Support NeoGAF

[Komatsu]

General Information
​

• Developers: Koei Tecmo​
• Publisher: Square Enix​
• Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Windows (Epic Games Store)​
• Release Date: March 18, 2022​
• Genre: Action RPG​

Story
​

Stranger of Paradise is set in a dark fantasy interpretation of the setting for the original Final Fantasy game, with a group of people drawn into it from another world. The main character is Jack Garland, a man consumed by a need to destroy Chaos. Jack is accompanied by other companions, including newcomers Ash and Jed. During the journey they face a knight who has taken on the role of Chaos; while seemingly the foretold Warriors of Light, each has doubts as to whether that is their role.

Gameplay
​

Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is an action role-playing game in which players take on the role of protagonist Jack Garland, exploring environments and fighting monsters of the Final Fantasy series. Combat takes place in real-time, with Jack being able to switch between two assigned jobs and use physical and magical attacks. Once an enemy's "break gauge" is depleted, Jack can perform a finishing blow that crystallizes the enemy, allowing Jack to harvest them and restore a portion of his magic meter.

Minimum Requirements

OS: Windows® 10 64-bit
Processor: AMD Ryzen™ 5 1400 / Intel® Core™ i7-6700
Memory: 8GB RAM
Storage: 80GB
Graphics: AMD Radeon™ RX 470 / NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060 6GB

Editions

 

[TintoConCasera]

Will buy for the combat and overall basedness.

Might wait for the Limp Bizkit mod tho.

 

[Craig of War]

I try the Demo and for me i did not like it at all Graphics looks soft ass hell

 

[Aion002]

I kinda liked the demo, but felt too much like a Nioh mod... It also performed terribly on the Series S, so I will probably wait for a discount and hopefully by then the game will receive some patches or I will be able get it on the ps5.

 

[Y0ssarian]

Waiting for my copy to arrive. One of my most anticipated games of the year.

 

[Elginer]

I own this on PS5 and XBOX SERIES S AND HOLY SHIT WHAT A GOD AWFUL EYE SORE ON THE SERIES S.

 

[Punished Miku]

Picking it up tomorrow. Expecting a thoroughly mediocre experience. Cant wait.

 

[ANDS]

Game runs like absolute trash on the PC.

. . .beyond that though, it is an ugly fucking game. Definitely something interesting there, but the aesthetic (the main cast looks like they fell out of a Rolling Stone cover shoot and into Narnia) is really not great. This is a title to pick up in a wee bit for mindless grinding.

Also that story and voice work is the definition of "so bad it's good."

 

[LavitzSlambert]

Steelbook looks awesome but I'll buy this on sale one day, deep discount.

 

[Vognerful]

Main the models are really PS3/PS4 era like. But I heard the compat is real fun.

I will buy it on sales probably.

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

Will get this eventually, still occupied with Elden Ring.

 

[Northeastmonk]

I'm still playing Elden Ring, so my opinion about it isn't all that enjoyable. I put 5 hours into the demos of SoP and enjoyed those. I immediately went back to Elden Ring when I realized I couldn't jump. I did put two hours into Stranger of Paradise and I'm a bit taken back. The first demo area was good, but the weird intermittent story missions are weird. The level design is a bit bonkers because it feels like it's the same pattern repeated again and again until the level resolves itself.

The loot system is crazy. I thought NiOh 2 had a lot of loot. I have no use for 15 pieces of armor and 10 weapons. I love NiOh 2. I thought it was a great game. Stranger of Paradise has some odd looking graphics. It's like they needed to render the rest of the character or add some higher quality textures to it. It feels like it's running on a graphics card that can't run in quality mode. The combat can be fun. I can see why it scored in the 7 and 8 range. To me they should have taken a step back and made the missions flow more like NiOh did. NiOh 2 had better level design in my opinion. I'm hoping it gets better. I might come back to it after I play more Elden Ring. I finished ER, but I'm having a blast. I hate to think Stranger of Paradise failed to deliver, but it sure is rough after 70+ hours of ER.

 

[Icymanipulator]

Waiting for a sale

 

[R6Rider]

I'll be trying out the demo, but going in with very low expectations.

 

[balls of snow]

Waiting for sale as well. Heard the game is short.

