I'm So Excited To Fight CHAOS!

If, like many on the internet, you watched the most recent trailer for Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin with your mouth agape. Having mustered the courage to watch the nearly five-minute sizzle reel, I can honestly say I am STILL gobsmacked. The trailer is equal parts frenetic action schlock and earnest melodrama. The cavalcade of characters each reek of "Peak Nomura," and at times, the dialogue in the trailer is downright incomprehensible. Unless, of course, you count the bro fist-bumps and the dozens of times people yell "Chaos!" Likewise, the game continues to look like a weird hodgepodge of disparate and conflicting art styles and mechanics. I remain unconvinced its attempt to blend Final Fantasy V's job system with real-time Nioh-style gameplay will work perfectly. Nor am I sold on the idea that it can successfully integrate its franchise homages into a cohesive thematic. There's something incredibly discordant about seeing Final Fantasy Origin's version of the Sunleth Waterscape from Final Fantasy XIII next to Ivalice-derived Egyptian tombs.

But HOT DAMN does the game look like it will be entertaining. Be aware I'll spend most of this blog discussing predictions about the game's tone and story. Still, with most of the Team Ninja crew behind Nioh and Nioh 2 helping the project, I think the likelihood of the game being unfun is low. In fact, with that pedigree doing the lion's share of the programming, that leaves the character designs and writing the only "unknown variable" regarding Final Fantasy Origin. I did mention the possible "awkwardness" of Team Ninja needing to stitch together Final Fantasy mechanics to their award-winning Nioh formulae, like needing to utilize the traditional Final Fantasy Job System. Nonetheless, the game's second demo showed early signs they were up for the challenge and were willing to deviate from the Nioh template when needed.

However, all of that is dancing around the issue of the Final Fantasy Origin trailer being downright BONKERS! While shouting the word "CHAOS" eleven million times as facades explode, the final promotional video for the game barrages you with pure insanity. We have nothing but an army of big beefy men, and one woman, all wanting to break and destroy shit in the name of defeating Chaos. All the while, they are screaming at the tops of their lungs and injecting those around them with adrenaline. To call this game "Quintisential Nomura" is an understatement. It makes the earlier interview Nomura did in which he said part of why he wanted to make Origin was so he could assemble "a story of an angry man" make a whole lot more sense. It appears he did exactly that, and I couldn't be any happier.

Trying to ascertain a greater meaning to this trailer is a fool's errand. It would be anyone's guess if a marketing team that knew how to get the internet buzzing did the editing or if it was done earnestly to frame the game as a "serious" AAA action title. However, one thing is certain. Square-Enix let Tetsuya Nomura be both the Lead Artist and Producer on a Final Fantasy project estimated to be in the millions, and they let him go ham. Final Fantasy Origin will be the most unadulterated Nomura has ever been since Kingdom Hearts III. Even when given the reigns to Final Fantasy VII Remake, he worked within the realm of fan expectations until that game's final act. That is not the case with Final Fantasy Origin. From beginning to end, this game will be HIS PASSION PROJECT, where he was entirely able to guide how it looks and plays. With Origin, he's giving you a game he wants to make and not something accountable to a pre-existing intellectual property (i.e., Kingdom Hearts). Nor will Origin need to placate a virulent fanbase (i.e., Final Fantasy VII Remake). That alone makes Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin a day one purchase for me. I can envision two, possibly three, forms the final version of Origin could take, and I am all for each scenario. So, without further ado, let's discuss what I think could be in store for Final Fantasy fans.

Scenario A: The Game Is Silly And Over-The-Top, And That's Intentional

If I'm being frank with everyone, this to me is the least interesting of the possible "outcomes." If I had to estimate the ceiling and floor for Final Fantasy Origin, if it is a purposefully schlocky action melodrama, it would peak at the highs of Final Fantasy X-2 and bottom-out somewhere between Final Fantasy XIII-2 and XV. Suppose the template they follow with Origin mimics that of Final Fantasy X-2. In that case, I think it would still be able to strike a balance between wanting to be a light-hearted adventure and having the expected dramatic moments one anticipates from Square-Enix. There is one crucial lesson I hope Origin pulls from X-2. With the game's emphasis on providing an anthology of iconic set-pieces, rather than an entirely new world, Origin is better off lowering the stakes of its story to where players know to turn their brains off as if they are watching a popcorn flick. In the game, we should have a villain, a mid-game plot twist, a heroic sacrifice, and a big battle in which our troupe comes out on top when we least expect them—nothing more, nothing less. As rote as this sounds, "playing it safe" with a deliberately silly game with playful fourth-wall-breaking moments works better for a Nioh-styled mechanics-based Final Fantasy game than something trying to be profound.

