The final Stranger of Paradise DLC expansion has been announced. Different Future will see Jack facing one last challenge alongside his friends, and it's launching across all platforms on January 27th. Insert cheap, predictable joke about CHAOS here.
After the Wanderer of the Rift DLC brought back everyone's favorite wandering swordsman Gilgamesh, Different Future is introducing another series staple to Stranger of Paradise: moogles. Guided by the spirit of one such adorable creature, Jack, Ash, Jed, Sophia, and Neon must work together to explore a mysterious city "in an alternate time and space".
In the announcement trailer, spurred on by the moogle, Jack and his friends confront a figure who claims to want to "guide this lost star for the glory Lufenia envisions". It's a long story if you haven't played Stranger of Paradise, but if you have, you'll know what's at stake. Jack is characteristically unimpressed by the Lufenian before him, scoffing in exactly the way you've come to expect this Limp Bizkit-loving edgelord to do.
Different Future looks to offer at least one new stage for Jack to explore, complete with familiar Final Fantasy enemies like malboros and Ahrimans to take out. Jack is shown using fist weapons and guns in the trailer, and there's also some kind of floating figure at the trailer's conclusion who might well be the big bad behind it all. You'll have to play the DLC to find out.
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is currently available for PC, PlayStation consoles, and Xbox platforms. It's not a universally well-loved game; over on OpenCritic, Stranger of Paradise has an underwhelming 72 score, which means that while it definitely has its defenders, it wasn't an unqualified hit.
However, TechRaptor is currently running a poll on Twitter to determine which of 2022's games the critics were wrong about (by rating too low), and right now, a battle is raging between Stranger of Paradise and Sonic Frontiers. After all, Jack is Chaos, or fights Chaos, or something (if you understand the story, more power to you), and Sonic's got the Chaos Emeralds going for him too. If you want Jack and company to triumph over the Blue Blur and claim the crown of Chaos, you'd better head over to Twitter right now to cast your vote.
