Final Fantasy V - Super Famicom / Playstation / Gameboy Advance (1993)
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(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 of its 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 would be if a few decision makers at Geffen Records decided in '92 that they might be better off not pressing Nirvana's Incesticide album because they worried it wouldn't sell as many copies as Nevermind. Then, 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 and best 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 (the significance of this particular word choice will be elaborated upon in a future article) 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 "II" and "III" 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 and saved from a pack of goblins by a passing adventurer riding by on 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 is in possession of a pendant identical to the one she has worn as long as she can remember. Unless DMT is involved, no ten minutes are ever this eventful. Whereas 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 the 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. I think a barebones Neverending Story-derivative plot isn't that much of a setback in light of such well-designed battle and character progression systems. On the battles themselves: the members of Final Fantasy V's rogue gallery aren't so pedestrian 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; and so on. Even when they don't present some puzzle for the player, Final Fantasy V's bosses are no slackers and make 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. A JRPG is only as good as its boss battles, and Final Fantasy V has some of the best. In defense of Final Fantasy V's story, the 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 fourth wall is broken 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.
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 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)
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CHARACTERS The Light Warriors
Allies  
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 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.  
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.  
Oh hell yes.  
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 four nobles who defeated Exdeath thirty years ago and sealed him with the energy field of the four Crystals. Among them were Galuf, the werewolf Kelgar, the swordsman Zeza, and Dorgan, Butz's father. Although age has weakened them, the Dawn Warriors remain a force to be reckoned with. Villains 
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.  
The assigned guardians of the forbidden magics of the Fork Tower aren't of terrible significance to the game's story either, but I think 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.  
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.  
Other than 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 trying to beat 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 I should find a more constructive use of my time instead, like rereading old TV Guides or learning to masturbate with my left hand.  
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.  
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...?
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GO FORTH, LIGHT WARRIORS! SAVE THE CRYSTALS!
Aside from long being the "lost" Final Fantasy in NA and PAL territories and its job system shennanigans, Final Fantasy V's most significant claim to fame is its being the last installment directed by series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi. (He's still credited in later installments as a producer, but this is a far less direct role in the development process from what I understand.) This makes V the last of the old school Final Fantasy games. (VI and VII comprise sort of a liminal phase, and everything from VIII onwards is new school.) Fifteen themes, concepts, and motifs represented and established by old school Final Fantasy: 1.) The mythology of elemental crystals. The world is composed and governed by the elements of Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water. Each element is represented by corresponding crystal. When bad things happen to the crystals, bad things happen to the world. 2.) Beyond this, there are the opposing forces of Light and Darkness. Final Fantasy III makes the case that while they are opposite forces, neither is inherently good or bad -- that it's a matter of perception. The Crystals and the elements have Light and Dark sides, as well. Final Fantasy III and IV have dual sets of Light and Dark crystals. It's not uncommon for each element to be represented by both a Light Warrior and a Fiend. 