With Forspoken seeing its January release date creeping ever closer, the hype is definitely starting to build for this magical action RPG. Developer Luminous Productions has been sharing new information on the game’s magic and spellcasting, after a recent focus on its similarly magical parkour systems last week.

A new update over on the PlayStation blog dives much deeper into protagonist Frey Holland’s use of magic as a combat tactic. According to Lead Visual Effects Artist Ryota Nozoe, Forspoken’s magic systems are, at their core, focused on natural phenomena as opposed to generic firebolts or objects materialising out of thin air. To give this game a more authentic feel, the team behind its visual effects have put a lot of thought into the way the spells form, move, cause an impact and then fade away.

The magical energy Frey uses is also represented in-game by different geometric patterns and appears to work on a sort of colour-coded system, with “purple magic” being demonstrated in the “Tendril” spell. This is just one of many exciting-looking combat spells that players will be able to add to their arsenal. You can check out the full deep dive on Frey’s magic right here in the latest Forspoken combat trailer.

In addition to the new footage, the accompanying update dives deeper into three particular spells that players will have at their disposal in Forspoken. The first of these will be Burst Shot, which is the first spell Frey will receive upon her journey to the magical realm of Athia. Players can use Burst Shot to fire explosive lumps of rock that deal area damage at enemies. As an earth-based spell, it looks pretty impactful, with large, explosive rock formations shattering in four different directions.

The next spell detailed in the deep dive is called Cataract, which works with an almost tsunami-like effect, whipping up a water-based vortex that drags enemies in and deals damage to them as it does so. Holding the button down when casting this spell increases the effect of its impact, sending out projectile water pillars that attack nearby enemies. The water will also gradually turn into ice pillars that freeze attackers the longer you hold the button down.

Also at the player’s disposal will be Genesis, which when cast summons branches packed with barbs, to skewer enemies over a broad area of effect. As with Cataract, the spell shifts and increases its effect the longer the button is held down. In the case of this earthy attack spell, a striking and poison effect is applied to foes that get caught in the tangle of branches on holding down the button.

The magic in Forspoken certainly looks to have been very effectively designed to reflect Frey’s ability to manipulate the natural world around her. Those eager to get into the game don’t have too much longer to wait, and updates such as these will be serving to heighten the excitement even further.

Forspoken is set to launch on January 24. It’ll be available on PC via Steam the Epic Games Store and the Windows Store. The game will also be released on PlayStation 5.

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