One of the most unexpected video game announcements this year was the reveal that Team Ninja is working on a title called Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin. The trailer raised a few eyebrows with its tone and gameplay, but now that players have seen more of the Soulslike Final Fantasy title, it is becoming clearer just what this game hopes to be.

A few months after the first trial version was released, Square Enix has launched a second trial for Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin that sends players back into the Chaos Temple. While players will only just be able to jump into the trial, Game Rant was able to go hands-on with it last week and talk to the developers about the upcoming game.

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Overall, there are several new changes available in this second trial version of Stranger of Paradise, like the more expansive job system. This trial also allows players to swap out party members, either for new characters or online buddies.

Stranger of Paradise Multiplayer

While multiplayer was not available during the preview, players will be able to try it until the Stranger of Paradise trial ends on October 11th. The preview did include a small presentation of how multiplayer functions and it appears that players can join others by taking the role of one of the NPCs, although they are not restricted to that character’s job. So jumping in as Jed or Ash, for example, doesn’t force the player to run around as the Duelist or Pugilist jobs. Players will have full access to the several jobs available in Stranger of Paradise, whether they are playing as Jack or anyone else.

Additionally, players have the ability to communicate with each other through a series of premade comments and responses. This is a common tactic for keeping conversations civil and is certainly welcome in a game built to be as difficult as Stranger of Paradise. However, it isn’t clear from the initial demo whether or not players can create their own custom responses to certain in-game events.

New Customizable NPC Partners

A common addition to Souls-like games similar to Stranger of Paradise has been to give players NPC partners who can pull aggro or even kill minor enemies. In the previous trial, players were given Jed and Ash to take into the first mission, both of which used completely different jobs from Jack. Now, this second trial has added a third character, Neon, who boasts their own new class.

The trial also adds the ability for players to "control" their party member's actions via D-pad commands. By pressing either left or right on the D-plad, the two party members will be encouraged to be aggressive or play more passive in combat. It’s a smaller addition, but one that will distract Stranger of Paradise's difficult bosses and enemies while players recover.

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Stranger of Paradise’s New Forest Mission

These new additions are on full display during the new mission added for Stranger of Paradise’s newest trial version. This new forest area introduces new enemies and new mechanics, in some cases doubling down on certain combat features that had appeared in the previous area.

The new forest area also introduces a new mechanic whereby the player can change the weather in order to progress. Typically, the weather change requires defeating a set number of enemies, and is somewhat reminiscent of a puzzle type from Final Fantasy 13.

But the most impressive section of the mission is the Fused Elemental boss fight towards the end. Depending on skill level, some players may find this a brutally difficult fight, but it is a satisfying conclusion to this new area with a few surprises in store.

New Jobs Completely Revamp Gameplay in Stranger of Paradise

Out of everything added in the trial, it seems like the most focus was put on the new playable jobs. Notable among Stranger of Paradise's basic jobs are Pugilist and Duelist, which are the same fighting styles used by the default NPC helpers. However, the additions to the caster jobs as well as the new Swordfighter throw new twists into the gameplay.

When it comes to magic, the White Mage and Red Mage offer players the ability to heal and debuff at the cost of MP. But given that Stranger of Paradise is a Souls-like title, the goal is still to kill everything in sight and these jobs can bring plenty of firepower.

Going beyond the utility of magic, speedy classes like the Duelist and Pugilist offer a whole new dynamic to combat. In fact, these two jobs likely run the closest to bringing in the Nioh influence to Stranger of Paradise, allowing Team Ninja the opportunity to flex some old muscles in this new Final Fantasy skin. With everything new coming to the second trial over the first one, Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin looks even more exciting to both fans of the franchise and the character action genre.

Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin is set to release in 2022 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

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