This has probably my favorite job system of any RPG I've ever played, heavily emphasizing on-the-fly party customization to a degree not really seen elsewhere in the series except FF8. Really really loved experimenting with the various jobs, even if more than a couple of them are basically useless. And I dig the comparatively jaunty, almost Shounen Jump-esque vibe after FFIV's somber self-seriousness. More FF protagonists should be plucky nice guys who are also a little bit stupid.
This review contains spoilers
FINAL FANTASY MARATHON RANKED:
https://www.backloggd.com/u/fragilant/list/final-fantasy-marathon-ranked/
People really say that IV has better characters and story? Ya'll are wilding.
Final Fantasy V is truly the first great game in the series, and a lot of it has to do with the job system which is perfected here.
I played around with almost every single job possible, and while not looking at a guide kinda made me miss out on a lot of good blue magic, or Dualcast from the red mage, I had a blast experimenting on my own.
Time mage, Samurai, and Dancer are jobs that I really found myself enjoying a lot.
The game is also really difficult at times, so it made me use a lot of strategy to beat some bosses or dungeons that kicked my ass repeatedly, but when you have so many different options for heading into a difficult boss, losing kinda becomes fun.
The gameplay is the part everyone talks about, but I have to give a shoutout to the story and characters here.
I hear so many praises for IV in this regard, and V is kind of labeled as just a "goofy story with little to no character", but this game had a lot of downtime in the beginning which IV is missing.
Downtime in these games where the characters are just talking is a lot of my favourite moments in this series, so seeing it finally being utilized instead of just charcaters yapping about crystals really made me feel at home.
The characters themselves aren't incredibly dynamic but they are fun, and definitely have more going for them than every single character in IV besides maybe Rinoa.
IV had something good going for the first 2 hours, until they just say fuck the character writing after Cecil becomes a paladin.
The highlight of this game in terms of characters though is Galuf, which I think is the series' first Goat.
He's funny, cool as hell and also actually dies a meaningful death that isn't just a fake out or shock value for the sake of it.
When Galuf dies you feel it, and it's a great example of this series finally finding its footing when it comes to story writing.
I had so much fun with this despite it kicking my ass repeatedly and is definitely the pixel remaster I will enourage everyone to get if there's a sale.
This is where the Final Fantasy I know really starts so I'm excited to get into the golden era.
Peak.
https://www.backloggd.com/u/fragilant/list/final-fantasy-marathon-ranked/
People really say that IV has better characters and story? Ya'll are wilding.
Final Fantasy V is truly the first great game in the series, and a lot of it has to do with the job system which is perfected here.
I played around with almost every single job possible, and while not looking at a guide kinda made me miss out on a lot of good blue magic, or Dualcast from the red mage, I had a blast experimenting on my own.
Time mage, Samurai, and Dancer are jobs that I really found myself enjoying a lot.
The game is also really difficult at times, so it made me use a lot of strategy to beat some bosses or dungeons that kicked my ass repeatedly, but when you have so many different options for heading into a difficult boss, losing kinda becomes fun.
The gameplay is the part everyone talks about, but I have to give a shoutout to the story and characters here.
I hear so many praises for IV in this regard, and V is kind of labeled as just a "goofy story with little to no character", but this game had a lot of downtime in the beginning which IV is missing.
Downtime in these games where the characters are just talking is a lot of my favourite moments in this series, so seeing it finally being utilized instead of just charcaters yapping about crystals really made me feel at home.
The characters themselves aren't incredibly dynamic but they are fun, and definitely have more going for them than every single character in IV besides maybe Rinoa.
IV had something good going for the first 2 hours, until they just say fuck the character writing after Cecil becomes a paladin.
The highlight of this game in terms of characters though is Galuf, which I think is the series' first Goat.
He's funny, cool as hell and also actually dies a meaningful death that isn't just a fake out or shock value for the sake of it.
When Galuf dies you feel it, and it's a great example of this series finally finding its footing when it comes to story writing.
I had so much fun with this despite it kicking my ass repeatedly and is definitely the pixel remaster I will enourage everyone to get if there's a sale.
This is where the Final Fantasy I know really starts so I'm excited to get into the golden era.
Peak.
I’ve been slowly making my way through the classic SNES Final Fantasy trilogy via the Pixel Remasters after I realized how egregious of a blindspot they were to me, someone who proclaims to be a true lover of the JRPG as a genre. Last year I went through FFIV, the first of this trilogy, and found it to be much more linear than I expected, directly pointing you where to go and hurrying along from arc to arc, all while rotating out party members to keep the RPG mechanics fresh. Of course the story is good and the sample platter of party members makes for a variety of different play styles and strategy, and the game does eventually open up and allow for a bit of roaming, but overall I was generally just happy to See What All The Fuss Was About, and I came away from FFIV with a pretty good idea of why some folks might call it their favorite RPG or even their favorite game.
So imagine my surprise when FFV just about pulls a 180 in its approach to design and structure, tightly limiting your party members, but making them blank slates in a mechanical sense, not to mention offering many extended sequences of total freedom before you step into the next cutscene trigger. Even sections with few possible destinations are made to feel open by encouraging players to wander off into the weeds a bit, experiment with this or that job, go for a rare steal, try and learn some situationally valuable blue magic maybe.
That’s not to say that there’s no urgency to the affair, the storyline of FFV is basic, but effective. The initial act lays the groundwork of a patchwork group of adventurers who come together to look into why the world is unraveling at the elemental level, starting with wind disappearing entirely. Cutscenes across the game tend to last ~4-5 minutes max and sometimes feature only a handful of lines of dialogue, using pointed and meaningful lines to communicate a lot quickly. Though there is a twist or two to be found here, the story mostly sticks to the basics, instead embellishing its world with interesting dungeons and implied lore. Who built this giant floating mechanical fortress? What kind of magic is animating the books in this library? Naturally, I had grown quite attached to a number of characters by the ending, but a large part of that is due to how FFV so smartly intertwines its story with its mechanics.
FFV’s mechanics are defined by its job system, probably one of the most prolific things about it and a system that has seen many different iterations and variations since (and before really, see: FFIII), even outside of Final Fantasy. It’s easy to see why. It’s a versatile system with plenty of opportunities for personalized strategies and player expression. It’s such a simple but elegant way of letting players take ownership of these characters, to really customize them over the course of the game and make them feel unique. Jobs grant characters unique and useful abilities, heavily dictate stats, and even determine the type of gear a character can use. But importantly, they take a lot of investment to really squeeze the juice out of them, meaning it pays to plan ahead and commit to who masters which jobs, striking a balance between ability coverage (everyone is decent at everything) and specialization (everyone has a specific role they’re suited for).
The designers also had the confidence to keep these characters in your roster for the entire game (barring some minor exceptions), a decision that pays off twofold by having players grow attached mechanically while also serving the narrative of this group of 4 adventurers united in a common goal. Instead of trying to top FFIV’s varied roster of colorful characters, V instead prunes the cast down to a few solid archetypes that are characterized not only by snappy and efficient cutscenes, but also by their mechanical functions. For example, I knew Lenna had the best base stats for a magic user and also wanted to get ahead of the inevitable need for a Black Mage, however this investment meant I had a hole in the roster for a healer, and I opted to start training the gruff pirate Faris as a White Mage. This decision, made out of practicality, ended up endearing me to Faris as an outwardly callous person who nevertheless nurtures a soft side for healing, especially as she grew into the role and became more acquainted with the group. The game is littered with these kinds of mechanics as narrative, where FFIV was content to simply deliver the narrative to you.
