Based on Digital Foundry’s analysis, Stranger of Paradise seems to be a dated product on almost all fronts. Lighting is fairly archaic and seems to lack TAA or even much of the way of basic anti-aliasing, resulting in jaggies and rampant shimmering. Damningly, even on next-gen consoles, DF compares Stranger of Paradise to an Unreal Engine 3 game. A clumsy version of checkboard upscaling further hurts image quality on PS5 and Xbox Series X. Oddly, Xbox consoles also lack ambient occlusion (which PS5 does have) giving the game flat look on Microsoft’s consoles. Of course, things are worse on Xbox Series S and last-gen consoles, where detail and texture quality drops to nearly PS2-levels in some places. Despite the iffy visuals, most versions of the game don’t perform particularly well. PS5 and XSX both offer Performance and Resolution modes. Both target (upscaled) 4K, but the dynamic range is larger with Performance mode. On PS5 both modes target 60fps, with Performance regularly dropping to around 50fps, while Resolution can dip all the way down to the low 40s. Oddly, the Xbox Series X only targets 30fps in Resolution mode, which it mostly hits (albeit with frame-pacing issues), while Performance Mode targets 60fps with frequent trips down to the low 50s. Both of the Series S modes only target 30fps, which the console fairly consistently hits, but again, there are frame-pacing issues. If you actually want a consistent 60fps, your best bet is actually the Xbox One X, which runs at a stable 60fps, although you’ll have to accept a sub-1080p resolution and the same visual downgrade seen on Series S. Playing the PS4 Pro version on PS5 via backward compatibility will also get you a solid 60fps, albeit with the same visual downgrade as the One X. So yeah, there really is no ideal option here. Personally, I’d say just play on PS5/XSX in Performance mode and learn to live with some a somewhat erratic framerates (pretend you’re playing an Xbox 360 game). Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is available now on PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, and PS5.
