Final Fantasy V brings us the story of a young adventurer named Butz. That's right, Butz. I personally find that name horrendous - fortunately, the game allows you to change his name to anything you want from the get-go, so you never have to sit through the game with a hero who sounds like he should have written a book called "Under the Bleachers." In this story, the fabled elemental crystals which played such an integral role in all previous Final Fantasy games, are being shattered at a steady rate. At the same time, meteors are striking the earth, and a great evil is being awakened because of the shattering of the crystals. Perhaps this explains why there are no elemental crystals in later FF games.

Throughout the adventure, Butz discovers many things and meets several people who join him in his quest that begins as trying to save the crystals from being destroyed, and ends up persuing an even greater evil. The friends he meets include a princess named Lenna, a pirate named Faris, and an old man named Galuf, who seems to suffer from severe amnesia. Upon witnessing the shattering of the crystals, they learn that the crystals' essences have chosen them to be their guardians, to save the world from the consuming evil that is slowly taking over the world. The crystals lend the characters their power, and this is where they learn the twenty-something jobs that are available for the characters to master.

This job system first appeared in the Japanese 8-bit game called Final Fantasy III, which was never released here (not to be confused with the Japanese FFVI, released here under the name FFIII). The jobs that characters can master are derived from various fantasy archetypes, and some of them (knight, thief, ninja, black wizard, white wizard, red wizard, monk) first appeared in the game known to the world as the original Final Fantasy. What the characters are capable of doing, such as spellcasting or throwing knives at enemies, as well as what they are capable of equipping (armor, swords, etc.) is determined by which jobs they have mastered and to what extent they have done so. After every battle, as is the Final Fantasy tradition, the characters win experience points (which go toward increasing their overall experience level, thus affecting their strength) and money. In this game, they also receive Ability Points, which go toward their prowess at their job. For example, a character at experience level 13 could have never taken on the job of Black Wizard, and begin to do so. That character's job level is 0. After gaining 10 ability points in battle, the character will have reached job level 1, and be able to cast level 1 Black Magic spells regardless of what job the character takes on next (when you select a job, you gain the innate ability of that job, such as "steal" for a thief, and get to select one other ability that you have learned previously, such as lv. 1 Black Magic). It's actually quite simple, but results in having to make all kinds of tough choices as to which abilities you will give your characters. It can be both fun and tedious at times, and adds a huge amount of depth to the combat system in the game, as well as variety. You can customize your party so that you can play through the game fifty times and never have the exact same experience.

This job system also appeared in Final Fantasy Tactics, which I do not cover on this page.

I'm going to be brutally honest in giving my opinion of this game. I don't care for it. I am a huge fan of the Final Fantasy series (at least the ones that have been translated), and I just can't seem to get into this game, at least not after the first few hours of game play. And I'll tell you why (but you'll have to listen to me rant about a few things first).

For some reason or another, this is a lot of people's favorite game in the series. It has been called the funniest, most intense, and best all-around Final Fantasy ever by more than a handful of people who have played it, and for some reason, I can't fathom why. I will grant that it can be funny at times, so perhaps these people like their gaming a little less serious. Maybe they'd prefer all of the series to be something like "Final Fantasy Lite." I personally find too much cuteness and humor to cheapen the game. Even the great John Ricciardi, member of the Electronic Gaming Monthly "Review Crew," called it his favorite FF in an FAQ that he authored. The most popular reason that people give for it being their favorite is that you can choose what class the characters will be. I admit that this is kind of fun at first, especially getting to see what all the characters look like in a Dragoon's armor, but I think the novelty wears off quickly. Think about it. Are these truly characters if you can control their very natures? Doesn't RPG stand for Role Playing Game, implying that you play the role of the character with which you are presented? Now, being able to choose the class of the character doesn't really detract from role-playing elements that much. I actually find it to be quite innovative, and it added a tremendous degree of depth to the game's battles, which may be where FFV shines the most (but I still think that the job system should stay in games like Final Fantasy Tactics where most of the people in battle are just faceless drones that you program). I don't, however, like the huge curve that develops. It is actually essential to have certain skills mastered at certain points in the game, and if you don't master the right skills because you like the characters to be class X instead of the required class Y, you are going to have a lot of problems progressing in the game. Another interesting thing that i've noticed: just about every Final Fantasy V page that I've visited where the author says that it's his or her favorite game is usually full of misspellings and grammar so abominable that a good deal of the page is rendered unreadable. Look for it yourself some time if you don't believe me. This leads me to think that a great number of people who like this game better than the other FFs aren't too bright. Yet somehow they were able to learn enough Japanese to play it, or maybe they found a translation like I did, or perhaps they just played through the game not being able to read into the story at all. This actually wouldn't surprise me, and seems like it would be a necessity for liking this game so much.

