20 Most Anticipated Video Games Of 2022
17. Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin
Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X and Series S, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 5, Xbox One.
Ah, Strangers of Paradise. The game that launched a thousand memes upon its reveal, this is nevertheless shaping up to be one of 2022's guiltiest pleasures - quite possibly the guilitiest, depending on your appetite for early naughties cool.
SoP's demo was a fascinating thing to witness. Jack Garland, the game's overly serious protagonist, feels like he is the only person on the planet who doesn't realise how ridiculous he is. Whether he's angrily shouting about Chaos or finishing a conversation with a curt "Bullsh*t" and a blast of nu-metal, Jack's complete lack of self-awareness has already made him one of 2022's greatest comic creations.
Fortunately, SoP also delivers some intentional entertainment thanks to its excellent combat. Team Ninja are action-game developers par excellence, as they've proven with the Nioh and Ninja Gaiden series, and the demo showed they haven't lost their touch. Combat is suitably flashy and bombastic, and the game's use of Final Fantasy's job system adds some welcome depth to proceedings.
Put simply, Strangers of Paradise looks like it could be the gaming equivalent of a great B-Movie - something you love despite its glaring flaws, and possibly even because of them.