RPGs often have a reputation for rolling credits after dozens of hours, but that isn't always the case for action games. Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is likely going to attract a unique mix of action and RPG fans and does a lot of work to try and cater to both audiences in terms of its gameplay and story features. The interesting combination of genres is a unique selling point, but could leave some fans wondering how much content they are walking into with a purchase of SOPFFO when it launches later this week.
The action game attempts to lean in to some RPG tropes by incorporating traditional features like upgradable loot, talent trees, and even the iconic Final Fantasy Job system for classes. All of that said, at the end of the day Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is definitely still an action game. When it comes down to how many hours players are going to get out of the title on their first playthrough, the count comes out a little longer than expected, but still not as long as marathon RPGs.
During a pretty linear first playthrough on Action difficulty (essentially the normal mode that sits between Story and Hard), Game Rant's reviewer clocked in 30 hours right around the time the credits began rolling. That includes a bit of time for experimenting with various Jobs, but should be pretty close to the time required to play straight through from start to finish. The game's narrative journey is very linear, so there isn't exactly a big open world to get lost in while exploring that would tag on a lot of extra hours for the average player.
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How Long To Beat Stranger of Paradise?
25-35 hours (on average)
Experienced action game fans who don't struggle much with the tougher fights (and players who are breezing through on Story mode) may come in closer to that 20-25 hour mark, but it seems likely that the average player will wrap up somewhere between 25-35 hours. That said, players can revisit mission over and over on different difficulty levels if they want to earn more loot and experience before moving on. Some players may find themselves with a gear score that is a little too low for the next main mission and could spend some hours revisiting earlier missions to grind a bit before progressing.
There is also definitely a bit of replayability to experiment with for fans who want to master different Advanced Jobs or try to power through the game at higher difficulty levels, so it's not unlikely that some players can go well over the 30-hour mark as they're trying to get their money's worth out of the purchase. Be sure to check back in the near future for more Stranger of Paradise guides, news, and updates.
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin releases March 18th for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.