This brings me to one of my biggest complaints about this game. The storyline, for lack of a better word, sucks. I can't say that it is overly clichéd, as it is not, and I can't say that it suffers from excessive cheesiness (like the deus ex machina plot twists of Greek tragedy), because it does not. What I can say is that it is woefully uninspired. There are a total of five characters in the game that are playable. This is a paltry number compared to Final Fantasy IV. Usually, sequels are expected to have more of the better elements than their predecessors. These five characters have absolutely no true feelings about anything, including each other. A small number of characters wouldn't be so bad if they had more depth to them. The hero, Butz, especially bothers me because of his general aloofness and lack of emotion. The leader of a party of world-class heroes should be charismatic and decisive. A great example of a good party-leading hero is Cloud from Final Fantasy VII Basically, the entire plot of the game is "Gee, I'm bored. What can we do?" "I know! We can go out and save the world!" "Hey, that sounds like a great idea! Let's go!" Perhaps I'm not truly doing the story justice, and perhaps I'm exaggerating the pointlessness of the story, as there are numerous little subplots going on. The only problem is, these subplots unfold in a matter of minutes. Usually, the subplot ends when a certain short task is completed, and the subplot didn't even begin until the characters showed up to complete the task. The relationship between Galuf and his former partner in war, Zeza, comes to mind when I think of these things. All in all, there are many triumphs and tragedies in the game's plot, but for some reason I just can't be made to care. When playing Final Fantasy IV, I was haunted by everything that happened - I was always wondering what Kain's real motives were, and worrying about how Cecil would come to cope with the evil deeds he had done, and sitting on the edge of my seat in anticipation of where Tellah's mad quest to avenge his daughter would take him next. To put it simply, there are simply no conflicts in Final Fantasy V's story, and a story without conflict is simply pointless. Anyone with any training in literary criticism learns that on the first day of whatever class they take on the subject.

As if the problems with the story weren't enough, there are also serious issues for me where the music is concerned. One of the biggest selling points of a game in Japan is often the soundtrack - CDs containing nothing but music from video games are often stocked on shelves right next to albums by more mainstream artists in record stores. Only when major acts such as Prodigy, Photek, and the Future Sound of London are found on soundtracks like that to the racing game Wipeout XL does a game's music garner any attention in the United States. But in Japan, the music matters to the consumers, and it is a major factor for me, too, especially in a Final Fantasy game. Every game in this series that I have played has benefitted from the genius of one Nobuo Uematsu, who manages to combine all sorts of elements to weave a musical tapestry that is nothing short of dynamic - once you've heard some of his music, you are simply not the same. For example, in Final Fantasy IV, he combined many classical and Celtic folk elements for the soundtrack. In Final Fantasy VI, he blended classical, jazz, rock, techno, and numerous ethnic styles that together manage to leave an indellible impression on the consciousness of the listener. Final Fantasy V's credits did indicate that Uematsu had done the music for this game, and it did contain certain patterns and elements that would lead me to believe that he did it. But when I hear the music, I am simply uninspired. It completely fails to move me in any way, shape, or form, and this is the work of my absolute favorite composer alive! Clearly, this is sub-par for our good friend Nobuo, perhaps his worst work ever in my opinion, with very few exceptions. Make no mistake, however - it is still quality music, as it was written by Uematsu. Some of the tracks are beautiful. I will even say that many of them are, but a lot of them tend to get on my nerves after a while. Even the most beautiful songs lack that degree of depth that has made his workd so prized in the world of music. Perhaps I am suffering because I am listening to an emulated version of the original sound, but most of his melodies have a tendency to stay with me. Those from FFV did not.

