Stranger Of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin Shouldn't Exist But I'm Glad It Does
When Strange of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin was first revealed it felt like Square Enix and Team Ninja were pulling a joke on us. The trailer was so cringe, so nonsensical, and so needlessly edgy that so many of us thought that some cabal of weeaboos had found the Final Fantasy licence under a bin outside the office and decided to run with it.
Now it’s finally here I take it all back. Jack Garland’s pilgrimage to destroy chaos is a tongue-in-cheek homage to the original Final Fantasy and a love letter to the entire series. Stages are littered with clever enemy designs and obscure references, while the orchestral score feels like a clever combination of classic musical motifs. While the end product is definitely ridiculous, there’s a charming care put into its creation that won me over.
Related: Elden Ring’s Crafting System Feels A Bit Pointless
Final Fantasy is an unusual beast. It’s the most illustrious feather in Square Enix’s cap, yet is seldom treated with the reverence it deserves. Of course, we have blockbusters like Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Final Fantasy 16, marquee titles that are expected to sell millions of copies and entrance an entire generation of players. The latter is being presented as one of this year’s biggest PS5 exclusives, so it’s clear how much pull the name alone has.
But then you’ve got the poorly treated pixel remasters or Chocobo GP, side projects that feel like they were cobbled together and fail to understand the appeal of the franchise. You can throw in as many playable characters and easter eggs as you like, but if they aren’t executed correctly then we’ll notice. Fan service is all well and good, but it needs to be presented in a way that doesn’t treat the player like a fool, expecting
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