FORSPOKEN

Continuing in my long tradition of finding trademark news and sharing it, I'm guessing you guys have seen this:

https://twitter.com/tmark365/status/1315713905717469185

Heavensward, Stormblood, Shadowbringers, Forspoken?

Hmmmm... what do you think?

Yes, Mr Happy made a video about it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qu5rsyskGkY

I guess it's ok.

I think Im gonna wait to hear official news from YoshiP before developing any level of hype

It could be accurately named, it also sounds like some sort of generic IP name for the ps5. But assuming you and some predictors like MrHappy are right, I guess its alright. Would make sense about the Echo basically being "tempered" or "bewitched, forspoken, et al" Pretty relevant, if it is true.

I wouldn't count on it just yet. SE registered some twitter handles such as @forspokengame, which would be unusual for a XIV expansion as they just use their @finalfantasyxiv for everything.

It would fit the trend, and would at least be a better name than Stormblood. But like said above it could be something else entirely. We'll see.

It certainly fits the sort of interesting language that the English localisation leans upon. Though it could also be an unrelated project, maybe something along the lines of a classic JRPG in the same vein as Octopath Traveler?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Theodric

It certainly fits the sort of interesting language that the English localisation leans upon. Though it could also be an unrelated project, maybe something along the lines of a classic JRPG in the same vein as Octopath Traveler?

---

This is my thoughts as well, one thing to note is that while it fits the English naming conventions for expansion names it doesn't fit Japanese naming conventions for expansion names(basically no colour associated with it which HW was Azure, SB was Crimson, ShB was Black)

my money is on a hero's bonds, since they registered another trademark which more or less means the same thing in japanese. them being registered together makes me think of how each expansion is named differently in japanese and english. (and the english iconography is used in the japanese advertisements as well)

In my opinion, Forspoken feels a little weak for an expansion title when compared to the past three. I was hoping for something meatier or edgier. The title does make sense for an expansion though since it fits the naming conventions of past expansion titles and could allude to how the Warrior of Light is allegedly tempered by Hydaelyn.

But who knows, Forspoken could even be the title of the Luminous Productions game that's currently called Project Athia.

If we're reaching very far and assuming Creative Business Unit III naming sense carries over then Forspoken could also be related to Final Fantasy XVI. Think of all the external media that Final Fantasy XV had with Brotherhood and Kingsglaive lol. But I'm very doubtful.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by grinkdaboy

my money is on a hero's bonds, since they registered another trademark which more or less means the same thing in japanese. them being registered together makes me think of how each expansion is named differently in japanese and english. (and the english iconography is used in the japanese advertisements as well)

---

A Hero's Bonds sounds a bit more like a name of a patch than an expansion title. Final Fantasy XIV expansion titles are usually closed compound words made to sound really cool. But now that you mentioned it, it could also be the Japanese title since they have a different expansion name and use the Western title as iconography for promotions.

Western Title ↔ Japanese Title (Romaji) ↔ Japanese Title (Translated)
Heavensward ↔ Soten no Ishugardo ↔ Blue Skies of Ishgard
Stormblood ↔ Guren no Ribereta ↔ Liberators of the Crimson Lotus (or Crimson Liberators)
Shadowbringers ↔ Shikkoku no Viranzu ↔ Jet Black Villains
Forspoken ↔ ? ↔ A Hero's Bonds ?

The Japanese naming convention appears to be "[description] no [subject]". Description for the expansions in order are 'Blue Skies', 'of the Crimson Lotus' or 'Crimson', and 'Jet Black'; while the subjects are 'Ishgard', 'Liberators', and 'Villains' respectively. I'm curious to know what the other Japanese trademark is that is similar to A Hero's Bonds.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Jandroid

I'm curious to know what the other Japanese trademark is that is similar to A Hero's Bonds.

---

魂の絆 - Tamashī no kizuna - Bonds of the Soul (spirit/anima/ghost/being/shadow)

https://chizai-watch.com/t/2020065062

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Shibi

魂の絆 - Tamashī no kizuna - Bonds of the Soul (spirit/anima/ghost/being/shadow)

https://chizai-watch.com/t/2020065062

---

Thanks!

It's similar in structure but a little different from the Japanese naming convention for their expansions. ___の___ appears to be the structure of how Square Enix names the Japanese expansions but at the same time, the first ___ before the の is usually a color descriptor like 蒼天 (Soten | Blue Skies), 紅蓮 (Guren | Crimson Lotus), and 漆黒 (Shikkoku | Jet-Black) while the second ___ which is after the の are usually nouns like Ishgard, Liberators, and Villains.

The naming conventions for 魂の絆 is a little different but the naming structure is there so it could very well be the name of the next expansion. Personally, I don't think "A Hero's Bonds" is the name of the next expansion since it feels a little off to me compared to past expansion titles. The Japanese name of an expansion has also never been translated to be used as the name for its International counterpart.

As it stands though, we could be looking at "Forspoken - 魂の絆" as the next expansion while "A Hero's Bonds" is just to trademark a translated version of '魂の絆' for the sake of trademarking something similar to protect their IP. Or it could be the name of a patch as well... Only time will tell.

Forspoken is probably the 5.5 patch title, considering it'd be dealing with both the final Nier raid and the likely finale for the Resistance questline.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Jandroid

As it stands though, we could be looking at "Forspoken - 魂の絆" as the next expansion while "A Hero's Bonds" is just to trademark a translated version of '魂の絆' for the sake of trademarking something similar to protect their IP. Or it could be the name of a patch as well... Only time will tell.

---

It's a little hard for me to know, you are correct that there is no colour in any meaning of Tamashī that I can see with my quite inadequate Japanese. But there can be so many multiple and clever meanings with kanji and my skill is low, so I might miss one.

Yes, you are also likely correct that's it's not an exact match, looking at the dates of these trademark applications might glean a little further hint that it's not this 魂の絆 trademark.

魂の絆 was applied for 6月16日 (June 16th)
FORSPOKEN was applied for 10月13日 (October 13th)
A HERO'S BONDS was applied for 10月13日 (October 13th)

And yet, there is another that is applied for on October 13 with the Yojijukugo phrase 燃魂夫絆 which also has 絆/Kizuna (bond) at the last character and 魂/Tamashī (soul) as the second.

燃魂夫絆 and 魂の絆 seem strongly related, but my Japanese isn't good enough to understand the meaning of this Yojijukugo phrase, especially if it's idiomatic, outside of a weak literal translation (Burning/Soul/Husband/Bond), which doesn't seem to make sense.

Ahh, it's all fun. But I just don't know.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by RyuDragnier

Forspoken is probably the 5.5 patch title, considering it'd be dealing with both the final Nier raid and the likely finale for the Resistance questline.

---

They don't trademark patch titles.