Finally, I will give my thoughts on the look of the game. I understand that this game is nearly six years old, and that graphics in games were not then what they are today in this age of pre-rendered backgrounds and fully polygonal characters. But I will let you know that I thought the fancy, 3D graphics of Final Fantasy VII were unnecessary in many (if not most) places. My favorite Final Fantasy in terms of graphics is Final Fantasy VI, which is extremely detailed, yet at the same time simple enough to leave plenty to the imagination. Final Fantasy IV's graphics were quite simple, even stripped-down by today's standards, and I find it tolerable (with the exception of some of the character sprites). The graphics are perhaps one of the few aspects of FFV about which I don't have many complaints. They seem a bit pixellated at times compared to the previous game (and I have played FFIV on an emulator, as well, so don't blame it on the ZSNES), which isn't really a problem. I just prefer a little more solidity in the images. Some of the backgrounds are stunning, especially when overlooking the valleys when high in the mountains. Really, graphically, this game is sort of a bridge between FFIV and FFVI. It still has the overall feel that it was done on a cheap paint program that comes with Windows, like the game before it, as compared to the hand-drawn, almost watercolor-ish graphics of FFVI. But that factor didn't detract from FFIV at all. My biggest complaints about the graphics come down to one thing - the characters. In FFIV and VI, upon entering the status screen, portraits of the characters' faces could be seen. These portraits were best in Final Fantasy VI, when they were taken from original artwork from the genius who designed the characters, Yoshitaka Amano. No such portraits are present in FFV, probably because the many classes would call for over a hundred portraits (imagine seeing a bright-eyed, brown-haired youth in the status screen, only to see a helmeted Dragoon or hooded Ninja in battle) or simply make the one standard portrait seem incongruous. Secondly, the character sprites in the map and town scenes are just plain ugly. Faris is completely androgenous (although the story somewhat explains why), Galuf appears to be in some sort of jump suit on the field, but dressed somewhat decently in battle, and Butz is just weird looking. Also, the castles in the game seem relatively flimsy, as if they would fall apart if anyone ever tried to attack them. Aside from those factors, the images aren't that bad. I would like to have seen more art by Yoshitaka Amano worked into the game - all that we get to see as it stands are the monsters, who do look good most of the time.

So that's what I think of Final Fantasy V. You don't have to take my word for it, though. You can download it and judge the game for yourself, but be aware that it takes a good fifteen minutes, sometimes even longer when internet traffic builds up. But at least it's free. I wouldn't reccomend importing this game, and I wouldn't reccomend spending hundreds of dollars upgrading your computer just so you can play FFV on the emulator I'm offering. Anyway, to sum up my feelings on the game, I think it was good that it was never released here, not because we should be without such a game, but simply because Square's resources are limited. Back in those days, the RPG market was so small that they had to pick and choose what games they could release here and still turn enough of a profit for it to be worth the endeavor. I would prefer that they bring over a quality game like Chrono Trigger or Secret of Mana than waste their resources to bring us a mediocre game like Final Fantasy V just because it's a Final Fantasy title. In fact, while playing FFV, I found myself questioning its very nature almost constantly. Maybe it had to do with the fact that I was sitting at my computer using the keyboard to control instead of sitting on my couch with my comfortable, old SNES controller. Maybe it had to do with the absentee status screen portraits. Whatever it was, I just don't feel like I'm playing a Final Fantasy game when I play this game. Not even when I'm riding a chocobo. Not even when I'm conversing with Moogles who can only manage to say "Kupo." Not even when I'm flying the airship. It just doesn't feel right. And that is what makes me saddest about this game. The feel was gone for this title. I didn't go in with a negative attitude, either. I was quite excited to be able to play a lost Final Fantasy game - it was like a dream come true, especially since it was free. But the game just failed to impress me. And playing this game scares me, because I know that Square is capable of producing a bad Final Fantasy title, and I am especially scared about the upcoming Final Fantasy VIII. As the games become more and more futuristic as the series progresses, as if to represent the continuing evolution of human society, some of the feel disappears along with the fantasy elements - no more castles, no more armor, no more Moogles. What's next? I'm not sure that I want to know.