I found the real secret sauce of FFV to be its encounter design. Part of this is the way it pushes the envelope in the ways it can portray a wide variety of situations in its combat system. Sure, 90% of the time combat encounters are just that, combat focused, but sometimes you run into A Character, someone shouting at you from the other side of the battle, or a creature with a specific agenda. You’ll run into enemy soldiers all too eager to flee from the burning building you’re both in, or machines that scan your party and dole out spells that target them based on their current level. You’ll even run into one of Final Fantasy’s most infamous characters during a certain battle on a certain bridge of a certain size. The enemies may not have the character of an SMT bestiary, but they’re able to express themselves in ways that make them feel like more than just stepping blocks to acquiring power as you progress.
The other part of the encounter design is the meticulousness shown by the designers in giving so many enemies unique characteristics like valuable rare steal items, or blue magic, or specific weaknesses that can allow a prudent decision in job choice to essentially “solve” a dungeon. One of my favorite examples of this was learning a new song for the Bard job that doles out extra damage to undead enemies. I had mostly dismissed the job up until this point but decided to give it a try, especially since the Bard’s ability can fulfill the same utility as a number of spells, but without the MP cost. This decision made the following dungeon a cakewalk for me, demonstrating the usefulness of a Bard as they stopped, confused, and eventually slayed enemies with ease. These kinds of little enemy details made it so I was constantly referring to the built-in bestiary to see how I wanted to approach extended sections, and it made me feel clever when a bit of grinding for a good item paid off and led to a bounding leap for my DPS output, or a piece of equipment with unexpected properties.
Minor spoilers for the finale of the game, but the jobs being functions of the crystal shards you spend the early game gathering leads to one of the most satisfying integrations of mechanics as narrative I can think of in recent memory. After you defeat the final boss the world finds itself coming apart at the seams, and it is through the reforming of the 4 elemental crystals that stability and peace are restored. It’s not explicitly stated (Bartz says something like “Oh wow the shards still had some energy left in them”), but it can be inferred that it was the development of your party’s jobs, the AP you poured into those shards, that re-energized them and allowed the reborn world to prosper. This revelation coupled with some truly deft (though some may say underdeveloped, I quite like the brevity) character work, had me walking away from the game with a song in my heart.
Some final notable things I want to call out, the music is of course extremely good, filled to the brim with classics and enhanced with arrangements made for this Pixel Remaster. I didn’t use them often but I love difficulty adjustment options like being able to turn off encounters or double EXP gain. I also appreciate the aggressive auto save feature, because I sure died a lot! FFV is an RPG that respects your intelligence, and it will put you through the ringer if you aren’t bringing your A game.
When the credits had finally rolled I started to seriously consider that FFV might be my new favorite entry in the entire series, having played 1-4, 7, 10, 13, and 15 extensively. The way it grants so much latitude to a player in terms of strategies while also constantly putting forth varied and challenging scenarios engaged me on a level I simply haven’t been with another FF title, and the way it uses its mechanics to augment its story also endeared me like few others. FFV is an absolute cornerstone of the RPG genre, a truly classic title that marries form and function like few other games.
So imagine my surprise when FFV just about pulls a 180 in its approach to design and structure, tightly limiting your party members, but making them blank slates in a mechanical sense, not to mention offering many extended sequences of total freedom before you step into the next cutscene trigger. Even sections with few possible destinations are made to feel open by encouraging players to wander off into the weeds a bit, experiment with this or that job, go for a rare steal, try and learn some situationally valuable blue magic maybe.
That’s not to say that there’s no urgency to the affair, the storyline of FFV is basic, but effective. The initial act lays the groundwork of a patchwork group of adventurers who come together to look into why the world is unraveling at the elemental level, starting with wind disappearing entirely. Cutscenes across the game tend to last ~4-5 minutes max and sometimes feature only a handful of lines of dialogue, using pointed and meaningful lines to communicate a lot quickly. Though there is a twist or two to be found here, the story mostly sticks to the basics, instead embellishing its world with interesting dungeons and implied lore. Who built this giant floating mechanical fortress? What kind of magic is animating the books in this library? Naturally, I had grown quite attached to a number of characters by the ending, but a large part of that is due to how FFV so smartly intertwines its story with its mechanics.
FFV’s mechanics are defined by its job system, probably one of the most prolific things about it and a system that has seen many different iterations and variations since (and before really, see: FFIII), even outside of Final Fantasy. It’s easy to see why. It’s a versatile system with plenty of opportunities for personalized strategies and player expression. It’s such a simple but elegant way of letting players take ownership of these characters, to really customize them over the course of the game and make them feel unique. Jobs grant characters unique and useful abilities, heavily dictate stats, and even determine the type of gear a character can use. But importantly, they take a lot of investment to really squeeze the juice out of them, meaning it pays to plan ahead and commit to who masters which jobs, striking a balance between ability coverage (everyone is decent at everything) and specialization (everyone has a specific role they’re suited for).
The designers also had the confidence to keep these characters in your roster for the entire game (barring some minor exceptions), a decision that pays off twofold by having players grow attached mechanically while also serving the narrative of this group of 4 adventurers united in a common goal. Instead of trying to top FFIV’s varied roster of colorful characters, V instead prunes the cast down to a few solid archetypes that are characterized not only by snappy and efficient cutscenes, but also by their mechanical functions. For example, I knew Lenna had the best base stats for a magic user and also wanted to get ahead of the inevitable need for a Black Mage, however this investment meant I had a hole in the roster for a healer, and I opted to start training the gruff pirate Faris as a White Mage. This decision, made out of practicality, ended up endearing me to Faris as an outwardly callous person who nevertheless nurtures a soft side for healing, especially as she grew into the role and became more acquainted with the group. The game is littered with these kinds of mechanics as narrative, where FFIV was content to simply deliver the narrative to you.
I found the real secret sauce of FFV to be its encounter design. Part of this is the way it pushes the envelope in the ways it can portray a wide variety of situations in its combat system. Sure, 90% of the time combat encounters are just that, combat focused, but sometimes you run into A Character, someone shouting at you from the other side of the battle, or a creature with a specific agenda. You’ll run into enemy soldiers all too eager to flee from the burning building you’re both in, or machines that scan your party and dole out spells that target them based on their current level. You’ll even run into one of Final Fantasy’s most infamous characters during a certain battle on a certain bridge of a certain size. The enemies may not have the character of an SMT bestiary, but they’re able to express themselves in ways that make them feel like more than just stepping blocks to acquiring power as you progress.
The other part of the encounter design is the meticulousness shown by the designers in giving so many enemies unique characteristics like valuable rare steal items, or blue magic, or specific weaknesses that can allow a prudent decision in job choice to essentially “solve” a dungeon. One of my favorite examples of this was learning a new song for the Bard job that doles out extra damage to undead enemies. I had mostly dismissed the job up until this point but decided to give it a try, especially since the Bard’s ability can fulfill the same utility as a number of spells, but without the MP cost. This decision made the following dungeon a cakewalk for me, demonstrating the usefulness of a Bard as they stopped, confused, and eventually slayed enemies with ease. These kinds of little enemy details made it so I was constantly referring to the built-in bestiary to see how I wanted to approach extended sections, and it made me feel clever when a bit of grinding for a good item paid off and led to a bounding leap for my DPS output, or a piece of equipment with unexpected properties.
Minor spoilers for the finale of the game, but the jobs being functions of the crystal shards you spend the early game gathering leads to one of the most satisfying integrations of mechanics as narrative I can think of in recent memory. After you defeat the final boss the world finds itself coming apart at the seams, and it is through the reforming of the 4 elemental crystals that stability and peace are restored. It’s not explicitly stated (Bartz says something like “Oh wow the shards still had some energy left in them”), but it can be inferred that it was the development of your party’s jobs, the AP you poured into those shards, that re-energized them and allowed the reborn world to prosper. This revelation coupled with some truly deft (though some may say underdeveloped, I quite like the brevity) character work, had me walking away from the game with a song in my heart.
