Japanese PSOne Cover

Artwork

American GBA Cover

By Pat R, originally seen at SMPS dot net

Final Fantasy V - Super Famicom / Playstation / Gameboy Advance (1993)

(Except where noted, screenshots taken from fan translation)

To address it right away: why the hell didn't this game come out in the States? And don't bring up Final Fantasy Anthology or Final Fantasy V Advance. They don't count. By the time they came out in '99 and '06, 2D RPGs had already made their irredeemable backslide into "retro" territory. In both its two late and unceremoneous North American ports, Final Fantasy V was treated as a currio; a relic from a bygone period in electronic gaming. A comparable imaginary case: suppose a few decision makers at Geffen Records decided in '92 that they might be better off not pressing Nirvana's Incesticide album for fear that it wouldn't sell as many copies as Nevermind. Eight years later, when grunge has long been the day before yesterday's news, they finally decide to go ahead and release it, but with inexplicably lousy mastering. And then, seven years after that, they put out a remastered version with a couple of bonus tracks -- but by then the only ones who care are a small demographic of fanatical Nirvana fans. (This has been the single most elaborate simile I've ever come up with. Thank you.)

Good music and video games should be timeless, but they are also representative the period in which they were created and are most relevant right then. A while back, I was on a boat in the Hudson River (don't ask) and a drunk woman in her late thirties heckled me for being a twenty-something wearing a Misfits T-shirt. "You're too young," she slurred. "I was going to their shows before you were even born. I was a Misfits fan." I was irritated at the time, but concede she had a point. The Misfits would have taken on an entirely different meaning for me if I had actually been present during the horrorpunk scene in the late 70s and early 80s. I can download all the .mp3s and memorize all the lyrics I want, but it's still a very a distilled experience compared to moshing in a murky, run down club in 1981 and pumping my fist as Danzig belts out "Lundon Dungeon." Likewise, you can't play a video game two to three console generations after its release and not expect the impact to be diminished. What I'm getting at is Square did its North American fanbase and its product a great disservice by not giving it an English SNES release back in '92. (And let's not even get into Square USA's tossing us Secret of Evermore instead of localizing Seiken Densetsu III.)

Because of its troublesome release history in North America, Final Fantasy V is a somewhat engimatic title in this sphere of the gaming world. Older fans who played Final Fantasy "2" and "3" on the SNES and then lost track of the series might not even know it exists. A lot of newer fans I've met take one look at it, think "antique," and get back to speculating about Kingdom Hearts III or swooning over Balthier. Among the more hardcore fans who have played it -- whether they were patient enough to wait for the PSOne and GBA ports or were emulation-savvy enough to play the RPGe fan translation -- the reactions are remarkably polarized. They tend to either adore Final Fantasy V or abhor it.

More than one person I've spoken to has been under the mistaken impression that Final Fantasy V was intended as a 16-bit remake of III. This is incorrect, but not far off the mark. Here's the story: four people are chosen by the four crystals to defend the world against evil. "You must go out and find the other crystals!" they are told upon receiving the first crystal's power. So they off they go. They meet an old man named Cid and fly around in an airship. They explore a world filled with traces of an ancient advanced civilization. Then they travel to a second world map and go on more adventures. The evil wizard antagonist's scheme to unleash a dark primordial force slowly comes to fruition. The heroes find a submarine and uncover a set of ancient forbidden weapons which will help them even the odds with the villain. Then they get sucked into an alternate dimension, and the four warriors who saved the world from the same forces during a previous crisis appear to help the heroes defeat the evil etc, etc.

...In all honesty, I can't remember whether we were talking about Final Fantasy III or V just now.

Fine. So Final Fantasy V's plot isn't terribly innovative or deep. In the first ten minutes of the game, the king rides off on a dragon, the princess is knocked unconscious by a crashing meteor and then saved from a pack of goblins by a passing adventurer riding a big yellow ostrich. Then the adventurer and his grateful princess discover an amnesiac old man lying around the crash site, and all three are nearly trapped by an earthquake. Minutes later they are captured by pirates and going to be held for ransom, but the pirate leader spares them because she wants to find out why the princess possesses a pendant that's identical to the one she has worn as long as she can remember.

Unless DMT is involved, no ten minutes are ever this eventful. Final Fantasy IV's improbable scenario is redeemed by its diverse and colorful cast, Final Fantasy V's two-dimensional characters get tossed around by an implausible plot with more artifice and contrision than you can shake a moogle at. This seems to be the main reason a lot of players aren't too fond of the fifth Final Fantasy installment. Before beginning work on this article, I was talking about this with Polly (SMPS.net webmistress), who is firmly within the "V sucks" camp. "So what if the plot is silly," I told her. "It's still a pretty fun game."