Now, don't get wrong, there could still be some craziness to be had in a light-hearted adventure that revels in its stupidity. When Nomura-led projects wink directly at the camera and fling you across wild and wacky adventures, you can get crazy shit like XIII-2 or Lightning Returns. With the premise of Origins being that our heroes will travel across a continuum of Final Fantasy's "best levels," I would not put it past them turning our heroes into time cops like Serah, Noel, and Lightning. And you know what? If there's something I learned from Final Fantasy XIII-2 and Lightning Returns, it's that these big-budget Final Fantasy games are way more enjoyable when they don't take themselves seriously. Suppose the game will involve senseless violence, as the demo and trailer suggest. In that case, the last thing I need is long lectures about the existential dread of one's inevitable demise or how state religions can corrupt societies. Have the big buff dude punch the shit out of a Malboro. Then, have one of his friends turn to him, give him a thumbs-up, and say the words "totally rad, bro!" That's what they SHOULD DO in a game like this. Make the audience laugh and keep their attention with a series of heart-warming or irreverent, silly moments. And if you don't think Square-Enix is smart enough to know this, I believe you underestimate them. You don't put Frank Sinatra in your Final Fantasy trailer unless this is the result you want.

My only worry with a Final Fantasy game that lowers its stakes is if it ends up committing the same error as the mid to late-game of Final Fantasy XV. An action-oriented Final Fantasy game shouldn't drop all pretense to have the characters play baseball or cook a meal the eighth goddamn time. That's especially the case if the driving premise of the game, outside of any plot twists, is as simple as KILL THE BIG BAD DUDE! Origins will get the most "bang for its buck" if it continues to ratchet up its stakes with increasingly more ridiculous set pieces and environments. And if they are going to have the expected minigames and side quest tomfoolery that every Final Fantasy game has, all of that should be stupid ancillary bullshit that is intended to make people laugh. If there is a Final Fantasy XV level, have there be a moment when the characters chill in front of a campfire. However, this time they talk about their cardio workouts. They're dudebros; the game should openly celebrate that. If there's a Final Fantasy IX level, make the fucking beefcakes in Origin jump rope for twenty minutes. Who among us would be against that visual?

Scenario B: The Team Thought They Were Making The Next Mega AAA Game, And It Unintentionally Is The Best Comedy Of The Year

Of the two most likely scenarios, this is the one I most want to be the case. And if we are being honest, it's not too far-fetched to believe all of the ridiculous bullshit in the trailer is a genuine attempt by Square-Enix to sell you on a big serious AAA action game. For those of you that follow Tim Rogers, you know that he asserts in his three-hour review of Final Fantasy VII Remake that he believes Square-Enix's long-term plan has been to make games in the style of Western third-person action games. While I don't swing as hard as Rogers, there's no denying that there's a common trend with every Final Fantasy game post-X. Since X, the series has become more oriented towards real-time combat and other character action game mechanics. Following Gears of War, the franchise has become more overt about borrowing from mainstream video game trends outside of the purview of the JRPG genre. Yes, Final Fantasy VII Remake threw fans a bone when it included a turn-based option. However, that alternative was so vastly inferior to playing the game in real-time that I cannot imagine anyone champing at the bit for Square-Enix to include it in the second episode.

So, Square-Enix is making an action game, and only time will tell if all of this is them trying to emulate what they have gleaned from other games or if they are "in on the joke." All these awkward cutscenes where characters shout "CHAOS!" could be them going back to their notes from Gears of War and them remembering that Marcus Fenix says "ANYA!" a whole bunch. Even in the demo, there are weird moments where your characters slowly saunter while feeding each other information about what's happening, like it's Assassin's Creed. Parts of Final Fantasy Origin plays and looks like a weird video game version of telephone. You can see how Uncharted, Demon's Souls, or The Last of Us inspired the design decisions in the game. Still, these facsimiles are fucked up just enough to make them feel out of place or "lost in translation." And while I commend what Team Ninja has shown and shared of the gameplay thus far, there's no doubting they are doing what they do best while also throwing in a few new mechanics. When combined with what Nomura has shared in interviews, it is clear that everyone working on this game was earnest. This can only mean one thing: we might be looking at a Tommy Wiseau situation.

