The demo for Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin is finally working on PS5. It's called the Trial Version, and it offers an early look at the upcoming action game that uses a Final Fantasy setting.
Stranger of Paradise stars a self-proclaimed Warrior of Light, named Jack. The demo involves Jack and his friends entering a dungeon called the Chaos Shrine, as they wish to destroy Chaos. They are soon accosted by monsters that will be familiar to Final Fantasy fans, such as Bombs and Cactuars. Unlike the turn-based entries in the series, Stranger of Paradise involves brutally murdering these monsters in action RPG combat. The Chaos Shrine itself is sufficiently grim and imposing, as well as a little too dark for its own good, as it can be hard to see, even with the brightness cranked up.
There are a number of systems at play in Stranger of Paradise. The player can perform light and heavy attacks, and it's possible to assign special moves to combos of these two actions. In terms of defense, the player can block, evade, or use the Soul Shield, which is a timed block that restores MP and ignores chip damage, but is harder to pull off. There are also some enemy actions that can be absorbed with the Soul Shield and retained as a special attack until the player dies. Jack has access to three different jobs in the demo (Warrior, Mage, and Lancer) and can have two equipped at the same time. The player can switch between jobs with the press of a button. Each job has its own fighting style and special abilities, such as the Mage's spells or the Lancer's ability to throw the lance and recall it instantly. The jobs also have their own small skill trees and the player unlocks points for them by defeating enemies.
In combat, the enemy has a health meter and a stagger meter. If the stagger meter drops to zero, then Jack can perform an instant KO attack that also restores mana. Jack also has a stagger meter which depletes when blocking. Combat is all about learning the enemy's weaknesses and trying to go for a stagger kill or wearing them down. Jack isn't alone on his mission, as he's joined by Ash and Jed. Like some other Final Fantasy companions, these characters may as well not exist, as they just stand around the battlefield and occasionally tap the enemy for a small amount of damage. At best, the party members can distract the enemies, but at worst, they become a distraction in the heat of combat. It's unclear what the final goal is for these characters, as they could be implemented in a multiplayer mode, or used to help players on the easier difficulty levels.
There is a huge flaw in the combat system of Stranger of Paradise and it comes down to Jack, the protagonist of this particular Final Fantasy. There is a notable gap between pressing a button and Jack actually responding. This means there is a lag whenever the player tries to block, use the Soul Shield, dive out of the way, or even attack a targeted enemy. The game wants to be about fast-paced combat with blocks and counters, but everything feels like it's underwater. There is also the issue of stunlock. The presence of the stagger bar means that Jack and his enemies rarely get stunlocked until the stagger bar is empty.
The problem is that there is no invincibility when performing special moves. If the player tries to perform a flashy spinning attack with the Greatsword, then enemies can still pile on the damage while Jack is in his combat animation. This is the same issue that was present in Code Vein, which tried to be a flashy anime version of Dark Souls, but the player was often chewed up by enemies when performing special moves. As such, the most reliable combat method is to go in for one or two strikes, then use a defensive move to evade or counter. This turns combat into a drag, especially when fighting stronger opponents, as the stick and move approach can quickly become tiresome. Nowhere are these issues more apparent than in the boss fight against Garland.
To those who aren't aware: Garland is the first boss of the first Final Fantasy game. Garland is the boss of the Stranger of Paradise demo and he will absolutely destroy the player at the start. He has massive health and stagger bars, a number of ranged magical attacks, several sweeping melee attacks, the ability to empower his weapon with elemental magic, and a burst attack centered on his body. In his second phase, he gains an unblockable throw and his damage output is drastically increased.
If there's one thing the Stranger of Paradise demo does well, it makes the player jealous of Garland, because he actually moves and acts like a video game protagonist. Jack, by comparison, feels like he's wading through mud, and the player will just barely keep up with Garland's moves. Memorizing his patterns becomes essential, as there is no room for error, even on the normal difficulty. There is a certain feeling of frustration present in the Garland fight that encapsulates everything bad about the demo. Stranger of Paradise has an identity crisis, as it doesn't know if it wants to be a gritty and difficult Dark Souls or a flashy and swift Devil May Cry.
Fortunately, Stranger of Paradise won't be released until 2022 and the purpose of the Trial Version is for the devs to receive feedback from the players, so the issues in the demo may not be indicative of the final product. Stranger of Paradise has a ton of potential and many of the interlocking systems would be fun to experiment with in the full game. It's just Jack and his party that is letting everyone down. Jack might want to defeat Chaos, but if he's struggling to keep up with Garland, then he might have a tough journey on his hands.
Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin will be released for PC, PS4. PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S in 2022. The Trial Version demo is currently available on PS5.
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