Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin’s main character looks completely out of place, but here’s some good news from the newly fixed demo: His wardrobe quickly expands to include clothes and accessories that better fit the setting.
Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin is a Team Ninja-developed Souls-like that takes place in the world of the original Final Fantasy. Sounds really freaking cool, right? Well, the excitement of this E3 2021 announcement was dampened considerably by the game’s ostensible heroes, a casually dressed group led by a boring, Chaos-obsessed dude named Jack who looks more like a Paul Walker stunt double than a Final Fantasy protagonist.
After getting a chance to play Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin, however, I’m happy to report that Jack, as the playable character, eventually begins to look like he belongs in the world of Final Fantasy. While he starts out in a pretty basic shirt, jeans, and boots ensemble—Kotaku editor-in-chief Patricia Hernandez called it “about as normie as a 7/11 parking lot”—he soon loots a wide variety of clothing from the game’s monsters and treasure chests.
Like, look at this guy. That’s a Final Fantasy-ass Final Fantasy character! At the very least, it matches the aesthetic direction of modern games like Final Fantasy XV and Final Fantasy VII Remake, which mix real-world fashion with the more fantastical elements for which the series is known.
I’m also a big fan of the facemask look, though that’s probably more about lingering trauma from the last year than a true fashion opinion.
Optimizing my gear for the Lancer job ended up turning Jack into some sort of edgelord hermit. I think the halberd is doing most of the work in making this outfit work, honestly.
This final assemblage of equipment is probably what folks were most expecting to see upon hearing the phrase “Final Fantasy Souls-like.” If you just ignore Jack’s stupid face, I think it would be easy to mistake him for a low-level Final Fantasy XIV player.
Look, I’m not saying any of these outfits are particularly good. Many of the clothing options I’ve seen so far lean way too heavily into Final Fantasy veteran Tetsuya Nomura’s tendency to festoon every character in his games with superfluous straps and buckles.
But I also believe Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin would have enjoyed a much better reception from fans had Square Enix revealed the game with the lead looking maybe 30 percent less fuckboy. No one wants to play a Final Fantasy game as their sister’s first scumbag boyfriend after she left for college.
Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin launches sometime next year for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. The demo is playable until June 24.