It's odd, Final Fantasy I had a really cool job system, which was then abandoned in Final Fantasy II for its incredibly poor EXP system, then in Final Fantasy III they brought back jobs and built upon them, great! Then in Final Fantasy IV, once again we abandon the job system for EXP, albeit this time done much better. And now again we return to the job system, with it finally being developed to near perfection, it really feels like the culmination of what FF1 and 3 were building up to. The job system allows so much customisation without it being insanely complicated/overwhelming and encourages replayability so much as it grants so much freedom from the very start. "Grinding" in this game is a piece of cake, as your actual EXP level is way less important, as its more based around your strategy of job/ability use, it builds upon the ideas of approaching encounters that started in FF3, with its "puzzle-like" encounters which had very specific requirements to complete, which was then expanded in FF4 having a few different options to solve said encounters, and now at FF5 each encounter has nigh endless possibilities of approaches due to the jobs and combinations. Having jobs by themselves is interesting enough, as seen in FF1, then theres lots of jobs, as seen in FF3 (but now with even more), and then on top of that you can now combine job attributes, then on top of THAT you can combine ALL of your mastered classes using the freelancer job, its amazing. And on top of that, the visuals for the jobs is improved upon too, no longer does your character just turn into somebody else per job ala FF1/FF3, instead every character has a variant for their job, and they all look really cool, graphically speaking this game looks really good, not a huge leap above FF4, but it looks good.
Outside of the jobs, the gameplay has a few minor alterations from FF4, for example you now have a bar to show when you can move in the active time battle system, which is appreciated! The row system (which allows you to place characters at the back for lower attack/higher defence) is now also applied to enemies, but this isnt really a good thing, as it simply encourages you to ALWAYS attack the enemy at the front, as they will always die fastest and do the most damage. Final Fantasy was already moving closer to the "Spam A through encounters" issue after removing the need for you to not select blank spots on the battle field (i.e dont attack an enemy twice if its going to die in 1 hit), but now every single time you wanna simply attack the same space no matter, not the end of the world, but not really a good addition.
The plot is pretty good, definitely the best in the series so far. It has grand moments that actually impact the plot, unlike the annoying fakeouts in FF4. And for once it has a real villain that is actually present in the story rather than just appearing at the end. The characters are really likeable, although the loss of of one party member is then made less impactful as they are instantly replaced by a forgettable, underdeveloped character that never really forms into anything, they just exist as a replacement. It tries to be funny quite a lot, and atleast for me it usually lands, although I can see how for some it would be annoying, but I can appreciate the amount of personality this game has.
The music is, well, Nobuo Uematsu, so of course its amazing.
In conclusion, Final Fantasy V emerges as a standout entry in the series, seamlessly weaving together the strengths of its predecessors while introducing groundbreaking elements. The refined job system, building upon the foundation laid by FF1 and FF3, reaches its pinnacle, offering players unparalleled customization and strategic depth. Its worth playing for the job system alone, and I instantly want to play it again. Perhaps one day I'll try a four job fiesta run.
Outside of the jobs, the gameplay has a few minor alterations from FF4, for example you now have a bar to show when you can move in the active time battle system, which is appreciated! The row system (which allows you to place characters at the back for lower attack/higher defence) is now also applied to enemies, but this isnt really a good thing, as it simply encourages you to ALWAYS attack the enemy at the front, as they will always die fastest and do the most damage. Final Fantasy was already moving closer to the "Spam A through encounters" issue after removing the need for you to not select blank spots on the battle field (i.e dont attack an enemy twice if its going to die in 1 hit), but now every single time you wanna simply attack the same space no matter, not the end of the world, but not really a good addition.
The plot is pretty good, definitely the best in the series so far. It has grand moments that actually impact the plot, unlike the annoying fakeouts in FF4. And for once it has a real villain that is actually present in the story rather than just appearing at the end. The characters are really likeable, although the loss of of one party member is then made less impactful as they are instantly replaced by a forgettable, underdeveloped character that never really forms into anything, they just exist as a replacement. It tries to be funny quite a lot, and atleast for me it usually lands, although I can see how for some it would be annoying, but I can appreciate the amount of personality this game has.
The music is, well, Nobuo Uematsu, so of course its amazing.
In conclusion, Final Fantasy V emerges as a standout entry in the series, seamlessly weaving together the strengths of its predecessors while introducing groundbreaking elements. The refined job system, building upon the foundation laid by FF1 and FF3, reaches its pinnacle, offering players unparalleled customization and strategic depth. Its worth playing for the job system alone, and I instantly want to play it again. Perhaps one day I'll try a four job fiesta run.