Overview

Final Fantasy V was originally an early release on the Super Nintendo console, back in 1992. The popularity and success of the Final Fantasy RPG series was quickly growing and it led to three great SNES titles over the span of about five years. However, only Final Fantasy IV and Final Fantasy VI (renamed Final Fantasy II and Final Fantasy III respectively for US release continuity) were brought over and translated for English-speaking gamers. Final Fantasy V was deemed too difficult or tedious for a non-Japanese audience and therefore was ignored for some time. As Final Fantasy moved into the PlayStation era, the franchise grew more popular and demand increased for this and several other unreleased Final Fantasy titles. Finally by 1999, this long-awaited title, along with a minor remake of Final Fantasy VI, was released in a package called Final Fantasy: Anthology. Was Final Fantasy V worth the wait? What was it about this game that caused the North American video gaming industry to not release it back in 1992? I have played through the entire game and will individually rate several categories that I find to be important for an RPG's success. (As a side note about my opinion, I played the PlayStation Final Fantasy games first before venturing back to play the SNES titles — I feel the first few games experience by someone are heavily influential on his or her opinions of all future games).

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Graphics - Graphics are simply my take on how well the game looks based on other released games at the time and the system's capabilities. For a SNES-based view, one can easily see a gradual progression towards more detail in Final Fantasy V. It is certainly animated more clearly than Final Fantasy IV, and despite not being close to Final Fantasy VI's standards, Final Fantasy V was made when the SNES was still in its early life. The battle sprites are decent and the environments are painted beautifully. The visual effects are the strongest when it comes to in-battle magic spells and airship flying (the world map turns at an angle like Final Fantasy VI). However, my problem lies with the Final Fantasy: Anthology release of the game, the one in which many gamers first experienced Final Fantasy V. The opening cut scene is beautiful but it turns out to be the only one in the entire game until the ending where a short bonus video is shown. My expectation was that there would be at least extra scenes (of important events) to earn; such was the case for Final Fantasy VI in Final Fantasy: Anthology. In addition, I personally also do not like the 3D-rendered versions of the characters. They are skewed to the point where some of them are not even recognizable. Despite all this, graphics are the least of my concerns in an RPG; in this instance, they do not mar the quality of this game whatsoever. (5/10)

Story - A good story is primarily what I look for in an RPG and therefore, this aspect will always be very important as it keeps the gamer motivated to play and beat the game. The plot of Final Fantasy V can be described as typical but somewhat different. It centres on a lone male hero, Bartz, and his various adventures around the world. The main emphasis in lies in the restoration of the four elemental crystals, and the plot takes a very quest or mission-based route. Like many of the early Final Fantasies, a villain of some sort is out to rid the world of these natural powers and it is up to the main characters to stop him and his entire army of cronies. However, there are a few plot twists, some intriguing major events and our main band of heroes do a bit of traveling through several worlds - the environments, while somewhat varied, tend to be all very natural. All the dungeons pretty much consist of caves, forests, underground passageways, castles, towers, and... well, more caves. This plot, mainly sporting a medieval feel and having a strong middle to end, isn't very bad but it may seem bland or may be hard to get into. I believe part of this has to with the characters in the game, to be discussed shortly. (6/10)

Character Development - Character development in a game is just as important as story, as it is the characters that advance the plot, obviously. Good characters in a game will cause players to form bonds with them, keeping interested human interaction. The most ingenious plot twist can be wasted on poor characters that the gamer does not care for, wasting the intention of a strong emotional effect. While there are a few surprises and major turns in the story, I feel Final Fantasy V suffers from a poorly developed main cast. One reason for this is the job class system that was used for the game. Yes, job classes add more gameplay value (more on that later) but it reduces the need for more varied characters. Another example of this can be seen in Final Fantasy Tactics. Characters that are built up and player-customized in that game play no important role in the story. I feel a set job (white mage, knight, etc.) keeps a character's personally distinct and memorable. There are exceptions to this rule but not here in Final Fantasy V. Bartz, our main character, meets his other traveling companions (Reina / Lenna: a princess, Galuf: another wandering warrior, and Faris: a pirate) all within the first twenty minutes of the game and they are the set party for practically the rest of the game (the addition of Krile / Cara felt very minor as she simply served as a replacement).