Some final notable things I want to call out, the music is of course extremely good, filled to the brim with classics and enhanced with arrangements made for this Pixel Remaster. I didn’t use them often but I love difficulty adjustment options like being able to turn off encounters or double EXP gain. I also appreciate the aggressive auto save feature, because I sure died a lot! FFV is an RPG that respects your intelligence, and it will put you through the ringer if you aren’t bringing your A game.
When the credits had finally rolled I started to seriously consider that FFV might be my new favorite entry in the entire series, having played 1-4, 7, 10, 13, and 15 extensively. The way it grants so much latitude to a player in terms of strategies while also constantly putting forth varied and challenging scenarios engaged me on a level I simply haven’t been with another FF title, and the way it uses its mechanics to augment its story also endeared me like few others. FFV is an absolute cornerstone of the RPG genre, a truly classic title that marries form and function like few other games.
Jogava bastante quando era muleque, agora rejogando ainda continua tão bom quanto. Achei ele o mais engraçado da franquia intencionalmente ou não, n faço idéiaKKKKKK
I feel you have to be in the right mindset for this game. Coming after IV but before VI this game takes a more simpler approach to its story in a similar vein to FFI and FFIII being a gameplay evolution to those games as well, but with the main 4 characters not being blank slates, while also improving on the job system that still holds up really well today
There’s nothing wrong with telling a simpler story you just have to understand that going in, it’s a very cute little romp characters have cheeky moments and have little arcs that aren’t much but I wouldn’t call Mario rpg or paper Mario in depth on the writing department minus its humor but those are still great games.
the biggest surprise was Gilgamesh, a character I’ve met in other final fantasy games and I finally got to see his original game and theme and I didn’t expect it to be as good as it was
The battle on big bridge wasn’t just a cool theme but it was a really cool set piece and Gilgamesh arguably has more of an arc than our main characters minus galuf, anytime Gil was on screen there was a smile on my face and no wonder they love bringing him back in later entires
If you wanna know my opinion on other characters
Bartz is fine
Lenna is cute if not flat
Farris is really cool and my personal fav despite
Galuf being better written
And kyrile is kinda eh for me but I’d be hard pressed to say I HATE any of them the games not trying to be FFIV which while one of my favorites in the series especially for its characters is fine and works especially for an anthology series you just have to know that going into this game
Don’t get me wrong either I personally prefer my games with a narrative focus especially my RPGs but I’m fine with them doing something more light hearted and simple especially when the gameplay is this solid.
This game doesn’t require you to be an insane person who loves grinding for stupidly busted builds in rpgs, but being that is super fun and rewarding for me when I can make my characters basically gods because the games mechanics being able to mix and match job abilities with no consequence unlike FFIII really does wonders to player freedom
While still being a balanced game to still have challenge for the player the game wants you to try things be flexible try a different setup if you get stuck in an area, and it’s not too different from just changing your party in a rpg where characters are set classes. But giving players that control is fun. Hell there were jobs I didn’t even use but I’ll be sure to use them next time just to experiment and that’s where the fun is.
It felt rewarding collecting songs for bard and summons for summoner with secret fights
While not my FAVORITE FF game id argue its objectively solid
There’s nothing wrong with telling a simpler story you just have to understand that going in, it’s a very cute little romp characters have cheeky moments and have little arcs that aren’t much but I wouldn’t call Mario rpg or paper Mario in depth on the writing department minus its humor but those are still great games.
the biggest surprise was Gilgamesh, a character I’ve met in other final fantasy games and I finally got to see his original game and theme and I didn’t expect it to be as good as it was
The battle on big bridge wasn’t just a cool theme but it was a really cool set piece and Gilgamesh arguably has more of an arc than our main characters minus galuf, anytime Gil was on screen there was a smile on my face and no wonder they love bringing him back in later entires
If you wanna know my opinion on other characters
Bartz is fine
Lenna is cute if not flat
Farris is really cool and my personal fav despite
Galuf being better written
And kyrile is kinda eh for me but I’d be hard pressed to say I HATE any of them the games not trying to be FFIV which while one of my favorites in the series especially for its characters is fine and works especially for an anthology series you just have to know that going into this game
Don’t get me wrong either I personally prefer my games with a narrative focus especially my RPGs but I’m fine with them doing something more light hearted and simple especially when the gameplay is this solid.
This game doesn’t require you to be an insane person who loves grinding for stupidly busted builds in rpgs, but being that is super fun and rewarding for me when I can make my characters basically gods because the games mechanics being able to mix and match job abilities with no consequence unlike FFIII really does wonders to player freedom
While still being a balanced game to still have challenge for the player the game wants you to try things be flexible try a different setup if you get stuck in an area, and it’s not too different from just changing your party in a rpg where characters are set classes. But giving players that control is fun. Hell there were jobs I didn’t even use but I’ll be sure to use them next time just to experiment and that’s where the fun is.
It felt rewarding collecting songs for bard and summons for summoner with secret fights
While not my FAVORITE FF game id argue its objectively solid
After the very good Final Fantasy IV, which is currently my favourite part of the Classic era (part 6 is still on my To-Play-list), I was quite disappointed with the sequel. Even though the main characters in Final Fantasy V are no longer blank slates like in the early games, they seem rather flat in comparison to Cecil, Kain, Rydia, Rosa and the rest. Despite their relationships, there is never any real chemistry between the characters. The story about a shattered world, war and, for the first time, exploitation by humans is really neat. But even if that doesn't quite reach the level of the story in part four, it's still really good. What Final Fantasy V does really well is the revised job system. This time we can change jobs at any time, level them up and the clever thing is that we can still use the skills we have mastered in a job even if we are assigned a different main job. For example, we can let Lenna practise some white magic first and then let her become a dragoon later, but still let her heal alongside Jump. This makes the set and skills we have at hand incredibly dynamic and allows us to switch skills from time to time to face a dungeon or a special boss with a different tactic. The combat is almost identical to its predecessor and once again utilises the ATB system with all its strengths and weaknesses. I'm still not a fan, as it sometimes makes battles unnecessarily hectic so that you avoid giving your opponent a devastating attack. And again, game number 5 has a problem with bosses that wipe the floor with you out of nowhere. It's fine if an opponent is challenging, but if you can barely react because he's attacking your entire team as a counter with four-digit points of damage, it's annoying. There is often a tactic (don't attack with a certain element because it triggers a strong attack or attack everyone at the same time, etc.) but you usually only find out in the fight with 20% HP remaining. If you're lucky, you'll manage to heal up again and memorise the gimmick. The last bosses in particular are a real struggle, as is typical of the genre, and to be honest this was the first time I had to grind. On the other hand, the dungeons are once again wonderfully and variedly designed and also have occasional puzzles. The story is okay to good and after the pacing gets out of hand around the halfway point, the last third in particular manages to add a lot of tension and urgency with huge stakes after a fateful twist. Final Fantasy V is still a good game, but in my opinion, it's the weakest of the SNES era so far. And as far as I've heard about the sixth game, it will remain so. But I stay curious until then.
Fine game. Basically FF III with more airtime.
The job system is interesting at first, but requires you to get into meta gaming near the end of the game when it gets properly hard. Some will love this, but I'm not very much into min-maxing and trying to break the game with the flexibility of the job system.
Characters can be a bit bland but some are very charismatic like Bartz and Galuf. The plot is a bit overdone for me at this point, very classic crystal saga with the warriors of light, with not enough character development to make up for it. The Exdeath splinter scene was a bit too silly, IMO.
Music is great as always. The overworld theme, Lenna's theme, final fight theme are all great pieces, just to name a few.
The job system is interesting at first, but requires you to get into meta gaming near the end of the game when it gets properly hard. Some will love this, but I'm not very much into min-maxing and trying to break the game with the flexibility of the job system.
Characters can be a bit bland but some are very charismatic like Bartz and Galuf. The plot is a bit overdone for me at this point, very classic crystal saga with the warriors of light, with not enough character development to make up for it. The Exdeath splinter scene was a bit too silly, IMO.
