Forspoken PC demo drops at launch, letting players test their hardware and wooden dialogue tolerance

After several delays, Forspoken’s launch is finally upon us. Players will get to guide Frey as she explores a magical new world and attempts to save it from mysterious dangers. To coincide with the much-anticipated release of the game, the developers have also offered players a free PC demo to guide them through the game’s early stages.

The new demo was announced in a press release from the developers at Luminous Productions, stating that the Forspoken PC demo would become immediately available to players through the Steam, Epic Games, and Microsoft stores upon the game’s January 24 launch. It might seem unusual for the developers to release a demo alongside the worldwide release of the game, but their reasons almost certainly have to do with the much-discussed PC specs the game will demand.

While the PlayStation 5 demo was released last month to decidedly mixed reviews, this is the first time that PC players will get to see if their machine is capable of playing the game. Releasing a demo at this stage is likely to allow players to test their hardware for free before they pay for Forspoken. Publisher Square Enix doesn’t want to have to deal with high numbers of players asking for refunds because their computer doesn’t meet their exacting standards.

There has been plenty written about the somewhat stilted and wooden dialogue in Forspoken, which has had players wondering if they’re as excited about the game as they previously thought. After several delays and a console demo that didn’t exactly meet expectations, Square Enix will want to avoid the bad publicity that mass returns would create.

All three of the stores offering the demo have a return policy that requires players to have either had the game for less than 14 days or played it for less than two hours, but the process can be lengthy to go through. Hopefully, this move will keep players from purchasing a game they have no hope of actually playing.