The Trials of the Dragon King DLC for Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin will make all party members playable in the single-player mode. In the base version of the game, the only playable party member is the Chaos-hating Jack Garland, with the story focusing on his fall to darkness.
Stranger of Paradise is a retelling of FF1, which had four party members that were defined by their jobs, while Stranger of Paradise has five party members and only three can be used at any one time. The player controls Jack in the single-player mode, but the other party members serve an important purpose, as they can be used to draw aggro for short periods of time, giving the player the chance to heal, charge a spell, or get a few free hits in on an enemy. The party members have a similar function to the Spirit Ashes in Elden Ring, except that they have their own equipment, jobs, and associated sidequests.
The only time the party members are playable in Stranger of Paradise is during the multiplayer mode. This will soon change, though, as the official Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin Twitter account has announced that the upcoming Trials of the Dragon King DLC will let the player select the other party members in single-player mode. It's unclear whether this will be exclusive to people who purchased the DLC or whether it will be part of a free update that launches alongside it.
The other question is whether or not this option only works in the Trials of the Dragon King content. Jack is the protagonist of Stranger of Paradise and there are some missions in the game where only he is playable. The trailers for Trials of the Dragon King show Jack battling the Warrior of Light, as they recreate the first boss battle of FF1, so it's likely that the party members will only be playable in specific missions.
This isn't the first time that Square Enix has restricted playable party members to DLC updates, as the first three expansions for FF15 needed to be completed in order to make the other party members playable. Hopefully, this update will be a freebie that launches alongside Trials of the Dragon King and won't be restricted to the Season Pass. Jack might have won over the hearts of fans with his Chaos-hating passion in Stranger of Paradise, but the other party members deserve their time in the spotlight.
The Trials of the Dragon King expansion for Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin will be available on July 20, 2022.