"Pat," she answered. "A little kid running around with a cereal bowl on his head is silly. Final Fantasy V's story is retarded."

"WHAT?" I asked. "WHAT WAS THAT? I'M SORRY, I CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER ALL THIS JOB SYSTEM."

Even if my snappy comebacks need work, I think I'm right about this. Final Fantasy V sports an expanded and improved version of the job system introduced in III, launching the game's sheer fun factor through the stratosphere. Not only there are more jobs and more balance between them (for the most part), but party members are able switch jobs at any time with no JP/AP cost, learn new abilities by increasing job levels, and mix and match skills between classes. In this case, a barebones, derivative plot isn't that much of a setback in light of such well-designed battle and character progression systems.

On the battles themselves: A JRPG is only as good as its boss battles, and Final Fantasy V has some of the best. The members of Final Fantasy V's rogues gallery aren't so pedestrian as to just sit back and get pelted with summons and spellblades between limp physical attacks. They like throwing curveballs. The Sand Worm boss avoids attacks by ducking in and out of a number of burrow holes. The six Pyuroboros bombs blow themselves up to damage party members and fully revive their slain or exploded comrades when their HP is brought to zero. The four Seal Guardians punish abusers of multi-target spells. Gogo can only be defeated by beating him at his own game. The list goes on. Even when they don't present some puzzle for the player, Final Fantasy V's bosses are no slackers and present the player with some fierce competition. (Sol Cannon, Archeoaevis, and Atomos come to find.) If you're not taking advantage of the job system, you're not going to stand much of a chance against these guys.

But in defense of Final Fantasy V's story: this game is the first in the series to have a consistent sense of humor. Each character has a goofy "surprise" sprite and animated laughter, which if I'm not mistaken, is a first for SquareSoft (and maybe for JRPGs as a whole). The other characters make fun of Butz's fear of heights, which results from a traumatic childhood hide-and-seek accident. Before Faris reveals herself as a woman, Butz and Galuf are flabbergasted and concerned about why this handsome young pirate lad seems so inexplicably appealing to them. The game breaks the fourth wall at least once. Then there's Gilgamesh -- everything he says and does is ridiculous, and he's the game's second most-recurring antagonist. It could be argued that the most redeeming quality of Final Fantasy V's story is that it doesn't take itself seriously. And in an age in which JRPGS are overbudgeted and overinflated as your standard multimillion dollar Hollywood franchise, Final Fantasy V's modestness is, in a way, really refreshing.

Final Fantasy V (SFC)

Final Fantasy V (SFC)

Final Fantasy V (SFC)

Final Fantasy V (SFC)

Final Fantasy V (SFC)

Final Fantasy V (SFC)

Final Fantasy V (SFC)

Final Fantasy V (PSOne)

CHARACTERS

The Light Warriors

BUTZ / BATZ / BARTZ
Nobody can make up their minds about this guy's name. The RPGe fan translation that circulated the Internet years before the official North American release calls him Butz, which is evidently how Square Japan romanizes his name. The PSOne and GBA English releases call him Bartz, because don't you dare lie to me and say you didn't look at his name and immediately find yourself thinking "heh...butts." He's also mentioned in the Legend of the Crystals anime as "Batz" which saw an American release years before Final Fantasy V. Anyway, Butz (or whatever you'd like to call him) is the son of Dorgan, one of the four Warriors of Dawn. Ever since his father's death three years ago, Butz has been aimlessly wandering the world with Boko, his chocobo. He is the de-facto leader of the Light Warriors and personifies the adventuresome spirit sacred to the Wind Crystal.


LENNA / REINA
Called Reina in Final Fantasy Anthology, but is Lenna in every other version. She is the Princess of Tycoon, renowned for her selfless nature. Not long after her father leaves the castle to investigate a disturbing incident at the Wind Temple, the wind abruptly stops. Fearing the worst, Lenna sneaks out of Tycoon by herself to make sure her father is safe. She has been blessed by the Water Crystal, whose affinity is kindness.

GALUF
Butz and Lenna discover this spry old-timer at a meteor crash site just outside Tycoon. Galuf can't remember anything about his past, but has a strong feeling that he is supposed to head towards the Wind Temple. Galuf later regains his memories and reveals himself as one of the original four Warriors of Dawn who defeated and sealed away the Dark Mage Exdeath thirty years ago. He embodies the Earth Crystal's principle of hope.