Music is great as always. The overworld theme, Lenna's theme, final fight theme are all great pieces, just to name a few.
I tend to enjoy the older FF games that allow me to change my team's jobs. I like to switch and experiment, rather than a character set in stone. There are 22 jobs in total to collect. While it's fun to gather, 22 is A LOT. There's a few that aren't really helpful/fun to use. You will most likely only use them for achievement purposes.
One good news is that this Pixel Remaster game finally figured out how to hide the mouse cursor! I also enjoyed that magic is cast immediately. (Take that FFIV.) The characters actually attempted to use spells in story cut scenes, like Cure and Raise. Instead of you know, uselessly watching and shrugging.
I didn't understand how "Flee" worked. The majority of the time, your character couldn't get away and suffered hits from the enemy. It was better to fight, instead of "saving time" to flee. I wish I knew what stat, if any, was related to that.
I realize the initial release makes this 30 years old, but I still found the antagonist silly. There's no reason to have any writing where the "bad guy" is so OP with multiple opportunities to make quick work of our heroes but then never kills them off. We're knocked out, helpless, but this bad dude is like, "I'll finish you off later." WHY? Just do it now???? He's literally described as a "being of pure evil" but conveniently never kills us. It's silly. This isn't the first media with this trope but I can't take the antagonist seriously when they pull a Dr. Evil and assume it all went to plan.
Best characters hands down were the sassy turtle and sweet, baby GIlgamesh.
One good news is that this Pixel Remaster game finally figured out how to hide the mouse cursor! I also enjoyed that magic is cast immediately. (Take that FFIV.) The characters actually attempted to use spells in story cut scenes, like Cure and Raise. Instead of you know, uselessly watching and shrugging.
I didn't understand how "Flee" worked. The majority of the time, your character couldn't get away and suffered hits from the enemy. It was better to fight, instead of "saving time" to flee. I wish I knew what stat, if any, was related to that.
I realize the initial release makes this 30 years old, but I still found the antagonist silly. There's no reason to have any writing where the "bad guy" is so OP with multiple opportunities to make quick work of our heroes but then never kills them off. We're knocked out, helpless, but this bad dude is like, "I'll finish you off later." WHY? Just do it now???? He's literally described as a "being of pure evil" but conveniently never kills us. It's silly. This isn't the first media with this trope but I can't take the antagonist seriously when they pull a Dr. Evil and assume it all went to plan.
Best characters hands down were the sassy turtle and sweet, baby GIlgamesh.
Dual Wield + RapidFire is so good they just made it Bartz's canon special attack in Dissidia.
This is it. This is the one.
Absolutely fantastic game with a fantastic system and fantastic characters. It doesn't have an incredibly complex multi-layered story because it doesn't need one. Sometimes all you need is a solid plot with great, believable characters, and voila, one of gaming's masterpieces.
It takes everything FFIII tried (and failed miserably at) and refines it to the highest degree yet. There is so much variety in what you can do, and nothing feels inviable. Leveling jobs works the way you would expect it to, and you're incentivized to play around and learn the systems and how to make it the best for you. Coming off of FFIV fun was not something I expected from playing this.
The difficulty curve is there, but it's not nearly as bad as some people say. It just requires a little bit of thinking and tinkering with the jobs. I ended up beating the two superbosses without any grinding outside of job xp for one class, and didn't have much trouble with either (5 retries is not bad at all for the hardest one). It rewards the player for thinking outside the box and creating their own dream team, so I would guess if you stay in your comfort zone and don't mix and match classes it can get tough.
The characters are great. All of them feel like genuine people instead of "I'm the mage guy, I'm the monk guy, I'm the sword guy", which gives the game plenty of opportunities to have them interact and talk about things other than the plot or "I'm the wizard so let me cast spell!".
This makes it so you have a good understanding of each character and their personality, and it's something people usually take for granted, despite only FF2 getting characters right up to this point. There are several character events, some silly, some serious, it makes it feel like a real group of people going on a real adventure.
Not just that, but there's tons of NPCs you meet that are equally distinct and important. Gilgamesh being the most famous one, and I can definitely see why. Not knowing why he was so famous, getting to encounter him throughout the game was a lovely surprise.
Then there's the main villain, Exdeath, which is a really simple evil villain. That's great! You don't need super complex motivations or five plot twists and three movies to try to explain why he's a bad guy, he's just a bad guy and that's it. Beat him up. Mind-blowing artwork for him, too.
Overall, I love this. The bar is set so incredibly high I can't wait to see what FF6 is going to do with it.
Absolutely fantastic game with a fantastic system and fantastic characters. It doesn't have an incredibly complex multi-layered story because it doesn't need one. Sometimes all you need is a solid plot with great, believable characters, and voila, one of gaming's masterpieces.
It takes everything FFIII tried (and failed miserably at) and refines it to the highest degree yet. There is so much variety in what you can do, and nothing feels inviable. Leveling jobs works the way you would expect it to, and you're incentivized to play around and learn the systems and how to make it the best for you. Coming off of FFIV fun was not something I expected from playing this.
The difficulty curve is there, but it's not nearly as bad as some people say. It just requires a little bit of thinking and tinkering with the jobs. I ended up beating the two superbosses without any grinding outside of job xp for one class, and didn't have much trouble with either (5 retries is not bad at all for the hardest one). It rewards the player for thinking outside the box and creating their own dream team, so I would guess if you stay in your comfort zone and don't mix and match classes it can get tough.
The characters are great. All of them feel like genuine people instead of "I'm the mage guy, I'm the monk guy, I'm the sword guy", which gives the game plenty of opportunities to have them interact and talk about things other than the plot or "I'm the wizard so let me cast spell!".
This makes it so you have a good understanding of each character and their personality, and it's something people usually take for granted, despite only FF2 getting characters right up to this point. There are several character events, some silly, some serious, it makes it feel like a real group of people going on a real adventure.
Not just that, but there's tons of NPCs you meet that are equally distinct and important. Gilgamesh being the most famous one, and I can definitely see why. Not knowing why he was so famous, getting to encounter him throughout the game was a lovely surprise.
Then there's the main villain, Exdeath, which is a really simple evil villain. That's great! You don't need super complex motivations or five plot twists and three movies to try to explain why he's a bad guy, he's just a bad guy and that's it. Beat him up. Mind-blowing artwork for him, too.
Overall, I love this. The bar is set so incredibly high I can't wait to see what FF6 is going to do with it.
The pacing was quite off and the game is too long for my liking but god damn once you understand the job system it's so much fun, especially near the end when you have mastered a couple of them and can use freelancers to their fullest ability.
This one also has my favourite final dungeon in the series thus far (1 thru 5)
This one also has my favourite final dungeon in the series thus far (1 thru 5)
Tons of fun. The story is in focus here, and it's actually funny in a way games rarely are. They refined the "heroic sacrifice" in this entry, and--importantly--they limit it to one character.
The job system is deep and intuitive, and could be very fun to replay with different combinations in the future (looking at you, Four-Job Fiesta).
I still don't love ATB, but FF has always wanted to be more action-focused than its counterparts, so I begrudgingly accept it.
The job system is deep and intuitive, and could be very fun to replay with different combinations in the future (looking at you, Four-Job Fiesta).
I still don't love ATB, but FF has always wanted to be more action-focused than its counterparts, so I begrudgingly accept it.
Não foi o melhor final fantasy que já joguei, mas também não foi o pior (sim eu estou falando de você, FFIV After Years).
Final Fantasy V é... esquisito. Apesar de todos os elementos que fazem FF ser um FF estarem ali, como os cristais, os heróis, o mundo se acabando, a narrativa crescendo, etc, ele insiste em inserir um humor extremamente bobinho na narrativa que faz o jogo ficar com um ar de "aventura da sessão da tarde."; As vezes essa vibe até funciona, acho que apenas poderia ser mais bem dosada.
