Square Enix and Team Ninja’s Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin will release soon to celebrate Final Fantasy’s 35th anniversary. This action game is being made in the vein of Team Ninja’s Nioh series, with a plot that reinterprets the events of the original Final Fantasy. The game is filled with monsters, jobs, and even locations from the franchise, making it a true celebration of the storied JRPG franchise. Even though the plot is shaping up to be fairly campy, fans have gradually warmed up to it as more details were released. It certainly won’t replace Final Fantasy 16, but Final Fantasy Origin still has its place as an interesting experiment full of eccentricities and fan service.
Much of that fan service is worked directly into the game’s mechanics. Final Fantasy Origin features detailed magic and job-changing systems that take elements from all over Final Fantasy. While the first entry only had a primitive set of spells based on Dungeons & Dragons, and six classes with one upgraded form each, FFO has many spells and classes available. Judging by the beta tests, Jack and his party will start with most elemental magic available, and will gradually unlock more base and advanced jobs throughout their adventure. These include a couple of jobs that haven’t been seen in quite some time; most notably the often-forgotten Berserker.
How Berserker Works in Final Fantasy Origin
Final Fantasy Origin provides two jobs per loadout, and allows players to switch between them at any time. This allows for a lot of versatility, and advanced jobs provide even more options. They are accessed by upgrading base jobs in the job tree, and typically have distinct actions that accentuate certain styles of play. The Dragoon has a jump that can evade many attacks and increase the break gauge, the Red Mage can decrease enemy resistances with chainspell, and the Samurai excels at MP recovery. The Berserker, meanwhile, is meant for those who value physical attacks.
Berserker uses axes and greatswords to dish out powerful direct attacks and will make for a strong asset to any build. While the player is using Berserker, they can make use of its signature ability, appropriately called “berserk.” While this is active, attack power is increased even further, but it comes at the risk of being unable to restore health with potions. Players who prefer to directly damage enemies instead of building up break gauges or exploiting weaknesses will gravitate towards Berserker, especially since, even with its restriction, it’s still easier to use than the class used to be.
Final Fantasy’s Brief History of Berserkers
Berserker occupies a special place in the realm of Final Fantasy's jobs. Technically, it only appeared in two mainline Final Fantasy games, those being Final Fantasy 5 and Final Fantasy 6. Fans of FF5 will remember it as one of the jobs conferred by the Water Crystal upon the party fairly early in the game. Umaro the yeti serves as FF6's sole Berserker, and Gau is a hybrid between one and a Blue Mage.
In subsequent games, Berserker is replaced by strategies that confer Berserk status, which makes sense considering how valuable control is in most Final Fantasy titles. Aside from appearing as a dressphere in Final Fantasy 10-2 and a seeq-exclusive job in Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift, the job is only notable for sharing its name with Final Fantasy 3, 5, and 13 enemies.
This is owed to the deliberately unwieldy way Berserker works. In Final Fantasy 5, Berserker characters are in a constant Auto-Berserk state. They cannot be given orders in battle and will use basic attacks that are capable of dealing much more damage than normal. Umaro and Gau’s AI can select from pools of moves, and Umaro can use a couple of extra attacks with certain items equipped. The spin-off Final Fantasy games give players direct control over Berserkers, but the Berserk status is easy to activate. These Berserkers specialize in dealing large amounts of physical damage, buffing themselves, inflicting some debuffs, and improving their Berserk state.
The job is likely to stay a rarity due to overlap with the Berserk status, but it’s nice to see Final Fantasy Origin bring back this often forgotten job.
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin launches March 18, 2022, on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