Yes, Nomura makes silly games. Sometimes, Nomura makes VERY SILLY GAMES. However, even his most ardent critics cannot deny his authenticity. If given a project, he will commit to it and have the one or two ideas floating around in his head be the crux of that game. But by golly, it sure looks like he had more than two or three ideas in his notebook when conceiving Final Fantasy Origin, and God bless him. Even if Team Ninja prevails in making all of these disparate ideas work, that doesn't mean the story isn't going to be a tire fire. And you know what? I say, bring it on! Square-Enix aiming for the stars and missing is how you get Final Fantasy VIII. In Final Fantasy VIII, a team of non-romance writers tried making a game about love, and they ended up thinking going to space and killing time-traveling witches would best serve that love story. That's what I want from Final Fantasy Origin. I want these characters to be absolute morons. I don't know how Square-Enix will pull off having this many conflicting art styles and narrative thematics, but it's going to be a mess, and I want to jump in the slop and roll around in it like a pig.

Just looking at all of the game's art assets Square-Enix has shared makes my heart race. If this isn't a serious effort, then why the fuck is Square-Enix putting in a multiplayer mode? This can only mean they ACTUALLY think this is a gritty grimdark Final Fantasy spinoff that mainstream audiences will receive as such at face value. They are about to publish a game in the year of our Lord, 2022, that feels and looks like it was made using Unreal Engine 3 and should have come out when all action-shooters took place in the same blurry brown and grey wastelands. If you are a video game publisher, you would only make Final Fantasy Origin circa 2009 at best. And yet, here we are looking at another example of Square-Enix thinking that none of the rules of the video game industry apply to them. How could you NOT be excited?

Scenario C: Why Not Both?

A popular hypothesis I have seen floating around on Twitter is attempting to strike a middle ground between my two previous scenarios. And before you ask, I'm not talking about the fan theory saying Origin is an isekai because producer Jin Fujiwara has outright said it is not. As this theory goes, Team Ninja and Nomura are approaching the game like a serious, gritty third-person action game, and the marketing team is the one responsible for the brazen craziness of the most recent trailer. Most would question how this presents a version of Final Fantasy Origin significantly different from the two I have already posited. While that might be true on paper, there is the possibility that Final Fantasy Origin might be a game that is both referential and meta AND a gritty Gears of War clone. This version of the game would be BY FAR the messiest, and the only comparable Square-Enix property I can think of is Kingdom Hearts.

Nevertheless, this supposed version of Final Fantasy Origin would STILL have a messy, melodramatic story that flops around like a fish out of water. The stitching between Square-Enix's desire to make a mainstream hit with a goofy low-stakes call to adventure will be visible from the goddamn moon. Have you seen some of Nomura's character models for the classic Final Fantasy I enemy designs? Have you seen what they have done to Astos, King of the Dark Elves? If you haven't, I'll do you a solid and include a promotional Tweet that enthusiastically revealed Nomura's idea of updating the character as if it was the hottest shit imaginable. Here you go:

What does this tell you about what to expect in Final Fantasy Origin? It suggests that no one above Nomura told him "no" when he made the game. While I usually would decry this hands-off approach, as Origin is not likely to hamper the company financially or negatively impact a pre-existing game, I'm all for it this time! Give me the dumbest shit imaginable in this game, so I don't have to deal with it in Final Fantasy XVI! Also, given what we know when Nomura doesn't have a filter, there will be weird and wacky characters that make you laugh the moment you see them. Look at how many times they fist-bump in that promo! THIS GAME IS GOING TO HAVE A TON OF DUMB SHIT IN IT, AND THAT'S GOOD! The motherfucking pre-order bonus is a PS4 theme where all you see are the characters in t-shirts and khakis! THEY HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THEY ARE DOING, AND IT IS GREAT!

The last thing I want to do is work myself into a "shoot." However, whether or not this game is a "real" attempt to continue modern Square-Enix's trend of making nothing but worldwide hits or it's Nomura shooting the shit and having a good time is irrelevant to me. I want to play another Square-joint that fires on all cylinders and misses every one of its targets like Final Fantasy VIII. I want a game as endlessly silly as Final Fantasy X-2 while also being as self-aware as XIII-2. And goddamnit, it looks like that's what they are going to do! Fuck it; I'm buying this game. I'm buying it because it will feature a trainwreck of a story no matter what. It will likely be fun to play, but that is secondary to it being a multi-million dollar blank check to one of the industry's least disciplined figureheads. And you know what? God bless everyone who made this opportunity possible. It has been a long time since a video game company has thoroughly baffled the collective internet to this degree. Bravo Square-Enix, you bastards managed to do it again!

