After its’ reveal at E3 2021, Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin has had number of demos that let prospective players try out the game’s combat and get a taste of the story. These have been met with plenty of reactions from fans, both good and bad, and the game’s developers have been listening. In a recent interview with IGN, these same developers sat down to talk about some of the changes they’ve implemented based on the feedback they’ve received.
First and foremost, one of the game’s major twists was spoiled in a new trailer played at Tokyo Game Show 2021! It was revealed that Jack Garland, the game’s protagonist, is also the name of Chaos. Fan speculation on the true identity of Chaos had been running wild before the trailer, with many suspecting that Garland himself would wind up being revealed as the villain. The sheer number of fans already expecting the twist led to Jin Fujiwara, a producer on the game, deciding to reveal it in the trailer.
People outside of Japan have figured it out already, let’s just reveal it.
As for graphical changes, the team has worked on improving the look of their game. “We’ve put a lot of energy into making sure that it runs at a high frame rate, even at that kind of high resolution” says Koei Tecmo director Hiroya Usuda. Along with this, the game’s lighting has also been tweaked to be a bit brighter after fans complained the first of the demos was too dark to see.
Now for the meat and potatoes. Multiple attacks have been tweaked in specific areas, and some new features have been added to improve the game’s AI. This new feature is called Resonance, and while its’ in effect, NPC companions will become more aggressive with their abilities. The game has also received difficulty options, titled “story” and “action.” Previously, the game was being likened to the Nioh series in difficulty, which likely prompted the team to make the change. Square Enix Director Daisuke Inoue told IGN they “wanted to make a difficulty level for people who want to focus on enjoying the story.” Finally, NPC party members can now be equipped with gear in response to players saying they literally couldn’t use all of the loot they were earning. This way, gamers will have more options for outfitting both themselves and their team. The NPC team members can also now have their jobs changed for even more freedom of play.
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin releases in 2022 for Xbox, Playstation and PC.