Recent reviews by miscmouse

Final Fantasy: Stranger of Paradise Review

Story: 5/10
Let’s be real—you’re not here for the story. The premise? You’re restoring elemental gems by beating the crap out of everything. And the protagonist? Obsessed with "Chaos." Like, it’s his whole vibe. If you’re going to play this, just switch to Japanese voices with subtitles—it makes the utter madness a little more palatable.

Level Design: 4/10
If you hate backtracking, this is the game for you. It’s basically one hallway after another, occasionally punctuated by dead ends. The interior level design, especially in buildings, is shockingly bad—bland, uninspired, and downright boring.

Loot: 6/10
This game throws loot at you like it’s the end of days. Kill an enemy? Here’s five new pieces. Blink? Your gear’s already outdated. Managing your inventory is a nightmare, and while the upgrade system exists, it’s borderline irrelevant since you’ll constantly replace your equipment anyway. That said, the gear looks awesome—even if its functionality is an enigma. If you’re like me, you’ll just hit "equip best gear" and move on.

Gameplay: 9/10
Now this is where the game shines. With 28 jobs (classes) to choose from, you can mix, match, and swap between two at any time during combat. Each job has a skill tree, and unlocking new ones—like transitioning from Black Mage to Dark Knight—is super satisfying. Don’t like grinding a job? Use the “Anima” system to speed things up.

The combat is deep, with combos and abilities you can assign, though it might feel overly complex if you’re not into micromanagement. I kept it simple and still had a blast.

You’re always accompanied by two AI partners. They’re not exactly game-changers but can tank damage when you need a breather. Pro tip: play on hard mode. It’s brutal but rewarding—my first boss took 30 tries, but it made the victory all the sweeter.

Overall
Stranger of Paradise is an odd mix of highs and lows. The story and level design won’t win any awards, but the gameplay absolutely slaps. If you can embrace the chaos (pun intended), it’s a fun, albeit flawed, experience.