3.) Instead of Light (Good) vs. Dark (Evil), Final Fantasy's struggles often come down to existence against non-existence. Most Final Fantasy villains are grumpy bastards who just aren't cool with the fact that things are alive and stuff exists. When confronted with the threat of Void, Light and Dark forces will often work together to defend creation. 4.) More Final Fantasy mythology: Bahamut first appeared in Final Fantasy, Leviathan was introduced in Final Fantasy II, and Odin followed in Final Fantasy III. These three round off the top pillar of mainstay deities in the Final Fantasy universe. The lesser elemental deities, of course, are Ramuh, Shiva, Ifrit, and Titan. (Though Ramuh gets phased out every now and then and Titan regularly gets the shaft in later installments.) 5.) Youth-centrism. The younger and less experienced you are, the more ass you kick. This especially rings true with preteen characters, as all of them are child geniuses. Conversely, if you are old, battle-hardened and hirsute, there is a much greater chance of bad things happening to you. 6.) Expansionism and war are inherently evil. Rebellions and insurrections against a domineering power are usually okay, though. 7.) A concept which has as good a chance of having been borrowed from Star Wars as resulting from the psychic side effects of industrialization on the Japanese cultural psyche: the ideal society lives in harmony with nature. Ones that rely too heavily upon technology or abuse the natural word are doomed to collapse. 8.) On a similar note: the hubris of a civilization always leads to its downfall. When someone in a Final Fantasy game makes a statement like the one to the right, you can be assured they're screwed. 9.) On the subject of the Japanese cultural psyche, Final Fantasy is rife with references to great fallen civilizations and bygone golden ages. The greatest orders of warriors and mages are always on their last legs; the Hiryuu is always on the verge of extinction; the best weapons in the game are usually ancient relics wielded by some legendary heroes thousands of years before. Either this is a subconscious expression of Japanese nostalgia for the time before industrialization, westernization, and 9/2/1945, or Little Boy has taught me nothing. 10.) It's be easy to make a massive stretch about how all the Final Fantasy heroes who are either orphans or whose parents get killed signifies contemporary Japan's severance from its past and a perceived weakening of the national and cultural indentity, but I don't even think I believe this one. 11.) Acting as a group is of tremendous importance. Party members who go off on their own will suffer terrible consequences. Also, there is nothing more noble than sacrificing oneself for the good of one's friends/people. (The Kamikaze still lives.) 12.) Let's talk about Final Fantasy gender roles. Men are virile and capable warriors, sages, and airship building geniuses. Women are dainty magic users whose purpose is to back up the men and try their best to avoid getting kidnapped or poisoned so as not to inconvenience the males, whose responsibility it will be to rescue them. This changes if the woman in question is a tomboy or a crossdresser. In such a case, they will be outshone by the stronger male heroes and the better-looking female heroes, and doomed to the slow, lonely death of a spinster. 13.) Mankind's greatest breakthroughs always occur before mankind is ready for them. Am I talking about the products of Cid's engineering genius being used to destroy the Fire Crystal or Einstein's Theory of Relativity and the atomic bomb? ARE THEY REALLY THAT FAR APART, I ASK YOU? 14.) The ultimate goal of the Final Fantasy series, as I have demonstrated above, is to turn you into as gigantic a fecking nerd as possible. 15.) Every ending is also a beginning. (Unless everything gets devoured by the Void or whichever force of non-existence the villain is serving -- so I guess that should be amended to "every ending is also a beginning...except for when all creation gets erased. Then it really is just an ending.") CONCLUSION! Sakaguchi took his directorial leave from Final Fantasy on a fine note. I repeat: JOB SYSTEM. If the story is flat, consider it evidence that Square had finally taken their tried-and-true "save the crystals!" approach as far as it would go. And with battles are as fun and interesting as Final Fantasy V's, and the game's countless approaches to character and party customization, how much does it really matter if the story doesn't break any molds? And so much for the old school. Farewell Light Warriors and crystals; hello steampunk, evil empires, and the end of the world. Hey, is that cyberpunk and metaphysical angst I perceive on the horizon...?
