{"id":534166,"date":"2026-03-07T09:15:19","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T09:15:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vg247.com\/stranger-of-paradise-final-fantasy-anniversary"},"modified":"2026-03-07T09:15:19","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T09:15:19","slug":"stranger-of-paradise-is-cool-but-i-yearn-for-a-simpler-final-fantasy-anniversary-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/stranger-of-paradise-is-cool-but-i-yearn-for-a-simpler-final-fantasy-anniversary-game\/","title":{"rendered":"Stranger of Paradise is cool, but I yearn for a simpler Final Fantasy anniversary game"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Final Fantasy<\/strong> turns 35 this year, and Square Enix<\/strong> has lined up a bunch of stuff to celebrate the series’ birthday. The biggest and most obvious piece of the celebration so far is Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin<\/strong>, a new spin-off that’s both forward and backward-looking at once.\n<\/p>\n

A lot of what’ll make the biggest splash this anniversary is likely stuff we don’t officially know about yet, of course. We’re yet to have a formal announcement of the next installment of Final Fantasy 7 Remake<\/a> or console versions of the Final Fantasy 1-6 Pixel Remasters<\/a>; things that are obviously coming. We also lack a release date for Final Fantasy 16<\/a>, which presumably will land somewhere in the ‘anniversary window’, even if it doesn’t quite make this year.\n<\/p>\n

But so far, three months in and with FF’s December birthday creeping ever closer, we’ve got two key celebrations. The return of Chocobo Racing is one in the form of Switch-exclusive Chocobo GP – the other is Stranger of Paradise, a curious new collaboration between Tecmo Koei’s Team Ninja and some of Square’s most significant creatives.\n<\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Final Fantasy turns 35 this year, and Square Enix has lined up a bunch of stuff to celebrate the series’ birthday. The biggest and most obvious piece of the celebration so far is Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, a new spin-off that’s both forward and backward-looking at once. A lot of what’ll make the biggest splash this anniversary is likely stuff we don’t officially know about yet, of course. We’re yet to have a formal announcement of the next installment of Final Fantasy 7 Remake or console versions of the Final Fantasy 1-6 Pixel Remasters; things that are obviously coming. We also lack a release date for Final Fantasy 16, which presumably will land somewhere in the ‘anniversary window’, even if it doesn’t quite…<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":534167,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[259,79,6881,59,44,45,34,268,6810,4682,1412,60,4616],"class_list":["post-534166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-vg24-7","tag-action-adventure","tag-fantasy","tag-hackslash","tag-pc","tag-ps4","tag-ps5","tag-rpg","tag-square-enix","tag-story-rich","tag-stranger-of-paradise-final-fantasy-origin","tag-team-ninja","tag-xbox-one","tag-xbox-series-x-s"],"yoast_head":"\nStranger of Paradise is cool, but I yearn for a simpler Final Fantasy anniversary game | Arcader News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Final Fantasy turns 35 this year, and Square Enix has lined up a bunch of stuff to celebrate the series’ birthday. The biggest and most obvious\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/stranger-of-paradise-is-cool-but-i-yearn-for-a-simpler-final-fantasy-anniversary-game\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Stranger of Paradise is cool, but I yearn for a simpler Final Fantasy anniversary game | Arcader News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Final Fantasy turns 35 this year, and Square Enix has lined up a bunch of stuff to celebrate the series’ birthday. The biggest and most obvious\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/stranger-of-paradise-is-cool-but-i-yearn-for-a-simpler-final-fantasy-anniversary-game\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Arcade News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-07T09:15:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/stranger-of-paradise-is-cool-but-i-yearn-for-a-simpler-final-fantasy-anniversary-game.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"270\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Arcade News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Arcade News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/stranger-of-paradise-is-cool-but-i-yearn-for-a-simpler-final-fantasy-anniversary-game\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/stranger-of-paradise-is-cool-but-i-yearn-for-a-simpler-final-fantasy-anniversary-game\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Arcade News\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839\"},\"headline\":\"Stranger of Paradise is cool, but I yearn for a simpler Final Fantasy anniversary game\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-07T09:15:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/stranger-of-paradise-is-cool-but-i-yearn-for-a-simpler-final-fantasy-anniversary-game\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":220,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/stranger-of-paradise-is-cool-but-i-yearn-for-a-simpler-final-fantasy-anniversary-game\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/03\\\/stranger-of-paradise-is-cool-but-i-yearn-for-a-simpler-final-fantasy-anniversary-game.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Action-Adventure\",\"fantasy\",\"Hack&Slash\",\"PC\",\"PS4\",\"PS5\",\"RPG\",\"square enix\",\"Story Rich\",\"stranger of paradise final fantasy origin\",\"team ninja\",\"Xbox One\",\"Xbox Series X\\\/S\"],\"articleSection\":[\"VG24\\\/7\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/stranger-of-paradise-is-cool-but-i-yearn-for-a-simpler-final-fantasy-anniversary-game\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/stranger-of-paradise-is-cool-but-i-yearn-for-a-simpler-final-fantasy-anniversary-game\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/stranger-of-paradise-is-cool-but-i-yearn-for-a-simpler-final-fantasy-anniversary-game\\\/\",\"name\":\"Stranger of Paradise is cool, but I yearn for a simpler Final Fantasy anniversary game | Arcader News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/stranger-of-paradise-is-cool-but-i-yearn-for-a-simpler-final-fantasy-anniversary-game\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/stranger-of-paradise-is-cool-but-i-yearn-for-a-simpler-final-fantasy-anniversary-game\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/03\\\/stranger-of-paradise-is-cool-but-i-yearn-for-a-simpler-final-fantasy-anniversary-game.