Leading up to next month’s release of Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, Square Enix and Team Ninja have released new information regarding some of the game’s characters, jobs, locations, and editions. The details come alongside new screenshots, a trailer, and a relatively lengthy write-up regarding jobs on the PlayStation Blog from Square Enix Director, Daisuke Inoue.
Fans have already met Jack, Ash, and Jed, as well as a handful of other characters set to appear. These newly unveiled characters include Marilith, “The Fiend of Fire,” and The Lufenians, “mysterious people with whom Jack exchanges words during the snatched glimpses of his fragmented memories.”
Marilith
The Lufenians
Mount Gulg, The Ancients’ Tower, and The Wicked Arbor are three new foreboding locations promising hazards and dangers straight out of a From Software title. I mean, the Wicked Arbor is definitely not Blighttown or Farron Keep …
- Mount Gulg is “a volcano with many perils, such as molten lava which blocks the way, and gas pockets that explode due to the presence of fire magic.”
- The Ancients’ Tower is “a white building with an unshakeable sense of otherness. Various eerie mechanisms await the unwary intruder, such as devices to trap those who have entered and urn-like objects that float through the air.
- The Wicked Arbor is “a dense expanse of forest that lies at the door of the volcano. Moonlight only just manages to peek through the canopy and the area is shrouded in a thick, gaseous miasma. Walls made out of ivy and plants that spit poisonous gas stand in your way.”
Jobs will be familiar to anyone who’s played any previous Final Fantasy games, from FF Tactics to FFXIV. They play a similar role in Stranger of Paradise, with Daisuke Inoue explaining that “the job determines your abilities, weapons, and the actions you can take in battle, and switching to a different one will give you access to different moves.”
Information released by Square Enix and shared by Daisuke Inoue on the PlayStation Blog highlighted eight of the 27 jobs that will be available in the game:
- Breaker
- Void Knight
- Tyrant
- Sage
- Dark Knight
- Paladin
- Ninja
- Thief
We also learned about Stranger of Paradise‘s various editions. The standard physical and deluxe editions for PS4, PS5, and Xbox come with just the game as expected. There will also be a special Steelbook physical version at “participating retailers” with artwork “inspired by Yoshitaka Amano.”
The Digital Deluxe Edition comes with the game and a number of extra goodies. It includes access to the Season Pass, a digital artbook, and a digital mini-soundtrack. The season gives players access to three extra missions: Trials of the Dragon King, Wanderer of the Rift, and Different Future.
It’s unclear when these missions will release for players who opt for the other versions of Stranger of Paradise; though the Season Pass will be available separately “at a separate date,” Square hasn’t yet shared when that will be.
Of course, there is also pre-order content available for those who purchase the game early. Digital Standard pre-orders will receive the Rebellion Weapon, though the wording is a bit odd since it mentions that it’s “available to users who purchase the game before 11:59 p.m. on April 18, 2022, local time,” a full month after the game’s official release.
Those who pick up the Digital Deluxe Edition before Paradise‘s launch on March 18 will get 72-hour early access on console, 24-hour early access on PC, the Braveheart weapon, and the Lustrous shield. PlayStation players will get an exclusive PS4 theme.
Stay tuned for more on Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin as we approach its March 18 release on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Series X|S.
