Stranger of Paradise -list Elden Ring

Gamers who may be frustrated at the difficulty settings in new super hit Elden Ring could prefer this game.

Because Stranger of Paradise is a much easier player-friendly title along the same lines.

Just like the FromSoftware blockbuster, you’ll find yourself bashing buttons, trying to overcome huge monsters in big boss fights.

But where Elden is so punishing the whole point of the game is to die, die and die again while slowly learning the baddies’ weaknesses, here you get a much simpler ride.

You play Jack, a warrior hell-bent on destroying Chaos, the root of darkness.

The story is all a bit overblown and nonsensical but refers back to the early Final Fantasy games and their origin stories.

Alongside your buddies Jed and Ash, who annoyingly seem to want to hmmm and nod a lot in the cringey cut-scenes, you smash your way through waves of monsters on a revenge mission to free the kingdom of Cornelia.

The game features action gameplay where players use a wide array of abilities to crush their enemies and RPG elements such as collecting different weapons, customising and developing your characters.

Don’t be fooled by past FF games, this is an all-out action game.

You’ll find yourself brandishing huge oversized swords, dashing about fairly linear levels and bashing your way through endless grunts to huge boss battles against mega beasties, like three-headed dragons.

The gameplay is good, and the battling fun as you learn to increasingly use both attack and defence methods to cut your way through an enemy and deplete the handy health bar over their head.

Visually it’s okay, the minute-by-minute gameplay itself doesn’t scream next-gen consoles but the cut scenes step up a gear.

There’s not much by the way of emotional connection to this game. It’s old-fashioned, cliched in its storytelling and I found myself constantly hitting the skip button to get to the actual fighting.

But overall, Stranger of Paradise is a nice brawler on the Playstation and Xbox.

Not something that’s ever going to worry the triple-A Elden Ring, more of a bargain bucket version.

But that doesn’t mean it’s bad. Just decent.

VERDICT 3/5