3.5/5 ★ – Gronodon's review of Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin.

A messy story was always what we were going to get trying to connect the original Final Fantasy with any other game. I honestly don’t blame the developers for struggling to grab my attention with this one - I have beaten 6 versions of the original Final Fantasy, and despite viewing this world from such a fascinating new angle I was never going to be sold on a video game purely on the shared universe with that title. For what it’s worth, the world was reasonably compelling and I can’t say I walked away from this one not feeling sorry for Jack and his companions. That doesn’t matter anyways, since the combat in this game may be some of modern Final Fantasy’s best. It certainly does not have the production value of XVI or the expert craftsmanship of VII Rebirth’s intense battles, but it does bring that Nioh flavor to the job system in a way I find deeply compelling. Whether you’re beating enemies to death with flaming fists as a tyrant or leaping across the arena as a pilgrim, there is a kinetic energy to every element of this combat system. I am so excited to be a modern Final Fantasy fan, and I can only hope that Square takes the lessons from their last 3 ARPG’s to make another perfect game. Solid attempt, 7/10!