Welcome to our Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin walkthrough! This multi-part guide will lead you through the game’s story, while also helping you pick up as much treasure as possible along the way. Within these guides you will also find quite a few tips for defeating the game’s more dangerous enemies and bosses.
While this walkthrough will be mostly spoiler-free, keep in mind that the game’s locations and bosses will be named for clarity. Since Side Missions in the game are completely separate from the Main Missions in the story, they will have their own dedicated guides — we will still mention how to unlock them and leave some links for you.
Note that all of the loot in the game is random, so we will not mention what is inside chests or what drops from enemies, unless it’s a key item.
We also have a few guides to help you better understand the game’s combat, mechanics, and systems — check out our Combat Guide, Jobs Guide, or the Weapon Types, for example!
This guide is a work in progress, so if you see something confusing or notice something that is missing, please let us know in the comments!
Things to Keep in Mind While You Play
Keep Track of Where You’re Going
Stranger of Paradise does not feature any kind of a map or a minimap to help you navigate through Missions. While the areas are mostly straightforward to follow through, there are many branching paths, and you may lose track if you’re not paying attention. Keep track of which direction you need to go for the objective, try to remember which areas you have already visited, and it shouldn’t be too hard to stay on the right path.
Be Aware of the Environment
There are a lot of breakable objects in Final Fantasy Origin, such as boxes and vases. These objects can be attacked or Evaded into to get free MP. They only give a small amount, but they could be helpful if you’re just short of being able to use an Ability. Many levels will also feature objects that can effect a battle, such as traps or electrical walls. These objects can be used to your advantage to damage enemies, but be aware that you can be harmed by these as well.
You can also use the environment to your advantage. Objects such as pillars will block most magical attacks if you stand behind them, as the spells won’t go through them. There are also certain areas where being at the top or bottom of a ledge can keep you out of range of an enemy, and allow you to safely hit them with ranged attacks (keep in mind that this could also work against you if the enemy can use magic attacks).
Take Advantage of Cubes
Cubes act as the equivalent to bonfires in Souls games. When you touch a Cube, they will fully restore your HP and MP, as well as refill your Potions. Cubes also give you access to your Job Trees during a mission, so you can use any Job Points you’ve gained while going through a level. Cubes are spread out pretty well through Missions, so be sure to use them every time you see a new one, or open a shortcut to one. Just keep in mind that when you use one, most of the enemies you killed will respawn as well.
Cactuars
Throughout all Missions, you can randomly run into Cactuars. These enemies will give you some extra loot and a lot of EXP if you kill them, so try to keep an eye out for them while going through the levels (you will hear a distinct noise when one of them is nearby). While they usually try to run away, they are capable of fighting back as well. They can headbutt you and knock you back, and they can use their deadly 1000 Needles attack (though you can block it and steal it with your Soul Shield).
Experiment with Your Jobs and Weapons
There are 27 Jobs in the game, and 8 different Weapon Types. Each Job has its unique Abilities, and each Weapon Type has its unique playstyle (and most Jobs allow you to equip multiple weapon types!). On top of that, you have two separate Battle Sets you can freely switch between — you can equip a Job and a set of equipment to each. All of this means that there are countless possibilities for how you can play the game, and every way is viable. So, try out as many Jobs and Weapons Types as possible and find a combination that works for you.
Don’t Get Greedy!
This is a very important thing to keep in mind for Souls games in general, and Stranger of Paradise is no exception. What we mean by this, is while the game does encourage some aggression, you don’t want to just blindly attack every enemy. This is especially true for tougher enemies and bosses. Many tougher enemies are capable of powerful attacks that are hard or even impossible to interrupt, and can be very dangerous to you if you’re not careful. Always keep an eye on enemy attacks and try to learn their patterns — this way you can dodge and block when needed, as well as know when it’s safe to attack.
There is another element that helps with timing your attacks: keeping track of when the enemies target you. While locking onto a target, if the cursor turns red, this means that the enemy is targeting you. Otherwise it will be blue, meaning that attacking this enemy will be more safe. In addition to that, if an enemy off-screen targets you, you will see a red arrow pointing towards you from the direction where this enemy is.
