Published by Square Enix, Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is co-developed by Koei Tecmo and Team Ninja, the studio behind the action RPG Nioh. We’re a little over a month away from the game’s release date and some of us at The Outerhaven are pretty hyped to play it. With that in mind, here’s six reason get you hyped up too.
A unique homage, not an Isekai:
In Stranger of Paradise, you play as Jack Garland who, along with his two friends, embarks on a journey of revenge to kill Chaos. Many have suggested the game is an “isekai”, a story where the protagonist is transported to another world, due to the aesthetic of Jack and technology showcased in the trailers. However, according to Daisuke Inoue, the game’s director, it aims to be a… different interpretation of what could have been. While it isn’t the origin of Garland, the main antagonist of the first Final Fantasy, it pays homage to the villain’s story and his potential fall from grace in a unique way. Check out this awesome trailer for the game if you want to learn more about the story and see some of the unique characters you’ll meet (and kill) along the way.
Get a Job (or two):
One long standing staple of the Final Fantasy franchise is a class based party system. While Square Enix’s new spin off might be a huge departure from its traditional RPG roots, it’s bringing a similar system along with it. Jobs will define how Jack and his friends will engage their foes in battle and in an interview with Push Square, the game’s producer and head of Team Ninja, Fumihiko Yasuda has stated there are a total of 27 jobs. Players can equip two jobs at one time and swap between the two as they battle the forces of darkness. While researching which jobs are in the game, I managed to dig up this video from the channel Ocean Machine, with a small sample of each job in action. Another Job seems to have popped up in the game’s leaked achievement list known as “cyclic warrior” which might be a Job exclusive to Jack, or so the rumors suggest.
A Suit for Every Occasion:
If you’ve played through Nioh, then you already know that you can expect a whole lot of loot to customize Jack and his crew. During my brief time with the game’s first demo, I wasn’t really impressed with the loot I found at the start of the game. I’m a huge fan of personalization and my Jack kinda looked like a dork. However, after seeing gameplay footage of the jobs in action, the aesthetics definitely step it up a notch with gear tailored more around the Jobs he can equip, increasing their effectiveness in battle as well.
A Bloody Good Time:
If there was one thing that stood out to me during my time with the first demo, it’s the game’s combat system. During combat, players can utilize powerful abilities to drain and deplete the enemies “break gauge”, setting Jack up to execute a finishing move where enemies crystallize and shatter. The “Soul Shield” can block an enemy’s attacks and steal their spells so that they can be used against them as well. Much like Nioh, Team Ninja is going all in on the M rating for the game. The artwork for the game already depicts Jack covered in blood, a good foretelling of how players will become drenched in blood as they brutally dismantle their foes in the quest to kill Chaos. IGN has a great video showcasing the combat and Job system that’s worth checking out.
Bring in Some Backup:
Personally, one of my favorite aspects of Nioh and Fromsoft games is co-op. As an avid gamer, I love being able to connect with other players and work together to achieve victory. In Stranger of Paradise, playing co-op puts two other players in the shoes of Jed and Ash, Jack’s two companions. Loot is instanced so each player will earn their own spoils of war to take back with them along with any experience they earned during a mission. While I wasn’t able to experience the co-op for myself, this article from Inverse breaks down how the co-op worked in the demo. Keep in mind that it talks about the demo and might change when the final product is released.
Select the Difficulty:
One thing that’s constantly debated on the internet lately is that games need difficulty options. I’m not going to dip my feet into that pool right now, but if you’re worried about Stranger of Paradise being too hard, fear not. The game features difficulty options, ranging from easy to hard. There also looks to be a fourth difficulty option as players can earn an achievement for completing the game on the “CHAOS difficulty” according to the achievement list.
If you had any questions about the game, I hope this piece helped. There are two different versions of the game and if you pre-order either version of the game digitally, you can get up to a 72 hour head start on consoles. Personally, I can’t wait to get my hands on the game when Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin releases on March 18th, 2022.
All images have been provided by Square Enix via the Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin Presskit.
