One of the most intriguing games that Square Enix has lined up for this year has to be Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin. This game certainly looks unique, as it combines the Final Fantasy franchise with a Soulslike action-RPG style. The initial showing of this game at E3 2021 led to immediate mixed reactions, where fans and critics harpooned its edgy aesthetic and tone. The game is reported to be acting as a prequel to the original Final Fantasy game, which only raised further questions about the story.
One of the biggest subjects of mockery and speculation from fans was the game's protagonist, Jack. However, due to his character design clashing tonally with the rest of the game, and some heavily memed footage of Final Fantasy Origin showing him using his modern age smartphone in a high fantasy world, it's been speculated that Jack is actually an isekai protagonist.
Isekais are a very popular Japanese fantasy subgenre where normal everyman protagonists are transported to a brand-new fantastical world. This is only bolstered by popular isekai anime such as Re:Zero, Konosuba, and That Time I got Reincarnated as Slime. Considering Jack's usage of modern technology, his character design being more realistic and grounded, and his one-track minded goal to kill Chaos, this was a plausible theory. However, the developers of the game were quick to shoot this theory down.
In an interview with Inverse, producer Jin Fujiwara was told that fans have speculated Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin might be an isekai. Fujiwara immediately debunked this theory, saying "It is not meant to be like an isekai, sorry. We understand that people may have seen the protagonist’s outfit, which seems very modern compared to your typical high fantasy, and may have had that interpretation." He then goes on to explain how it fits together, where the people of Lufenia have had both ancient and advanced technologies co-existing, which is why the game has both high-fantasy and modern touches.
Fujiwara goes on to say that people must have gotten the isekai idea from how Final Fantasy Origin's protagonists are dressed, which may seem strange and can give off that impression. He assures fans that the story of the game will explain how the people of Lufenia utilized both the fantasy elements and modern technology together, telling fans that it will make sense by the end of it. Considering the usage of Frank Sinatra's "My Way" playing on Jack's smartphone in the final trailer of Final Fantasy Origin, fans should be in for a very interesting story with the knowledge that it's not an isekai.
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin launches March 18, 2022 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: Inverse