 

[Komatsu]

Completely bonkers game. I'm about 3h in and have no fucking clue whatsoever about what's happening, besides the fact it repeats some of the story beats of the original FF (Princess Sarah, Garland the Knight, Chaos, etc.). Story jumps from time to time, place to place and the main character is so obsessively emo that's a bit tiresome.

 

[SkylineRKR]

demo is incredibly fun but apparently enemy variety is weak and level design isn't much more than what you experience in the demo. Very fun combat and job system, awful visuals. Story doesn't get into the way of gameplay, which should count for something. The demo is the full game with a lock past the Western Keep level, and there is barely any context at the start. You need to kill chaos and you don't remember why, thats about it.

I eventually want to play it further, hoping for a sale once I'm done with ER.

 

[Zephir]

Got game and steelbook, but because of work I'll be unable to play until Monday...

 

[BreakOut]

Does it still feel like Nioh?

 

[TheCed]

I've made it far enough in the game to form my own opinion. Note that I played on Action difficulty (Equivalent to Normal I guess) I only played the first level on Hard and while it is fun, I'm not skilled enough to enjoy that difficulty.

Story : He wants to kill Chaos, there's no much more to it so far. There are barely any character interactions, just 1 short cutscnes saying where to go next at the end of each missions. I'm pretty sure a lot of people already figured out the "twist" but I haven't reached that part yet. I'm not expecting the plot to get better tho.

Gameplay : I'm having fun, as stated above, I'm playing on Action difficulty. I find it challenging but not unfairly challenging.

Visuals : It's ugly, very very ugly, and I don't usually care for Graphics but during cutscenes theres a lot of weird lighting that is very distracting.

Overall : It's fun but I'd recommend getting it on discount. Waiting wont ruin much for you.

 

[Miyazaki’s Slave]

15 hours in and mostly spent that time grinding out jobs.
(The grinding is not necessary, just something I like to do. I have seen plenty of people say they can unlock the jobs they want to unlock without any additional grinding.)

I have finished the first three missions.

General flow: start story mission -> finish mission -> location optional mission opens -> next story mission opens -> manage items -> repeat.

Setting up all your jobs and gear can be tedious with how quickly you get new/better gear (all the time). Maybe this gets easier to deal with later in the game when you have upgraded equipment etc. I like the process but can see where people do NOT like the constant equipment management.

**PLAY THE DEMO** If you like it you will like the full game.

Overall:

• If you liked Nioh (I did) I think you will enjoy this game. I think Nioh is more difficult than this game.
• If you liked Nioh AND you like Final Fantasy (esp the first 6) you will like this game.
• If you liked Nioh AND you like Final Fantasy A N D you like building synergies, managing equipment, and combat flow this game is an instant buy IMO.

Positives:

• Job classes and the combos there in are fantastic and fun to use.
• Difficulty levels allow for a large amount accessibility.
• Seeing the developers take on classic enemies is great
  Spoiler

  (Tonberry and Cactur as treasure mobs is a nice touch)
  .
• As far as I have played I think the time spent in each mission is well balanced.
• Character/Job equipment looks AWESOME. Once you get past the Sketchers and plaid pull over shirts in the first hour the gear starts to look really great.
• I really like the music remixes. I think as far as I am in the game it has been done very well.
• Multiplayer has been a really positive experience.

Negatives/Detractors:

• As everyone else has mentioned the graphics are...weird. They are just extremely inconsistent, between the issues the lighting and camera focus has during cutscenes and individual level issues (pitch black sometimes and very well done in others) there isn't much that can be said to defend this portion of the game.
• Cumbersome item management. If you let it get away from you amassing a crap ton of useless gear is easy to do. And while the game lets you "sell all" it still takes some menu manipulation to get this to work to your liking.
• The tutorial missions could be better in terms of teaching the player how to combo across jobs.
• I am dumb and don't know how to get multiplayer voice chat to work. (not the games fault...maybe).
• Spoiler

  So far I am unable to change my COM players jobs/classes. I don't like this but maybe it will unlock later.
• Spoiler

  So far talking to people from the Town for each mission hasn't done much to help the story. If anything it may explain why Jack is so angry....everyone in this world is an idiot.

I did not expect to like this game. I usually hate everything...and I am hyper critical of franchises I have enjoyed before turning into a bitter old husk of a person.

