Since the announcement during the E3 Square Enix Presence, Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin has taken quite a bit of attention from the Final Fantasy fan community. However, with that added attention and the new Final Fantasy Origin demo, players now have a fairly decent amount of information to start speculating what Square Enix and Team Ninja might have in store for the final release.
Of this speculation, there are some theories that fans have started to rise about how Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin might deviate from the story of the original Final Fantasy that it is attempting to retell. One in particular alludes that both the demo and opening of this upcoming title might be oddly reflective of the PS3/Xbox 360 title Dragon's Dogma.
Dragon's Dogma's Opening
To recap for players unfamiliar with the nine-year-old original Dragon's Dogma, the game was one of few titles that gave players an early chance to try out the game with a beta demo. During this demo, players would run through the first mission in the game, playing as an unnamed Arisen who journeys through The Dragon's lair and fights several waves of enemies and a Chimera boss fight. This demo would later become the opening of the final release, setting players up to learn how to play with this unnamed character before suddenly being thrust into the shoes of the player-made character after, being attacked and killed by The Dragon.
The twist at the end of Dragon's Dogma is that this unnamed Arisen that the player is in control of in this opening mission is actually the final boss of the game. It's implied through the players following actions that this Arisen defeated the previous Dragon and killed the previous Arisen, furthering the cycle that leads to the rest of the game and possibly to a Dragon's Dogma sequel. How this relates to Final Fantasy Origin, is that there are several hints sprinkled throughout the early marketing that indicates that Square Enix could be preparing a similar situation for this upcoming title.
Final Fantasy Origin's Initial Trailer Only Includes the Demo
The first thing to note is that the initial trailer that showcased the game at the E3 Square Enix Presents only shows footage from the first mission, which appeared in the demo. This could be due to that mission having been prioritized in time for both the demo's release and the presentation, but it is possible that this is a calculated effort to obscure the actual story of Final Fantasy Origin. Manipulating early trailers also isn't anything new for high-profile releases, as most Marvel films often edit teasers to hide plot details, and Naughty Dog's The Last of Us: Part 2 obscured its early twist throughout the entire marketing rollout.
One thing that sticks out, especially with how limited the initial trailer was, is the fact that Final Fantasy Origin releases next year. Even if the game is set to release in December of 2022, that still only leaves eighteen months to design, model, and rig every other map that the game will take the players through. At this point, many of the stages and combat mechanics are likely solid, meaning what's left is the fine-tuning and polish going towards all of the smaller details of the game. It would be strange for only a single level to have been completed in time for the demo if the game is expected to launch next year.
Garland's Defeat and the Rise of Chaos
Aside from the level design, there is also Final Fantasy Origin's first boss Garland, who is referred in-game as Chaos(?), implying that he is not quite at the full endgame power yet. This actually tracks fairly well with the original title, which had Garland be the initial villain in the first Final Fantasy, and brought him back after being defeated as a twist villain cast through time and space to become Chaos. There are several theories within the Final Fantasy community that suggest this time travel could be what has actually split off the many timelines and worlds of the franchise into different paths from that initial Chaos.
In the same effect of this split-timeline theory, Final Fantasy Origin's version of Garland could be one that doesn't become Chaos after being defeated and sent through time. This would explain why the boss fight refers to the character as Chaos(?) with the question mark, instead of flat out confirming that this is in fact the man who would become Chaos. On top of that, there's the way that this Chaos seems to manifest, and the way that the character Jack is able to fight with some unusual abilities.
Who is the True Chaos?
It's possible that Square Enix is looking to replicate the way that Dragon's Dogma started the player off with a red-herring character to play as. Since it seems unclear if Garland really is Chaos, or will at least become him by the end of the game, it's entirely possible that Final Fantasy Origin's angry protagonist Jack could fit the bill instead. Essentially, players could be playing as Chaos in this opening mission, before being thrust into action with a new protagonist, possibly even one that can be designed using Team Ninja's excellent character creator tools showcased in Nioh 2.
This could also have several implications for the side characters Ash and Jed, the NPCs that help the player fight their way through the Chaos Shrine in the demo. If Jack winds up taking the role of Chaos in Final Fantasy Origin, then that could either leave Ash and Jed opposing their friend, or transform them into two replacements for the Four Fiends that make up the primary bosses of the original Final Fantasy. However, this is delving a bit too far into the realm of unrestrained speculation. However, it may be best to look at some of the developers' comments in order to get back to what Square Enix might really be planning.
Developer Comments on Final Fantasy Origin
Along with the announcement of Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, came both the Nioh-inspired demo, as well as an official website with comments from several key developers. Two notable mentions from these developer comments are Creative Producer Tetsuya Nomura and Director at Koei Tecmo Nobumichi Kumabe, who both address the creation of the character Jack. Nomura refers to the overall narrative as the "story of an angry man," which fits the bill for Jack, and Kumabe hints that the character might not really be a Warrior of Light.
Additional comments in interviews have also indicated that there will be more characters coming to Final Fantasy Origin, and that the names of the three that have already been revealed have significance to the story. The name meaning could lead to anything from Jack being a "Jack of all trades" for using multiple jobs, or leading back to the origins of the name, could infer that he is the "one who supplants" meaning he replaces someone. It has also been made clear that these three characters are the strangers noted in the game's title, Stranger of Paradise, meaning that they somehow don't belong.
With all of these hidden meanings and the first Final Fantasy game's use of time travel, this could lead to Jack acting as an outsider that completely alters the course of the original story and supplants himself into a new role; either as the Warrior of Light, or Chaos.
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is set to release in 2022, for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