FARIS
A female pirate who began disguising herself as a male at an early age to command more respect. Faris now has her own ship, a fiercely loyal pirate crew, and the aid of a water drake named Syldra. When Butz, Lenna, and Galuf fall into her hands after a failed attempt to hijack her ship, Faris plans to ransom them, but decides to help them instead after noticing that Lenna wears a pendant exactly identical to hers. (If you haven't already guessed what that means, you're hopeless.) Faris's courage represents the spirit of the Fire Crystal.

KRILE / CARA
Helloooo loli. The RPGe translation calls her Cara, but it looks like the "Krile" romanization in the official titles is more accurate. She is Galuf's granddaughter, and something of a child prodigy. Not only is she unusually mature for her age and a gifted magician, she's also stronger than Butz, brave as Faris, better with animals than Lenna, and has all of her grandfather's abilities to boot. All the other characters secretly hate Krile, but Final Fantasy V's skimpy characterization doesn't make this clear. Really.

Allies

BOKO & KOKO



Boko is Butz's trusty chocobo companion. During Butz's unexpectedly prolonged absence, he elopes with Koko and starts a family. Upon returning, Butz garrotes Boko for not waiting at the entrance to the pirate cave like he was told.


THE HIRYUU



The last two remaining wind drakes are in the service of the respective royal families of Tycoon and Bal. Both take turns serving as the Light Warriors' main mode of transportation for a significant portion of the game.


SYLDRA



Faris states that she and this water drake were raised alongside each other like siblings. Syldra helps Faris out by pulling her ship through the ocean, enabling her pirate crew to set sail even after the wind has disappeared. Later on, Syldra assists the party in battle as well.


MOOGLES



Oh hell yes.


CID & MID



Final Fantasy V has a really smart old guy named Cid who's good with machines and helps maintain the party's airship. Bet you didn't see that one coming. He has an equally brilliant grandson named Mid who helps him out with his engineering projects. Unlike Cid, Mid is never seen again in the series, but is a major character in the Legend of the Crystals anime. More on that later.


THE WARRIORS OF DAWN



The four nobles who defeated Exdeath thirty years ago and sealed him with the energy field of the four Crystals. Among them are Galuf, the werewolf Kelgar, the swordsman Zeza, and Butz's father Dorgan. Although age has weakened them, the Dawn Warriors remain a force to be reckoned with.


Villains

ATOMOS



Not really important to Final Fantasy V's plot, but one of the nastiest bosses in the game and series. He pelts your party with Comet spells and then gradually draws downed members towards the black hole in his mouth. What an unbelievable jerk. He later reappears in Final Fantasy IX as an Eidolon.


MINOTAUR & OMNISICENT



The assigned guardians of the forbidden magics of the Fork Tower aren't of terrible significance to the game's story either, but they're neat. Minotaur is a master of war, and only physical attacks and abilities can be used in the battle against him (something even he forgets). Ominsicent is a master wizard, and only magical attacks can be used against him. Final Fantasy V is Omnisicent's only appearance, but Minotaur reappears as a GF in Final Fantasy VIII -- and is just as much of a doofus then, too.


MONSTERS OF THE CLEFT OF DIMENSION



Some of the most evil bastards the world has ever known. They are sealed away in the Cleft of Dimension until Exdeath breaches the dimensional seal and releases them. In exchange, they agree to serve Exdeath and assist him in his plan to unleash the power of the Void upon the world. They serve as this installment's traditional gauntlet of final dungeon bosses.


Let's go down their roster: there's the tantalyzing Mellusion, the duplicitous Stalker, the undead triplets Triton, Phobos and Neregeid, the unearthly Calofisteri, the loathsome Apprehender, the Blue Magic master Azulmagia, the vicious Catastrophe, the deceptive Halicarnassus, the gigaton-powered Twin Tania, and the sinister Necrophobe. And there's also some nameless sap who gets squashed by Leviathan before he even finishes announcing himself.


SHINRYUU & OMEGA



Discounting the Warmech from the original Final Fantasy, these are the first pair of optional super bosses in Final Fantasy and precursors to the "Weapons" found in later installments (not to mention the now-infamous Nippon Ichi postgame bosses). Not even the warriors who defeated the necromancer Enuo and locked away the Void a thousand years ago had any idea how to handle them. Good thing Exdeath is running the show instead of these two or the world would be doomed. I actually planned on beating them this time around, and spent hours and hours mastering at least five job classes for every character in preparation and leveling up to the point where even the boss of the game was a breeze. Even then, Omega and Shinryuu both kicked my ass within two minutes. At that point I decided to find a more constructive way to spend my time instead, like rereading old TV Guides or learning to masturbate with my left hand.


