Soon after the announcement of Stranger in Paradise Final Fantasy Origin at E3 2021, Square Enix opened a Japanese official site for the game, which includes comments from the main staff at Team Ninja and Square Enix, including Tetsuya Nomura and scenarist Kazushige Nojima. We translated them all below.
In particular, we learned that the concepts for Stranger of Paradise FF Origin were coined first by Nomura, and the actual story came later. As such, scenarist Kazushige Nojima initially didn't really know himself why the protagonists Jack, Ash, and Jed want to kill Chaos so much.
FF Origin is also a highly difficult game typical of Team Ninja, so the developers recommend starting the upcoming demo in low difficulty settings, and to gradually increase it with your runs.
Overall, Square Enix and Team Ninja is eagerly awaiting feedback from the demo, so if we don't like certain aspects of the game, we need to be sure to properly tell them through the right channels. Though it's definitely too late to change the game's edginess if that's what you dislike.
Unless all of this is an elaborate tongue-in-cheek joke from Square Enix and the game drastically changes at some point. Jack is officially described as the "Warrior of Light(?)" after all, so perhaps the true Warrior of Light becomes the protagonist later in the game, who knows? Jack is even voiced by Kenjiro Tsuda in Japanese, (Seto Kaiba) so I can't take this seriously.
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Stranger of Paradise FF Origin concepts explained by Tetsuya Nomura
Tetsuya Nomura: "The concept for this game goes back to the time when we finished Dissidia 012 Duodecim. After a game with characters fighting each other, I wanted to do something when the characters would be struggling to conquer a certain location. A long time passed, and then I had another idea for a new FF series which would be a story focusing on an "angry man". More time passed, and I had the occasion to make a new project, so I ended up combining these two ideas.
This is different than the usual Final Fantasy, and yet it's still Final Fantasy. This is a challenging project where we try to illustrate this contradiction. It'll take a little more time until the development is completed. The battle system is just as violent as the story. I hope you'll pick up the demo and try out the game for yourself."
Stranger of Paradise FF Origin main scenario writer Kazushige Nojima
Kazushige Nojima: ""I want to kill Chaos. I need to. It's not a hope or a dream. It's like a hunger. A thirst." I think the story really came to life when we coined that sentence. Why do they want to kill Chaos so much? What are their hopes and dreams? It's thanks to these questions that the story, which was only disconnected fragments at first, all joined together.
After that point, I was able to write the story in one go. I think I managed to write a pretty good story, fitting for the game's brutal atmosphere. Look forward to it!"
Producer Jin Fujiwara
Jin Fujiwara: "Just like the slogan "A Bold New Vision" suggests, this game is packed with new challenges, setting it apart from the rest of the Final Fantasy series. We can't reveal all the game's aspects yet, but please try out the demo to check out the game's direction and atmosphere. We believe your feedback, from all around the world, is primordial for us to complete the game. Please send us your impressions through the Q&A and social media."
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Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin - Director Daisuke Inoue
Daisuke Inoue: "This title was developed to bring in new blood in the Final Fantasy series. I think it's comparable to a spin-off.
Some fans must be disappointed that we did not make an announcement regarding the main series instead. But with this game, we can challenge certain aspects that we couldn't challenge in the main series.
A solid action game created by Team Ninja. A protagonist who literally tears down enemies and bathes in their blood. This is just like…
In any case, we've prepared a demo so you can try out the game. Many parts are still in development, but I hope you'll enjoy it. And please tell us your impressions, good or bad, it'll help with the development."
Koei Tecmo Games, Team Ninja brand producer Fumihiko Yasuda
Fumihiko Yasuda: "Playing Final Fantasy IV 30 years ago is what motivated me to become a game developer, to work on the FF series one day. While Team Ninja worked on Dissidia Final Fantasy, I myself was on another line of projects, so I was crying myself to sleep every night. So I'm incredibly happy to be working on Origin now.
We'll use your feedback from the demo to create a title that will satisfy both Final Fantasy fans and action game fans around the world."
Koei Tecmo Games director Hiroya Usuda
Hiroya Usuda: "I've been playing Final Fantasy since my childhood, so it's a great honor to be involved in this project. I'm really happy Team Ninja gets to make the first full-scale Final Fantasy action game.
We've included several things in the demo so many different players can try it out and replay it many times, including different difficulty settings, multiples Jobs and several weapons. So please play the demo and let us know your impressions."
Koei Tecmo Games director Nobumichi Kumabe
Nobumichi Kumabe: "We've announced a new Final Fantasy action game, where the Warrior of Light (?) Jack destroys his enemies and bathes in their blood. I'm a huge FF fan myself, so I'll do my best to make "blood smeared" Jack into a "hero". This game was made with the usual Team Ninja high level difficulty gameplay in mind. But once you get used to it, you'll enjoy tearing through the enemies. I hope you'll play the demo many times to try out the different abilities and weapons. I recommend you to start with the lower difficulty level, and gradually increase it with each of your runs."
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That's all the comments from Square Enix and Koei Tecmo staff on Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin.
As of now the PS5 exclusive demo isn't playable yet, following a bug. Be sure to follow the Stranger of Paradise FF Twitter to learn when the demo will actually launch.
Stranger of Paradise will launch in 2022 on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC. You can also hit me up on Twitter @A_iyane07 to chat about anything Japanese games related