Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin

[Odysseus]

I sure could

 

[Leafonthebreeze]

Less than 10/10?

Disgusting.

Don't you mean...

Bullshit?

 

[Roundhouse]

Those of you who are actually playing this -- do you get the sense the writing is played straight, or is it tongue in cheek? Most are assuming the former.

 

[Makoeyes987]

Was the writing of FF1 played straight?

 

[Roundhouse]

Never played it, so dunno. Curious to hear opinions on this game's approach though.

 

[Makoeyes987]

It's entire story is based on FF1's and it plays it straight. The game isn't a comedy. It's a dark subversion of the initial FF1 story that puts the characters who are the Warriors of Light, in a situation that's foreign to them. They're "strangers" in a fantasy.

The humor comes from Jack, a man who gives no fucks, subverting the common tropes seen in most traditional JRPG/FF heroes and doing it like a badass. And even that isn't just played straight forever. Because he has character and grows along with the story. Everyone starts as a trope and as the story progresses, we see more of them and how they grow.

The game reminds me of how the film Dark City is a dark Sci-Fi reimagining/subversion of the classic Noir mystery story. And FF1 is the best entry to do such a story.

 

[ph14basicbitch]

There are things that are clearly silly and are meant to be found silly ("Jack grunting at everything", for example), but the plot and the world building is played straight. Getting further in the story also reveals why some earlier conversations might have felt "off".

The interviews with the staff are something else, imo. For example, Fujiwara trying to justify the overabundance of CHAOS:

When the first Stranger of Paradise trailer was revealed at E3 earlier this year, the internet went into a chaos-meme obsession, ridiculing the number of times “Chaos” was mentioned — eight times in total in the 2 minutes 33-second trailer.

“There was still quite a lot of mystery surrounding the game and we couldn't really reveal too much,” Stranger of Paradise producer Jin Fujiwara tells me. “But in terms of the general plot that was being covered, if someone goes to the Chaos Shrine to look for Chaos, to defeat Chaos, and meets a boss figure — the one who will become Chaos, inevitably [when] explaining that plot the word ‘chaos’ is going to come up quite a lot. We didn't really think it was going to cause quite as much of a reaction as it did, and that was a little bit unexpected.

“It's obviously not something we're terribly pleased about. But I think looking back on it from where we are now, it may have had a slight positive impact if it got people interested. From our point of view, it's better than nobody paying attention.”

And also Nomura talking about how the marketing changed, which was reflected in the 2nd trailer from last October:

――ジャックが「ジャック・ガーランド」と名乗るのは衝撃でしたが、彼が抱えている女性（服に血が？）はセーラ姫でしょうか？（原作のようにさらったところなのか、それとも救出したところなのかも興味深いですが……）　ちなみに、原作のセーラ姫は序盤に少し出てくるだけでしたが、本作のセーラ姫の出番はもっとありそうでしょうか……？

野村そうなんですよね……、本来ならジャックがガーランドであることは伏せておく予定だったんですが、初出の直後、プロデューサーの藤原から相談がありまして、「海外では既にジャックがガーランドだとバレているので、逆にガーランドであることを推してPRして行きたい」と。そこで、「ジャックは何者か？」という戦略から、「ジャックが何故カオスになったのか？」という方向転換をすることにしました。ガーランドが女性を抱えているシーンは本編のオープニングであり、物語後半でもあるので詳細はお答え出来ませんが、セーラ姫の出番は本作では初代よりもう少しあります。

As it turns out, Fujiwara also reported back to Nomura that us damn foreigners figured out that Jack is Garland, prompting Nomura to change the marketing from "Who is Jack?" to "How did Jack become Garland?" And, unless scenes were removed from the game, I find that believable, and that this isn't just "pr speak" or something.

 

[Makoeyes987]

Nomura and Fujiwara took it well too. It's a sign of maturity in terms of reacting and understanding the audience, and going forward with what they drew from their presentation. The knowledge or spoiler of who Jack is isn't the defining centerpiece of the whole story. It's the journey and they embraced that. Not to mention they had a good sense of humor about it.

The fact the writers were able to make Jack FF's own Doomguy who's a throwback to 2010s edgelord badassery, this memorable and memetic all organically when so many of their FF protags are already subversions of traditional heroes, is a testament to their writing and character design. They haven't lost it.