 

[SkylineRKR]

Yeah they can be changed. In the demo I had their second job eventually, don't know when it popped up but their base jobs were max level when I found out.

 

[Captain Toad]

I own this on PS5 and XBOX SERIES S AND HOLY SHIT WHAT A GOD AWFUL EYE SORE ON THE SERIES S.

Judging by how it looks on PS5, I assumed it would look the same on Series S. It's clearly not pushing the next-gen consoles to the max

 

[jshackles]

Picked this up on PC despite it getting some middling reviews and apparently running poorly for some. I figured that even if the devs abandon the game then it'll at least be able to be modded / fixed by others perhaps.

However, I haven't run into any problems whatsoever. The game holds a solid 60fps at 1440p on my modest machine. The textures are on high but some of them look... low. As others have mentioned, some areas of the game get super duper dark.

Overall though, loving this game. I wish it were on Steam though - I just got a Steam Deck and this would be a pretty good title to play on it as I feel like lowering the resolution all the way down to 800p or whatever wouldn't really be that big of a deal...

EDIT: Also surprised that the game supports ultrawide 21:9 (except in cutscenes) natively. Very nice.

 

[Miyazaki’s Slave]

Picked this up on PC despite it getting some middling reviews and apparently running poorly for some.

I snagged it on EGS today as well. Have you had any issues when doing a soul burst? For whatever reason the game goes into this slow motion sequence every time I defeat an enemy using the burst.

It is super weird, doesn't happen on PS5 or XSX versions.

Outside of that issue the PC version runs like butter and I will probably start over playing on PC version.

 

[Y0ssarian]

Have you had any issues when doing a soul burst? For whatever reason the game goes into this slow motion sequence every time I defeat an enemy using the burst

I have seen people posting about that on the SoPFFO subreddit.

 

[kevm3]

This game is awesome. Jack is the best FF character in a long time and the combat is awesome. Unfortunately this may get pegged because Jack isn't a Kpop reject or a stud.

The levels are kind of ugly and the game has a blurry visual quality but the combat is great as is the music. I like all the team members as well. This is a must cop.

 

[FunkMiller]

Yeah, I might pick this up one day, but having just finished Elden Ring, I doubt it would survive the instant comparison.

 

[lyan]

Having a blast

 

[Punished Miku]

This game is amazing. The dialogue is just as bad as I hoped. The combat is phenomenal. Its hard to put down.

 

[Punished Miku]

Get this if you want to delve into a top tier action game. The level design sucks. The dialogue is super bad. Graphics aren't great.

But the combat is that good, if you really get into it. All I even used is the starting sword class, mage and ronin so far. The sword class has a charging hit like Monster Hunter or it can be cancelled i to a block that chains into a power hit. Or you can use your spin attack into the block cancel. Or you can do a retreating spin hit into the block cancel and power slash.

Or switch on the fly to mage to hit groups of enemies with bombs but you get to pick the correct elemental weaknesses to max damage. Or use the mage melee combos that correspond to the element you wsnt for a shorter attack. Or hit back and attack for a protect spell melee counter.

Ronin has a super strong iai katana stance. They also have a second stance for battle meditation that has a melee counter or multiple super strong unique combos.

There's 25 other jobs I haven't tried yet ....

This isn't counting your command abilities, or your soul counter that absorbs moves or has the cool finishers.

 

[recursive]

I try the Demo and for me i did not like it at all Graphics looks soft ass hell

What's wrong with soft ass ?

I picked it up on ps5 although still in the wrap. Too many games right now.

 

[Hayabusabruh]

I noticed on the stage I'm on, there is an enemy from Nioh. Those purple blob thingies.

 

[Dr.Morris79]

Also that story and voice work is the definition of "so bad it's good."

But how good? On a scale of 1 to Barry? What are we talking?

 

[jshackles]

I snagged it on EGS today as well. Have you had any issues when doing a soul burst? For whatever reason the game goes into this slow motion sequence every time I defeat an enemy using the burst.

It is super weird, doesn't happen on PS5 or XSX versions.

Outside of that issue the PC version runs like butter and I will probably start over playing on PC version.

I get frame dips but nothing I'd call "slow motion". The Steam overlay says the game runs at 60fps most of the time but can dip down to about 45-50fps when I do the enemy burst thing. I just attributed it to the fact that the game is throwing particle effects all over the place...