Um dos melhores momentos da narrativa é uma briga entre o grande vilão e uma.... tartaruga. É esse o tipo de bobeira que constantemente se mostra presente na narrativa kkkk
Dito isto, a narrativa é um pouco rasa. Não há muito desenvolvimento de personagem, nem grandes reviravoltas. As coisas apenas meio que vão acontecendo. Mas funciona. Como falei anteriormente, não foi o melhor, não foi o pior.
Mas o que o jogo deixa a desejar no quesito narrativo, ele certamente entrega em qualidade na trilha sonora e no sistema de jobs.
As músicas desse Final Fantasy são coisa de outro mundo. Temos Battle on The Big Bridge é um marco de final fantasy, e segue sendo usada até hoje de tão boa que é, e também o tema da Lenna, que é uma das músicas mais lindas que já tive o prazer de escutar. Nobuo mais uma vez mostra que é um gênio na criação de músicas.
Quanto ao sistema de Jobs, fiquei um pouco resistente no começo por ter muitas opções, visto que cada personagem pode usar todas as classes, mas no final do jogo já estava completamente viciado em masterizar o máximo de jobs possíveis. Muito recompensador e acho que gera uma mudança de gameplay ao longo do jogo que é muito positiva.
Ao contrário do que me disseram, eu diria que vale SIM a pena jogar Final Fantasy V, porém, não recomendaria como seu primeiro Final Fantasy.
É um jogo divertido e com uma mudança de vibe bem vinda pra quem jogou os jogos anteriores em sequência, mas fica um pouco longe do que normalmente esperamos, ao menos narrativamente, de um FF.
Final Fantasy V é... esquisito. Apesar de todos os elementos que fazem FF ser um FF estarem ali, como os cristais, os heróis, o mundo se acabando, a narrativa crescendo, etc, ele insiste em inserir um humor extremamente bobinho na narrativa que faz o jogo ficar com um ar de "aventura da sessão da tarde."; As vezes essa vibe até funciona, acho que apenas poderia ser mais bem dosada.
Um dos melhores momentos da narrativa é uma briga entre o grande vilão e uma.... tartaruga. É esse o tipo de bobeira que constantemente se mostra presente na narrativa kkkk
Dito isto, a narrativa é um pouco rasa. Não há muito desenvolvimento de personagem, nem grandes reviravoltas. As coisas apenas meio que vão acontecendo. Mas funciona. Como falei anteriormente, não foi o melhor, não foi o pior.
Mas o que o jogo deixa a desejar no quesito narrativo, ele certamente entrega em qualidade na trilha sonora e no sistema de jobs.
As músicas desse Final Fantasy são coisa de outro mundo. Temos Battle on The Big Bridge é um marco de final fantasy, e segue sendo usada até hoje de tão boa que é, e também o tema da Lenna, que é uma das músicas mais lindas que já tive o prazer de escutar. Nobuo mais uma vez mostra que é um gênio na criação de músicas.
Quanto ao sistema de Jobs, fiquei um pouco resistente no começo por ter muitas opções, visto que cada personagem pode usar todas as classes, mas no final do jogo já estava completamente viciado em masterizar o máximo de jobs possíveis. Muito recompensador e acho que gera uma mudança de gameplay ao longo do jogo que é muito positiva.
Ao contrário do que me disseram, eu diria que vale SIM a pena jogar Final Fantasy V, porém, não recomendaria como seu primeiro Final Fantasy.
É um jogo divertido e com uma mudança de vibe bem vinda pra quem jogou os jogos anteriores em sequência, mas fica um pouco longe do que normalmente esperamos, ao menos narrativamente, de um FF.
hoooo boy i was kind of afraid i'd have this opinion
whenever a game in a really big franchise like this is well liked by some hardcore fans but never really picked up by audiences at large it makes me concerned, because you know there's a reason why that entry never took off. final fantasy v is that game and now i get why it isn't more popular.
obv there's a lot to enjoy here. music is gorgeous, story is fun, there's a few EXCELLENT characters, and the game is massive in scope compared to every game before this. still, ultimately you have a game with a worse story, cast, setting, and general visuals than the game which precedes it. what is the draw here exactly? gameplay! lets talk about it lol
final fantasy v is defined by its job system and sometimes it works, too often for me it felt lacking though. there's just so much trial and error gameplay where you'll enter encounters which have very specific requirements for what sort of abilities you need to clear them with no way of knowing until the encounter begins. if things go well then cool, otherwise instant game over or potentially prepare for a long and obnoxious struggle to victory. and on that note, more than any other final fantasy game i've played, the amount of shit going on in this game which imposes no challenge or test other than that of my patience is obnoxious. idk why half of every monster formation towards the game's conclusion needed a confuse ability goodness gracious. anyway, there are certainly times when it can be fun to figure out some killer job abilities that just obliterate whatever the task at hand is, and i'm sure whenever i replay this game with all the information i know now i'll have a quite different experience, but i think a lot of the game design here was a little too trial-and-error-y for my tastes
i think final fantasy xii and x-2 spoiled me with their job systems. random note but i was surprised how easy the final boss was here, after all the nonsense to get to him lol.
anyway when in doubt remember to fall in love or something you might learn a thing or two about yourself
whenever a game in a really big franchise like this is well liked by some hardcore fans but never really picked up by audiences at large it makes me concerned, because you know there's a reason why that entry never took off. final fantasy v is that game and now i get why it isn't more popular.
obv there's a lot to enjoy here. music is gorgeous, story is fun, there's a few EXCELLENT characters, and the game is massive in scope compared to every game before this. still, ultimately you have a game with a worse story, cast, setting, and general visuals than the game which precedes it. what is the draw here exactly? gameplay! lets talk about it lol
final fantasy v is defined by its job system and sometimes it works, too often for me it felt lacking though. there's just so much trial and error gameplay where you'll enter encounters which have very specific requirements for what sort of abilities you need to clear them with no way of knowing until the encounter begins. if things go well then cool, otherwise instant game over or potentially prepare for a long and obnoxious struggle to victory. and on that note, more than any other final fantasy game i've played, the amount of shit going on in this game which imposes no challenge or test other than that of my patience is obnoxious. idk why half of every monster formation towards the game's conclusion needed a confuse ability goodness gracious. anyway, there are certainly times when it can be fun to figure out some killer job abilities that just obliterate whatever the task at hand is, and i'm sure whenever i replay this game with all the information i know now i'll have a quite different experience, but i think a lot of the game design here was a little too trial-and-error-y for my tastes
i think final fantasy xii and x-2 spoiled me with their job systems. random note but i was surprised how easy the final boss was here, after all the nonsense to get to him lol.
anyway when in doubt remember to fall in love or something you might learn a thing or two about yourself
Definitely the best in the franchise so far. It was the first game that I was actually enjoying up until the end. The job system is fun to mess around with, it just took me way too long to understand how to properly use it. I'd recommend this one to a newcomer, at least from what little of the series I've played so far.
However, this game's final boss is unreasonably hard, I wasn't able to beat it. It sucks cuz it really brought my enjoyment of the game as a whole down.
However, this game's final boss is unreasonably hard, I wasn't able to beat it. It sucks cuz it really brought my enjoyment of the game as a whole down.
We love you our shining star Exdeath
It's not a bad game, but it does have a lot of flaws. That said, let's start with the positives. The game looks and sounds great. It also has a pretty charming story, although there's not much to it. The job system is also very cool, even though I didn't use it to its fullest potential. There's a lot you can do with the various classes. That's my problem with this game though: It has so much potential, but doesn't go anywhere with it. The story is laughably thin. You'd think the story would be more substantial, considering it's a SNES Final Fantasy game, but it's barely there. This is especially disappointing, coming from FFIV. Heck, the main villain is called Exdeath. It's so ridiculously stupid. When I first started the game, I was loving it, with pirate ships, adventure and whatnot. I was excited to see the story evolve, but it's a typical, bland cartoony story.
