Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin Reviews
Overall, I would say that you should play Stranger of Paradise for its combat and not its story. While there are nuggets available for series fans, this isn’t the pinnacle of storytelling by any means. It’s best to dive into the gore rather than the lore; fight for fun, be like Jack and focus on the Chaos. Certainly don’t expect this to be a brilliant subversion of the original Final Fantasy’s narrative.
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?
We are not sure if she will be remembered as a complete disaster or as a hooligan with a lot of personality. What we do have clear is that Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origins is pure and absolute chaos.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Impressive efforts with a few noticeable problems holding them back. Won't astound everyone, but is worth your time and cash.
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.
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 might be as dumb as Limp Bizkit’s lyrics, but damn if it isn’t as fun as Wes Borland’s riffs.
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 remarkable game with an excellent combat system that serves to cover up some of the shortcomings in the title. Who knows what he is going to, I doubt he will end up disappointed. Of course, the game could have been much more.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Self-aware humor permeates throughout 'Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin, 'and by and large, it works really, really well. Any fears I had about 'Stranger of Paradise' were dispelled after a dozen or so hours with its phenomenal combat system, strange but genuine story, and a surprising commitment to celebrating everything Final Fantasy — all through the eyes of an angry edgelord named Jack.
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
All things considered, Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin is a good spin-off. It feels different enough to stand out, without it being so different to throw fans off. Unfortunately, it doesn’t quite check every box. Combat could be a little better, gameplay a bit deeper, story a little less goofy and so forth but it’s a good first attempt. One that is worth giving a go if you enjoy either experience.
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.
Underneath all of these issues, it is a great game with a lot of heart. But it is unfortunately held back by lackluster presentation of what could be an interesting story and the accumulation of the general lack of quality of life issues.
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.
Final Fantasy Origin will enthrall players with its dumb, but awesome story and approachable Soulslike gameplay.
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.
True to its name, Stranger of Paradise is a bizarre game. The combat is so much fun that it carries the rest of the disjointed process to the finish line. Those looking for an easier Soulslike experience with a lot of Final Fantasy fanservice will find a lot to love in Stranger of Paradise, as will those who found Elden Ring unnecessarily punishing. Stranger of Paradise is a lot of fun, so long as the player takes on Jack's mindset, and only focuses on killing Chaos and doesn't think too hard about anything else.
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.