Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin Reviews
So yeah. Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin. I don’t know if anyone was actually expecting it to be good — but it turns out it is. Really good, in fact. Now I’m off to go play a bit more of it.
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is an enjoyable experiment in melding Soulslike conventions onto a Final Fantasy skeleton. However it undercuts itself by not daring for more complexity, setting up great narrative and gameplay turns that never come to pass.
Team Ninja serves up some solid Soulslike combat with a generous helping of cheese.
Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin offers a counterintuitive experience that has terrible presentation and an unintentionally hilarious narrative. It’s slightly saved by a fairly enjoyable combat and job system. Take both of those away, and this game will feel more like a parody of the legendary franchise.
Team Ninja nails the gameplay. Killing classic Final Fantasy monsters has never been more fun than it is as Jack Garland. If you can dive into Stranger of Paradise knowing that you’re in for a chaotic mess with a solid gameplay foundation, you’re in for a good time.
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is an interesting proposition for many players, but you can not expect a hit. The Japanese use many well-known ideas, but unfortunately only a few have received adequate attention to offer high quality. The title is a good proposition for great fans of the NiOh series and fans of Final Fantasy.
Review in Polish | Read full review
Stranger of Paradise is a game that will mainly interest the fan. The game doesn't have a very strong storyline and can feel very monotonous after a while. Also, the game doesn't look very nice. Fortunately, the cool combat system makes up for a lot. This certainly doesn't make the game great, but it does work as it should and plays very nicely. A disappointment that may still please you.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin will go down in history for being memorable for better and for worse. Many of its sections are a mess, but if you can get past its flaws and learn to enjoy them you'll find a game that will entertain you immensely. Especially if you love action RPGs with rewarding combat and progression systems.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
From pure gameplay standpoint, Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is one of the best action/rpgs ever which gives the players so many options to experiment with almost infinite number of builds and possibilities. Plot-wise and the use of music also feels like a love letter to not only the first Final Fantasy but the whole history of this franchise so it is very unfortunate that the game’s outdated visuals may turn off some of the audience from even trying it.
Review in Persian | Read full review
All leading to an ending that long-time fans will appreciate but newcomers will leave confused. Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is a mixed bag of highs and lows that collide together for an average adventure.
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
You could do worse than with Square Enix's brave new venture into Soulslike territory that's roughly 20 hours or less depending on your skill level. I personally would love to see Team Ninja continue on with this take on Final Fantasy, but with better level design and a less banal plot thread that's a bit more accessible to non-fans.
While some may be put off by the game’s approach to storytelling, and the unfortunate graphical situation, the sum of all of Stranger of Paradise’s parts outweighs its issues. The game is about an amnesiac edgelord who wants to kill Chaos. The game is about discovering what friendship truly entails, and how far someone would go to protect what they love. The game is about forgiveness, and overthrowing the shackles placed unjustly by those in power. The game is about punching the ever-loving crap out of a Cactuar, grabbing it by its legs, and exploding it in a finely-pasted mist while your friends cheer you on.
With Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, Team Ninja has produced yet another rather good Final Fantasy action game. With its deep yet more forgiving combat system, it can appeal to those not seeking the challenging experiences of something like Nioh. Furthermore, with its complex mix-and-match Jobs system, it brings a uniquely Final Fantasy flair to the hack-and-slash genre. Unfortunately, its dull protagonist and plot may struggle to keep the attention of anyone curious about the backstory it is trying to create for the original Final Fantasy. The loot system could also do with some overhauls. Still, you can certainly do worse than Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin if you’re looking for a new multiplayer action game with some clever Final Fantasy twists.
There’s not much by the way of emotional connection to this game. It’s old-fashioned, cliched in its storytelling and I found myself constantly hitting the skip button to get to the actual fighting.
Will Final Fantasy diehards get a kick out of Stranger of Paradise? It's hard to say. There are multiple enjoyable nods to past games throughout the levels, enemies and pieces of lore. The soundtrack is excellent, featuring remixed or remastered themes of multiple games. The combat is fast paced and the extensive job system takes the Final Fantasy system of old and thoroughly modernises it. Yet the game is decidedly un-Final Fantasy. Exploration is minimal, the story takes far too long to get going, the dialogue is often laughable and the characters are mostly bland blank slates. As an over the top action cheese-fest, the game puts points on the board. Just don't expect it to compete with the greatest hits.
Enjoyable Souls-lite combat can't make up for the tedious loot system and laughably bad storytelling, in this misconceived Final Fantasy spin-off.
Strangers of Paradise is a loveable action-RPG despite its best efforts to spoil itself with a story that only becomes interesting in the last hour. The action is a little messy and not all of the moving parts gel together perfectly, but it's got a compelling janky charm that is hard to ignore.
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