The upcoming Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin will feature a dungeon inspired by Final Fantasy VII. Stranger of Paradise is an action-RPG remake of the original FF1, but it’s releasing during the same year as Final Fantasy‘s 35th-anniversary celebrations, so it will reference other entries in the series.

The original FF1 was localized in North America, but the release of the later entries was sporadic, with FF2, FF3, and FF5 remaining in Japan. The release of Final Fantasy 7 changed all of that, as it helped bring the series to mainstream attention in the West. Not only did the success of FF7 ensure that all future mainline Final Fantasy games would be localized, but it also led to the others being remastered or remade, allowing fans outside of Japan to experience the missing Final Fantasy entries.

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A new interview with Stranger of Paradise director Daisuke Inoue and producers Jin Fujiwara and Fumihiko Yasuda on the official Square Enix website has revealed that the design of the new Sunken Shrine is actually a reference to FF7. The dungeon appears to be based on the Mako Reactors in FF7. Stranger of Paradise features classic FF1 bosses that have been reimagined so that they can make the most of modern hardware, and the Sunken Shrine from FF1 is the home of the monstrous Kraken. In the interview, Inoue explained of the game’s Sunken Shrine:

“This location is underwater, and the motif used was a dungeon from the original FINAL FANTASY VII that’s in the sea. When we were looking at all the elements we needed to design it, we thought about turning to document from back in the day, or even looking at how FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE had interpreted the original game in its level design. However, given that FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE is a dedicated remake, as opposed to one environment, it’s only natural that it’s been made with an incredible amount of detail. The dev team apologised and said that it wouldn’t be possible to make it in the same style (laughs).”

There are even more clues as to the Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin Sunken Shrine’s inspiration on the page created for the dungeon, available on the official Square Enix website. The Sunken Shrine is described as being a facility where the life force of the planet is extracted, which may seem familiar to longtime Final Fantasy fans, as it sounds a lot like FF7‘s Mako Reactors in Midgar, which are the target of the Avalanche attacks that kick off the events of the game. The interview also revealed that the Cavern of Earth is based on a tomb from FF12. Based on the dungeon’s appearance, it seems to be inspired by the Tomb of Raithwall, where the party has a running battle with the Demon Wall boss on a massive walkway.

Fans have noticed similarities between the dungeons in Stranger of Paradise and other classic Final Fantasy games. The Crystal Mirage (originally known as the Mirage Tower in FF1) looks like the Crystal Tower from FF3, while the Pirate Hideout looks like Sastasha from FF14. It seems that the developers are using Stranger of Paradise to celebrate Final Fantasy‘s history, by allowing Jack and his companions to explore locations from the entire series, which have been recontextualized as areas in the world of FF1.

Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin will be released for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on March 18, 2022.

Source: Square Enix

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Scott has been writing for Screen Rant since 2016 and regularly contributes to The Gamer. He has previously written articles and video scripts for websites like Cracked, Dorkly, Topless Robot, and TopTenz.
A graduate of Edge Hill University in the UK, Scott started out as a film student before moving into journalism. It turned out that wasting a childhood playing video games, reading comic books, and watching movies could be used for finding employment, regardless of what any career advisor might tell you. Scott specializes in gaming and has loved the medium since the early ‘90s when his first console was a ZX Spectrum that used to take 40 minutes to load a game from a tape cassette player to a black and white TV set. Scott now writes game reviews for Screen Rant and The Gamer, as well as news reports, opinion pieces, and game guides. He can be contacted on LinkedIn.

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