Also if you haven't figured it out already, you can press LB or RB on the equipment screen to switch to your other party members. From that screen, you can change their jobs (if you've unlocked secondary jobs for them).

 

[Revolutionary]

I think I'm up to the final level (the FF6 one). Been playing through on Hard and IMO, it's really not that bad. The only time I'm consistently dying is when I'm learning boss battles, which I have to admit are my least favorite part of the game because of how your Max MP is reduced with each death, which forces you to build up your MP again with every boss attempt. Seems like an oversight in game design.

But I'm loving pretty much everything else. Even the weird story is oddly intriguing, even if the presentation of it is lacking.

Anyway, I've settled on a Berserker + Dark Knight loadout. Berserk + Souleater = absolutely insane damage, but it's very easy to die if you're not paying attention (Souleater drains HP with each attack and Berserk disallows use of Potions).

 

[Mr.ODST]

Loving the game so far, maxed out 3 jobs, got DRK and the Monk one in advanced classes, going to aim for the others now!

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

I tried hard at first but I ended up dropping it to "Action" at the first boss after getting my ass kicked over and over.

Now I'm at the pirate cave level and it feels too easy. Might bump it back up after this. It felt pretty satisfying to learn enemy patterns, when to dodge, when to block, when to absorb powers, etc.

I always sucked at "souls like" action games where you can't just mash buttons like a maniac. Maybe it's time for me to get good.


Guess you could say Final Fantasy SoP caused my souls like sexual awakening!

 

[Punished Miku]

I tried hard at first but I ended up dropping it to "Action" at the first boss after getting my ass kicked over and over.

Now I'm at the pirate cave level and it feels too easy. Might bump it back up after this. It felt pretty satisfying to learn enemy patterns, when to dodge, when to block, when to absorb powers, etc.

I always sucked at "souls like" action games where you can't just mash buttons like a maniac. Maybe it's time for me to get good.


Guess you could say Final Fantasy SoP caused my souls like sexual awakening!

The pirate boss hits like a truck if you're underdeveloped!

 

[Miyazaki’s Slave]

I get frame dips but nothing I'd call "slow motion". The Steam overlay says the game runs at 60fps most of the time but can dip down to about 45-50fps when I do the enemy burst thing. I just attributed it to the fact that the game is throwing particle effects all over the place...

Also if you haven't figured it out already, you can press LB or RB on the equipment screen to switch to your other party members. From that screen, you can change their jobs (if you've unlocked secondary jobs for them).

That's the odd thing, during the slow motion thing my FPS counter still stays pegged at 120 and everything in the scene is running at normal speed expect for Jack. He is in slow motion until the soul break effect is gone. Doesn't happen when I stop/absorb attacks either.
Anyway game is great fun. I just finished the 4th mission

Spoiler

forest

. I am very over leveled at this point finished that mission with Sage and Warrior. I got far enough to unlock their secondary jobs as well.

Has anyone noticed that your NPC's cannot equip certain types of armor? Their jobs limit their weapons but I didn't think that extended to their equipment.

**update** set to 60fps instead of 120fps and the character slow time effect is gone.

 

[Punished Miku]

Maurader is sick. Use the reinforce skill and I'm just charge attacking minibusses to death in 4 hits.

 

[Revolutionary]

Finished the story. I really don't understand the restrictions SE has set in place for the ending, where streamers/YouTubers can't show the ending, because it's the most obvious thing if you have even the slightest knowledge of FF1. Seems weird to me, but whatever.

Having said all that, I had a great time with the game overall - the combat and moment-to-moment gameplay is very fun, and Chaos difficulty seems like it'll keep me engaged for a while longer. I've yet to touch co-op though, maybe now is the time since I apparently get more Chaos mats from co-op

Edit: oh and Protip for the second phase of the final boss: Liberator with the Mighty Guard upgrade that makes you invulnerable means you are literally unkillable. Normally, taking hits while in MG will eventually break your guard, but I noticed in the second phase you have infinite guard meter so I just popped MG and spammed R1 which regenerated the MP needed to keep Mighty Guard up. 30 seconds later, EZ win on "Hard" difficulty lol