Then there's the pacing. It takes a dive in the second half. The game starts to feel bloated and keeps going on and on after a while, making you wonder when it's going to stop. Not only that, but the game is filled with gimmick bosses. A lot of the time, I was overleveled with good gear, but I still couldn't beat certain bosses. Ahh, but there's a trick to this boss. He attacks you every time you use physical attacks, or he can only be damaged by magic and so on. Felt like so many of the bosses didn't take any skill, you just had to know the right gimmick to take them down. This is pretty disappointing when Final Fantasy bosses have always been great in the sense that you feel like the whole team is coming together with good equipment, taking down bosses, giving you a satisfying feeling, but instead, you just have to find out the gimmick. A lot of bosses were annoying like that.
All in all, not a bad game, but certainly one of the weaker Final Fantasy games. Get it during a sale if you want to try out the cool job system, just don't expect a deep story like in IV or VI.
Then there's the pacing. It takes a dive in the second half. The game starts to feel bloated and keeps going on and on after a while, making you wonder when it's going to stop. Not only that, but the game is filled with gimmick bosses. A lot of the time, I was overleveled with good gear, but I still couldn't beat certain bosses. Ahh, but there's a trick to this boss. He attacks you every time you use physical attacks, or he can only be damaged by magic and so on. Felt like so many of the bosses didn't take any skill, you just had to know the right gimmick to take them down. This is pretty disappointing when Final Fantasy bosses have always been great in the sense that you feel like the whole team is coming together with good equipment, taking down bosses, giving you a satisfying feeling, but instead, you just have to find out the gimmick. A lot of bosses were annoying like that.
All in all, not a bad game, but certainly one of the weaker Final Fantasy games. Get it during a sale if you want to try out the cool job system, just don't expect a deep story like in IV or VI.
Ridiculously hard and I am here for it
THE VOID!!!!!
Honestly, a huge letdown after 4.
Got to the point where you leave Bartz world and just have zero desire to continue.
Got to the point where you leave Bartz world and just have zero desire to continue.
My expectations were certainly heightened after Final Fantasy IV, and unfortunately, this didn't really meet them. The story was just... fine, and the world wasn't really interesting in the same way. The job system was more developed than in FFIII, but I still didn't find it that satisfying. It didn't really come together until the endgame where you are basically forced to min-max jobs and abilities, and it was more annoying to me than anything, although that may just be me preferring characters being connected to jobs in traditional turn based jrpgs.
It was still good, still Final Fantasy. But I definitely did rush through the end. I think this one is appropriately rated: good, but it doesn't compare to IV.
It was still good, still Final Fantasy. But I definitely did rush through the end. I think this one is appropriately rated: good, but it doesn't compare to IV.
Overall a fairly good experience throughout, with some issues that don't really get resolved. The story was a shorter and simpler story compared to other games in the series. The characters have some development, but feel somewhat one-note for the most part. Most characters only have a few defining characteristics, which leads to them being somewhat interesting, but also to them feeling underdeveloped by the end. While I appreciated the uniqueness of the combat system at first, it grows old by the end with the slow-paced leveling for jobs well into the second act. Many enemies would still give the bare minimum ABP for increasing job level, making learning multiple jobs annoying without using the Pixel Remaster menu that boosts ABP earned in battles. Even then, some abilities require insane amounts of ABP to obtain. The last ability for Red Mage costs 999 ABP to get, and while it is a really good ability, I honestly don't see anyone getting that without dedicated grinding. While the job system does leave a lot of room to customize your group throughout the game, I was disappointed to see that physical fighters seemed to have one strong set-up (dual-wield, spellblade, rapid fire) and not much else. Mages have more options, with solid jobs like White, Black, Time, and Blue Mages, as well as Summoner. While I do think the system is innovative on the job system from the first and third games in the series, I still see it as lacking in strong options later on, and the pacing for upgrades is really not that good. In spite of this, the game was still pretty fun overall. The strong options, while a bit limited in quantity, are cool and fun to use. There are some interesting boss fights throughout the game with unique mechanics, which is cool to see. The music was honestly great, and the pacing of the story was solid until the third act (kinda just becomes confusing on where to go at that point).
Absurd, enormous, titanic. It took us a looooong time, but we finally have a "definitive" version of one of the best games in the series, and one of the most fun rpgs of all time - the possibility to earn as much as 4x the ABP allows even greater experimentation with the all-time great job system. On this playthrough, I even found out that a bard can be very useful. A bard! Absurd.
You can break the game at your leisure, with scandalous combos like the classic Rapid Fire + Dual Wield, and Spellblade + anything really (Dance has some RNG involved, but it's also a deadly combination).
Or make a challenging playthrough where you restrict what jobs you can use, such as the popular Four Job Fiesta challenge. It's all up to you.
On top of that, what the story lacks in nuance or depth, it delivers on an insane amount of charm and even humour. Ghido is one of the most entertaining characters in the franchise, and Exdeath just chews the scenery anytime he's on screen - the fucker is a sentient evil tree that turns into a splinter at one point of the story, it's truly glorious. Keep your villains with elaborate backstories and "sympathetic" motivations, I sometimes miss just having a douchebag that's evil just because.
This version also offers the best renditions of some of the series' most iconic tracks, such as Dear Friends (this version actually gave me goosebumps), Battle on the Big Bridge, and the best ending theme of Final Fantasy just got better.
The only negative thing I can say is that playing this made me truly sad that this is somehow the last time a mainline FF featured the job system. That is insane to me.
You can break the game at your leisure, with scandalous combos like the classic Rapid Fire + Dual Wield, and Spellblade + anything really (Dance has some RNG involved, but it's also a deadly combination).
Or make a challenging playthrough where you restrict what jobs you can use, such as the popular Four Job Fiesta challenge. It's all up to you.
On top of that, what the story lacks in nuance or depth, it delivers on an insane amount of charm and even humour. Ghido is one of the most entertaining characters in the franchise, and Exdeath just chews the scenery anytime he's on screen - the fucker is a sentient evil tree that turns into a splinter at one point of the story, it's truly glorious. Keep your villains with elaborate backstories and "sympathetic" motivations, I sometimes miss just having a douchebag that's evil just because.
This version also offers the best renditions of some of the series' most iconic tracks, such as Dear Friends (this version actually gave me goosebumps), Battle on the Big Bridge, and the best ending theme of Final Fantasy just got better.
The only negative thing I can say is that playing this made me truly sad that this is somehow the last time a mainline FF featured the job system. That is insane to me.
Oh boy. this game is hard to rate as it has many ups and downs. I wouldn't say that this game is better than 4 or even 3 but it's a unique experience i still consider worth playing. Many of the games problems stem from its gameplay rather than its story. This game took me over 10 more hours to finish than the other ff games and not for a good reason either. The game has a multi hour long segment in the end that feels like padding. You have to collect the 4 mcguffin tablets to unlock the 12 sacredly awesome weapons. I can't help but feel that this is a step back from ff3 where the awesome weapons were in an optional dungeon you could choose to skip. Its not even like theres a lot of story going on during the mcguffin collection its just filler. The games difficulty curve is all over the place. you will destroy enemies in previous areas only to go to the next one and suddenly get destroyed for no apparent reason. The biggest issue with the gameplay I feel is the ability points system. It's cool in theory and in practice but the thing that makes it a slog is just how slowly you get given the stuff. I mean for the majority of the game battles will give you at max 4 and often times 1 and when the games enjoyment hinges on getting cool abilities it can be a massive slog. The big problem as well is that later on in the game you start fighting enemies with extremely specific ways to kill them. If you didnt invest in the right class before these moments you have to GRIND to get the right ability to kill that enemy easier. This problem could've been solved by 1. making ABP easier to obtain overall and 2. Designing the enemies so they have many equally valid ways to defeat them without brute forcing them via grinding. overall i think this game is exactly middle of the road in my rating of these games so far. It's better than ff1 and especially ff2 but it has at times severe gameplay issues that hold it back which I believe makes it worse than ff3 and ff4.