GILGAMESH



Exdeath's right hand man defies categorization. He's a one-man army, an incompetent buffoon, a chivalrous warrior, and a childish twit all at the same time. A recurring "gag" villain, Gilgamesh is the archetype of Ultros and the Turks from Final Fantasy VI and VII, and has garnered enough popularity to make regular cameos in later installments. True to his borrowed namesake, Gilgamesh has a buddy named Enkidu whom the Light Warriors kill off when Gilgamesh isn't even around.


EXDEATH



More name confusion. The RPGe and Gameboy Advance translations call him Exdeath. Final Fantasy Anthology calls him X-Death. Surprisngly enough, I think the Legend of the Crystals translation gets it right by referring to him as "Exodus." (Don't tell me that doesn't make a hell of a lot more sense.)

Exdeath is Final Fantasy V's primary antagonist, and an unabashedly blatant attempt on Square's part to engineer a Golbez 2.0. His origins are murky: he is referred to as a Dark Mage, but he's actually...well, a tree. His ultimate goal is to unleash and control the power of the Void because he's an evil tree. Most of his time onscreen is spent gloating, blowing stuff up, tying moogles to train tracks, and twirling his long, black mustache while demanding the poor sobbing heroine pay the rent. Yeah, he's pretty one-dimensional.


Before his final showdown with the Light Warriors, Exdeath reverts from his humanoid shape to his true form. After the heroes cut him down to size, Exdeath loses his control over the Void and gets devoured by it. But it's not over yet: he reemerges as Neo Exdeath, an avatar of the Void itself whose purpose is to erase all life, creation, memory, and then itself as well, effectively eradicating existence.


JOBS

Encore, you say...?

BEST JOB
Hunter/Ninja/Red Mage/Time Mage
This one is sort of tricky, since Final Fantasy V is all about mixing jobs and abilities rather than relying on single ueber classes. Therefore, the best jobs are the ones whose abilities have the highest potential for abuse. Let's go down the list:
Hunter: Learns Rapidfire.
Ninja: Holds one weapon in each hand.
Red Mage: Learns Doublecast (eventully).
Time Mage: Time Magic is indispensible in Final Fantasy V.


WORST JOB
Geomancer
Severely low abuse possibilities. Even Bards and Dancers can be used cheaply in Final Fantasy V, but the Geomancer's usefulness peaks at a very early point.


COOLEST JOB
Hunter/Time Mage/Mystic Knight
Too many fun classes to choose from. The Hunter is cool because he/she uses bows and arrows and summons forest critters in battle. The Time Mage is cool because of all the neat spells he has access to. (It's a shame the Reset spell, which will restart a battle at the beginning with the same stats as when you entered, never appeared in another Final Fantasy game, though it isn't very surprising.) And the Mystic Knight's got stylish exotic digs and the Spellblade ability, which lets you enchant your sword with magic spells for elemental damage. Sweet.


LAMEST JOB
Knight
With Ninjas, Mystic Knights, Monks, Dragoons, Samurai, and Berserkers to choose from in the melee class department, the Knight seems rather borning in comparison -- especially since most of the abilities it learns are filler like "Equip Shield" and "Equip Sword." Lackluster.


BEST-DRESSED JOB
Berseker (Lenna)/White Mage (Krile)
I believe Lenna's tiger bikini speaks for itself, and the Shaman hood is as cute as it was in Final Fantasy III.


WORST-DRESSED JOB
Blue Mage (everybody)
Seriously Blue Mage, what are you supposed to be? It looks like Square stole a nixed costume design sketch from a dumpster behind the DC Comics building.


MOST SUPRISIGNLY DECENT JOB
Bard
It's still by no means top tier, but the fact that the bard is useful at all is surprising after its pathetic performances in Final Fantasy III and IV. Its capabilities have been significantly improved, and it even boasts the power to freeze the mighty Omega dead in its tracks.


MOST SUPRISINGLY CRUDDY JOB
Monk
You'd think to expect more from these guys. The HP bonuses are useful, but Monks have little else going for them. Their fighting power pales in comparison to a dual-wielding Berserker or a Samurai with double-grip, the Dragoon's Jump ability makes Build-Up obsolete, and their Kick technique peters out halfway through the game.

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