『Stranger in Heaven final fantasy origins(FF Origin) is an action RPG that reproduces a part of “Final Fantasy” (hereinafter referred to as “FF”) as a different theory. Developed in partnership with Square Enix and Koei Tecmo Games. In terms of Koei Tecmo games, if you explain Team NINJA who worked on “Nioh” and “Dissidia Final Fantasy” (2015), you can imagine the genre. Tetsuya Nomura is one of the executive producers. As an action role-playing game, protagonist Jack and his friends infiltrate a dungeon to quell the chaos.
“All in all, a fun action game” is my impression after playing for a few hours. No matter which weapon you choose, the thrilling, exhilarating and fun action never stops. Small fish fights that overwhelm enemies are fun, while boss fights that require coolness give you growth and a sense of accomplishment. This impression didn’t change until clearance, and even after clearance, I still wanted to know more about the work and action of this work.
The first thing I want to tell you is that this work is by no means similar to Game of Death. Of course, there are things reminiscent of the Souls series, such as the system that replenishes a limited number of recovery items with cubes (so-called campfires) and grows characters. However, in reality, if the difficulty level is “ACTION” as it should be, the killing intent of the enemy is not so high. I’m basically playing with this “action”. In media interviews, the developers often refer to the game as “difficult action.” However, instead of repeating the death multiple times, the difficulty level is still easy to die until the enemy is known. While you may die a lot during boss fights, if you’re used to the move, you can enjoy it as a chewy “hard move”.
The more moves to hit the enemy, the better
The small fish enemy in this work is quite flirtatious. The basic structure is to maintain an offensive posture to block the movement of the enemy, and use the MP accumulated from normal attacks to release skills to stab the enemy. On the other hand, if you take a defensive stance, your HP will be sharpened by the enemy’s sustained attacks and undefended powerful attacks. It is an action that considers how to hit the attack and how to initiate the attack and create a gap for the enemy.
Then, the attack range of the player character (Jack) will take up a large part of the fun of this game. Realizing this, the number and variety of attacks on Jack is considerable. One of the great charms of this work is that most of them accomplish something interesting.
This work seems to be “FF” and has homework. Standard occupations such as “Swordsman” and “Warrior”, high-level occupations “Samurai” and “Rogue”, and top-level occupations “Ninja” and “Knight”. Actions and special effects will be released by assigning work points earned by leveling up to the skill tree. In addition, there are many types of weapons, including big swords, axes, magic sticks, warrior’s gloves, etc. By multiplying various types of weapons and various occupations, players can explore a variety of ways to play…
For example, if you’re a samurai, you can slash an enemy with Iai slash and cut through the enemy in one go, or if you’re a thief, you can steal the enemy’s attack and attack. Each one exhibits exhilarating effects, and you can try out various weapons and continue the story while having fun.
In addition, the ability of each occupation takes time to release in the process of rising to the upper occupation, but if it is a standard occupation, it does not take much time, and it is designed to immediately reach the occupation level cap. In addition, in order to play the “assassin” profession, you need to open “thief” and “monk”, and you need to upgrade related professions to open a high-level profession, so be prepared to have a firm motivation to play another profession. ing. In this kind of game, I often stick to the same weapon types and classes, but by the time I get through the job, most of the top classes are already at a high level.
Of course, the more means you have to play with your enemies, the better. You won’t get bored with an action because you stick with it and it feels like an action-packed game until the end of the story.
The level design also naturally hits the mark if you’re looking for blood where your enemies are. As with the Soul series, there are doors that can’t be opened, places that need to be broken to make way, shortcuts, etc., but you won’t get lost. The correct route is to follow the new enemy where the enemy is as a signpost, and if there is an unusually strong enemy, it can be deduced that there is a treasure chest.
Boss battles where players grow up in battle
On the other hand, the boss battle has changed. Of course, the boss won’t back down easily, and most of the attacks are instant death, so you should always pay attention to your stamina meter. The main axis of the battle changes depending on how you attack and how you don’t eat it.
This action style is similar to hunting moves like Monster Hunter. First of all, recognize the movement of the enemy, avoid the onslaught, increase the survival time, and be defeated without blinking an eye. Since the number of potions to restore your character is limited in the first place, the tense time continues. Then, gradually understand the boss’s movements and the process of seeking attack opportunities, and you can clearly feel the skills that players grow in battle. This is a “memory game”, but by reducing the boss’s physical strength, changing the form, increasing the tension and reducing the monotony.
Also, this work can form a party of three people including Jack. By giving your allies a command called “Resonance”, your allies will use their powerful abilities to shave enemies and remove aggro. It is very effective as a damage source and rebuilding itself. On the other hand, although this is a hunting action, there are also accidents of attacking allies. I was a member of the boss and deliberately fired the party members.
Also, it’s great to have multiple ways to deal with enemy attacks. In addition to using weapons to trample, roll, and defend, there is also a defense method called Soul Guard, which can absorb the enemy’s attack. When defending, the Destruction Gauge (a gauge that temporarily drops when it disappears) will be consumed, but when the defense is successful, the maximum MP value will increase, and some attacks will be absorbed as an instant ability and can be used.