Let start here: Exdeath and Gilgamesh are endless charismatic and memorable villains. Gilgamesh utterly silly writing and his squirming when losing is endlessly entertaining . It’s great that for the second half of the game that when you deal with the main villains , you are just getting great amusement. What makes Exdeath great is his interactions with the world in World 2 & 3.
These two are part of what’s mostly a silly lighthearted romp. Like an actual scene has Exdeath pop out of a twig and fight a sentient turtle. This game does not have much seriousness in its body. There is one boss fight that require the team to like Wiley Coyote create a rope across a cliff as part of the boss introduction . There’s a search in a library, and Barts looks up asses . This game is goofy. In general what this tone does is that it makes it hard to connect to the characters , but Faris , Galuf and Krile standout in great story flourishing moments .
The levity is paired with a job system that has barely aged. This job system has a legacy in some of my fave games and it’s impressive how it opens up strategies and fights. You raise job classes to learn skills which you can add to other jobs and switch around. It feels limiting at first especially because you can only carry one skill. The combos and synergy doesn’t feel wide ranging but man later on it just becomes impressive. Other games allow you to stack more skills so on face value , it feels weak but specifically how the freelancer class works in combination with this systems is where my eyes opened. The freelances gain both the passive skills of the class you mastered and the stats, which allows so much freedom in who your characters are at the endgame! It’s so dizzying . I wish there was a bit more class variety but I think the next time I play, I will challenge myself to seek more utility in the ones I avoided. This is the first time I really pushed my blue mage , and I was thoroughly impressed, speaks to the systems if I felt that learning the skills was truly worth it. I do wish that some bosses didn’t seem easier with magic too or that more physical attacks hit all enemies, battles with statues that can only be beaten by defeating simultaneously becomes a pain without magic.
What’s really holding this back though? Locations. Phantom Village is incredible, it’s lore driven and used brilliantly twice. The dungeons ? The other towns? They are nice and the game has different world visits to try to make them memorable through different versions. But I would say it didn’t accomplish making them memorable . Although, shout outs to the Library of the Ancients though!
Musically it’s great, but I’m only pulling two tracks from here into my personal pantheon of JRPG music (EXDEATH THEME IS BANGING). Also as an aside, if you love pets, this might be the best third best JRPG to really capture that feeling (DQV and the Pokémon franchise got it still). I was hyped to play this game as the ancestor to my fave games and I even see it in the non Bravely games, like FF 9 def has a lot from here, and while I am not confident in saying it has the chutzpah to dethrone my personal faves, I am enthusiastic about this experience. It’s great to see the fore-bearer hold up to its legacy games.
These two are part of what’s mostly a silly lighthearted romp. Like an actual scene has Exdeath pop out of a twig and fight a sentient turtle. This game does not have much seriousness in its body. There is one boss fight that require the team to like Wiley Coyote create a rope across a cliff as part of the boss introduction . There’s a search in a library, and Barts looks up asses . This game is goofy. In general what this tone does is that it makes it hard to connect to the characters , but Faris , Galuf and Krile standout in great story flourishing moments .
The levity is paired with a job system that has barely aged. This job system has a legacy in some of my fave games and it’s impressive how it opens up strategies and fights. You raise job classes to learn skills which you can add to other jobs and switch around. It feels limiting at first especially because you can only carry one skill. The combos and synergy doesn’t feel wide ranging but man later on it just becomes impressive. Other games allow you to stack more skills so on face value , it feels weak but specifically how the freelancer class works in combination with this systems is where my eyes opened. The freelances gain both the passive skills of the class you mastered and the stats, which allows so much freedom in who your characters are at the endgame! It’s so dizzying . I wish there was a bit more class variety but I think the next time I play, I will challenge myself to seek more utility in the ones I avoided. This is the first time I really pushed my blue mage , and I was thoroughly impressed, speaks to the systems if I felt that learning the skills was truly worth it. I do wish that some bosses didn’t seem easier with magic too or that more physical attacks hit all enemies, battles with statues that can only be beaten by defeating simultaneously becomes a pain without magic.
What’s really holding this back though? Locations. Phantom Village is incredible, it’s lore driven and used brilliantly twice. The dungeons ? The other towns? They are nice and the game has different world visits to try to make them memorable through different versions. But I would say it didn’t accomplish making them memorable . Although, shout outs to the Library of the Ancients though!
Musically it’s great, but I’m only pulling two tracks from here into my personal pantheon of JRPG music (EXDEATH THEME IS BANGING). Also as an aside, if you love pets, this might be the best third best JRPG to really capture that feeling (DQV and the Pokémon franchise got it still). I was hyped to play this game as the ancestor to my fave games and I even see it in the non Bravely games, like FF 9 def has a lot from here, and while I am not confident in saying it has the chutzpah to dethrone my personal faves, I am enthusiastic about this experience. It’s great to see the fore-bearer hold up to its legacy games.
The job system here is as good as everyone says, and yeah I hope they make mainline entries with this level of variety in jobs again.
The story itself is just fine, the characters are fun enough. Had a good time with this one.
The story itself is just fine, the characters are fun enough. Had a good time with this one.
Final Fantasy V is a collection of extremely high highs and several very irritating lows. In the same way that FFIV perfected what FFII tried, FFV is the full realization of everything FFI and FFIII attempted.
The story is simple—with a charismatic villain and a lovable cast—and the Job system from FFIII finally comes into its own, allowing you to build up your party in a thousand different ways.
The script is also incredible, heartfelt, and—at times—genuinely hilarious. It helps push the identity of this franchise even further into its own.
The main issue I have with this game is the difficulty curve: Right around the time you fight (minor spoiler) Atomos, the difficulty of encounters takes a massive jump. From that point on, many enemies have insta-kill gimmicks or other frustrating tactics that can make some dungeons pretty painful to get through.
Overall, I don't think FFV reaches the highs of its predecessor, but it's still an excellent experience that I'd recommend with little hesitation.
The story is simple—with a charismatic villain and a lovable cast—and the Job system from FFIII finally comes into its own, allowing you to build up your party in a thousand different ways.
The script is also incredible, heartfelt, and—at times—genuinely hilarious. It helps push the identity of this franchise even further into its own.
The main issue I have with this game is the difficulty curve: Right around the time you fight (minor spoiler) Atomos, the difficulty of encounters takes a massive jump. From that point on, many enemies have insta-kill gimmicks or other frustrating tactics that can make some dungeons pretty painful to get through.
Overall, I don't think FFV reaches the highs of its predecessor, but it's still an excellent experience that I'd recommend with little hesitation.
WHY HELLO THERE, my fellow Final Fantasy enjoyers, JRPG consumers, FF IV conquerors and gamers from all around the world
Upon defeating the spirit of raw hatred itself in Final Fantasy IV, I embark on my newest journey: sailing the Final Fantasy V seas as a Freelancer!
As the before installments, FF V is completely standalone and isolated from the previous Final Fantasy games.
As per the now established formula, some concepts are recurring: Chocobos, elemental Crystals, that one guy named Cid who really likes airships yada yada, you know the drill.
Yet again, we have a named cast, starting with our traveling protagonist Bartz and his chocobo companion Boko. Throughout the game you meet other charming characters like Galuf, Lena, Faris and Krile to build up your party. Their interactions are fun, and throughout the game a rather charming and endearing tone is set, much less grave, sad and melancholic like FF IV was. A welcome change, imo, after such a heavy game, a lighthearted one definitely works. Our new villain is a man in a tin suit that laughs in an exaggerated way and mocks the party at all times, unlike the practical Golbez of few words from IV. By the end you truly believe the Final Fantasy was the friends we made along the way with how charming Bartz being a doofus is, how Galuf breaks some tropes, how Gilgamesh keeps appearing (ARGH!), or how Faris' secret is revealed.
