I’ve reached the third real area of Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin (Team NINJA). I am suddenly fed up with it after doing the first chunk of it, and I think I’m done. I have talked in previous posts as to my frustrations with Team NINJA games, and this has the same issues writ large. Here’s my last post about my issues with soulslikes in general, of which this game is one.
A few positives. The bosses and NPCs are campy as fuck. I love that nothing is taken seriously (or taken too seriously), which makes the story ludicrous. It’s a juicy telenovella, which is right up my alley. I mean, it’s one of the reasons I like musicals. Lavish extravaganzas with flashy showtunes. The latter is not found in this game, but the former most definitely is.
I also like that there are plenty of jobs (basically classes) that you can switch fairly easily at the bonfires. Look . That’s what they are. No, they aren’t called them in this game, but that’s what they are. Orb something or the other? No. They are called cubes, apparently.
By the way, the demo video I have included below from GameSpot informs me that the Jobs thing has been in past Final Fantasy games, too, so it’s not something that Team NINJA came up with. Oh, and something that irritated me…let me put it this way. There is a White Mage, a Black Mage, and a Red Mage (three different mage jobs). I have unlocked White Mage and Black Mage, but not the Red Mage yet. White Mage is a healing mage and Black Mage is a damage mage. I like being a healer, but it’s not necessary when I’m playing by myself. So I’ve been mostly playing Black Mage, but I’ve been wishing that I could have some of the White Mage healing abilities.
Can I reiterate how frustrating it is that they don’t explain what spells each mage can cast. Plus, some of the spells are made up words/in a different language. I could discern what some of them were by their proximity to English words, but not all of them. I found out from the video below that Red Mage combines different spells from the White Mage and the Red Mage, so I have to try to unlock that–which means doing regular mage I think until I get the points needed to unlock Red Mage.
Or maybe not.
As I said, I’m pretty done with the game.
I’m also intrigued because in the video I included, the second area they went through was one in which you could change the weather to make things easier on yourself. This is not in the game at all thus far, and I wonder if they decided it didn’twork as intended or what. Maybe it comes up later? That doesn’t really make sense, though, because I’ve already gotten through two main areas.
*SPOILER*
I did the last side mission several times because I wanted to test out a few different jobs and I wanted to level up…what the fuck is his name…Jed. I tend to take Neon and Ash with me as my party because Jed is a dual-wielder, and I prefer having the sword…fighter? I think that’s what Neon is and the pugilist, which is Ash. Plus, Jed is the most annoying member in the party so I have no remorse at leaving him behind.
I hate, hate, hate how much junk they dump on you. I mentioned this in the last post, but this is something that is endemic in Team NINJA’s games. There is so much loot thrown at me that I don’t even look at nything less than a blue. I’m sure there will come a point when I just pick up purples. Fuck. I knew there was a way to dismantle items in this game, but I had forgotten how. I have to access the world map and go to the smithy. I don’t get any money/XP for it, but I will get upgrade material. However, I must have at least one weapon from each job in order to do that job.
This is all bullshit, by the way. It seems like busywork, and I never did it in any of the other games as well. In part because I kept getting a steady stream of weapons and would keep switching them, and I did not get far enough into the games to really upgrade much of anything.
I have to at least check out the smithy, I guess. And see if I can unlock the Red Mage. But…I don’t want to. I don’t want to play any more of the game. There is nothing compelling about it, really. I feel like I should keep trying, but I don’t really know why. It’s not like I have an obligation to do it. I think it’s because I’m trying to break free from my Elden Ring-only slump, which I’ve been in since the DLC was released (mostly). I’ve tried other games, but none have really stuck with me.
I want to like Team NINJA games; I really do.
But I don’t. Every time I play one, I feel as if I’m gritting my teeth and plodding through.
Oh! I was going to say, I could see it being fun playnig with a bunch of pals. Getting into the silliness of vibrating crysals and wanting to KILL CHAOS! I can imagine hooting and hollering over it as you play.
Huh. I was looking something up and discovered that Captain Bilke, the last boss I killed, was in Final Fantasy I. I did not realize that as I have never played a Final Fantasy. I wonder if that means that the rest of the bosses are prior characters as well. Apparently, he was not a boss in the first FF, but he got a promotion for this game.
He’s supposed to be hard, but I think I was overleveled for him. In addition, I’m on the normal mode rather than the hard one, which I’m sure makes a difference. I’m done for now. More later. Maybe.