Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin Reviews
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.
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin isn't the strongest outing from Team Ninja, but players will likely enjoy the compelling job system and engaging combat... when performance issues aren't hampering them, that is.
All in all, I don’t think I can recommend Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin. Maybe if you have a dedicated gaming PC and don’t care about lackluster narrative presentation, you’ll enjoy it. As it is, I can only shake my head and go back to Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Reunion.
With a bigger focus on story, new challenging content, a new weapon type and Jobs that add more combat and customization possibilities, Stranger Of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin - Different Future is, without a doubt, the best DLC released by Team Ninja for its game. While the jump in difficulty from the previous DLC isn't as big as it was in the previous expansions, Lufenia difficulty will still wreck unprepared players, making playing the expansion's new content in Extra Mode the only viable way for those who do not want to spend hours upon hours grinding for gear and materials.
With little additional story and gameplay content, Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin - Wanderer of the Rift is yet another endgame expansion that doesn't introduce enough new features to make most players return to the Strangers' world worthwhile. Only hardcore players who want to explore the maximum potential of the game's mechanics will find some value in an expansion that feels even more disappointing than the one that came before it.
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origins - Trials of the Dragon King is a DLC aimed at those who have played the base game beyond its ending, providing new customization options, a new difficulty setting, new difficulty modifiers and more. Beyond this, the expansion doesn't provide a lot of new story and gameplay content, making it a worthy purchase only for those who have found Chaos mode too tame, and are ready to get challenged again by the base game's foes and a few new ones.
It would be better if instead of this Team Ninja made another Dark Souls clone, which they do great.
Review in Russian | Read full review
We expected nothing and we are still disappointed. With a studio with a rather nice track record and such a strong license, full of opportunities, how is it possible to have such a classic game, not surprising, with a messy history and simply outdated?
Review in French | Read full review
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is basically the best of both worlds with the combination of Square Enix’s RPG elements merging with Team Ninja’s fighting mechanics to create a whole new experience for the series. Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is still very much a Final Fantasy game, but it's great to see Square Enix take a risk with this title which has been fantastically executed.
Stranger of Paradise is the perfect example of gameplay towering above the sum of its parts. I loved the combat and job system, which allows for dynamic battles and strategy. It's just a shame that the rest of the game feels low budget and unfinished. If you're looking for an origin story to the original Final Fantasy, you'll get it here, but chances are you may want to forget it as soon as you're done.
Narratively speaking, Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin would be a badly written JRPG, but luckily Square Enix and Koei Tecmo's latest game is more than anything a very engaging action game that is very faithful to its source. Not perfect by any means but still enjoyable, the Nioh "soulslike" formula applied to the epic of Final Fantasy gives flesh to an interesting action game with a suprisingly deep learning curve and accessibility options that welcome any kind of player to the party.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin thinks that it's Daniel Craig's James Bond but it's actually Austin Powers. There's barely a moment in the game that isn't stretching credulity, be it the absurd writing, bewildering story, or inane characters. There's a host of technical issues, too. But somehow, despite everything, it manages to fail upwards and be a pretty good time. Maybe we've lost the plot but we liked it.
Final Fantasy Origin: Stranger of Paradise is a chaotic alternative retelling of the very first Final Fantasy, following story beat by beat until it transforms into something unique in its own way.
The Trials of the Dragon King DLC for Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is lazy and locks its content behind punishing difficulty.
I have mixed feelings with Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, a game that makes constant Final Fantasy one winks, a magnificent Combat of Team Ninja and a sublime soundtrack, but all this is tarnished by a poor technical section and an absurd plot. I don't know if I recommend the game, I leave that to your discretion. What weighs more for you, the combat or the story? If it is the second, I do not advise you to compare it. That's right, it's not a bad game as a whole, but I can't encourage you to buy it when you're only going to enjoy 10 minutes of it. Not to forget its missions, well, be prepared to walk endless corridors with non-existent lighting.
Review in Spanish | 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.
Memes aside, Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is an aggressively ridiculous action-RPG with surprisingly deep combat and subpar performance.
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin does a fantastic job on the gameplay department, but fails at almost everything else. The combat is fun, and the class system gives the player an immense amount of freedom to play however they want, but the lackluster graphics and pretty straightforward levels certainly ruin some of its most epic moments.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
When paired with the “so bad, it’s good” story and dialogue, Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is a good time for the partly the wrong reasons. Critically, it’s not great. You’ve still got a car crash of a game on your hands. But, it’s a car crash you can’t look away from. In the meantime, the combat and job system is a rollercoaster ride which takes you right past it, being a wild ride in its own right.
Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin is an action-oriented RPG whose gameplay mechanics are almost entirely based on those of Nioh, one of the most prominent Dark Souls clones. The game is a bit outdated in its layout and it seems to come from another age.
Review in French | Read full review