When Team Ireland walked out at the Tokyo Summer Olympics last year, they were greeted with a roaring fanfare – quite literally.
As our athletes presented themselves, fans of Final Fantasy would immediately recognize the iconic march. It served as a firm reminder that gaming, in all its forms, plays a big part in our lives and culture.
And now two new games enter into the much loved Final Fantasy family. One promises a masterclass in everything action-RPG, and the other features our favourite yellow bird donning his rocket boots for a much-anticipated kart racing revival.
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin
Marking the 35th anniversary of the series, Stranger of Paradise is a dark retelling of the game behind the behemoth that is Final Fantasy.
It follows Jack Garland and a band of heroes tasked with ridding the world of the enigmatic Chaos. There's conflict. Combat. Tonberry and Cactuar. Magic and mayhem, and everything in-between. What feels like a textbook Final Fantasy brings some new, welcomed additions to the franchise.
Combat is the new king
Firstly, a modern take on combat is one of the key ingredients that makes Strangers of Paradise a fun game. It's flashy, energetic and at all times very creative, striking a balance between melee and magic all the while.
The game has a series of job classes which when equipped, grants our hero Jack a sizeable array of abilities, stats and more. While he can learn and equip any class, his allies have a limited selection.
Jack can have two active classes during battle and can swap instantly between the two. This lays the way for some clever strategy, where you can pick classes that synergize well together.
There are many classes to choose from, including Swordsman, Mage and Lancer, to more powerful roles like Black Mage, Paladin, Dragoon and Sage. You’ll be given ample opportunities to level them all; my best advice is to experiment early, cover all the bases to defend yourself from the game’s challenging bosses.
As strong as Jack appears, with every fight you’ll have to pick your moments. As a mage, enemies won’t sit idly by as you charge a fireball at them. Nor will they enjoy you pummel them with a cataclysmic sword without punching back.
Jack has a broken gauge, and enemies will easily deplete it and leave him vulnerable if you aren’t careful. Combat requires just as much patience as it does bloodlust, where your eye is always darting between the screen, and your HP and MP gauge.
Luckily, enemies also have break gauges. When depleted, Jack can perform a visceral execution. These usually include a cut scene of Jack throwing them like a ragdoll, crushing them into the ground, or quite literally ripping them apart. Jack is a beast of a man, and it’s in these animations you’ll be relieved he’s on your side of the fight.
Jack also has access to a Soul Shield, which can block enemy abilities and allows him to redirect them back. There’s something so satisfying about reducing fearsome Tonberry to nothing, using his own attacks against him.
The world of Final Fantasy
Levels in any Final Fantasy are notoriously rich in detail and ambience - Stranger of Paradise is no exception. This game is home to some of the most varied I’ve seen, perhaps owing to the quick succession of missions you play through.
One mission will see you explore the ruins of a castle, and the next you’re traversing across a mystical forest where you can control the weather. Then it’s off to climb an icy, windswept mountain until you’re back exploring a sunken temple.
Additional missions allow you to replay levels with harder fights and better loot for your troubles. Some light puzzles dotted throughout keep you invested in the exploration.
Loot, as it happens, is in an abundance in this game. After every fight, you’ll be given several pieces of equipment. Strangely enough, this is often a hindrance. When you find a great staff, helm, shield or whatnot and equip it, minutes later it will be out of date.
By the end of a mission you’ll spend a good few minutes getting rid of things to create space for…well, more things. That said, there is something very satisfying about the equipment and armour appearance. One minute your gear looks like a classic Final Fantasy knight; the next, you’ve stepped off of a set of a Western.
The story takes a supporting role
Strangers of Paradise is a story about fighting chaos, and at times feels very chaotic. Lore spheres are located in levels and go at lengths to explain the story, but if you miss these, you’re conditioned to survive on breadcrumbs in the middle and later parts of the game.
Whilst the story has a satisfying, seismic conclusion, I wish there was more clarity and depth along the way to guide us to that point. But hey, you may well be too busy enjoying the constant array of fighting to ever have time to question things for long, anyway.
