Set for a March 2022 release date, Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin seems to be taking the franchise in a slightly different direction, putting more of an emphasis on intense real-time battles and close-quarters combat than some previous Final Fantasy games. To further flesh out the game's core combat mechanics, Team Ninja, the developers behind the Ninja Gaiden and Nioh series, have added a Job system to the game.
Functioning similarly to their appearance in past Final Fantasy games, Stranger of Paradise's Job system allows the player to pick from a plethora of unique classes, each one giving the player a distinct set of abilities, fighting styles, and equipment. In a recent Job system breakdown trailer, a few new classes were detailed, including the Tyrant, Void Knight, and what looks to be one of the most intriguing classes in the game, the Breaker.
What the Breaker Job Class Does
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Choosing the Breaker Job class will grant players the Zantetsuken sword, an extremely powerful weapon that's cropped up in a number of Final Fantasy games in the past. This sword will apparently give players the opportunity to break their foes with ease, leaving them open for one-hit kills.
Breaker players can summon this sword as one of their abilities, meaning that players won't be able to wield it indefinitely. Players will need to put a lot of thought and strategy into when they use Zantetsuken. The Breaker class seems as though it could be one of the most powerful classes in the game, granting the ability to one-shot enemies, but its limited duration could leave the player open to some devastating enemy attacks.
With the ability to equip two Job classes at one time, and switch them out on the fly, players may want to use the Breaker class only when they come up against the game's toughest foes, and rely on a class like the Swordsman or Samurai for standard combat encounters. Regardless of how players end up using the class, the Breaker Job seems like it's going to offer a good amount of gameplay variety to Stranger of Paradise.
The Inspiration Behind the Breaker Class
While the Breaker Job class is brand new to Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, having not appeared in any Final Fantasy game prior to this one, it is inspired by some of the past games. More specifically, the Breaker class is directly inspired by the Odin summon that's been present in the series since Final Fantasy 3.
The Odin summon is a staple of the Final Fantasy franchise, appearing in almost every mainline entry of the series since 1990. Taking on the appearance of a horned-helmet demonic knight, Odin rides into battle on his fantastical horse. Where in Norse mythology Odin's horse has eight legs, Final Fantasy's steed can often be seen to have six.
When summoned, Odin can use his Zantetsuken sword to break and destroy enemies in just one hit. The sheer power of his ability has made Odin one of the most popular summons in the entire Final Fantasy franchise. In previous games, Odin could be found in a secret passageway in a castle, or in hidden rooms in abandoned buildings in the more recent games. It's unconfirmed how the player will find the Breaker Job in Stranger of Paradise, but perhaps Team Ninja will continue with tradition, and hide it away in a hidden chamber of a castle or abandoned structure.
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin launches March 18, 2022 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.