While much of the fandom's focus is on the approaching Final Fantasy 16 right now, other things are happening in various parts of the franchise. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion recently came out, paving the way for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth to potentially release a year later. Theatrhythm Final Bar Line and Dissidia Final Fantasy: Opera Omnia are busy celebrating the franchise as a whole, and soon enough console ports of the Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters will launch to elevate the older titles in particular. Plenty of entries have their particular anniversaries in March, including Final Fantasy 10-2 and Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin. If any part of Final Fantasy strikes one's fancy, then there's likely an event tied to it.
Of these, Final Fantasy Origin stands out as it's celebrating its very first anniversary on March 18, 2022. This Team Ninja-developed Soulslike stands at odds with the rest of the franchise as an action-RPG reimagining of Final Fantasy 1, despite devoting time to referencing other Final Fantasy games through its environments. In terms of actual celebrations, Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is finally coming to Steam on April 6 after spending a year exclusive to the Epic Games Store. This and its universal price drop may not seem like much, but a potential future for Stranger of Paradise is not what many had in mind when the game first launched.
Stranger of Paradise Started Off On The Wrong Foot
From the beginning, it seemed like Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin was set up to fail. Rumors of a Final Fantasy 1 remake preceded Stranger of Paradise's E3 2021 reveal, but it wasn't as faithful as fans expected. The tone was much darker than the NES FF1, and came off as immature to Western audiences. Protagonist Jack Garland was meant to embody the brutality and feeling of anger forming the game's core motifs, but reminded many of the edgy, macho writing that had become synonymous with certain music and games from the early 2000s. Combined with the surrounding Square Enix conference being lackluster, Stranger of Paradise failed to make a good first impression.
Things got better as people saw more of the game, but there was still a lot of apprehension. Demos came out revealing technical issues that were never fully solved, and Team Ninja's Nioh series which Stranger of Paradise drew from stood as a more polished alternative. Some were drawn in by the gameplay and cheesy writing, however, and the game picked up a decent fanbase at launch. Sadly, even that was marred by some issues. Online multiplayer, especially on PC, was unstable for some players, impeding the sometimes-preferable experience of playing Stranger of Paradise with friends.
DLC Was Stranger of Paradise's Greatest Strength and Weakness
Still, through the merit of its cathartic action combat, many play styles, and endearingly melodramatic writing, a Stranger of Paradise strode confidently towards its DLC. Team Ninja has received much praise for its support of both Nioh titles, so fans expected much of the same. Indeed, the three DLC episodes Final Fantasy Origin received have been worth it for hardcore players, but bizarrely exclusive towards anyone else. Unlike how Nioh simply added more content to its endgame as well as new difficulties, Stranger of Paradise sequestered its DLC inside new difficulty levels. Gear requirements forced players to play much of the base game on Hard or Chaos just to stand a chance.
Those who preferred experiencing the game with easier settings were burned by this, and the season pass likely lost sales as a result. It didn't help that the expansions made heavy use of experimental content, often at the expense of traditional new levels. Nioh's criticized generic environments still hosted multiple main missions per DLC, giving it an edge over the Stranger of Paradise expansions' lack of regular stages.
Despite what that implies, these expansions weren't low effort, but still required a lot of battles against old foes in familiar spaces. Experiencing story content required engagement with alternate modes and superbosses, though at least an easier Extra Mode was available to help less skilled players progress. Nothing was poorly made, and FFO's new quality of life options, Jobs, and mechanics were all great, but Stranger of Paradise emphasized its niche nature far more than some fans wanted.
Stranger of Paradise May Have Outlived Its Problems
Now in 2023, Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin has released all of its planned DLC, and will soon launch on the most popular PC storefront at a reduced price. If this is it for Final Fantasy Origins, it's a decent send-off, but still leaves the game with outstanding flaws. Some are hopeful for improvements in the game's Steam release, but given how other Koei Tecmo-developed PC ports have been, that’s not a guarantee.
Despite that, some players have stuck with FFO through thick and thin. People are still theorizing optimal builds, charting speedrun paths, and improving their runs in harder content. The shock of the DLC format has died down, and strategies to make it more accessible have been developed. Stranger of Paradise has enough fundamental strengths to keep some people coming back for more.
At this point, the game can only grow over time. Good word of mouth should continue to carry the game, and as more of Team Ninja's Soulslikes see success like Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, some of that attention should trickle down to FFO. The easily-memed nature of Stranger of Paradise and its protagonist Jack will also help the game attract new players, especially as it represents styles of writing that some older gamers may be nostalgic for. If nothing else, the possible tease at a Dissidia Final Fantasy project during the final DLC could retroactively turn heads if it happens. Although it had a rocky start, Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin looks to have a bright future.
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S with a Steam version coming on April 6.
