flow – Frey is activated by holding down the circle button – in this state, Frey will zoom through the world with breathtaking speed and amazing grace. She will automatically leap over small rocks and ledges, jump up small walls, and do whatever it takes to advance in the direction you tell her. Of course there are limits. Using Flow alone won’t let Frey scale a cliff or scale a tall building – plus it requires stamina. To really move around in style, you need to combine Flow with Frey’s other moves and learn how to chain them together.
• Hurry up – The Rush skill lets you flow even faster by working with well-timed button presses. When using Flow you will occasionally see flames emanating from Frey. Press the circle button when you see this visual prompt and she will charge forward while maintaining her fastest pace. Even better, you can also use it to maintain top speeds while recovering some stamina.
• shimmy – Want to get faster fast? Shimmy time. This move causes Frey to bounce off the ground to accelerate. At the right time, press X and Frey will make a short jump forward. If you press X again after landing, you can zoom further forward with amazing speed. It’s also great because it’s another move that saves stamina. Many skills draw on this resource, and when it is depleted, Frey’s current run also ends. Sometimes a timely breather is helpful, as Frey’s stamina recharges quickly when she’s not using an ability.
• scale – Flow can take you quite a way up a wall, but to get higher you must learn to scale. This ability causes Frey to create phantom bases to launch himself into the air. You can use this to give yourself the boost you need to reach the top of a structure, or launch to move seamlessly through the world.
• Climb – Climb lets you climb even higher by making multiple jumps in quick succession. As the name suggests, Soar allows Frey to reach incredible heights unattainable with a normal jump – that extra height is a real game changer, allowing you to reach areas that would otherwise be inaccessible and opening up even more possibilities for extravagant parkour.
• zipper – By pressing the square button you can make Frey launch a magic rope that will pull her to whatever it is connected to. It’s useful for propelling you into situations where you’d otherwise miss a ledge, or for skirting scenery that might otherwise slow your forward momentum. Alternatively, you can hold square to slow down the action and target areas you specifically want to draw to. While Zip can snap to any wall, it really comes into its own when aiming at specific objects around the world. These make Frey swing forward with incredible speed or shoot himself high in the air!
• Hover – You’ve flown, scaled, flown and swooped up, but you need to get back down fast – what are you doing? Use Float of course! With this infinitely useful ability, Frey can manipulate gravity itself to cushion any fall. Just hold the X button in the air and you can smoothly drift down at a controlled speed. Of course, the applications go far beyond mere survival – it’s also fantastic in traversal situations.
• Slide – Glide lets Frey slide across the water surface. If Frey has learned the ability, it’ll activate automatically when you use Flow in the splashy stuff – just hold Circle to start surfing. The speed and style with which you can travel makes every lake, river and sea an opportunity for showboating in style. It’s especially useful when fighting some of the aforementioned wet monsters – you can use this ability to run rings around them. Or, more specifically, slip rings around them.

Forspoken will be released on PC and PS5 on January 24th, 2023.