Final Fantasy V was a game of firsts - it was the first Final Fantasy game that offered a long and expansive story, and was the first title to introduce a new and groundbreaking gameplay system. While the game is a mere shadow compared to later titles, and in particularly Final Fantasy VI, the game is not only an excellent JRPG, but it is also one of the finest Final Fantasy games released.
The game begins as the world’s wind crystal suddenly shatters into pieces, causing the wind to simply stop. Princess Lenna goes off to investigate the issue, yet being the fragile female that she is, she finds herself in all sorts of trouble shortly after setting off. This is where the young adventurer Bartz pops in to save Lenna, and then the pair are eventually joined by the amnesiac pensioner Galuf and the tough-nut pirate, Faris – all willing to help save the crystals before its too late. You’ll guide your group through three unique worlds, trying to save the crystals, and the world, to prevent a certain enemy from prevailing in his goals.
The story has its moments. While there’s a lot of depth and character interaction, you never once feel connected with any of the characters or their stories. You’ll acknowledge their pain, and their adventures, but the game does a fairly average job of connecting you with each character – ultimately making the game a tad forgettable in light of more story-driven titles such as Final Fantasy VI and Final Fantasy VII. Additionally, the overall story progression is extremely clichéd – find crystals, destroy ultimate bad guy trying to use the crystal to his advantage. But on the plus side, the story is long and much more interesting than any other Final Fantasy title before it, and the humorous cast of characters is a positive.
An enjoyable cast of characters, yet a fairly clichéd story.
A noticeable change from the PlayStation re-release to Final Fantasy V Advance is that the dialogue translation has been slightly changed to read much more naturally by today’s standards. In a lot of areas the translation has changed completely, adding in new jokes, references to modern pop-culture and sentences that didn’t originally appear in the PlayStation release. While most of the translation is done in such a good way (easier to read, much funnier), there are still a handful of rough translations and sentences that make little sense – so the job is still far from perfect.
Gameplay wise, Final Fantasy V remains as one of the best titles in the series, even when compared with newer titles. Expanding on the limited job system shown in Final Fantasy III, Final Fantasy V introduced a number of new features, making it one of the most in-depth gameplay systems in the series. There are roughly two-dozen classes to choose from, all distinctively different from one another. You’ll have your traditional classes such as white mage, black mage, monk, warrior etc., but also classes that require more skill in their development such as summoner, chemist, ninja and dancer. Each class provides each of its own unique abilities, so picking the right mix of classes is generally quite essential when trying to tackle tough boss encounters.
Once choosing a class, you’ll be able to gain levels for that specific class, with each level providing new abilities, or making old ones stronger. Once you’ve mastered one class, you have the ability to switch to any of the other classes if you desire. What makes this double-dip much more appealing is that your character can combine two class skills together if they’ve reached a certain level with both classes. So, for instance, you could raise a certain character to level 2 in the white mage class, and then switch over to a knight, enabling that character to use swords and shields, but also being able to use healing magic too – and this is ultimately where the enjoyment of Final Fantasy V’s gameplay system is drawn from, the ability to combine the most devastating classes.
A brief look at the excellent class system.
As far as JRPGs go, Final Fantasy V fits the mold quite well. You’ll be able to constantly equip your characters with new items, venture off to new towns to develop the story, experience frequent random battles and tough boss encounters and romp your way through a handful of caves and dungeons.
A handful of new features have also been added for this GBA remake. There are four new job classes: Gladiators are a stronger warrior class, Cannoneers are ranged fighters, Necromancers are essentially your dark magic class, and Oracles are able to predict future turns in battle and avoid random battles. Additionally, the GBA game also includes a quick-save option, a new 30-floor bonus dungeon and new modes, including bestiary, music player and a mode where you must defeat the game's bosses in a lengthy endurance battle.
Fans of the previous Final Fantasy V versions will be happy to hear that the GBA remake includes tweaked graphics and audio. The game now includes character portraits when characters speak, and the overall presentation looks much cleaner than the PlayStation version. Additionally, the audio is much cleaner.
Back in its heyday, Final Fantasy V was groundbreaking, rewarding and an epic adventure to enjoy. While the game is still an excellent inclusion in the series, its GBA remake isn’t without its issues, and the game’s original downfalls are much more apparent than when it was first released. If anything though, if you’re after the ultimate Final Fantasy V experience, or you just haven’t played the game before, then running out to buy this game comes highly recommended.
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