Final Fantasy V (1993) (VG)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Hironobu Sakaguchi

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Drama | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

Plot:

Batts, Lenna and friends go on their journey.....

Plot Keywords:

Wind | Crystal | Breeze | Pirate | Selflessness

Also Known As:

Final Fantasy Anthology: Final Fantasy V (USA) (reissue title)
Final Fantasy Extreme (USA) (working title)
Final Fantasy V (International: English title)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese | English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

USA:T

Company:

Square Company

Trivia:

Not released in America until it was featured on the Final Fantasy Anthology collection for Playstation One, along with Final Fantasy VI.

Movie Connections:

Remade as Final Fantasy Anthology (1999) (VG)

Chocobos, crystals, and airships... but it's not your usual FF game

Originally released on the Super Nintendo in Japan, Final Fantasy V never found its way to the states in its original form. But a few years ago it was re-released on the Playstation with Final Fantasy VI in a collection of the two games called Final Fantasy Anthologies.

Final Fantasy V follows the adventures of a love traveler named Bartz. He and his pet chocobo Boko were startled one night as a meteor came crashing down not far from their camp. Upon examination of the meteor they find an old man by the name of Galuf who seems to have amnesia caused by the meteors impact. Nearby as well, is Reina, the princess of the kingdom of Tycoon. You are joined shortly thereafter by Faris, the saltiest pirate on the seas. The four set out to find Reina's father, the king of Tycoon, as well as to protect the four crystals of Wind, Water, Fire, and Earth.

So there's chocobos and crystals and whatnot, but what makes this game stand out? Well, the crystals give your characters powers. You are able to equip each character with a job class and they can then level up each of their jobs, giving them abilities from that job class that can be equipped later. For example: one of your characters is equipped with the Black Mage job and they gain a level. They are then given the ability Black 1 which allows them to cast Black Magic. But you can then change their job to say, a Knight, and then equip the Black 1 ability as well. Or maybe you want a Monk that can use Blue Magic. Perhaps you want a White Mage that can hold its weapon with 2 hands for double the power (a Knight ability). This unique and functional system lets the player play how they want, and gives them tons of possibilities.

The usual good stuff is in here too. The plot starts out simple with you protecting the crystals but soon escalates to encompass so much more. The characters are all interesting in their own aspect and all have their own mysterious back stories, some of which intertwine a bit. As usual in any FF game, the mood is set well by Nobuo Uematsu's compositions. The beautiful and diverse soundtrack accompanies your journey well, and rarely gets annoying or repetitive.

This game, while following the same pattern as most Final Fantasy's, differs greatly with its job class system to give it an extremely unique touch. It's an old school game with a great feel and a must have for any FF or RPG fan. I give it 8 and 1/2 out of 10. Ya can't beat that 8-bit goodness.