I’ve been a Final Fantasy fan ever since the days of the original chunky PlayStation. Back when you had to rely on magazines for your monthly fix of gaming news, solutions to puzzles came at the cost of some premium telephone number your mum would chew your ear off for if you dare call, and your friend had to suffer through using your dodgy third-party controller for co-op sessions.

Ever since then, I’ve played pretty much anything that has the Final Fantasy name slapped across it. In that time, the series has dabbled in a lot of different genres, such as trying its hand at a third-person shooter with Dirge of Cerberus or going down the Pokemon-esque route with World of Final Fantasy. This experimentation has led to some significant changes. While you can safely bet a Chocobo or Moogle will make an appearance — alongside other recurring series staples — the gameplay for the mainline titles has largely become more linear, and turn-based combat has bitten the dust.

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Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin offers a new change — Final Fantasy meets Dark Souls. It’s set to launch next year and Square Enix has promised this new entry will offer a more mature and brutal experience. Those who played the earlier demo are already well aware of this, but for me, a recent hands-on preview was my first real encounter with Jack and the lads. I quickly realised that this was not your average Final Fantasy when — like a naive fool — I chose a higher difficulty and promptly had my ass handed to me. This should have come as no surprise. With Team Ninja co-developing, it was all but guaranteed that the game would include the developer’s usual brand of challenging combat.

After swallowing my pride and lowering the difficulty, I slowly got to grips with the more hack-and-slash-style gameplay. At first, I struggled with the more fast-paced battle mechanics, especially with pinning down the timing for the perfect Soul Shield — a move that lets you block certain attacks and throw them back at the enemy afterward — but I got there in the end.

using black mage in Stranger of Paradise

There’s a substantial learning curve, and though the game offers tutorials on the various skills and tactics you’ll be using, you’ll learn them best by putting them into practice and honing your reflexes.

One thing we didn’t get a tutorial for was the collection of jobs that were now unlocked for us. Six base jobs and eight advanced jobs, complete with full skill trees, were at our disposal for the preview. While the game will likely cover a how-to for each job at launch, it meant we just had to get stuck in and test them out for ourselves. The range in jobs and the ungodly amount of available equipment allows you to tailor your play style to your own needs and preferences.

For me, Dragoon was a firm favourite as it allowed me to button mash away and use Jump whenever I was able to. However, others might prefer the likes of Black Mage, where you use a spell wheel to cast elemental attacks on your enemies. But the great thing is you don’t have to just stick with one, you can create two battle sets (each consisting of a job, equipment, and abilities) that you can switch between instantaneously at the press of a button.

You can change battle sets at regular intervals at save points, so you aren't locked into the same two loadouts if you don’t want to be. I imagine this will come in useful for particularly difficult boss battles or on higher difficulties, where you have to put more thought into your party setup and change it as needed. While I could get away with jabbing coeurls in the face with my lance while commanding my allies to give me a little help from time to time, potions only go so far and it’s likely you’ll be needing to throw in a White Mage to help heal on occasion.

Stranger of Paradise Neon's introduction

In the preview, we saw the immediate aftermath of the first trial’s boss battle. The armored knight named “Chaos?” is unmasked to be a young woman named Neon, who, much like Jack, had set out on a quest to defeat Chaos with her companions... but failed to do so. There was also a bizarre yet hilarious moment where Jack, after disagreeing with Neon, pulls out a phone or music player of some kind, switches it on, then walks away as if he’s just given himself some dramatic exit soundtrack. You do you, Jack.

Neon is an ally to Jack — meaning you can choose to have her as one of your three active party members — so now the fandom might quiet down with their complaints about how Stranger of Paradise is too much of a sausage fest. Don’t be deceived by Neon’s cutesy sailor outfit though, it’s clear from her personality and sword skills that this girl is not to be messed with.

The preview also introduced the Refrin Wetlands, and naturally, with the new terrain came a host of new enemies to pound on, including a fan-favourite Cactuar making an appearance. More than once I stopped at the edge of the map and panned the camera around to stare out across the water at the distant rocky islands. Despite some grumbling about the graphics after the last demo, it looked damn good. It’s not got the ‘wow’ factor of the food from Final Fantasy 15, but it’s still pretty decent.

One of the more interesting aspects about this location is that scattered throughout the level are glowing orbs that you can interact with to change the weather. In doing so, the area available to you will change, for example, making it sunny will cause roots to retract and uncover new pathways. There were other interactive mechanics too, such as dropping ropes to allow you to shortcut back to areas and circumvent paths that you lose due to changing the weather.

Jack climbing in Stranger of Paradise

While it wasn’t available for testing during the preview, the next trial will include a fully functional multiplayer element for up to three players. From the footage we were shown, other players appear to take on the role of one of your allies and you can use set phrases to communicate with your companions.

Stranger of Paradise will draw on the first ever Final Fantasy title, using it as a motif rather than presenting a recreation of the original. As a result, there’s a lot of familiar ground getting covered, like the Warriors of Light prophecy, or areas such as the Chaos Shrine, but there’s plenty that sets it apart as a new breed.

There is plenty about Stranger of Paradise that gave me a Devil May Cry vibe — and that’s not a bad thing. That comes from the darker, more adult tone, the hack-and-slash combat, and being able to change your jobs on the fly for a different combat experience, much like how you can swap out weapons in DMC. Not to mention the aesthetics, the demonic-looking portals that spit out enemies, the red crystalline element in finishing moves, and finally, the boss you just defeated melting away its exterior to reveal a female ally gave me proper DMC 5 flashbacks.

Stranger of Paradise is set to rewrite the DNA of the franchise with Square Enix promising it to be “a bold new vision” on its website. Aptly named, the game is much like a stranger masquerading in the mask of a friend — it looks familiar on the surface with its bromance party members, the usual job roles, and typical Final Fantasy elements, but underneath, the actual gameplay is far different from what longtime fans have grown accustomed to.

Stranger of Paradise Jack Ash Jed and Neon

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