Aside from Faris' speech, their personalities are barely distinguishable and there are hardly any "group-bonding" or "feel-good" scenes. No romance grows between anyone and there is only a slight hint of friendship development; the overall feel to these characters is very static and it seems they complete these missions because they "have to save the world". Surprisingly enough, it was the minor characters and villains that were more interesting in this game. Boco, Bartz's Chocobo, gives individuality and personality to the Chocobo species for the first time in the Final Fantasy series and Cid, a lovable old scientist and genius, performs his usual helper and repairman job along with his grandson, Mid. X-Death plays the role of the main villain quite well, but it is his right-hand man, Gilgamesh, that steals the spotlight. This faltering menace is one of those reoccurring sub-bosses that plague the team over and over again but that "rival" quality is what makes him popular. He is not loathsome and overly formidable like Seifer from Final Fantasy VIII, nor is he goofy and lacklustre like the duo of Solt and Peppor from Chrono Cross. Simply put, Gilgamesh is just too cool. (4/10)

Music - Music is a very important aspect of an RPG that is often overlooked by the casual gamer. Aside from small minor sound effects, music comprises a large majority of the auditory material for the player throughout the game. Especially in older games without voice acting, music needs to be able to convey emotions (e.g. anxiety, sadness and joy) as the game develops. The music in Final Fantasy V is absolutely wonderful, despite a relatively short selection that is of low SNES midi quality. The main theme to the game, "Ahead On Our Way," is a beautifully written theme that is just so happy and carefree. Many of the characters, dungeons and towns have soothing melodies that have that intangible attribute of being very "sticky" and memorable. All of the battle themes are above average, especially with great music sequences during the final battles and fights with Gilgamesh. "Battle with Gilgamesh," in particular, is a prime example of how music enhances an RPG. I remember after fighting him the first time on the "Big Bridge", I was more motivated to play through the game, solely for the purpose of reaching the next Gilgamesh fight sequence and hearing his battle theme again. Overall in the music category, there were very few tracks I disliked and I feel the entire Final Fantasy V is underrated due to its lack of exposure. (9/10)

Gameplay / Creativity - I tend to group the gameplay and creativity categories together, the former dealing with the in-game mechanics and interface, while the latter focuses more on how the interface and other aspects of the game make it stand out from other RPG's. Most notable in Final Fantasy V is the inclusion of a job class system. That system had been used previously in Final Fantasy III (NES - Japan only), but the repertoire of jobs is now expanded to a total of twenty-one, making the character building process very open ended and flexible. Raising a certain set of compatible jobs while abandoning others in order to earn key character skills is key - these abilities are permanently learned but each job class, with the exception of the Mimic class, only has an open slot for one set of job commands. Therefore, you can have a Lancer casting white magic but it will be quite inefficient if he or she only knows one cure spell since the "White Magic" command, allowing access to all learned white spells, will take up that one precious ability slot. As you can see, people who enjoy the "levelling" aspect of RPG's will love this battle system while those who do not will find this game incredibly tedious.

In addition, there are many dungeons in this game, some are very long while others are tricky, and the enemy encounter rate is quite high. Playing this game while in a bad mood is a bad idea! Nevertheless, this is what makes Final Fantasy V challenging, strategic and fun. Outside of battles, there are plenty of other creative aspects in the game. There are special side-quests and mini-games for practically every ultimate spell, summon, and item, giving the player a healthy challenge for total game completion. I also found other aspects of the game, such as overlapping world maps and scenario planning, very well done. Final Fantasy V truly has a unique feel to it compared with other Final Fantasy titles. On a minor downside, the Final Fantasy: Anthology version of Final Fantasy V features some mechanical quirks that bugged me a bit. Battle transitions were quite slow and there was no option for controller button configuration but these problems should not detract from gameplay at all - gameplay is definitely Final Fantasy V's strong point. (8/10)

Replay Value - Lastly, there is the importance of replay value in a game. How well a game stands against the test of time and multiple play-throughs is a special quality, usually expected out of an RPG. Unfortunately, Final Fantasy V, despite being a great game, suffers from relatively low replay value. The main reason for this is that having a job system based game requires patience, planning, and lots of time. Many casual gamers and RPG players will discover that one run through the game is tedious enough, and will probably be turned off at the thought of a replay. The plot and in-game events simply are not strong enough to encourage the player to redo everything again. There are some fun events and quests that help the replay value a little, but the only reason I can offer for a truly enjoyable replay is to experiment raising characters in a completely different way, trying out every job class available. Final Fantasy V is very flexible and allows for a lot of freedom, a quality that certain gamers will enjoy very much. (3/10)

Summary

In conclusion, Final Fantasy V was a great game but clearly does not exceed the standards the more popular Final Fantasy titles. I enjoyed the game very much, despite several tedious portions of the game, and it is definitely one of the more challenging RPG's available. Being an avid RPG video gamer that enjoys both a good story and having fun levelling characters, I certainly recommend the game to fans that want more strategy and challenge to their battles and quests, particularly fans who enjoy completing an RPG to its fullest by collecting every item and spell. What you make of game is simply what you put into it. Gamers who love statistics and raising that one "optimal" or "unconventional" party will not mind the repetitive dungeons and missions. Even for the other "breed" of video game players, the story is still decent and Final Fantasy V should at least be experienced once for its uniqueness. The music and environments are simply wonderful, but there are also many references to this game from many of the other future Final Fantasy titles that an avid Final Fantasy fan will appreciate. Overall, the fifth instalment of the Final Fantasy series is still a great addition to any video game RPG collection.

Percentage Overall Score: 75%