Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin Steam review - A prequel that perfectly sets the stage

Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is the first title of the popular series that I’ve played. I’ve heard about the franchise a lot and have often contemplated picking up one of the many available games. However, given the sheer number of titles available, I was confused about where to start, and I’m glad that I started with the prequel.

Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin has unique elements when it comes to combat and other gameplay mechanics. It also has a proper tutorial that will tell you how to go about some of the basic mechanics and abilities in the game. I won’t be talking about the story too much below.

Fans of the franchise already know what this is about, and if you’re picking this title up after reading the review, I don’t want to spoil anything for you.

Looking for Crossword hints & solutions? Check out latest NYT Mini Crossword Answers, LA Times Crossword Answers, and USA Today Crossword Answers

Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is a unique souls-like title

I’m not a huge fan of the souls-like, but I’ve played my fair share of games in that genre. Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to expect when it came to Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin because it doesn’t sound or look like your regular run-of-the-mill souls-like. If you wish to play the game on higher difficulties, such as Hard or Chaos, then you’re in for a treat, especially if you’re a fan of the genre.

I had to deliberately reduce the difficulty to 'Story' after a few encounters because I was dying more times than I would like to admit. Despite being considerably easy on 'Story,' most skirmishes were still testing.

As a gamer, I love games that offer a stiff challenge. Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is definitely something that I’ll keep coming back to every now and then because it’s difficult and fun at the same time.

The on-screen tutorial texts can often yield some useful information (Image via Square Enix)

Similar to most souls-like titles, you are awarded skill points when you level up. Here’s where things start getting unique in Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin. Skill points are referred to as Job Points in-game. Each combat style is referred to as a Job.

There are separate skills and traits associated with each Job that you can unlock using Job Points. Having a Job Affinity will allow you to level up multiple combat styles at the same time. From a Brawler to a Swordsman, you’ll have multiple playstyles to select from.

Combat is as good as it can get

The combat looks absolutely beautiful in the game (Image via Square Enix)

The sword combat in Stranger of Paradise was extremely pleasing visually. If you can get the movement right, everything flows seamlessly. You end up melting enemies fairly quickly, provided you know what you’re doing.

To put it simply, combat is straightforward. When you see something, you need to get close to it and land a hit. The attack distance depends heavily upon the weapon that you’re using. And similar to other souls-like games, you’ll have to rely on the dodge mechanic more than usual.

You can also block incoming attacks, and there are two specific ways to do it. One is the regular block, wherein you use your weapon to mitigate incoming damage and significantly reduce the break damage that you take.

You also have the option to use your Soul Shield. This is effective when you’re blocking incoming Magic Damage. Furthermore, a well-timed block with your Soul Shield will allow you to use any sort of Magic/Projectile Damage temporarily.

I kept getting confused between the regular block and the Soul Shield. It required me to die a couple of times before I got the hang of it. I also developed a poor habit of not using my healing potions, often resulting in me dying in situations where I could have saved myself. Thankfully, a nice little prompt reminds you to use your health potion every now and then, especially when you’re running low on health.

One of the best factors about this game is that you can have two different combat modes or Jobs active at the same time. You can swap between these two modes during a fight to whip up some really unique attack combinations. This feature opens up various possibilities when it comes to engaging enemies.

I would have also loved to try out the combat in co-op mode. However, I couldn’t match with players through the matchmaking process. This can primarily be attributed to my location and my internet connection. Still, it’s unlikely that the combat would feel any different when it comes to having real players in my party instead of AI-controlled teammates.

When the inventory isn’t inventory-ing anymore!

I’ve played a fair number of titles where the inventory management is slightly difficult to navigate. However, the system in Stranger of Paradise was a little troublesome for me. There’s so much happening on that one screen, and once you have accumulated a fair amount of gear that you haven’t checked out yet, you’ll be bombarded with a plethora of exclamation marks when you access the screen.

While I did receive all the information I wanted, whenever I selected a piece of gear, I had to squint my eyes for it. You can also optimize your character’s armor with the press of a single button, but it did mess up my builds a few times.

Based on what I’ve experienced, the optimization feature takes into account the gear level and not the stats that they have to offer. So, players are advised to use this feature judiciously.

Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is an audio-visual treat

You can interact with these cubes to set up your Job points and other settings before heading into battle (Image via Square Enix)

My system is slightly outdated at this point, so I was worried about how the game would look and feel on it. However, to my surprise, the game didn’t stutter at all. I had an FPS monitor active at all times, and there was no frame drop whatsoever.

The game ran smoothly at 60 FPS without any difficulties. The only time I had an issue was during the tutorial screen. The sun and the orange background were a bit too bright, and the image was pixelated, which did seem a bit rough.

The visuals are beautiful. The colors are vibrant, and everything looks very pleasing to the eye. The same can be said for the audio. The background score goes very well with the overall setting of the game.

Not only that, but even the ambient sounds, especially when I was striking an enemy or even triggering the Soul Burst ability, felt absolutely on point. The only qualm I have about this game is that the loading screens are absolutely silent. Some form of audio here would have probably been better, but I’m nitpicking at this point.

In Conclusion

Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is an exciting title, especially for those who have very little to no idea about the franchise as a whole. Although the story was a bit confusing initially, everything began to make sense as I progressed through it.

Moreover, the narrative is so well designed that it made me want to go through each and every title in the franchise that's been released to date just so I could experience how the entire story pans out. Furthermore, it offers a solid combat mechanic that keeps players hooked.

The Job selection screen/inventory screen in Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin (Image via SquarEnix)

However, there were two very minor issues that I faced with this title. First of all, it took me a while to realize that I couldn’t jump. Given that combat relies heavily on dodge mechanics, being able to jump could have added a new dimension to it as well. Not only that, it could have made traversal slightly easier.

Secondly, there’s no minimap in-game. Thus, if you don’t know where you need to go, you’ll definitely get lost. The latter is a feature seen in most souls-like games, so its absence is somewhat understandable. On that very note though, Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin isn’t your typical souls-like title and this feature could have been included.