We continue our journey with the "Golden Age" of Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy V: The Game Lost to Time
Continuing on the wave of success, the “dream team” over at Square went back to work after the completion of Final Fantasy IV. Sakaguchi once again directed, but also wrote the story that would become Final Fantasy V. Yoshitaka Amano provided character art and designs, as well as creating the logo for the game, but he was assisted by a hotshot new artist, Tetsuya Nomura.
Nomura worked on monster designs and some battle screen graphics for this iteration of Final Fantasy. This was his first project for the company. He would go on to become the artistic face of Square Enix, providing character designs for Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, and Parasite Eve among other games. Final Fantasy V was released for the Super Famicom in December of 1992.
Tetsuya Nomura
Final Fantasy V was an interesting entry in the series, as it seemed to combine elements of the older Famicom games with the story and presentation of Final Fantasy IV. Instead of a shifting party of twelve characters, Final Fantasy V had a cast of five: Bartz, Galuf, Faris, and Lenna (Krile would replace Galuf in the party at a specific moment in the story).
While the story featured the gravitas and melodrama that FF IV introduced, it took a backseat to the game mechanics. Active Time Battle returned, but this time players could see when a character was about to take a turn thanks to a handy time meter next to the character hit points. The Job System from Final Fantasy III returned, but with vast improvements. This time the party earned Ability Points in addition to Experience Points. Ability Points helped level the particular job a character was on at the time, and leveling up jobs would unlock new abilities. These extra abilities could be assigned to a secondary command bar, allowing for dual class specialization for the first time in the series. In this way, it was possible to make a Black Mage that could use summoning magic or a Warrior that could dual wield weapons like a Ninja. This added yet another layer of strategy and customization to the battle system, and many fans of the series cite Final Fantasy V as having the most engaging game mechanics of the series.
The game continued the trend of each game surpassing the sales of the previous release, with Final Fantasy V selling over 2 million units in Japan. A translation was in the works for America, but plans fell through. However at this point in video game history, American gamers were starting to become more aware of the video game scene in Japan. Unlike Final Fantasy II and III, gamers in the West were aware of the existence of Final Fantasy V, thanks to import previews from magazines such as Electronic Gaming Monthly. That magazine in particular had a small preview of Final Fantasy Extreme, which was another attempt to bring the game to the West. At the time, it was hinted that the gameplay of Final Fantasy V was simply too complex for American audiences. Finally, the company Top Dog Software attempted to bring the game to PCs in America, but this also ended up dead in the water. This would lead to Final Fantasy V getting one of the first fan translations. It wasn’t until the release of Final Fantasy Anthology on the PlayStation in 1999 that American gamers would finally have an official way of enjoying the game.
Due to its long journey to America and its complex job system, Final Fantasy V has become the de facto “black sheep” of the 16 bit era. It has its staunch supporters, but the game didn’t review as favorably as the other two games to come out for the Super Nintendo. However, it has become a fan favorite for marathon sessions, and an informal yearly event called the Final Fantasy V Random Job Challenge (where players randomly select one permanent job for each party member) has become a staple for fans of the game.
And now I want to go play FF V.
I don't remember though if characters stats grew differently in that game depending on which class they were a-la FF Tactics, or if they were static. I seem to remember even from the start choosing specific characters to train is specific roles, but I don't know why I did. Oh well.
I've never beaten FF 4 on snes. The last boss is utterly insane. My brother beat him once when all of his characters were on level 96. Talk about a TON of grinding lol. There's a lot of things I love about FF 4. Kain is awesome. The music. When Palom and Porum (or whatever) turn into stone. I think it's funny how everybody dies so many times and always comes back. Man who would have thought that the ATB system originated from a formula one race?
FF IV is by far my favorite in the series. Jesse think I'm insane, but I own every American version of the game, and will probably collect the Japanese ones at some point. If you think Zeromus was hard on SNES, you should have tried him on the PSX version from the FF Chronicles set. I've beaten that game more than any RPG and still had to bow out from that fight.
FF VI is my favourite game of all time. I still tend to play it yearly or bi-yearly. I'm gearing up to playing it again this year, but this time the GBA version on my Gameboy Player. Can't wait.
Again, these articles are fantastic!
Thanks a lot! That really means a ton to me. I worked really hard on these things, and it was a true labor of love. Thanks for reading!
Final Fantasy VI was my entry point to the FF series (as FFIII on SNES). I loved it. FFVII is my favorite video game of all time, though.
In recent years, I've begun to appreciate FFV more and more. A lot of Americans dismiss it because of its weak narrative structure and the fact that we never got to play it until long after the SNES was dead and buried, but it really is an incredible game with memorable characters and a good battle system. The music is among the most memorable in the series even if it lacts the dramatic flair of either FF4 or FF6.
The Japanese in particular loved it. I think FF5 is probably the most-loved of the 16-bit FF games in Japan.
I absolutely love FF iv. I have started it a dozen or so times and have gotten through various points before having to give it up. Sadly have not beaten it, yet.
Wow, great article. FFVI is an absolutely stunning game! I have never managed to beat it, but I will play it again and again until I do. And Locke is the best!
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