Forspoken: In Tanta We Trust Review: A Troubled-Yet-Triumphant Past, and an Uncertain Future

I’ve done a lot of things as a video game reviewer—virtually all of them relating to playing and/or writing about video games. One thing I’ve never done, however, is play an open-world action RPG from start to finish so that I can review a small post-game piece of DLC… until now, that is! No, seriously, I did. And, while it isn’t my job to review Forespoken itself (we do have a full review written by Henry Yu, though!), I’m going to do it anyway… *ahem* I had a few minor complaints here and there, but overall, I thought Forspoken was fun, and I’m glad that I got to play it.

But what about the thing that I’m actually supposed to be reviewing, though—Forspoken: In Tanta We Trust? Well, I didn’t end my last paragraph with the shortest review I’ve ever written for no reason, dear reader. I did it because I wanted to point out that, after spending a good 30-ish hours in the main game, I found In Tanta We Trust to be both intriguing in certain aspects, and a little bit lackluster in others.

Please note that this review contains major spoilers for the plot of Forespoken, as they are integral to the DLC itself. You’ve been warned!

Heeding the Call

Why, indeed…?

Taking place a few months after the events of Forespoken‘s story, In Tanta We Trust follows begins with Frey finding herself being called by a mysterious, disembodied voice. Not particularly bothered by this phenomenon at this point, the irresistibly curious protagonist—and her extremely unwilling partner, Cuff—follows the voice all the way to Visoria, where she eventually encounters its source—a burial plot. Before she can make sense of what’s going on, however, Frey finds herself flung through a rift that not only places her within an older, Rheddig-infested version of the Visoria Castle Town—and into the body of a complete stranger.

Despite being fully playable DLC, I couldn’t help but see In Tanta We Trust as less of a gameplay expansion and more of a vehicle through which Forspoken could expand on certain parts of its lore. Fortunately, it (at least, in my opinion) executed this well. While you might not find yourself chomping at the bit if you don’t care about the game’s story, In Tanta We Trust does an excellent job at finally letting players experience part of one of the most important events in recent Athian history—the war between Athia and Rheddah.

Despite the fact that this war served as a key plot point for the events that happened both before and during Forespoken, the Rheddig were essentially little more than just whispers in the wind. You heard about them plenty, and you even got to read stuff that they left lying around, but you basically had no idea what they looked, sounded, or acted like. The fact that In Tanta We Trust puts you into direct (and prolonged) contact with these enemy forces does a good job of “putting a face to the name,” so to speak, and deepening player immersion in that aspect.

Different Sides of the Same Face

Sounds like someone might not be so loving after all.

In Tanta We Trust also serves to develop two of the most important “people” (not really sure that you can call either of them human at this point) in her life: Cuff, Frey’s partner-turned-final-boss-turned-partner-again, and Tanta Cinta, Frey’s mother. Cuff’s “fleshing out” is the more direct between the two. Having shown his hand and lost, he doesn’t need to play the part of the concerned friend anymore. With the fact that he’s now an unwilling participant in all of this, Cuff speaks with a colder, more biting tone throughout the entirety of this short journey (although some of his original personality does still shine through).

Seeing that Frey is trapped within the body of someone else—a soldier named Thalia—, we don’t get any direct relationship-building between the duo. What we do see, however, is a much less black-and-white side of the Tanta of Love. While the bulk of Forespoken paints her as a gentle, loving, motherly figure (both physically and metaphorically), the Tanta Cinta in In Tanta We Trust is almost a different person entirely. Gone is the person who values love, joy, and the arts, and in her place is a warrior determined to see her duty through to the end—regardless of what must be done. All-in-all, I think that this does an excellent job of showing just how much she (and everyone else, by proxy) had to struggle during this time period, and the fact that she had to act in a more morally ambiguous way helps to make her feel more human than demi-god.

Dueling with Deja Vu

Combat remains pretty much the same.

Boy, I sure talked a lot about the game’s story in this review. Wanna know why? Regardless of your answer, I’m going to tell you anyway. First, like I said before, I not only feel like this DLC was made to flesh out the game’s story, but that it succeeded at that. Second, there’s not, like, a lot to talk about when it comes to gameplay… mostly because it’s just rehashed stuff from the main game.

If I had to use one word to describe the gameplay of In Tanta We Trust it would be “condensed.” Everything from your spells to character progression to the explorable area is just a condensed version of what the main game offers. Frey’s new “Yellow Magic” doesn’t actually have any new spells at all, and instead consists of a handful of spells from each skill tree in the original game mashed together. Her magic does have the chance of crystalizing enemies, which is both new and very cool-looking, but that’s about it.

Speaking of crystallization, there is one entirely new mechanic that players can mess around with—an CPU-controlled partner. Tanta Cinta remains with you throughout the entirety of this game, battles and all. And, boy, can she do some really neat stuff in battles. While most of what she does is (sadly) up to her, you can have her perform follow-up attacks by completing certain conditions—primarily the crystallization of enemies. There’s also something called “Fusion Magic” that you do which is pretty neat, but I probably shouldn’t go too much into that.

A Stroll About Town

Credit where it’s due; the visuals are really, really nice.

In terms of exploration, you’ve got the Visoria Castle Town, and… well, that’s it. The Visoria Castle Town is the entire game. Now, to be fair, it does look very different than its main-game counterpart. Due to the Rheddig’s heavy interference, the entire town is covered in massive breakshards—making for a much more dynamic and explorable environment. And, in true Forspoken nature, the game also has a smattering of points of interest strewn about, including enemy camps that can be taken over, collectible items to find, and tree roots to destroy (by the way, there’s a massive tree on top of Visoria Castle).

It’s also worth noting that, while not technically “new,” the enemies that you face in the DLC are unique. Rather than an onslaught of corrupted wildlife (and breakborn), you’re actually fighting other people! For the most part, this works the same as any other fight, but they do behave differently in some situations (mainly due to the fact that they’re not operating entirely on instinct), which made things a bit more interesting.

Where to go from Here?

Forspoken: In Tanta We Trust is a narratively enticing piece of DLC whose tiny explorable area and lackluster magic system might scare away those looking for a follow-up with a little more oomph. It’s also worth noting that the very end of the DLC sequel baits hard. And, while I’m not sure that Frey’s second journey will ever come to fruition (I’m very aware of everything that’s been going on), In Tanta We Trust, despite its flaws, did help me to look forward to that Forspoken follow-up… if and when it happens.

Final Verdict: 3.5/5

Available on: PlayStation 5 (Reviewed); Publisher: Square Enix; Developer: Luminous Productions; Players: 1; Released: May 26, 2023; ESRB: T for Teen; MSRP: $12.49

Full disclosure: A Forspoken: In Tanta We Trust code was provided to Hey Poor Player by the publisher.