"That is related to how the story will change" - 5 things we learned in the Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin developer interview

Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is a whole new way to tell the story of the Final Fantasy franchise, and it’s coming on March 18, 2022. There is a great deal of talk about the game, with people speculating exactly what is going to happen.

As it is intrinsically linked to the very first Final Fantasy game on the NES, there’s a lot to speculate on. A recent interview on the Square Enix website shone more light upon the upcoming game.

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Square Enix interview with Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin developers

Duncan Heaney of Square Enix spoke with the developers of Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, Daisuke Inoue (Director), Jin Fujiwara (Producer), and Fumihiko Yasuda (Team Ninja). They talked about various interesting elements of the game, from the story to crafting.

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Fujiwara-san talks about differences in the story of Final Fantasy 1 and Stranger of Paradise

One of the things that makes Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin so enticing is that it’s linked in some way to the original game. A point of discussion was the prophecy of Lukhan in Final Fantasy 1.

It said that four Warriors of Light would come bearing the orbs and save the world from Chaos. However, Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin has “five” Warriors of Light. Fujiwara-san noted that the interviewer was correct about the original prophecy.

However, if they just used the same number of warriors for both games, Stranger of Paradise would just be a remake of Final Fantasy 1, and that’s not what they’re after. This means the game is going in a slightly different direction and should lead people to be more interested in the game.

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Why does Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin have a crafting system?

Being able to craft in Stranger of Paradise should entice players to build how they like (Image via Square Enix)

Crafting was also discussed in the game. Inoue-san said that games that rely on just finding loot have a limit on what the player can do. Collecting tons of loot almost guarantees that some of it won’t ever get used.

This led to a system where players can sacrifice gear to have crafting materials. Players won’t always find the gear they’re looking for when wandering the world. Thus, the crafting system will let players control what they use, to at least a degree. It allows for more freedom in builds, which should allow for creativity in gameplay.

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The Sunken Shrine is familiar, while also not familiar in Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin

One of the key locations in Final Fantasy 1 was the Sunken Shrine, home to the Kraken. However, it does not look like an ancient shrine, sunken beneath the waves for potentially thousands of years.

Visually, it looks similar to something a player would see in Final Fantasy VII Remake. The inspiration for it came from an underwater dungeon in the original Final Fantasy VII. They considered looking at documents from back then, or even Final Fantasy VII Remake, but did not.

They focused on depicting areas with the same degree of faithfulness that Final Fantasy VII Remake did, but wanted the actual designs to be unique and fun. It uses a lot of differences in height, and they want players to ask “...is this that place?”

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The Cave of Earth was visually inspired by Final Fantasy XII

The Fiend of the Earth, Lich, lies deep within the Cave of Earth. Another key location from Final Fantasy 1 also has a spot in Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin. Instead of simply making it a cave filled with the undead, there was another, much better idea.

Instead, they used the concept of a place where the dead sleep, leading to the King’s Tomb from Final Fantasy XII. The image that was teased looked similar to the dungeon in question in Final Fantasy XII, while also being closely tied to Stranger of Paradise.

Inoue-san teased something about Cave of Earth, though. While the Final Fantasy XII dungeon had an “impressive” boss but instead of making that fight exist, they chose to implement the idea of the boss into the mechanics of the dungeon itself.

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Why Team Ninja are working on this project with Square Enix?

Team Ninja helped bring Maralith and the others to life in Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin (Image via Square Enix)

Perhaps one of the most interesting decisions was that Square Enix is not doing it alone with this game. Instead, they looked to Team Ninja about working on Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin.

When asked why Team Ninja, Inoue-san said that once this was decided to be an action game and a difficult one, Team Ninja was the only logical choice. It’s a team with a lot of experience creating intense, high-quality action games, such as the Ninja Gaiden series. This makes them a perfect fit to help put this game together.

March 18, 2022, is almost here, and Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin will come with it. It promises to be an action-packed story and one that will give new Final Fantasy fans something to remember and long-time fans something exciting to think about.