 

[Lex]

I've played about an hour and I'd so far call this an enjoyable dumpster fire. It's tickling something in me I don't like though. You can definitely feel the Nomura 13 year old edgelord all over it.

Also what's the deal with the Remake menu style/ HUD, I'm finding that weirdly off-putting

 

[Makoeyes987]

You're at the Chaos Shrine, aren't you? LOLOL

Can't wait to hear what you think of the rest of it.

 

[Odysseus]

Fuck Tiamat. All my homies hate Tiamat.

 

[Makoeyes987]

Fuck Tiamat. All my homies hate Tiamat.

I fucking FEEL THIS LMFAO!

This was the part of the game where it kicks you in the face and demands you know what the fuck you're doing or else you're gonna have a bad time.

LOL she's the hardest Fiend. This fight is a challenge. No other fiend gave me this much hell.

You gotta master Soul Guarding and smashing her break gauge. Make sure to keep the pressure on, especially in phase 2. If you have a good spellcaster type job like Black Mage or Sage, you can fuck her up with Thundaga. Keep refilling your MP via soul guarding. Beware of Tri-disaster.

You can do it, it's tough though!

 

[Odysseus]

My winning strategy was Warrior w/ broadsword and White Mage (level 1 because I hadn't used it yet lol). First half you soul guard to gain MP, then in the second half you wait for the necks to be vulnerable to use light bringer and destroy the break gauge in huge chunks with the R2 abilities. White mage was just for healing because I didn't want to waste potions in the first phase.

 

[Makoeyes987]

Solid strategy!

I legit had to co-op it with someone the first time LMAO

I was using Warrior too. Their Roar ability which gives Regen was a lifesaver.

This boss fight made me go back, replay some chapters and relearn how to do shit cause I was just sucking badly lolol. Soul Guarding is so important in this game.

 

[LNK]

While I don't care to play this game, how is the soundtrack? Is it similar to regular Final Fantasy games?

 

[Makoeyes987]

The soundtrack slaps.

The tracks of the different levels also have music inspired by the locations they draw from. The track for the Sunken Temple contains a cool remix of the Mako Reactor Theme, for instance. Then there's the remix of the Sunleth Waterscape too. It's a phenomenal and creative soundtrack.

EDIT: The FFVI track for the

Spoiler

Floating Continent level, called Terra Tortura,

is fucking fire.

 

[LNK]

I'm not a big fan of the kind of songs you posted, but I like the idea of remixes from the other games. I mostly like the laid back songs. I'll have to check it out though

 

[Lulcielid]

Game runs like shit on PC...

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1505385977640103937

 

[Wol]

What's up with SQ shitty pc ports, aren't they paying interns enough? lol

 

[Jack Holiday]

I made a mix of my favorite ambient tracks from the game:

 

[Odysseus]

I think my biggest complaint with the game is it throws waaay too much equipment at you. I'm constantly having to manage my inventory, and I have no incentive to use the weapon upgrade system when I'll find a new, better one not too long after.

 

[Makoeyes987]

Make sure to regularly send your equipment to storage or dismantle it after every couple of missions.

The loot system is basically like Diablo lol. Just tons and tons of equipment. Forever.

 

[Odysseus]

Yeah, wow, Lich is a total pushover. The fire fiend still gave me a bit of trouble, but Lich was a joke lol.

A bit disappointed the vampire wasn't the mid-boss.

Edit: So I'm at the water shrine now, which I know is based on a Mako reactor, and in-universe lore says it's based on a place in "dimension 7", meaning the other areas are probably also based on locals from their respective dimension-number corresponding FFs, and now I'm wondering if they're just being cute or if this has some larger implications for the franchise lol.

 

[Makoeyes987]

I mean, it's no different than what we've seen toyed with with Dissidia lol

But holy shit.

Spoiler: I can't believe this game made me get feels

For fucking Astos. Like, I legit teared up. They got me emotionally. Hard. Holy fuck.

I'm nearing the ending now. I dunno how they're gonna wrap this up but I can't wait to see.

EDIT: This ending got me fucked up. Wow.

They fucking nailed it. Goddamnit. I don't even know what to say.

Beat it on Action difficulty. Final boss was a bit of a fucker but not really if you're a Sage and soul guard.

Just. This was worth it.

 

[ph14basicbitch]

Come for the chaos memes, stay for the

Spoiler

Visible and very real pain on astos's face when he keeps asking Jack who he is and Jack can't answer