Final Fantasy V

"Getting a job has never been so much fun."

-Intro-

What the? I thought I got rid of you! Oh well. Hey as long as you're here, you might as well read how I feel about that one game, Final Fantasy V. Yeah, just sit down over there and kick your feet up.

Final Fantasy V…where to begin? Everyone knows of the Final Fantasy series, yet not everyone knows of Final Fantasy V. It makes sense, since it's original version wasn't released anywhere outside of Japan. In Japan, it was developed by the immortal Squaresoft and released in 1992. The game differed from the previous installment of the series as it used the job system, similar to Final Fantasy III for the NES. However, FFV was made to expand and improve upon the old system, and it did so marvelously. It was very successful in Japan, both critically and financially, but it never made it to the U.S. because it was not fit for the casual gamer. Square finally came to their senses, however, and re-released it to the Playstation and, more recently, the GBA. Now everyone can experience this masterpiece (legally).

This game has one to be one of the most fun RPGs ever made. I will now try to elaborate on this by discussing gameplay. Geronimo!

-Gameplay-

Heh, did you know that gameplay is not a word? Anyways, Final Fantasy V is a turn-based RPG with a random-encounter engine, like every other FF game. It uses many of the ideas used in previous games of the series while adding an enormous amount of innovation, which we will get into.

Anyhow, let's see here, I guess that I will discuss the job system. FFV uses a job system that involves assigning your characters to a job and gaining that particular job's abilities. Each job has its own beginning action ability, as well as other innate abilities. After you win any battle, you will gain job points that work like experience points. These job points contribute to leveling up your jobs and giving your character another ability. Each character may have one main ability and one secondary ability when assigned a job. This may seem a little complicated, so let me try to give an example. You start out with your character as a white mage, and you gain ten job points and level it up to level 2. Your character will learn the ability !White. Now that character can use level 1 white magic spells even when he/she is not a white mage. You can then switch to a knight and slap on white magic as your secondary ability and presto! A knight with white magic. This creates an enormous amount of depth, as there are an incredible amount of combinations. And it is just awesome to have a Black Mage with the secondary ability Brawler (attacks with fists like a monk). Oh yeah, and once you gain a certain amount of levels in a job, you will master that job and, in your normal job, gain all of the innate abilities of the mastered job. So if you master the Ninja job, you can switch make to your normal job and equip two swords. This was a great idea that will make your normal jobs eventually the strongest job in the game.

Let me now get into the actual jobs. You do not start out with any jobs, and in the beginning of the game you are in the ‘Normal' job. You will gain jobs by merely progressing through the story, and there is only one job that is optional. These jobs are your typical Final Fantasy classes such as Knight, Black Mage, White Mage, Thief, Monk, Ninja, etc. There is also quite a few new classes, and one that stands out is the Blue Mage. The Blue Mage originated in this game, and it is a unique job that learns spells by getting hit with enemy attacks. This was used in many FF games in the future. There are a few useless jobs (dancer), but most of them are useful in some way and make it so the game is not unbalanced.

The actual battle system itself plays out like a standard ATB Final Fantasy, and that is a good thing. One of the improvements that this game made over FFIV's was that the battles seem to be more fast-paced. It seems like there is hardly a time when nothing is happening in a battle. There is a huge amount of character customization in this game, almost to the point where each character has no unique qualities. Well, this may not bode well with some players, but I didn't mind at all. Besides, they are different stat-wise, so it is a good idea to make Butz a physical fighter and Lenna a mage.

One thing I really love about this game is the fact that there are so many “goodies”. I'm talking about the fact that every single town and castle in this game has some sort of hidden treasure chests in them, and it seems like everything is done for a reason. Also, there is a section of the game that involves you getting a large amount of the best weapons and spells. Love those goodies. :)

There is a large amount of side quests in the game, giving you strong equipment, hidden summon spells, and a lot of fun in the process. The amount of side quests just adds to the already huge amount of replay value.

Addictive. Challenging. Fun. Deep. All good words to describe the gameplay of Final Fantasy V. This game has possibly the best use of a job system ever and an amazing battle system to advance it even further. Excellent, excellent, excellent.

