Final Fantasy V
Categories: Final Fantasy games | 1992 computer and video games | 1998 computer and video games | Super NES games | PlayStation games
| Final Fantasy V | |
| Image:Ff5logo.jpg | |
| Developer(s) | Square Co., Ltd. |
| Publisher(s) | Square Co., Ltd. |
| Release date(s) | December 6, 1992 (SNES) March 19, 1998 (PlayStation) |
| Genre | Role-playing game |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Platform(s) | Super Famicom, PlayStation, Gameboy Advance |
Final Fantasy V (FF5) is a computer role-playing game developed and published by Square Co., Ltd. in 1992. Originally released for the Nintendo Super Famicom. The game was eventually remade for the Sony PlayStation, and this version was eventually translated and marketed in North America and Europe as part of the Final Fantasy Anthology collection. The Super Famicom version of the game is notable for being one of the earliest fan translations to reach completion. It was released by RPGe to the console emulation community in 1997. The game is being remade for the Game Boy Advance, and is scheduled for release sometime in 2006. [1]
The Final Fantasy anime, Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals, serves as a sequel to the events depicted in the game.
Contents |
Gameplay
The main feature of its gameplay was the revamped job system (originally introduced in a different form in Final Fantasy III), allowing all characters to potentially master up to 22 jobs. The player starts out with no job classes (they are defaulted as "Normal," a class which can be reverted to later on), and as they travel to new Crystal locations, they acquire new jobs. A separate form of experience, APB, was created for the advancement of the characters' job levels, while they continued to earn regular experience points. The system also introduced a streamlined method of 'multi-classing,' allowing each character to learn job-specific abilities and carry one or two over when they changed their class. The Job System would disappear in the series for a short time, but would reappear in the Final Fantasy Tactics series, Final Fantasy XI, and Final Fantasy X-2.
Battle innovations include the famous Active Time Battle system, in which the player could, for the first time in the Final Fantasy series, see whose turn would come next. Other Final Fantasy conventions like the Blue Mage were introduced, adding new elements to battle.
Story
The hero of the game, Bartz (Butz in the fan translation) becomes wrapped up in an elaborate war between his world and a parallel world ruled by X-Death (エクスデス; Ekusudesu). With the help of Princess Reina (Lenna in the fan translation), the pirate Faris, and the amnesiac Galuf, he fights X-Death's influence and tries to stop him from plunging the world into the "Void." The party uses the shards of the elemental crystals to learn skills and magic and eventually defeat X-Death.
Final Fantasy V also features the first recurring miniboss of the franchise, Gilgamesh (ギルガメッシュ Girugamesshu). Bartz and his friends fight him several times over the course of the game, a concept that the series continued with Ultros (Final Fantasy VI), the Turks (Final Fantasy VII), Seifer (Final Fantasy VIII), and Seymour Guado (Final Fantasy X).
Characters
The game stars a crew of five unique characters. The initial four characters remain together for much of the game, until one is permanetly replaced by a fifth character.
- Bartz Clauser (バッツ・クラウザー; Battsu Kurausaa) is an adventurer and the 'main character' (only because he is the first person the player controls, and he is often 'representative' of the party). He becomes embroiled in the adventure at the very beginning, when he comes upon the crash site of a meteor with his Chocobo, Boko, and meets Reina. His name is Butz in the fan translated version.
- Reina Charlotte Tycoon (レナ・シャルロット・タイクーン; Rena Shorurotto Taikuun) is of the princess archetype, and meets Bartz at the meteor. She is the King of Tycoon's daughter. Her name is Lenna in the fan translated version.
- Galuf Doe (ガラフ・ドウ Garafu Dou) is a mysterious old man. He is discovered unconscious at the meteorite with amnesia. His past is initially unknown but is revealed later in the game. His full name is Galuf Halm Baldeison (ガラフ・ハルム・バルデシオン; Garafu Harumu Barudeshion).
- Faris Scherwiz (ファリス・シュヴィルツ; Farisu Shuvirutsu) is a pirate whose ship the party uses to travel, at first. The party meets up with Faris when they try to sneak aboard her ship. During the first portion of the game, Faris disguises herself with her hair and clothing as a man. She has a connection with Reina that is later revealed.
- Krile Maia Baldeison (クルル・マイア・バルデシオン; Kururu Maia Barudeshion) is the granddaughter of Galuf. She and her pet dragon Hiryuu are in search of her lost father. Her name is Cara in the fan translated version.
Villains
X-Death (Exdeath in the fan translated version) is the main villain of the game. Early in the game, he is said to be a very powerful black mage. His later form is revealed as an actual tree. Although X-Death is powerful, he has 12 Generals who serve him. They appear a few times throughout the game: 1 sent disguised as Reina to trick the heroes, 3 sent to stop them from getting the remaining lithographs needed for legendary weapons, and 7 that lurk in the N-Zone. The last general is Gilgamesh, who reappears throughout the game numerous times to battle the party.
- Gilgamesh
- Mellusion
- Stoker
- Triton/Nergade/Phobos
- ???? (Fourth Unknown Servant) - This fourth servant doesn't get to fight the heroes, as he is quickly killed by Leviathan.
- Wood Sprite
- Apprhender
- Catastroph
- Azulmagia
- Halycanos
- Twin Tania
- Necrophobe
Of the twelve generals, Gilgamesh is the only one to redeem himself, and helps the party kill Necrophobe.
Localization
The original Super Famicom version of Final Fantasy V was never released in North America. As translator Ted Woolsey explained in a 1994 interview, "it's just not accessible enough to the average gamer." Plans were made to release the game in 1995 as Final Fantasy Extreme, targetting it at "the more experienced gamers [who] loved the complex character building"[2]. For unknown reasons, however, Final Fantasy Extreme never materialized.
In 1997, video game studio Top Dog was hired by Square to port the original Super Famicom game to Microsoft Windows-based personal computers for North American release. Although a good deal of the game was completed, ultimately communication problems between the Top Dog and Square's Japanese and American branches led to the project's demise [3]. That same year an English fan translation patch for the Final Fantasy V ROM image was released on the Internet by RPGe. The release was well received, and until 1999 was the only widely available English language version of the game.
In 1999, a PlayStation compilation, Final Fantasy Anthology was released, which included Final Fantasy V (as well as the PlayStation version of Final Fantasy VI). Some names were interpreted differently, yielding Butz in the fan translation, and Bartz in the official. In 2002, this version of the game was released in Europe and Australia (alongside Final Fantasy IV).
Packaging artwork
 Final Fantasy V |
 Final Fantasy V |
 Final Fantasy Collection |
 Final Fantasy Anthology |
Final Fantasy Anthology |
References
- ^ Neil West. "Interview with Ted Woolsey." Super Play Magazine. September 1994. (full text)
- ^ Marcelo X. "Final Fantasy V On Windows 95 (Interview)." WarMECH's Domain. Accessed on September 29, 2005.
| Final Fantasy series |
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| I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | VIII | IX | X | XI | XII |
| Compilations and collections |
| I-II | Collection | Anthology | Chronicles | Origins | Dawn of Souls |
| Spinoffs and related titles |
| Before Crisis | Crisis Core | Dirge of Cerberus | X-2 | Rise of the Zilart | Chains of Promathia | Treasures of Aht Urhgan | Crystal Chronicles | Mystic Quest | Tactics | Tactics Advance | Kingdom Hearts | Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories | Kingdom Hearts II |
| Film and television |
| Advent Children | Last Order | Legend of the Crystals | The Spirits Within | Unlimited |