Is it at all possible that the most recent trailer happened something like this?

*****

English marketing guy #1: (sighs) "So what are we going to do about this final trailer, huh? I mean, a lot of people hit us pretty hard for all the 'Chaos!' cheese. So what now? Try to rein it in some? Or, I dunno, maybe we do one of those dub-step covers of songs that are popping up everywhere in trailers these days.

"English marketing guy #2: "Wouldn't it be great if we could just do something extra-dumb and incongruous? Like, I don't know... 'My Way' by Frank Sinatra?"

English marketing guy #1: "Hah! Hahahaha. Oh, man. That would be ridiculous. But seriously, what should we do?"

English marketing guy #2: "Bet you I can get Nomura to sign off on it."

English marketing guy #1: "Wait, what? You've got to be kidding me. No way. It's so stupid. It's an overplayed, hackneyed song from 50 years ago that doesn't fit the tone of the game at all."

English marketing guy #2: "A hundred bucks says I can do it."

English marketing guy #1: (sighs, throws up his hands) "You know what? Fine. Make it double. There's no way he'll go for that. Come back and talk to me when he turns it down."

*****

English marketing guy #2: (gets on Zoom call with Nomura and translator) "So, uhhhh.... heeeeyyyyy, Nomura. I've got this idea for a song for the final trailer. It's just an idea."

(Nomura and others listen to song, Nomura reads Japanese translation of lyrics. Song ends, Nomura speaks to translator.)

Nomura's translator: "Mr. Nomura says that he believes these lyrics fit Garland's journey well. He thanks you very much for your suggestion."

English marketing guy #2: "Oh, that's okay, it was just an idea... wait. What? Really? You're saying we... actually might use the song for the final trailer?"

(Translator briefly confers with Nomura)

Nomura's translator: "Yes, he thinks it is a good suggestion."

English marketing guy #2: "..."

I'm going to say strong option C vibes. I'm just worried that it's actually going to be a lot less unintentionally funny than we all expect and is actually mostly painfully dull to sit through with the occasionally anachronistic fist bump to jolt you out of a we-have-to-believe-in-ourselves induced coma. The newest trailer already delivers on this vibe with melodrama that just seemed fairly boilerplate and not nearly as unhinged as the original outing that spawned all those Choas memes. At the very least I just hope it's an interesting game to play - "hope" being a rather strong word here I guess since I really won't be losing my sleep over some Final Fantasy game not actually being all that fun to play.

Yeah... I don't know that this thing is going to be the hilarious trainwreck that people hope it'll be. I didn't get any of those vibes from the demos. I didn't even find that first trailer as ridiculous as some of the GB crew did. I bet it'll be eye-rollingly silly and cliche in that way JRPGs tend to be, but I expect this thing to be just really dull overall.

The producers recently addressed the marketing in an interview with Eurogamer:

That makes a lot of sense. The reception to it has been interesting, especially when it was first announced. It became a meme of sorts, and all the 'chaos' captured people's imaginations. Then the most recent demo had those anachronistic moments like Jack with his iPod. I thought they were quite funny moments myself. Did those moments get the kind of reception you anticipated?

Jin Fujiwara: Honestly speaking, I can't say that was the reaction we were necessarily expecting from our side. But I suppose it is true that the world we've created for Stranger of Paradise is quite quirky, and some of the main characters are as well. For example, as you pointed out, they're wearing rather more modern attire than the more mediaeval atmosphere. I suppose that people were drawn to that contrast and that seemingly incongruous nature of those two settings, and that's why there was such a reaction perhaps. For us we know what the entire story is supposed to be, we know all of the background that people haven't seen yet, so for us it didn't really stick out in that same kind of way. But I suppose that's just the nature of the way we revealed it.

Yeah, totally. I like how you've embraced it with later trailers - especially with this one that's just been released as well. Was it frustrating when the reaction might have been not so positive and you had to bite your tongue because you couldn't necessarily go into the deeper story reasons behind these choices?

