Creative Producer Tetsuya Nomura has confirmed that Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin will contain “motifs” from Final Fantasy 1, but will not share a connected story. Nomura also stated that the game will revolve around the main character Jack and his companions as they figure out if they are truly the “Warriors of Light”, and provided key details into the game’s design and combat systems.
The first Final Fantasy followed the “Warriors of Light” in their battle against an evil knight named Garland, otherwise known as Chaos. Many fans noticed the obvious parallels between Stranger of Paradise‘s announcement trailer and the storyline of Final Fantasy, as both mention the Chaos Shrine as well as Garland and Chaos by name. Garland—or technically Chaos, though it isn’t clear if the two are the same—even makes an appearance in the announcement trailer.
Nomura, however, states that these similarities will only be in motif, and the two games will not share a connected story. Instead, the game will center around Jack and the gang as “strangers” that don’t belong in the “paradise” that they’re in. Additionally, he states that whether or not Jack and his companions are truly the “Warriors of Light” will be a key part of the game’s central narrative. He also states that Jack, Ash, and Jed’s names all have special meaning to the characters’ backgrounds and that there will also be other characters to choose from.
Finally, the dev team clarified during the interview that, while Nioh series studio Team NINJA is working on the game, it will not be a high-difficulty “repeated death” game. While Strangers of Paradise will still be tough to beat, players will also have access to an “Easy” and “Safety” mode that will lower death penalties and make guarding and dodging easier. The main character Jack will also be capable of wielding any weapon and be any class; a practical Jack of all trades…
Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin will launch for PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC sometime in 2022. Currently, a free trial demo of the game is available only on PS5 and allows players to fight enemies in the Chaos Shrine. The demo will be available on the PlayStation Store until June 24, 2021.
[Source: Famitsu]
