Stranger Of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is now on Steam at its new cheaper price
Kill Chaos for less
Stranger Of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, the strange, chaos-obsessed hack-and-slash Final Fantasy prequel, is now available on Steam. Developed by Nioh and Wo Long creators Team Ninja in partnership with Square Enix, it has been exclusive to Epic's games store, the Epic Games Store, since March last year. It's also now cheaper than it used to be.
While its arrival on Steam was entirely predictable and announced last month, the instant price cut was more of a surprise. Stranger Of Paradise had cost £50/$60 for the standard edition at launch but was permanently reduced to £35/$40. That's the price it has launched at on Steam, understandably forgoing the typical 10% launch discount.
Whether the price cut makes it more worth your time is debatable. Final Fantasy Origin has an odd charm in its trailers, owing to the intensity of its protagonist Jack and his enduring commitment to both "killing Chaos" and talking endlessly about how physical need to "kill Chaos". When Ed played it last year, he considered it "a Soulslike that swings so hard it misses", however:
Nioh's story isn't great, but it makes up for it with clever, intertwining maps and impeccable combat. The complex loot grind is worth learning because it makes replaying levels an experiment or a power fantasy, not a chore. Final Fantasy Origin retains Nioh's strong combat core, but also keeps a similar loot grind that feels out of place because there's no real incentive to get involved.
While Origins was a modest disappointment, several RPS writers remain pumped for Final Fantasy 16. If only Square Enix would stick a PC release date on it.