Strangers in Paradise Final Fantasy Origins hands-on

Last week i gotta play Strangers in Paradise: Origins of Final Fantasy Once again, play the new version after the trial version that was publicly released a few months ago. This new game version also has quite a few offers. First of all, it has made many improvements and adjustments directly based on the feedback from fans in the first trial. Secondly, it explores many features of the game in more depth, and in particular provides an in-depth understanding of some of the available jobs, including the “advanced” job category. There are more storylines, new party members, and other strange considerations.

However, what is most curious is the new field I explored in this new practice. Known as the Refrin Wetland, it bears a striking resemblance to another area in Final Fantasy, and joking at the edge of the essence of the FF Origin story.

Specifically-this new area is clearly inspired by at least the Sunleth Waterscape area in Final Fantasy 13. The unforgettable melodies of Sunleth are intertwined in the music of the region-darker and more ominous compared to FF13-and the unique mechanism of the region is back.

For those of you who have not remembered all the wrinkles of the mainline Final Fantasy game in the super sad nerd behavior like me, Sunleth Waterscape has a mechanism in which the player can interact with the mysterious sphere to change the weather, and vice versa. Your navigation in the area has had a ripple effect. The same is true for wetlands. It is either dry or rainy, and the sphere flips back and forth between the two. In FF Origin’s Refrin Wetlands, this opens up new avenues and is essential for you to pass the final very linear level, although the level will be twisted and looped in various ways.

The rain will stretch the roots of the trees, creating new paths while blocking other paths. Of course, stopping the rain will reverse this situation-crossing the area requires you to complete one by one in both environments. It is essentially an extremely relaxing puzzle game; when it rains, you climb up high and reach places that you can’t reach when dry-but then lower the rope to where it started so that when it dries again, you can use the rope as Shortcuts to previously inaccessible areas. In addition, the rainy version may have puddles and the like, which can be used to strengthen the lightning magic-this happens to be the weakness of some beasts in the area.

What all this means in the context of the story is anyone’s guess. This area is clearly guiding FF13, with gimmicks, music, and a visual appearance similar to one of the game areas. But this is definitely still in the world of FF1-you look up the world map of FF1 between missions. This stage is set somewhere near the “Western Fortress” area of ​​the game. Most stories are still shrouded in mystery. The name “Final Fantasy Origin” implies the first FF prequel, while the “stranger in heaven” and the initial costume of the party imply that this is the story of an outsider entering the FF world. But now we have made harsh hints and winks to other FFs, which is very strange.

In the battle, the inspiration for Strange Paradise remains undisguised. Square Enix obviously wanted to make a soul-style game, so they signed a contract with Team Ninja, a studio that has already made a great soul-like studio in Nioh. However, this is still a Final Fantasy game. The result is a weird game that is handled like a soul and has the same type of mechanics (e.g. campfire equivalent), but more forgiving. It also has difficulty settings, including a narrative-focused option that can really narrow down the content so that you can enjoy the scenery.

What I really like about the battle of FF Origin is its scope. More like a traditional role-playing game means players have more choices. In this new demo, we see the breadth of its display. It’s not just about having the main characters of Final Fantasy, such as black, white, and red wizards, paladin-like knights or boxer fighters — it’s also that everyone has a unique combination of actions that can be used with others to create Develop a unique fighting style.

You can carry up to two jobs with you at any time, and my favorite combination quickly became Dragoon and Red Mage. Red Mage gave me a little magic in every situation, which was very convenient, and Dragoon just felt… very good, really. The fighting style of FF Dragoons is not a typical spear move. In this sense, strangers in heaven managed to distinguish it from ordinary spears. When the enemy is vulnerable, spam repeatedly jumps and feels powerful and super satisfying.

These courses are also distributed among the party members you can bring as an AI ally. In addition to the two brothers we met last time, there is a new character in this demo (a mysterious girl named Neon). You can bring two allies in each mission, which means that theoretically you are making four workloads-two protagonist Jack for player control, and then choose two AI allies. Their work complements these choices. . The new feature of this game version is a system in which you can give your allies more control by issuing basic commands or spending “resonance” (a type of charging resource) to make them enter an extremely aggressive pumping Status. This is especially useful in a critical moment.

Outside the battle, this new demo also gives us a glimpse of the overall flow of the game. As I mentioned, the main world of FF1 appears in the form of a menu-based world map. The tasks are listed here, and their potential rewards are clearly listed. Each level can be replayed multiple times to gain drops and experience-or you can deal with side missions, which seem to be alternate targets set in the same area. Again, this distinguishes the game from Souls, one less world you gradually explore, and more of a larger map where you jump to different locations. Picking missions from the map almost made me feel that the Ninja team has some experience in another series-the Musou/Warriors game.

Indeed, I think the surface resemblance to the Warriors also feels deeper. This is the mood of this game. “Final Fantasy” is usually a bit serious and serious, at least in terms of how it sees itself as a prestigious video game series. FF Origin is a relatively rare thing in the series: it feels very rubbish. It looks a bit cheap, but has an amazing breadth of game options. It feels as if it will become a comfort food for video games. I don’t completely think it will become the annual competitor’s competition next year. For example, it feels like it will not be as powerful as Nioh. It’s not the atmosphere I get-but it just feels very good, stupid fun.

Part of the fun lies in the stupid and excessive camping of the game when it was announced. You know-I’m here to kill Chaos, all these things. More content continues here. When the new party member Neon confided her hard work in a classic anime, this was my motivational monologue. The protagonist Jack just looked at her dead face and ordered “nonsense”, and then continued to take out his phone to cover the conversation with blasting music Resounding. The truly terrifying rap metal reverberates in the sacred hall of the Temple of Chaos. This is a truly iconic Final Fantasy location, and it is clear that this game is different. I found myself laughing, but I don’t think I was laughing. I think FF Origin may actually be joking. Or at least I hope so.

This is also true. When the warriors of light in this game slammed their fists clumsily, when their budding fedora leader yelled “Seeya!”, you didn’t think of anything. When he tore it to pieces, in some transcendent magical place. It’s rubbish! Glorious garbage, the best kind. Earlier I said that the game has a tone problem-but expecting to adjust, it slowly won me. I am hugging schlock. And I might fall in love with it eventually.