Edit2: Forgot to mention the music selection was really good in this game. From the original stuff to the remixes, most of it was very good. Hearing Tough Battle 2 in Delkfutt's Tower was a rush of nostalgia - I absolutely loved it. I even felt a little wistful when I heard the XIII leitmotif... and I don't even like XIII! lol

 

[TintoConCasera]

Started this one yesterday on PC. Had a rough time at the start, game was running far worse than I hoped it to (poor port apparently) and I was getting my ass kicked left and right since I started the game on Hard and was having some troubles adjusting to it after so many hours of Elden Ring. I knew I was doing bad when some skeletons were able to fuck me and my party up with ease. Then the first boss came, and after like an hour I finally learnt (more or less) how to play and was able to beat him on Hard... which for me was harder than most of ER's bosses.
Managed to do some side mission with a griffon too and even ended the session by beating the pirate.

So yeah, rought start aside, I'm loving the game so far. The music's very cool and the combat's fun and challenging while also not feeling button mashy at all, which I like. There's also the story, which so far I find interesting, and Jack, which for me so far is 50% comedy relief (love how he does the Marge Simpson mumble everytime someone talks shit about him or his search for Chaos), and 50% absolute chad.

Edit: how do you manage your inventory? So far I've been just pressing select, rolling with whatever the game decide's is the best equipment for me at that point. I know each class scales with a given attribute, but I guess this auto-equip feature is already taking that into account, right?

 

[Zephir]

Edit: how do you manage your inventory? So far I've been just pressing select, rolling with whatever the game decide's is the best equipment for me at that point. I know each class scales with a given attribute, but I guess this auto-equip feature is already taking that into account, right?

I ignore the auto equip: it gives you the best, stat-wise equipment, but the passive bonus you get with high class affinity are always better

 

[TintoConCasera]

Managed to beat the third boss. Game seems to be becoming a lot more manageable on hard, guess I'm finally getting how this works.

So far I'm liking this a lot, my only gripe being the horrible PC port.

I ignore the auto equip: it gives you the best, stat-wise equipment, but the passive bonus you get with high class affinity are always better

Oh! Then I guess I'll have to start looking more into that. Thanks! I wasn't paying too much attention to those bonus.

 

[Mr.ODST]

Made great progress .. then goto the malboro ... how do you even defeat this boss even killing his arms off to limit his break gague >:O

 

[GymWolf]

Get this if you want to delve into a top tier action game. The level design sucks. The dialogue is super bad. Graphics aren't great.

But the combat is that good, if you really get into it. All I even used is the starting sword class, mage and ronin so far. The sword class has a charging hit like Monster Hunter or it can be cancelled i to a block that chains into a power hit. Or you can use your spin attack into the block cancel. Or you can do a retreating spin hit into the block cancel and power slash.

Or switch on the fly to mage to hit groups of enemies with bombs but you get to pick the correct elemental weaknesses to max damage. Or use the mage melee combos that correspond to the element you wsnt for a shorter attack. Or hit back and attack for a protect spell melee counter.

Ronin has a super strong iai katana stance. They also have a second stance for battle meditation that has a melee counter or multiple super strong unique combos.

There's 25 other jobs I haven't tried yet ....

This isn't counting your command abilities, or your soul counter that absorbs moves or has the cool finishers.

Is the combat like platinum/dmc stuff??

 

[TintoConCasera]

Is the combat like platinum/dmc stuff??

Nah, don't think so. Think of a souls game's combat, but deeper and with more mechanics, like perfect counters or break gauges.

It also has a job system, which to an extent might make it feel like Monster Hunter, as each job has access to different types of weapons, and each type of weapon is handled in a different way.

 

[JTCx]

Is the combat like platinum/dmc stuff??

No, its the closest to Nioh which this game is built off of.

Its basically Nioh with a final fantasty theme.

 

[GymWolf]

Nah, don't think so. Think of a souls game's combat, but deeper and with more mechanics, like perfect counters or break gauges.

It also has a job system, which to an extent might make it feel like Monster Hunter, as each job has access to different types of weapons, and each type of weapon is handled in a different way.

No, its the closest to Nioh which this game is built off of.

Its basically Nioh with a final fantasty theme.

Really? A final fantasy souls game?

Admittedly i didn't watched much footage for this one but it looked kinda button mashy from the couple of minutes i saw...

I need to watch more of it on yt.