New Soulslike game Final Fantasy Origin coming from Team Ninja

Final Fantasy has had a long list of spin-offs over the years, but the next one might be the most interesting seen yet.

According to Fanbyte, a new game named Final Fantasy Origin is in development by Team Ninja. The game will be a Dark Souls-style game in the same vein as Nioh and will feature many of the standard Final Fantasy motifs. Leaked press materials also confirm the game’s name and existence. The game may be officially revealed by Square-Enix during E3.

While a Final Fantasy “Soulslike” game might sound unusual for those who haven’t touched the series since the halcyon days of the PlayStation 1, the series has been becoming increasingly action-oriented over recent years. Final Fantasy 7 Remake takes heavy influence from Square-Enix’s Kingdom Hearts series and doesn’t feature the turn-based combat that long defined the Final Fantasy series.

This also wouldn’t be Team Ninja’s first foray into making a Soulslike game, or even into making a Final Fantasy title. 

Long before Demon’s Souls became a cult classic on the PlayStation 3, the 2004 reboot of Ninja Gaiden on the original Xbox set the standard for tough-but-fair action games. More recently, Team Ninja’s Nioh series has been widely held among the best series to take major inspiration from Dark Souls.

Alongside Nioh, Team Ninja has been juggling a long list of series in recent years including Dissidia: Final Fantasy. The fighting game features a long list of characters from across the entire Final Fantasy franchise. Team Ninja also worked on a mobile game named Dissidia Final Fantasy: Opera Omnia that featured a similarly broad cast of characters, but in a turn-based RPG.

When will Final Fantasy Origin be released?

Reports suggest that an alpha demo of Final Fantasy Origin will come this summer, however the game’s full release date is unknown. Square-Enix has taken to releasing alpha demos of games that are in development, with the most recent example being Project Triangle Strategy.

According to Fanbyte, Final Fantasy Origin will be a timed PlayStation 5 exclusive that will receive a PC release after some time. Expect firm details on the game to come out in the near future, most likely at E3.