STRANGER OF PARADISE FINAL FANTASY ORIGIN

The moment that sold me on this game was when the protagonist, after defeating the boss of the first proper level, is told that "Chaos" is more of a metaphor than a singular entity and it represents the various problems facing humanity in a way that is easier for people to grasp. Our boy yells "♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥" pulls a 180 and plays Temu Linkin Park on his phone speaker as he walks away. Pure Cinema. Gameplay is very reminiscent of Nioh 2 in that the objective is to bully every enemy so hard they barely get a single animation completed before you've combo'd their ass out of existence, followed by performing an inventory audit on the 837 shoes you picked up in the last 10 minutes.

战斗爽

This game can get to ♥♥♥♥ The DLC can ♥♥♥♥ off Game felt like a chore only played it for a crimbo game to play with someone if I was alone I would not of touched this game for more than a couple of hours all my fun came from taking the piss.

Just play Nioh; this doesn't mix well. It's got extreme tonal whiplash; you get one of the hardest intro cinematics only for it to shift into the weirdest set of cutscenes I've seen. This cutscene starts with an armored badass aura-walking down a dark hallway in moonlight, literally slicing people in half. Then decides to switch and randomly starts playing Frank Sinatra as Jack, the MC, walks through a massive wheatfield, except the cutscene is like 240P. So instead you’re seeing PIXELS of Jack walking, and then you do a tutorial. Nioh, a game that's actually hard, doesn't mix well with Final Fantasy, where every game is absurdly easy; in this combination, you get some weird, confused amalgamation of systems that don't work well together. See? I can type big fancy words and seem smart as well. Well except I am... *eyes glow in a purple hue* listen to me, play Nioh if you want this sort of gameplay. *i say as I Ayanakoji manipulate you into playing the better game*

Cut scenes are locked to 30 fps, which means the video runs at 1/2 speed while the audio continues desynced. Reducing the graphics quality to "low" makes the video change to a blank white screen. Either option results in an unacceptable experience.

Meh

Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is easily my favorite Team Ninja game. The story is honestly pretty silly, but it has a charming fan-fiction vibe that eventually grows on you, especially if you're a longtime Final Fantasy fan. Combat is gooooood. It has a satisfying rhythm. As you level up jobs you unlock more abilities and equipment becomes increasingly specialized, creating powerful builds becomes one of the most rewarding parts of the experience. The game is also packed with fan service. Every major location pays homage to a different Final Fantasy title, making exploration a constant stream of references for longtime fans of the series. It's a love letter to the franchise. As expected from Team Ninja, there's an overwhelming amount of loot, weapons, armor pieces, and stats to manage. Players who enjoy optimizing equipment and experimenting with builds will love it, but those looking for a simpler RPG may find the inventory management exhausting. One thing I really appreciated is the PC version's ultrawide support. Everything worked out of the box on my setup without having to search for community fixes, which is unfortunately still uncommon for many Japanese PC ports. Pros: + Excellent and satisfying combat system + Deep build customization in the endgame + Fantastic fan service for Final Fantasy fans + Large variety of jobs, weapons, and abilities + Native ultrawide monitor support Cons: - The story is cheesy and often unintentionally funny - Takes time before fully opens up - Huge amount of loot and statistics can become overwhelming - Inventory management can feel like a chore