Paired with Jack are a merry band of enigmas; Ash, Jed, Neon and Sophie. Whilst they may be in every scene of the game, they’re treated more like cannon fodder for you to throw at enemies during battles, than people you care for.
Which is a shame because quite often Final Fantasy’s secondary characters command so much love and affection. There are some little interjections throughout levels from them, but these go mostly ignored.
But what is certain in this game, is who its leading man Jack is. He has a sharp tongue, no patience, and wants nothing more than to rid the world of Chaos. He will repeat this ambition throughout the game, without fail.
Jack’s prickly, stoic demeanour feels almost textbook Final Fantasy at this stage, but you’ll grow to respect the man in his own right as the game moves on and you see what he’s capable of.
A nostalgic new addition to the franchise
Altogether, Strange of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origins is jam-packed with engaging mechanics that will keep you bouncing from mission to mission in quick succession.
It is both nostalgic to the franchise, and also a stab at something brand new. The combat system is undeniably the shining star.
Strategy purists will relish in the ability to create Jack in countless different ways. The job system is rewarding, and the new Soul Burst and Guard abilities are interesting ways to further real-time battles.
Whether it’s slicing enemies with a gargantuan sword, ripping them apart limb by limb with his bare hands, or summoning a giant meteor from the sky to decimate the land, Jack is well up to the task to best Chaos, and pretty much anything this game can throw at him.
Strange of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is out now, and is available to play on PlayStation 4 & 5, PC, Xbox One & Xbox Series X/S.
Chocobo GP
For me, Chocobo Racing was one of the most underrated games of the golden 90's era. It blended the fun, zany nature of kart racing, to the backdrop of Final Fantasy – what wasn’t to love?
Well, all those years in hibernation has ended, and Chocobo and friends are back with a bigger cast, bigger colour, and bigger magic, in the brand new Chocobo GP.
On load up, the upgrade is seismic. Colour drips on every menu, and the music is already engrained in my head. I hum it long after the Switch has been turned off.
Forgoing any tutorial, I jump into a race and by instinct alone and already feel at home. Chocobo GP doesn’t meddle too much with its 90s formula – a good complaint given the classic appeal of the original.
You’ll drive, skid around and dodge enemy fire – all in the hopes of making it across the finish line first. It’s just as entertaining as I remembered.
Nostalgia aside, the game brings new content for old and new fans. Story mode features a new plot, new characters, and charming voice-acting that helps bring the cast to life. Old staples like Atla, Shirma and Cid return, but with a host of new faces including Steiner and Vivi (from FF9), and summons Shiva and Rammuh.
Picking a character does matter, as each comes with a signature ability that can give them an edge in races. And with both Cloud and Squall unlockable in Season 1, suffice to say the game has an endless supply of material it will no doubt draw upon in the coming months.
Magical fun
The core of any fun kart racer is inflicting pain on your competition. And Chocobo GP has that in spades. Along the tracks are egg-like capsules containing magicite. Different colours reflect the power of the spell, and collecting multiple copies will increase that spell’s power and effects.
The typical fire, water, aero all return, with some new additions. 'Swap’ is both a blessing and a curse, opening up a portal that can help you leap ahead of the competition. But other players can use it too, and if you happen to use the wrong portal, you may take a trip to the back of the pack.
You can always judge the fun of a good kart racer by how much it has you shouting at your screen – and Chocobo GP’s Swap will have you shouting, and then some.
A variety of tracks borrowed from across the series, including Golden Saucer and Alexandria, help evoke more Final Fantasy nostalgia. Admittedly, there’s an appetite for more tracks, something I hope is addressed in a future update.
With more games becoming live services, there is a battle pass and microtransactions found in the game. But you can enjoy what Chocobo GP has to offer without reaching for that wallet. The game also offers a lite version which is free to play and gives the perfect opportunity for you to demo the gameplay.
If you’re on the hunt for a wacky, entertaining and outright fantasy racer, and something a little different than the industry staples of Mario and Crash Bandicoot, Chocobo GP is a little piece of magic that’s fairly quick off the mark.
Chocobo GP is out now on Nintendo Switch. A free ‘lite-version’ is also available.