-Story-

Many players consider this to be the weakest aspect of the game, but I'd have to disagree. The storyline in FFV, while simplistic, is very immersing and is perfect for what it intended to be. It's obvious that the developers were focusing on gameplay rather than a intricate storyline, but that's not to say that the storyline is bad at all. It is the worst of the 16-bit Final Fantasy in terms of storyline, but hey that is some tough competition. You play the role of Butz and his three friends as they search for the power of the crystals to save the world from destruction. Yes, it uses the whole “crystal” thing again, which many people may grow tired of.

The characters of FFV probably have more depth than people realize. To my knowledge, this was the first Final Fantasy to show flashback cut-scenes, which helped each character get their own clearly defined back story. Each character is likable, and the dialogue was generally well written. The only problem is that the characters personalities can be seen as somewhat bland. This doesn't normally pose a problem, though.

-Music and Sound Effects-

Nobuo Uematsu has done it again! Unsurprisingly, FFV has an amazing soundtrack. The Final Fantasy series has always been known for stellar music, and this game is no exception. It may not be as good as FFVI's music, but it's damn close. Like most games, the music usually fits the mood very well. I could go on and on describing the great music in this game, but I'll allow you to see for yourself how good it is. I probably wouldn't do it justice anyways.

The sound effects are solid, considered the time period. Each weapon has their own distinct sound effect when they hit a foe, and the same goes for spells. This creates a large number of sounds, so you are certain to not get annoyed at particular one. Also the sound effect that the dragon makes sounds really cool and advanced for its time.

-Graphics-

While the graphics will not blow you away, they are still definitely a step-up from FFIV. The towns, castles, maps, battles, and sprites have all been improved upon in both detail and attractiveness. The enemies look pretty good in general, and some of the bosses look fairly impressive. Again, because this is still early SNES, the graphics have been surpassed and nowadays cannot be appreciated like they could when the game was first released. I still enjoy them, however.

The animation in this game is varied and sometimes surprisingly impressive. Each character has an attacking animation and a spell casting animation for each job. This creates an enormous amount of sprites for each character. The enemies aren't animated at all, they merely blink when they attack you. There is also a large amount of spells animations, since there is a large amount of spells. Nicely done, overall.

-Challenge, Length, and Replay-

Final Fantasy V is the most challenging Final Fantasy of the SNES era, and one of the most challenging of the entire series. Many of the bosses will rip you to shreds if you're even a little bit unprepared. This really helps the gameplay as it causes you to switch your jobs around for certain bosses and create your own strategies to win. Instead of your usual “attack with strongest moves” strategies like many RPGs require, you can make more specific and original strategies in order to defeat the boss.

The length is probably around average for its time. I usually complete it at 25 hours with all side quests done. It is a satisfying length. Not too long and not too short.

The replay value in FFV is incredibly high. Since there is around 20 jobs in the game, there is a large amount of ways to train your characters and will create motivation for many more play-throughs. There is also many side quests in the game, most of which can be easily missed and will motivate for a new play through.

-Summary-

Gameplay – 10/10……..excellent
Story – 8/10…………....good
Musics/Sound – 10/10…excellent
Graphics – 8/10….…..good
Overall – 10/10………..excellent

-Final Words-

Needless to say, this game is a must-play for any Final Fantasy fan. There are three ways you can play this: SNES translated ROM, PSX version in FF Anthology, and the GBA version. The SNES version is supposedly the best in terms of translation so that may be your best bet. However, the other two are good options as well. Either way, put it at the top of your “to play list”.

This game is pure RPG gold. It is an old school game that proves that gameplay beats storyline every time. Everything in this game seems to come together perfectly to create a great experience that truly captures the spirit of the series. This is my second favorite Final Fantasy, and it's in my top 5 RPGs on the SNES. I would take Final Fantasy V and VI over Final Fantasy VII and VIII any day of the week. The job system carries this game from goodness to excellence and creates one of the funnest RPGs you'll ever play.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 07/06/07