Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin Reviews
Team Ninja serves up some solid Soulslike combat with a generous helping of cheese.
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin seems to prove that the Final Fantasy franchise can thrive in the action game scene with this first franchise venture from Team Ninja and Koei Tecmo. The title isn't a true home run, but it is an exciting adventure that expands the franchise lore in a unique direction. The Final Fantasy Job system is as interesting and exciting as ever and adds a unique twist on the action game format as players grind through each challenging dungeon and fill in all the Job talent trees one by one.
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin's story doesn't come together until the final hours, but when it does it pairs nicely with a solid and engaging action combat system and a strong dose of FF nostalgia.
Baffling writing aside, default story difficulty makes this the breeziest Soulslike ever, while combat still carries depth.
Stranger of Paradise is violent, dark, and brilliantly captivating. It’s a must-play for Final Fantasy fans. Steeped in sentiment and lovingly crafted homages to our favourite games, it offers a new mystery to unravel and breaks the mould of what you’d expect from the series. You might miss having a wide world to explore, proper side quests, and all the usual trimmings, but there’s a lot to love about Stranger of Paradise that you won’t find in your back catalogue of FF games.
There's a half-decent time to be had bashing your way around Stranger of Paradise's dungeons, but routine level design, rough edges and messy narrative delivery stop the experience evolving into a compelling adventure. Despite its efforts to create ordered systems, chaos has the final word.
Stranger of Paradise is the strangest Final Fantasy game yet, bounding wildly between awful and fantastic. If you can tolerate Jack (and that’s a big ask), the excellently crafted combat is worth a look. You may be coming to this game for the story and Final Fantasy experience, but it’s all about combat and little else.
I didn’t expect to enjoy smashing the heads of monsters like this. I also didn’t expect to enjoy a story about a hyper-masculine man like Jack. But what I’ve come to learn in my time with Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is that Jack isn’t a knight in shining armor. He’s better.
There's a lot of meme potential in Stranger of Paradise thanks to its willingness to be aggressively confusing, but fun, varied combat carries its most WTF moments forward.
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is a B-movie game. It’s loud, dumb, and full of fun. You have to ignore a lot – a lot – of issues if you want to extract the joy from its chaotic heart, but once you commit, toy around with the weapons, penetrate its poorly-explained mechanics and forgive Jack for his one-dimensional personality, you’re left with a game that’s part Devil May Cry, part Nioh, and part Face/Off. And let’s be honest, who doesn’t want to play that?
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origins re-imagines the earliest Final Fantasy in a manner befitting of a popcorn action film and for the most part succeeds.
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is an incredibly fun game, filled with bombastic combat, which also expands on the existing lore of the original Final Fantasy.
It’s far from the best Final Fantasy game. It certainly isn’t the best action game. But it’s still a fast-paced and enjoyable playthrough.
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is a decent action RPG, but it's occasionally weighed down by unnecessary mechanics and inconsistent difficulty.
Stranger of Paradise's main feature is the style of play and not any other item.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
The story of Jack begins with him forgetting about himself. “Stranger of Paradise” is a drunken, belligerent game in both concept and design, and would’ve been better served if it was less adherent to its Final Fantasy origins, and, well, did things its own way, like Ol’ Blue Eyes sang. Despite its level design flaws and a crowded gear system that adds little to the experience, it was hard not to find Jack’s testosterone-fueled journey charming and full of surprises. Just don’t be surprised if it also farts in your face every once in a while.
If you're curious about what Final Fantasy would look like as a Souls or Nioh-style action game, Stranger of Paradise is a solid effort. It's just a shame that it's bogged down by its oddball narrative choices and its cumbersome loot system, which makes the total package such a mixed bag. I suppose it's the nature of this chaotic beast.
An action RPG with several technical and structural problems, fun at times but too immature to achieve the objectives it sets itself.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Enjoyable Souls-lite combat can't make up for the tedious loot system and laughably bad storytelling, in this misconceived Final Fantasy spin-off.
Stranger of Paradise is one of "those" games - a scuffed diamond that's a joy to play, yet has unmissable imperfections. However, while annoying, a poor story and bland visuals don't diminish its punchy RPG action, nor its rewarding web of character customisation options. Needless to say, we're pretty eager to see how Stranger is received by the Final Fantasy fandom.