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 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 (SFC)
Final Fantasy V (SFC)
Final Fantasy V (SFC)
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GO FORTH, LIGHT WARRIORS! SAVE THE CRYSTALS! Until Final Fantasy Anthology for the PSOne hit America in 1999, Final Fantasy V was Japan-only. Unfortunately, its first official American release was marred by cumbersome load times, awkward music, and a translation so lousy that not even the most ardent Woolsey apologists could endorse it. The only "enhancements" include a CG rendered intro movie - better than the one in the PSOne FFIV port, but still not great - and the ability to make a save game in memory without having to access the memory card. Strangely, each battle ended with the victory cry "Yessss!" at the top of the screen. In 2006, Final Fantasy V Advance offered a better English translation (in spite of some trendy geek humor inserted into the dialogue), four new Job classes (Gladiator, Cannoneer, Oracle, and Necromancer), enhanced background graphics, portraits in the text boxes for the major character (both similar to the touches put on FF IV Advance) and a few new bosses. The most significant and surprising of these additional challengers is the dark wizard Enuo, whom the original game only mentions in passing as the ancient mage who tried to seize the power of the Void before Exdeath. The music still isn't quite perfect, but it still holds up pretty well. Between the two official North American versions, it's a no-brainer: the GBA port is the better choice. |
 Final Fantasy V (GBA)
Final Fantasy V (GBA)
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Anime - Final Fantasy: Legends of the Crystals
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The four-episode Final Fantasy: Legends of the Crystals OAV series, developed by Madhouse Studios (the same outfit responsible for Trigun and Ninja Scroll, not to mention other video game adaptations such as Devil May Cry, Killer 7, and Square Enix's more well-known Last Order) and released in Japan by NTT Publishing in 1994. It is an unofficial sequel/spin-off to Final Fantasy V, taking place two centuries after the game's end. Once again, some dark force has its sights on the Crystals and it's up to four chosen warriors to save the day. Characters
Legend of the Crystals is a strange show. It's by no means the most cracked-out anime the world has ever, but hardly what you'd expect from an anime bearing the Final Fantasy name. The only real resemblance it bears to Final Fantasy V aside from a couple of borrowed names and plot points is its sense of humor. In fact, Legend of the Crystals isn't just lighthearted -- it's a straight-up comedy. It has more in common than the Disgaea OAV series than with Advent Children or Last Order. With the exception of Mid's death, Legends of the Crystals contains zero of the melodrama that has lately defined JRPGs and anime. None of the four main characters have repressed memories, dreadful secrets, deep-seated trauma, or any neuroses more complicated than "I am drawn to shiny things." The only viewers who will be wowed by the show's relatively sparse action sequences are people who haven't seen any anime that's been made after Speed Racer. Most of these disparities with what most of us recognize as Final Fantasy are obviously the result of Legend of the Crystals's being produced by a third party, but I also wonder how much of it has to do with how much Final Fantasy itself has changed since V's release in 1992. Legend of the Crystals finally made it to North America in 1998, following the Final Fantasy VII splash. Urban Vision got it in their heads that since Final Fantasy was such a hot property, they could make a quick buck by localizing a four-year-old anime based on a seven-year-old video game. American viewers checked out Legends of the Crystals because of those two magic F-words on the box, but its reception in the English-speaking world was lukewarm -- at best. The fans who had been converted by the cyberpunk epic of Final Fantasy VII and realized they'd just shelled out fifty bucks for four half-hour episodes of a dated-looking cartoon about the slapstick adventures of magical little girl and the bumpkin who loves her weren't laughing. Even older fans who'd played the other titles that had come out in North America at that point (I, IV, and VI) were probably hoping for something with a little more gravitas -- and far fewer loli pantyshots. A good gauge of Legend of the Crystals's popularity in the States would be the fact that Urban Vision lost the licensing rights a few years back and no one has bothered snatching them up. The entire series is viewable on YouTube (both dubbed and subbed, even!), and they're in no danger of being removed by the copyright violation police any time soon. Depending one's tastes, Legend of the Crystals might be worth checking out. It's not going to encourage a major perspective change or even give you much to think about -- but then again, it never makes that pretense (unlike a few recent Square Enix efforts I could name). Nobody's saying it's perfect (or even great), but its endearingly bizarre cast, its vintage, CG-free animation, and its sheer weirdness carry an undeniable charm. If nothing else, Legend of the Crystals is a fun two-hour romp for a rainy, hung-over Sunday afternoon. Plus, with the advent of YouTube, its price certainly can't be beat.
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 Final Fantasy: Legends of the Crystals
Final Fantasy: Legends of the Crystals
Final Fantasy: Legends of the Crystals
Final Fantasy: Legends of the Crystals
Final Fantasy: Legends of the Crystals
Final Fantasy: Legends of the Crystals
Final Fantasy: Legends of the Crystals
Final Fantasy: Legends of the Crystals
Final Fantasy: Legends of the Crystals
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BUTZ / BATZ / BARTZ
BEST JOB
WORST JOB
COOLEST JOB
LAMEST JOB
BEST DRESSED JOB 
WORST DRESSED JOB
MOST SUPRISIGNLY DECENT JOB
MOST SUPRISINGLY CRUDDY JOB
