How to parry in Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin

Coming to us from Team Ninja, Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin carries much of the studio’s DNA. It’s possibly the most fast-paced, real-time combat in a Final Fantasy entry to date with a healthy mix between role-playing elements and standard action game mechanics.

That means understanding the parry is a huge part of its skill ceiling. Stranger of Paradise features several parry systems that can be utilized depending on your active job or general skill level. Our guide explains the game’s universal parry systems as well as the job-specific and weapon-specific ones.

Universal parries

The universal parry systems apply to every job and weapon type. They’re going to be your biggest fallbacks while you experiment with its extensive job system. As with any other game, blocking at the right time with L1 on PlayStation or the left bumper on Xbox just as an attack is about to hit opens the enemy up for a follow-up strike. This works regardless of what weapon you’re using.

The Soul Shield is typically associated with the instant item mechanic, but it can also be used to parry normal blockable attacks, with a much greater risk attached to it. Normal, blockable attacks are any strikes that don’t flash a move’s name over the enemy’s head. Bringing up the Soul Shield with circle on PlayStation or the “B” button on Xbox drains your break gauge. If you end up underestimating the timing of an attack, you’ll be unable to act until the break gauge recovers.

Job and weapon specific parries

With universal parries out of the way, it’s time to dig into some of the more specific parry systems unique to certain jobs and weapons.

The easiest of these is the Swordfighter’s Interception ability. Any unblocked attack automatically results in a counter without any damage received. There’s usually only one counter or parry per Interception usage, but you’re able to acquire Interception Mastery through the Swordfighter’s job tree. This gives us the same end result when using the Soul Shield without deactivating Interception, effectively allowing two counters per activation.

Any jobs that can use maces such as the various Mages and Monk have access to a combo performed by pushing back on the left stick while attacking. This activates a very brief window of opportunity whereby any attack is countered. This window is indicated by a blue flash.

Greatswords also have their own special parry system. You can block while charging a standard greatsword swing, which will activate a parry with a more forgiving window of opportunity than the mace’s counterattack or even the standard parry. As expected, you can follow this up with a counterattack by using the normal strike immediately afterward. Of course, the fact that you need to charge an attack first means that you won’t be able to pull it out at any time. However, it helps with surprise strikes during a wind-up.

Katanas feature the most difficult parry system. Holding down the standard attack button whether you’re rocking a Ronin, Warrior, or Samurai places you into the Senshin Stance as long as the katana is equipped. A normal attack during Senshin Stance with the proper timing activates a parry that leaves you invulnerable, meanwhile you are able to follow up with a flurry of attacks. We recommend this method only to skilled action game players as the setup and timing make it the most difficult of the game’s parry systems to nail down.