Stranger of Paradise sounds like it should be a dream game for me. Combine the fast paced and thrilling combat of Nioh with the story and depth of Final Fantasy. To an extent, that’s partly true but a few missteps keep from being the dream collab that I expected.
The Origin of Chaos
For as long as I could remember, I’ve loved Final Fantasy. The story and the worlds of each game always found a way to grab my imagination. Stranger of Paradise is the first game in the franchise that I was disappointed by on first sight. Before it was announced, there had been rumors that Square Enix was set to announce a Soulslike game from Team Ninja that was to be a prequel for the original Final Fantasy game. I couldn’t contain my excitement; a new Final Fantasy Soulslike game from the guys that did Nioh! That excitement soon left when we were shown the announcement trailer. I thought we were getting a medieval style with knights and armor but instead we get Jack, who is dressed like a Rue 21 model and the birth of all those “kill Chaos” memes.
Later on we would learn that this would be a Final Fantasy by way of Tetsuya Nomura. Nomura probably best known to Square Enix fans for his involvement in Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy VII. Games with his creative touch to blend fantasy and modern style. Normally, I’d be fine with that but after playing so many games in the franchise with that type of style, I was just ready for some traditional high fantasy. Later on that same day, Square Enix released a demo for players to try out and to give their feedback. It was here I was finally able to see the game’s actual merits, instead of looking at what it wasn’t.
Killing Chaos
So, do you remember when I said this was rumored to be a Soulslike? Well, it isn’t. What Strangers of Paradise actually is is a fast paced character action game with some role playing elements baked in. It takes some of the bones and systems of a game like Nioh and simplifies it. This is weird for me to say about a Final Fantasy game but Nioh is more of a role playing game than Stranger of Paradise is. It has the same mission structure as well. You pick your missions from a world map and after you’ve finished that mission, you unlock side missions that repurpose that same level do some other objective.
Stranger of Paradise does a good job of being accessible to a variety of different play styles. You have your choice between easy and normal difficulty with a hard mode unlocked after completion. Gameplay is exactly what you would expect from Team Ninja. What you get is a fast paced character action game with a wide variety of moves you can pull off. I think the only thing that changes with the difficulty is maybe the aggressiveness of the enemies. It all felt very manageable. Also, when you die you don’t lose anything, adding to the game’s approachability.
The Right Job for the Occasion
Tying in to the franchise’s history, Stranger of Paradise features the job system. Each job gives you access to different skills and weapons. This gives you the opportunity to tailor the game to your particular play style. But don’t think you can make it through this game without experimenting. Quite a few times, I found myself against a brick wall because my great sword just wasn’t cutting it. Certain weapons work better against certain enemies so you can’t be married to the idea of using a specific playstyle.
Something that makes Stranger of Paradise standout in the Soulslike genre is the use of party members. You can go venturing out with two other companions who help you out in combat. I have to admit, though, you party members can be a little brain dead at times. There are times when I’m fighting a brutal battle and need to be healed and for some reason they just won’t. Or you could be getting jumped by a bunch of imps and your friends will be standing on the sidelines looking at you.
The Origin of Chaos, Revisited
As stated above, Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is a prequel to the original Final Fantasy. You play as Jack who for some reason wants to kill Chaos. The only issue is he can’t remember much else. He goes after his goal with such a single minded focus that it can at times come off as comical. Eventually you find out that there’s a reason for his and his party members’ strange behavior. It’s just that until you reach that point of the story, the writing comes off as a bit absurd. Seeing as this is a Nomura joint, having a story told in such a fractured manner should be familiar territory. It’s just Final Fantasy as a franchise tend to feature a more straight forward manner of storytelling.
Throughout most of the adventure, you’ll be reliving some moments from the original Final Fantasy. Having recently finished the first game last year, I felt that this prequel story actually added more depth to the original. What use to be a group of one note villains, now have actual motivations for the things they are doing. I also really enjoyed the banter between party members as well.
Nitpicks
One of my biggest gripes with Stranger of Paradise is in its design. Like Nioh before it, Stranger of Paradise features a loot system similar to Diablo. Your overall level is determined by the gear you have equipped and you can get some skills that are tied to certain gear. The problem with the gear system, however, is that you’ll everything you do in the game yields gear. Beat a mission: gear, kill an enemy: gear, open a treasure chest: gear. There’s no currency or items or even an item shop to buy from. Very early on, opening treasure chests becomes not exciting because you’ll be collecting the same gear over and over again for more than 40 hours. There’s just not enough unique loot to kind of justify this loop.
My other nitpick? This game can be ugly as hell. While I find the cinematography to be good and some of the character models to be decent, you can tell this isn’t Square Enix working on this. I played on PlayStation 5 and it run pretty smooth. I know some PC players were complaining about frame drops but I didn’t notice that in my playthrough.
Verdict
All in all, I would recommend Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin but its not a strong recommendation. I enjoyed the game enough to platinum it, though. If you’re a fan Team Ninja’s other work and want to see what they would do with a Final Fantasy game then you should definitely give this game a shot.
Stranger of Paradis: Final Fantasy Origin is available on Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox, and PC via the Epic Game Store.
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