That doesn't mean the game is devoid of serious or sad moments, however. These moments are even more accentuated due to the lighthearted tone of the game, so when shit goes down, it really does. I think it is a good example of good storytelling and setting moods.
Gameplay & mechanics! The job system returns from FF III, along with the ATB system from FF IV. Personally, I rolled my eyes the moment I saw the job system but that feeling was quickly tossed aside: this time around, the system is much more improved, less gimmicky and more useful. The penalties for switching jobs are basically nonexistent so it feels a lot like the game encourages you to experiment with various jobs. Some abilities that you obtain by leveling up the job, can be used in the ability slot to use it outside the job, leading to wacky, practical or downright broken setups (Dualcast Summoner, looking at you). Rarely did I feel the need to use a specific job to progress, unlike FF III where some parts of the game were gated by using specific jobs for the boss battle or area.
As far as graphics go, FF V seems more colorful and vibrant compared to FF IV, most likely because the tone is lighter as well. The spritework is also good as expected of a Pixel Remaster entry. Every character has a different outfit for each job (which is very neat), ranging from cool to cute and some even being wacky. As usual, effects are the wildest and flashy.
Not much to say in this department that hasn't been said in previous entries, although it's a shame our protagonists this time around don't have portraits in the party menu.
Music! As usual, FF V gets a really neat soundtrack, remade with real instruments and fully faithful to the original SNES soundtrack. Some absolute bangers present in this entry. In no particular order, my favourites are: Battle at the Big Bridge, The Dawn Warriors, Reminiscence, Beyond the Deep Blue Sea, Sorrows of Parting, Slumber of Ancient Earth and very close to being my top favourite is The Final Battle, what a banger.
I personally recommend this entry in the Final Fantasy franchise. It was probably at this point where they finally nailed a perfect balance between wackiness and serious storytelling, with compelling character interactions and not just a melancholic story that you are looking forward to see unfold like IV along with a job system that encourages the players to experiment and find their own playstyle.
Give it a shot, it's fun.
[job changes to Monk and slices the review with Katana] see you in Final Fantasy VI, adventurer.
Upon defeating the spirit of raw hatred itself in Final Fantasy IV, I embark on my newest journey: sailing the Final Fantasy V seas as a Freelancer!
As the before installments, FF V is completely standalone and isolated from the previous Final Fantasy games.
As per the now established formula, some concepts are recurring: Chocobos, elemental Crystals, that one guy named Cid who really likes airships yada yada, you know the drill.
Yet again, we have a named cast, starting with our traveling protagonist Bartz and his chocobo companion Boko. Throughout the game you meet other charming characters like Galuf, Lena, Faris and Krile to build up your party. Their interactions are fun, and throughout the game a rather charming and endearing tone is set, much less grave, sad and melancholic like FF IV was. A welcome change, imo, after such a heavy game, a lighthearted one definitely works. Our new villain is a man in a tin suit that laughs in an exaggerated way and mocks the party at all times, unlike the practical Golbez of few words from IV. By the end you truly believe the Final Fantasy was the friends we made along the way with how charming Bartz being a doofus is, how Galuf breaks some tropes, how Gilgamesh keeps appearing (ARGH!), or how Faris' secret is revealed.
That doesn't mean the game is devoid of serious or sad moments, however. These moments are even more accentuated due to the lighthearted tone of the game, so when shit goes down, it really does. I think it is a good example of good storytelling and setting moods.
Gameplay & mechanics! The job system returns from FF III, along with the ATB system from FF IV. Personally, I rolled my eyes the moment I saw the job system but that feeling was quickly tossed aside: this time around, the system is much more improved, less gimmicky and more useful. The penalties for switching jobs are basically nonexistent so it feels a lot like the game encourages you to experiment with various jobs. Some abilities that you obtain by leveling up the job, can be used in the ability slot to use it outside the job, leading to wacky, practical or downright broken setups (Dualcast Summoner, looking at you). Rarely did I feel the need to use a specific job to progress, unlike FF III where some parts of the game were gated by using specific jobs for the boss battle or area.
As far as graphics go, FF V seems more colorful and vibrant compared to FF IV, most likely because the tone is lighter as well. The spritework is also good as expected of a Pixel Remaster entry. Every character has a different outfit for each job (which is very neat), ranging from cool to cute and some even being wacky. As usual, effects are the wildest and flashy.
Not much to say in this department that hasn't been said in previous entries, although it's a shame our protagonists this time around don't have portraits in the party menu.
Music! As usual, FF V gets a really neat soundtrack, remade with real instruments and fully faithful to the original SNES soundtrack. Some absolute bangers present in this entry. In no particular order, my favourites are: Battle at the Big Bridge, The Dawn Warriors, Reminiscence, Beyond the Deep Blue Sea, Sorrows of Parting, Slumber of Ancient Earth and very close to being my top favourite is The Final Battle, what a banger.
I personally recommend this entry in the Final Fantasy franchise. It was probably at this point where they finally nailed a perfect balance between wackiness and serious storytelling, with compelling character interactions and not just a melancholic story that you are looking forward to see unfold like IV along with a job system that encourages the players to experiment and find their own playstyle.
Give it a shot, it's fun.
[job changes to Monk and slices the review with Katana] see you in Final Fantasy VI, adventurer.
Wife’s Reaction:
“The increasing ridiculousness of the villain names is the only way I can track your progress through your multitude of pixelated games.”
Breaking the Crystal Ceiling:
I’m happy to say the Job System in Final Fantasy V lives up to the hype; it helps make the combat better than ever because of all the options available. I spent so much time swapping Jobs and optimizing each character. The Job System needs to return!
“The increasing ridiculousness of the villain names is the only way I can track your progress through your multitude of pixelated games.”
Breaking the Crystal Ceiling:
I’m happy to say the Job System in Final Fantasy V lives up to the hype; it helps make the combat better than ever because of all the options available. I spent so much time swapping Jobs and optimizing each character. The Job System needs to return!
Final Fantasy is one of the top 3 formative gaming series for me next to Mario and Zelda. FFV may be the first game in the series to capture the same sense of adventure that I felt playing the original FF on NES as a kid. The writing was quite charming, never takes itself too seriously, yet still delivers a really compelling narrative that belies its SNES roots. The music is also a high point, (spreading grand wings / home, sweet home / battle at big bridge)
The job system feels great, and is a natural iteration on the class selection of the OG FF. The game rewards experimentation and had so much fun seeing what combinations of abilities and equipment can basically break the game.
Maybe the one flaw I can find is that the MC is more of a proxy than a character, but even then all of the characters (playable and otherwise) have that extra attention to detail that adds to the game’s overall immersion. Ultimately I feel like the smaller cast plays to the strength of the writing. Few games give that ‘gamer high’ after experiencing a really fulfilling story, and this was not something I expected going into it.
Phenomenal game; hopefully people who are only going into the pixel remasters for IV and VI check this out.
The job system feels great, and is a natural iteration on the class selection of the OG FF. The game rewards experimentation and had so much fun seeing what combinations of abilities and equipment can basically break the game.
Maybe the one flaw I can find is that the MC is more of a proxy than a character, but even then all of the characters (playable and otherwise) have that extra attention to detail that adds to the game’s overall immersion. Ultimately I feel like the smaller cast plays to the strength of the writing. Few games give that ‘gamer high’ after experiencing a really fulfilling story, and this was not something I expected going into it.
Phenomenal game; hopefully people who are only going into the pixel remasters for IV and VI check this out.