Key art of the Different Future DLC
Different Future is the third and final downloadable episode of the Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin Season Pass. Following the events of Trials of the Dragon King and Wanderer of the Rift, the link between Cornelia and Lufenia has been rekindled.
To forge the future they desire for Cornelia, Jack and his allies must put an end to the machinations of the Lufenian Nil, who threatens their reality, as well as drive off powerful foes including The Emperor and Omega. This DLC adds new content including the Edge of Space-Time dungeon and Lufenia Difficulty.
Story[]
A rogue Lufenian named Nil stands amid the ruins of Lufenia, using the power of the crystals and Manikin monsters to plot not only Chaos's destruction, but that of his entire world. Seeing this, a moogle enlists the aid of Jack and his allies, and transports them to Lufenia's capital: Central.
When they arrive, they find Central in ruins and overrun with Manikin monsters. After traversing the city's ruins, the Strangers encounter the Emperor, who followed the moogle to this dimension, plotting to seize control of it for himself. He is defeated, but flees through a portal before Jack can deliver the finishing blow. Sophia notes that the Emperor recognized Jack as Garland, just as Gilgamesh did, and theorizes that he, too, encountered the Garland of another time or place.
Eventually the Strangers reach Nil in the depths of the facility, who voices her desire to rid the world of darkness and chaos to bring about the perfect world Lufenia had envisioned. Claiming to be the light that will banish Jack's darkness, Nil reveals a new dimensional crystal matrix—one with the capacity to call beings from across the rift—and uses it to summon the godslaying mechanical creation known as Omega.
Though Jack and his allies manage to destroy Omega, Nil is unperturbed. Combining the power of the crystal matrix with that of another crystal, Nil summons several Omega Manikins. Expressing the desire to return Jack's world to nothingness so that she may build it anew, Nil merges with her creations to become The Transcendent, and then attacks.
Upon her defeat, Nil returns to her Lufenian form, lamenting that the worlds will be lost without Lufenia to guide them. After expressing appreciation for the Lufenians sending him to Cornelia in the first place-one of their only good decisions in his eyes-Jack crystallizes and destroys Nil. As they prepare to return to Cornelia, the moogle questions if Jack is okay with leaving Nil's crystal behind, and with his eventual fate of dying at the hands of the Warriors of Light. Jack and his allies reaffirm that their plan to put power back in the hands of mortals is worth any cost, and they are at peace with the idea that they will not be remembered as they are. The moogle accepts this, and transports them home.
An unknown number of cycles later, the Warriors of Light enter the Ancient Chaos Shrine to confront Jack Garland a final time. After a long struggle, Jack is finally defeated and, content with having seen his journey through to its end, entrusts his hope for the future to the Warriors of Light. With Chaos destroyed, the Warriors restore light to the world, ending the cycle and bringing peace.
However in a different future, Jack doesn't immediately prepare to return home after killing Nil, but instead approaches the fallen crystals. Before he can reach them, The Emperor returns through a portal and seizes them for himself, absorbing the crystals' power and attempting to absorb Jack's power of Chaos as well in his quest to conquer other dimensions. After a difficult fight where the Emperor becomes From Hell Arisen, Jack manages to defeat him, stealing The Emperor's power over magic and becoming one with the Lufenian crystal in the process. Reveling in his new power, Jack opens a portal and throws The Emperor into it to get rid of him, remarking that starting from the bottom may "improve his mood". Realizing that the future he sought to secure has been preserved, the moogle now urges Jack to take his place as the God of Discord alongside the soon-to-arrive Warrior of Light, who will sit upon the Throne of Harmony and with him become the foundation upon which a new world will be built.
Through the One Spirit's Missives collected as Jack traveled through Central, it is revealed that an entity sought to orchestrate Jack and the Warrior of Light's ascension as the gods of chaos and discord. Such an event could only occur when beings with the requisite power were acknowledged by a godlike entity, in this case Bahamut who, after being summoned to their world by the moogle, granted his blessing to both. After the Lufenian Nil acquired godlike powers through technology and Jack absorbed them, the conditions were nearly fulfilled. After ascending as the god of discord, Jack faces "Hope Advent", a stronger Warrior of Light bearing the "Light of Order", and kills him once again. The implications of this event, and what happens afterwards in this timeline, are both left ambiguous.
Gameplay[]
Different Future introduces the Edge of Space-Time location, which serves as the setting of the "A Hopeful Future" main story mission. The expansion also introduces the Marksman, Hunter, and Gambler Jobs, as well as raises the level limit for all jobs. The Gun weapon class was added to the base game in an update alongside the DLC, and can be utilized by the new Jobs.
Different Future introduces the Lufenia difficulty level, the highest difficulty level in the game, which is necessary to play the DLC's main story missions. Lufenia Difficulty is described as being balanced around Floor 30 of the Rift Labyrinth, though the difficulty may be increased further by activating the dragon king trial "Mission Level+".
During the "A Hopeful Future" mission, the monster bell item can be used to summon Gilgamesh in battle (summons can be replenished by interacting with rifts) . Completing the "A Hopeful Future" mission unlocks Replication, a smithy technique that allows the player to replicate equipment and their chaos effects using Manikin Materials and blacksmith materials. The cyclic warrior armor is also unlocked after completing this mission, allowing Jack to equip Garland's armor from the original Final Fantasy.
Completing the titular "Different Future" mission unlocks effects granted by 800% job affinity, granting players access to additional equipment-based boosts.
During the final story mission "Despair Advent", the Warrior of Light is playable and utilizes Jack's selected jobs and equipment. Upon completing the mission, players unlock the ability to change Jack's appearance to that of the Warrior of Light during missions.