Final Fantasy V

Genre: Turn-Based JRPG

Players: 1

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Review:

(Note: This game is included in the Final Fantasy I-VI Pixel Remaster Collection, along with Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy II, Final Fantasy III, Final Fantasy IV, and Final Fantasy VI)

Final Fantasy V, originally released in Japan in 1992 on the Super Famicom, was the last of three mainline games in the series to not be brought outside of Japan in its initial release. Evidently Square employees at the time worried that the game might be too difficult or complex for American players. However, unlike Final Fantasy II or Final Fantasy III, there’s no question which game you’re referring to when you mention this game’s title – there has only ever been one Final Fantasy V, though it has seen multiple re-releases over the years.

In the time since Final Fantasy V’s original release, it received a port to the original PlayStation in the Final Fantasy Anthology bundle re-translated the game’s localization and added new pre-rendered cutscenes, a Game Boy Advance release further enhanced the graphics and improved the localization and added new bonus content as well as adding a new dungeon and four new job classes.

This release, the “Pixel Remaster” version of the game, originally released on PC and mobile platforms in 2021, with a port to PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch with a few extra features in 2023. I’m not about to compare this release to each and every other version of the game, but I will note some of the features and comparisons this release has to other versions. Having said that, there’s good news here and bad news.

I’ll get the bad news out of the way right now – this game doesn’t give us the additional dungeon and jobs that were added to the Game Boy Advance version of the game. It also doesn’t have the 3D cutscenes the PlayStation version of the game received (though it thankfully also lacks the horrible loading times of that release). Anyone hoping that this would be anything remotely like a comprehensive package of Final Fantasy V content is likely to be disappointed.

The good news is that the remade presentation here is still quite nice, though this isn’t the great leap over the original games like Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy II, and Final Fantasy III received. The Pixel Remaster version of the game adds in some nice added effects like lighting highlights on the ocean, and a really nice flowing water effect in streams, and there are other subtle changes here and there, but overall this doesn’t look dramatically improved over the original release. Also, for players who complained about the modernized text in PC and mobile release of the Pixel Remasters, this version has added options to return the text to the pixelated original look.

The more significant change here has to be this version’s newly-remade soundtrack using a combination of orchestrated, instrumental, and synthesized themes. I tend to think that the soundtrack of Final Fantasy V isn’t quite as good as either its direct predecessor not its successor, but it does have a few good themes, and the remakes here are wonderful. I don’t have any tracks I can link to directly, but check out this page for samples. In particular, I recommend 5. Reina’s Theme, 6. Dungeon, 11. Town Theme, 13. Cursed Lands, 15. Harvest, 20. Royal Palace, 29. Mambo de Chocobo, 30. Home Sweet Home, 35. The Dawn Warriors, 49. The Decisive Battle, and 54. Ending Theme. In short, this is a solid remake of a decent game soundtrack. Still, for those who prefer the original soundtrack, you can opt to play with the original chiptune music instead.

Beyond the presentation, there are also content and gameplay improvements here too. One of the most noteworthy improvements has to be the new Auto-Battle system, which can really cut down on the grinding this game puts players through. Want to cut down it even more? The PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch release include menu options to boost the amount of gold and experience you get from battles, allowing you to severely cut down on the grinding. If you prefer, you can even eliminate random encounters completely, though of course this could lead to being severely under-leveled when encountering scripted battles like bosses.

This release also adds a quick save feature you can use in a town or dungeon, as well as a new map system. You can also change the button layout to suit your preferences. Finally, the game’s main menu includes a gallery where you can listen to the entire soundtrack and look at concept and publicity art for the game.

Okay, so now that we’ve talked about all the changes made to this release of the game, what about the game itself? How well has it aged?

In my reviews of the previous games in the series, I mentioned the series struggling to find a balance between unique and distinct characters and character customizability, and Final Fantasy V leans heavily in the direction of “character customizability”. With all characters virtually interchangeable as far as gameplay goes. In fact, this game uses an expanded version of Final Fantasy III‘s job class system, allowing you to assign each of your characters to whichever job class you would find most helpful, gaining their associated abilities and stat bonuses.

However, Final Fantasy V does a much better job with this system. Rather than just being a “set it and forget it” thing like it was in Final Fantasy III, time spent fighting enemies in one job classes unlocks skills from that class that can be re-used for that fighter in another job class. After spending some time as a white mage, you can change a character to be a monk or knight and still have them make use of their healing spells. Unfortunately, you’re limited to only one primary job and one sub-skill from any class, but this is still a vast improvement over character progression in any of the prior games in the series, and it was so effective that it would inspire progression systems in Final Fantasy IX and Final Fantasy Tactics, among other games.

Despite the characters being interchangeable as far as gameplay goes, their depiction here is clearly as four distinct individuals with their own likeable personalities, and I would argue that this game clearly shows the series finally starting to get a handle on the plot in these games. While it’s nothing extraordinary, this game’s plot takes the standard “chosen one” narrative and finds some interesting things to do with it – namely, each of the four warriors at the story’s center have their own backstory, their own motives, and their own reasons for joining the group. And while some of the game’s twists are pretty obvious (gee, I wonder why the pink-haired Lenna and the purple-haired Faris have the same pendant… hmmmmm…), it is nonetheless an enjoyable story, if a bit quaint.

Then we have to look at this game’s price. I do appreciate the improvements and enhancements that this version of the game received, but even so, $18 seems like an absurdly high price for a game that’s over 30 years old, especially when this is nowhere near a comprehensive release. Seriously, if they were gonna’ charge an arm and a leg for this game, they could have at least tossed in the added Game Boy Advance dungeon to sweeten the deal.

In the end, I still really like Final Fantasy V. While it’s still dated in many ways, this is the first game in the Pixel Remaster series I feel I would be delighted to go back through and replay, and the enhancements it has received in this version make even easier to jump right into this game. Unfortunately, the lack of some content from earlier versions, as well as the painfully high $18 price tag, make it hard to praise this game too highly. It’s a very good release of a great JRPG, but for a game that’s over 30 years old, that price is way too high.

tl;dr – Final Fantasy V is a Turn-Based JRPG with a really enjoyable job class system and a decent (albeit not spectacular) story. And while the remade music in this release is wonderful and some of the new added features are nice, they do not justify the bloated $18 price tag this game has, especially when this release is missing some content that was included in other versions of the game. If you’re a fan of classic JRPGs and don’t mind taking a hit to your wallet, this game may be worth picking up, but at this price, I can’t give it the full recommendation I feel it deserves.

Grade: B-

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