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-07T09:15:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839\"},\"description\":\"Final Fantasy turns 35 this year, and Square Enix has lined up a bunch of stuff to celebrate the series’ birthday. The biggest and most obvious\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/stranger-of-paradise-is-cool-but-i-yearn-for-a-simpler-final-fantasy-anniversary-game\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/stranger-of-paradise-is-cool-but-i-yearn-for-a-simpler-final-fantasy-anniversary-game\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/stranger-of-paradise-is-cool-but-i-yearn-for-a-simpler-final-fantasy-anniversary-game\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/03\\\/stranger-of-paradise-is-cool-but-i-yearn-for-a-simpler-final-fantasy-anniversary-game.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/03\\\/stranger-of-paradise-is-cool-but-i-yearn-for-a-simpler-final-fantasy-anniversary-game.jpg\",\"width\":480,\"height\":270,\"caption\":\"Stranger of Paradise is cool, but I yearn for a simpler Final Fantasy anniversary game\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/stranger-of-paradise-is-cool-but-i-yearn-for-a-simpler-final-fantasy-anniversary-game\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Stranger of Paradise is cool, but I yearn for a simpler Final Fantasy anniversary game\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"Arcade News\",\"description\":\"Free Arcade News from the Best Online Sources\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839\",\"name\":\"Arcade News\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Arcade News\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cricketgames.tv\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/author\\\/arcade-news\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Stranger of Paradise is cool, but I yearn for a simpler Final Fantasy anniversary game | Arcader News","description":"Final Fantasy turns 35 this year, and Square Enix has lined up a bunch of stuff to celebrate the series’ birthday. The biggest and most obvious","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/stranger-of-paradise-is-cool-but-i-yearn-for-a-simpler-final-fantasy-anniversary-game\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Stranger of Paradise is cool, but I yearn for a simpler Final Fantasy anniversary game | Arcader News","og_description":"Final Fantasy turns 35 this year, and Square Enix has lined up a bunch of stuff to celebrate the series’ birthday. The biggest and most obvious","og_url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/stranger-of-paradise-is-cool-but-i-yearn-for-a-simpler-final-fantasy-anniversary-game\/","og_site_name":"Arcade News","article_published_time":"2026-03-07T09:15:19+00:00","og_image":[{"width":480,"height":270,"url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/stranger-of-paradise-is-cool-but-i-yearn-for-a-simpler-final-fantasy-anniversary-game.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Arcade News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Arcade News","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/stranger-of-paradise-is-cool-but-i-yearn-for-a-simpler-final-fantasy-anniversary-game\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/stranger-of-paradise-is-cool-but-i-yearn-for-a-simpler-final-fantasy-anniversary-game\/"},"author":{"name":"Arcade News","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839"},"headline":"Stranger of Paradise is cool, but I yearn for a simpler Final Fantasy anniversary game","datePublished":"2026-03-07T09:15:19+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/stranger-of-paradise-is-cool-but-i-yearn-for-a-simpler-final-fantasy-anniversary-game\/"},"wordCount":220,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/stranger-of-paradise-is-cool-but-i-yearn-for-a-simpler-final-fantasy-anniversary-game\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/stranger-of-paradise-is-cool-but-i-yearn-for-a-simpler-final-fantasy-anniversary-game.jpg","keywords":["Action-Adventure","fantasy","Hack&Slash","PC","PS4","PS5","RPG","square enix","Story Rich","stranger of paradise final fantasy origin","team ninja","Xbox One","Xbox Series X\/S"],"articleSection":["VG24\/7"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/stranger-of-paradise-is-cool-but-i-yearn-for-a-simpler-final-fantasy-anniversary-game\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/stranger-of-paradise-is-cool-but-i-yearn-for-a-simpler-final-fantasy-anniversary-game\/","url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/stranger-of-paradise-is-cool-but-i-yearn-for-a-simpler-final-fantasy-anniversary-game\/","name":"Stranger of Paradise is cool, but I yearn for a simpler Final Fantasy anniversary game | Arcader News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/stranger-of-paradise-is-cool-but-i-yearn-for-a-simpler-final-fantasy-anniversary-game\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/stranger-of-paradise-is-cool-but-i-yearn-for-a-simpler-final-fantasy-anniversary-game\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/stranger-of-paradise-is-cool-but-i-yearn-for-a-simpler-final-fantasy-anniversary-game.jpg","datePublished":"2026-03-07T09:15:19+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839"},"description":"Final Fantasy turns 35 this year, and Square Enix has lined up a bunch of stuff to celebrate the series’ birthday. The biggest and most obvious","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/stranger-of-paradise-is-cool-but-i-yearn-for-a-simpler-final-fantasy-anniversary-game\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/stranger-of-paradise-is-cool-but-i-yearn-for-a-simpler-final-fantasy-anniversary-game\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/stranger-of-paradise-is-cool-but-i-yearn-for-a-simpler-final-fantasy-anniversary-game\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/stranger-of-paradise-is-cool-but-i-yearn-for-a-simpler-final-fantasy-anniversary-game.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/stranger-of-paradise-is-cool-but-i-yearn-for-a-simpler-final-fantasy-anniversary-game.jpg","width":480,"height":270,"caption":"Stranger of Paradise is cool, but I yearn for a simpler Final Fantasy anniversary game"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/stranger-of-paradise-is-cool-but-i-yearn-for-a-simpler-final-fantasy-anniversary-game\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Stranger of Paradise is cool, but I yearn for a simpler Final Fantasy anniversary game"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/","name":"Arcade News","description":"Free Arcade News from the Best Online Sources","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839","name":"Arcade News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Arcade News"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/cricketgames.tv"],"url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/author\/arcade-news\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/534166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=534166"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/534166\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1266688,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/534166\/revisions\/1266688"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/534167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=534166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=534166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=534166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}