Jin Fujiwara: Yes, I suppose one of the things that did come from it was we considered how we should reveal information going forward in light of the reaction. For example, our original plan was that we were going to focus on the question of who Jack is, and who this main character is. But in light of the reaction, we did also decide to tweak that slightly and reveal that he was garland and reveal that this was a story with a villain as a main character at perhaps an earlier stage than we had originally been considering in order to clear up some of that understanding there.

I also think its C: both. I believe this game is going to do well enough to get a even better sequel. Many people forget, Demon Souls pretty much started off in the same way. A game that wasn't given huge attention, except for those familiar with From Software's games. And now they pretty much are leading in how modern action/adventure games are made. I look forward to playing it... after I finish Elden Ring.

Saw the trailer and read the thoughts and all I want now is Big Trouble In Final Fantasy.

Let me offer a bit of a clarification. A "Regular Ass Action Game" by Nomura is still going to be an interesting experience... at least for Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts fans. When the guy promised to make a shooter, he ended up making Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII. Yes, that game isn't that great, but goddamn, that game's story goes fucking places. Also, Nomura's attempts to blend his aesthetical preferences with Western Goth culture is equal part cringe inducing and hilarious. Option C still gets you that. There's no scenario where you DON'T get weird amalgam character designs that painfully feel out of place in the most hilarious way possible.

And we are ignoring the fact what a Nomura led project will bring to the table narratively speaking. That man's idea of a straightforward action story is Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. I happen to like that game, but there's no doubting even it has its head up its own ass. There will be characters like Angeal and Genesis. If you think there will NOT be characters named after Biblical or Abrahamic figures, I don't know what to tell you. That's what this team does. These people couldn't even help themselves when writing the story of Final Fantasy VII Remake, and you want to say this is where they play it straight to a fault? I'll believe that when I see it.

So, a regular action game by this team at least gets you the stupidity and schlock of Dirge, and the pie-in-the-sky storytelling of Crisis Core. For people that have been riding the Final Fantasy train for a while, that's probably good enough.

Especially when you consider Dirge has the single greatest final level in all of video games.

@zombiepie: I was fortunately too old when Kingdom Hearts came out so I never got into that series and don't know much about Nomura insanity. The closest I've come to a Nomura game is FF15 and he didn't write that one. For me gameplay is key to enjoying this thing. Final Fantasy 15's story was absolute gibberish and while the combat felt awkward it was active enough where I actually beat that game. If Stranger can at least achieve something "interesting" to play then I'll be along for the ride.

I don't care about Final Fantasy at all, but i'm really into the apparent dumbness of this game, i hope at some point Square asked Team Ninja if they could make it a bit more serious and they just hung up the phone :P

@zombiepie: I remember Dirge of Cerberus being trashed by the gaming critics and reviewers during the game's release, which is why I didn't play it. Based on your post, it seems like I should have, especially since it seems like the Final Fantasy VII Remake is going to cover those compilation games and blend those storylines together in a new timeline.

@av_gamer: Dirge is an incredibly stupid game. But I am a stupid man that is sick in the head. As my friend @jeffrud can attest, the game has wild character designs, a ridiculous story, and an insane final level.

Dirge of Cerberus is unfortunately extremely boring, and I say that as an ardent defender of both FF and Kingdom Hearts. Dirge was so bad they had to completely redo the controls before the western release to make it even playable, and all the new and recurring characters have zero personality.

If you want to experience Nomura at his craziest (and most wholesome) buy the KH HD collection and play some middling to genuinely great games instead of that disaster. I would also recommend the World Ends With You, and FF7: Crisis Core. Both very Nomura games that also happen to be quite good.

Crisis Core is a great game. Especially on emulator that lets you speed up it's fruit-machine randomness. Over the course of it's runtime, that definitly saves you a few hours of playtime.

I have no idea how I let this comment slip, but if I recall, fellow moderator @riostarwind played Crisis Core using a similar set-up. However, I seem to recall them still butting up against the slot machines even with the ability to speed things up. Overall, I think they suggested that PSP emulation was in a good state, but Crisis Core as a game in general is just not the best time to be had.

@zombiepie: I did indeed play Crisis Core during the Community Endurance Run last year. I didn't finish the game, so I guess that says something about it. While the combat is fine the overdramatic story is what I remembered the most from it. Which is exactly what Stanger in Paradise seems to be doing too. Unsure which of the three paths it is going down but I certainly agree that it'll likely be a super fun time thanks to the super serious looking story that might be unintentionally hilarious.