Especially in boss fights, looking to the enemy for opportunities to counterattack while paying attention to the breach gauge works well. Actions other than attacks are also fun, like finding good positions in the steps, and using weapon guards and soul guards correctly depending on the attack and the situation.
The enemy’s attack was expressed quite cordially. The powerful attacks of the enemy are not only displayed as words such as “fire” on the top of the head, but also those that cannot be defended are indicated in red, and those that can be absorbed by the Soul Guard are indicated in purple. Visually.
role-related excitement
I want to talk about “cruel and excitement,” which is the focus of this work. If you attack an enemy and cut off the destruction gauge, the enemy will fall and you can unleash a deadly attack called a soul burst. The appearance of the enemy turned into a red-black crystal and exploded in the soul burst is quite exciting under the rich production. At the same time, the enemy who fell to the ground can be knocked down with a soul blast, or the damage slot of nearby enemies can be scraped off. The advantage is that you are prepared. The emergence of Soul Burst is no longer a “Unique” series.
Additionally, when an enemy is down, you can activate it by pressing the Soul Burst button, whether you’re swinging a weapon or in the process of unleashing your ability. Soul Burst itself is not independent, it feels like a continuum of Jack’s actions.
The depiction of defeating the enemy and soaking the blood of the blade armor (which can be turned off by setting) also fits the character of the action. Just as Jack answers “like hunger or dryness” as a reason for wanting to conquer chaos, embodying the story and character of the experience with a daring act of eagerness to seek blood and violence, embracing emotion, we successfully accelerate.
There are also middle boss monsters that are hard to scare like bosses in the middle of the mission. There are small fish battles that emphasize the offensive posture, middle boss battles that emphasize the need to calm down when turning around, and even slow-moving dungeons, so that you will never get bored. By coloring them with exciting, exhilarating and lots of action, no matter where you cut, the rhythm is good and the action game is fun.
The introduction of hack and slash is also one of the features of this work. However, you don’t have to worry about clearing the story. If you choose the familiar “Saikyo”, you can choose a powerful one from the equipment you have and defeat the enemy just by advancing the story. In this work, the level of equipment is the strength of the character, and has little to do with the level of the occupation itself (although it cannot be said unconditionally, because HP will increase according to the occupation’s PERK).
The outfit’s appearance is also reflected in real-time, so if you’re thrilled by cool coats and hats, you’re likely to get a sophisticated feel by getting a powerful outfit that you don’t like the look of, or if you’re wearing the itchy darkness in the middle of two hearts. You can visually enjoy it by getting a dagger and swinging it in vain.
In addition, each copy is also prepared for submission, you can further enhance the effect of work and weapons by acquiring items, and you can challenge higher difficulty after clearing the level. But unfortunately, if you clear the storyline and complete the submission and additional tasks, it is undeniable that the play will become a routine, such as leveling, digging equipment, etc. Since this is a big deal, I would expect the extra mission plan to be delivered for a fee, as this action and hack and slash elements will be used.
become “FF”
This work is an “anomaly” of the original “FF”, and its elements can be seen everywhere. The beginning of Jacques’ adventure also includes tributes to iconic scenes that keep us excited for future adventures.
Furthermore, the stages of each task are based on past “FF” works (related articles). That said, they didn’t make much of a claim, and fan service was limited to “you can grin if you knew” while paying homage to where players walked. The sound is appropriate and doesn’t spoil the worldview of the whole piece, while laced with phrases you’re familiar with.
The story is well drawn, the foreshadowing of the wave of fury that happens in the second half is a big highlight, and the writers of FF1 players are accepted as a different theory. While the themes of light and dark are ubiquitous, there are also ideas such as modernizing Jack’s clothing and paraphernalia rather than making it a high fantasy that can be easily attached.
Also, Jake feels a little surreal and jarring, like reacting a lot to the word “chaos” and yelling “Are you a chaos?” at the monster, but it’s a story that makes it meaningful…. .. In addition, this work introduces a mission system. In principle, there are only cutscenes before and after the start of the mission and the BOSS battle, without disturbing the time to enjoy the action. This sense of rhythm is also one of the factors that make this work enjoyable to the end.
However, graphics are hard. I’ve played this game on PS5, but when I look closely at the playable scene, I find it totally jerky. I don’t know what the foggy expression is for, but there are a lot of places where visibility is poor in a dark field of view. Sadly, the downside is huge due to the high degree of action completion.
all for action
As mentioned above, this work is done with actions. I’m also surprised that the PS5 Dual Sense adaptive trigger effect is off by default. Of course, when I opened it, I felt like it would get in the way of the work’s action, which requires quick and humorous judgment.
In this game, in the game loop of accepting quests and exploring dungeons, there are almost all detour elements, such as walking and chatting in the city (with simple dialogue function), and traveling the world freely. It’s a challenging style, and if you make a mistake, it can be seen as a weird and easy game.
However, “action” is fun no matter how far you go in this work. Jack’s personality, red and black crystals, simple level design, and razor-sharp cutscenes all support the action.
The whole picture of the game design that includes all the fun of 3D action and firmly conveys the world view and story with good rhythm saves the game from strangeness and establishes it as a coherent action RPG. If you want to pick up a sword that suits you and hit your enemies happily, there’s no reason not to play this game. I can say that I love this job.
