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If you've heard about Final Fantasy Origins: Strangers in Paradise, you probably already know in advance how absurd the game is. From the male characters dressed in casual clothes under the high-magic worldview, to the obsession with killing Chaos, this game can be said to be exactly what you expected. Dubbing, dialogue, new metal plus Frank Sinatra-style soundtrack, and a red-haired version of Promput (mistakenly), you'll see the real side of the game.
Well, maybe you don't understand that this is the shining point of this game. But when you watch the character spit out a "nonsense" and then turn away and put up his favorite Limp Bizkit song on his phone, you may understand that what I said is true. Final Fantasy Origins: Strangers from Heaven is simply impressive in its grotesqueness. You can even think of it as a Fast and Furious movie, and everyone is having fun anyway.
Let's first analyze the first impression of this game. Jack, the paralyzed protagonist of the game, has a dark crystal (which actually looks more like a tea egg). As he approaches the entrance to a certain kingdom, Jet and Arthur, who are about to become brothers, follow him suspiciously. Jack sensed something was wrong and turned around alertly. They all paused for a moment, and Jet and Ashur snorted and laughed as they pulled out their "tea egg crystals."
"These crystals can perceive each other." Jeter spoke. Then Ashur asked, "Do you have one too?"
The camera turns dramatically as Jack pulls out the Tea Egg Crystal, and he replies, "All I know is that my mission is to destroy Chaos." They touched their fists together, and a deep friendship was born.
I couldn't help but wonder: Maybe this is just the reason for the demo version? This version may have omitted a lot of important background introductions? But that's not the case, and that's all the footage of their first meeting. Everyone suddenly saw each other as usual, and there was no other addition. In fact, is it necessary to add more background narratives to the game? I don't think it's necessary, but it's better.
The brothers then came to the throne of King Cornelia, and even when they met the orthodox monarch of the Kingdom of Cornelia, several were still dressed in casual clothing as if they had been snapped up from H&M at 40% off (thanks to this accurate description given by my old boss and good friend). Dressed in ornate royal attire, the king was deeply troubled by the effects and crises of chaos. And the male protagonist and his party stood in front of the throne, as if they had just woken up from a hangover all night. They mention the prophecies of the four Light Warriors and claim that their mission is to kill Chaos.
Jack's image at this point seems to be saying, "I just had a fight at a bar last night, and I almost ripped my clothes off, and I'm still angry." I wondered if he hadn't had time to shower or change his clothes yet, but his Henry shirt (which had too many buttons under the neckline) looked like he could still wear it, so it wasn't a big deal.
The "red-haired version of Plump" is more modern and casual, with leggings, dark round neck and long sleeves, and a beautiful and flamboyant hair. Arthur looked like he was "jack and I were friends for life and death from the first day of my fight" (in fact, it happened the day before I met the king), and it looked like a gold- and muscle-slim tight vest made him feel quite oppressive, and obviously did not plan to wear a flannel shirt around his waist. Please don't care about this total of less than 300 yuan clothing budget, Chaos must not feel that it does not matter.
The funniest thing is that when entering the first dungeon, everyone is still wearing this outfit, like a group of people who mistakenly entered the Chaos Temple on the way out to eat. Fortunately (but unfortunately), after some fighting and looting, everyone was soon able to change gear. I wish the game had some sort of illusion system, like the final fantasy 14 fashion, even with the Level 99 Cornelian Magic Chaos Lock armor (which I made up blindly), you can still wear your favorite asymmetrical button shirt. This design may bring infinite possibilities to the equipment system, and I can't wait to see a group of people dressed up in the middle of the field.
At the end of the Temple of Chaos, you'll battle an Avatar of Chaos, an armored knight who does as much damage as a boss in the Souls game. After some arduous fighting, the chaos of the possessed knights dissipated, and Nion appeared, a young girl in a school uniform who also held the Tea Egg Crystal.
Realizing that they all have an "egg" in their hands, she generously states that she also wants to kill Chaos, but she guesses that Chaos is not someone or monster, but closer to a concept. Jack paused and uttered a "nonsense." Then he pulled out his phone and played the Limp Bizkit song as he walked, and the melody lasted for several seconds.
Nion didn't stop there. In the next scene, she makes this point again and turns her finger at Jack, saying that if Chaos really looks like Jack envisions, then he must prove it to her. He responded, "Deal." The four of them touched their fists together and happily formed a squad.
Regardless of the direction of the plot of Final Fantasy Origins: Strangers in Paradise, one thing is worth affirming, that is, they have portrayed Nion well. In recent years, the Final Fantasy series has a slight lack of skills in shaping female characters, so I'm glad that this game can extend this weird energy to Nion's body, after all, brotherhood is not limited to gender!
I also love Final Fantasy 14 version 6.0 , "The End of the Dawning Moon", which is an excellent expansion pack from my own game, which is full of elegant, profound, sad, heart-warming and serious narrative, showing more than a decade of careful polishing. A few months later, we had a spin-off of Final Fantasy Origins: Strangers from Heaven, in which the protagonists were replaced by Jack and his Crystal Squad, staging an adventure without much explanation. This series is really amazing, there are works of any style.
So far, I am very optimistic about their efforts and practices in this direction. As for whether this freshness will disappear after in-depth exploration, we can only wait and see. But that's what Final Fantasy Origins: Strangers from Heaven is all about — for better or worse, it seems to be heading in that direction. This game is different from what we see in the Final Fantasy series, and even different from the games that have been released recently. Straight to the point, without too much explanation and explanation, this style is definitely the best choice for this game, but whether this tone is to your taste or not is another story.
I couldn't help but laugh several times throughout the trial because I really liked the funny style. Many people who have watched the first ten minutes of the content may have big question marks, or it may be joy and questions. I can't say for sure whether this exaggerated cutscene was deliberate or whether the development team didn't care at all, but I'm sure I had a funny and joyful time.
Translation: Stark Young
Edit: Zoe