PlayStation Plus subscribers can spend December with Forspoken’s surprisingly good parkour

Forspoken probably isn’t destined for a comeback any time soon, but PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium subscribers on PlayStation 5 can try its surprisingly smooth fantasy parkour for free starting Dec. 17, Sony announced Wednesday.

It’s joined by some other notable games this month, including Sonic Frontiers, A Space for the Unbound, PHOGS!, and Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy. However, none of them can match the rush of vaulting and sliding through Square Enix’s pretty — if a little bland — open-world action RPG from last year.

Although the critical response was mixed on whether or not Forspoken could stand next to the sprawling adventures in games like Final Fantasy 7: Remake, there were a few fans of main character Frey’s acrobatic finesse. Through her “Flow” ability, she can leap and slide over objects in the environment while you hold down a single button — no finger gymnastics required. And it works in combat, too, letting her dodge and flee from enemies unscathed.

In our review, Grayson Morley praised the ability’s traversal and the many ways you can expand it throughout the story, but found that it’s cut short just as it all starts to come together. “By the time you get a fourth set of magical abilities, the game feels like it’s finally opening up, with a full suite of powers available to you, a feeling immediately undercut by the fact that it’s actually ending,” Morley wrote.

That sounds like the perfect kind of game to sample guilt-free with a PS Plus subscription, if you ask me. Maybe it won’t satisfy you for 40 hours, but for 5 or 10? That’s a holiday treat. Forspoken’s story even takes place a few days before Christmas; this could be your new tradition.

Forspoken will be available for both Extra and Premium PS Plus subscribers starting Dec. 17.