Overall 9.3 Graphics 8.8 Sound 6.7 Addictive 8.3 Story 8.2 Depth 8.5 Difficulty 6.7
9
The kind of RPG everyone should play DocRetro
Final Fantasy V is not the kind of game you'd see in the current console generation. I doubt any game like it will be produced ever again outside the indie scene because the fact of the matter is that people have expectations of a little more pizazz, something to spice up your standard turn-based, menu scrolling, random battling adventure. Perhaps that even means mostly eschewing the menus altogether. And that's fair. Were we to have the same game made over and over again, it would get stale rather quickly. I'm bringing this up, however, to illustrate how that's not necessarily a good thing, because I am of the firm belief that even now, over twenty years later, Final Fantasy V still holds up as an enjoyable, quality RPG, and it does so on the sheer strengths of its fundamentals. No matter what new additions a developer makes to the formula, no matter how many times they try to reinvent the wheel, the question of whether a game is good is going to depend on whether it has a solid core. And Final Fantasy V's core is about as solid as one can get.
But that's not where I want to start, because it makes more sense to give that core context by digging through the outer layers first. By which I mean that I'm about to discuss Final Fantasy V's story. I suppose it's there. Like many Final Fantasy stories before it (but unlike those that came after), the story of FFV is focused on neither character nor plot, but rather on theme, the theme for this game in particular being sort of a halfway between coming of age and the passing of responsibility from one generation to the next. It plays these themes out well, allowing for several moments that are surprisingly touching. By and large, however, the plot is mostly very standard Final Fantasy stuff. The evil warlock Exdeath is out to destroy some power crystals and drag the whole world into the all-consuming Void, and of course, our heroes must stop him. That's really about all there is to it. Of note, however, is the fact that the game is very light-hearted and filled with jokes, which I can't say I was expecting when I first played the game. It added a lot of life to an otherwise dull plotline and was much appreciated. Those expecting a more serious, gripping tale in the vein of VI-VIII are going to be disappointed. I do want to mention, however, that this game is one of those rare gems in fiction that seriously got me to like just about every character. Though they may not have much depth, every one of them barring perhaps Lenna is full of personality and makes the story actually work on some levels just because of how likable everyone is. And even Lenna is usually good at making setups for other characters, so it's not like she's wasted either. Of course, they're all total stereotypes at heart: Bartz is the moronic hero, Lenna is the naive princess, Galuf is the wisecracking old man, Faris is the gruff tomboy, Gilgamesh is the cowardly braggart, Exdeath is the over the top ham of a villain (what else could he be with a name like that?), etc. But the personality and life they bring to these stereotypes is enough to make them stand out and still be entertaining. So while I wouldn't exactly call the story good, I would call it enjoyable in spite of itself. And not in a bad way either. It hits that rare mark of "uninspired concept with masterful execution." Which means it certainly won't work for everyone, but the people who it does work for are probably going to love it.
But anyway, as for what we're really all here for, the gameplay of FFV is almost total perfection, as I've been implying before. It is so simple, and yet it works so marvelously well that I am disappointed that it didn't become the standard for how all turn-based menu RPGs function. Basically, how it works is that everyone, of course, has a class. However, no one has a specific class, the system is far more akin to FFIII than any of the other games. Basically, once you've unlocked classes beyond the base Freelancer class, you may change any of your characters to any of the classes you've unlocked at will. Progression is not tied to taking character levels, but class levels. Character levels only get you an HP boost. Take a level in a class and you unlock an ability of that class that may be equipped to any other class. You could have your Black Mages punching enemies to death thanks to Monk abilities, or Dancers blasting your foes to bits with item-based artillery powers you got from the Cannoneer class. Each class has a set number of levels because they have a finite number of abilities, obviously. Level up a class to the maximum and you have "mastered" that class. Mastering a class means that your original Freelancer class gains both the highest stat boosts that that class provides as well as any passive abilities that that class was able to use, eliminating the need to equip this ability to the Freelancer. Say, for example, you mastered the Ninja class. Ninjas have the unique passive ability to Dual Wield, which you can unlock as an ability to equip to other classes. Since you've mastered Ninja, however, you don't need to equip it to your Freelancer because the Freelancer can do it naturally just like the Ninja can now. What this amounts to is that by the end of the game, the Freelancer will be your most powerful class if you've been mastering classes. Freelancers have other benefits that you might not expect from the only class you have at the start of the game as well: they are the only class that can equip any and all pieces of equipment, and they are also the only class to be able to equip two abilities at once. Every other class has its own special ability that takes up an ability slot. Summoners obviously need to be able to cast Summon magic or else they wouldn't be Summoners, right? Because the Freelancer has no special abilities of its own (in the sense of commands that you can activate, that is), you can instead pick any two from whichever classes you want. No restrictions. If you want a Chemist that uses Samurai Bushido arts while wearing a wizard hat and knight armor and using a bard's harp to attack, no one can really stop you. Mimics get a whole three ability slots, but their utility is a bit more limited than the Freelancer because they cannot equip all types of equipment. It's still very good if you want to make use of Dualcast and spam Bahamut for no MP with a party of Mimics by using their Mimic command.
And that's the beauty of FFV. You have so many options on how you want to develop your characters, and you can take them down any or all the paths you want, and by the end of the game, you can use everything all your characters have ever learned all at the same time. It feels immensely rewarding to go down one particular class, master it, and then go into another class and find all kinds of abilities that perfectly complement the abilities of the class you just mastered. Dualcast and any kind of Magic. Rapid Fire, Spellblade and Dual Wield. Mix and Combine. Alternatively, if you're like me, you'll get a thrill of going on gameFAQs, planning everything out in advance and then watching with a smug smile on your face as all the pieces fall into place, just as you had envisioned.
However, this does bring up the one glaring issue I have with the gameplay, and that's the fact that without looking it up online, you have no idea what abilities a class will give you until you actually get the abilities, which isn't helped by the fact that you unlock a number of classes relatively late in the game. At the beginning of the game, enemies will seldom give more than one ABP each (ABP being ability points, the experience bar for your classes, if you will). Even by the end of the game, you will still get at most, 25 ABP or so from a non-boss battle. Classes take hundreds of ABP to master, with the absolute worst being the Red Mage, taking an unholy 999 ABP to unlock its final ability, Dualcast, which, although undeniably useful, is nowhere close to being worth grinding that much, especially by the point in the game which you would realistically get it. I can understand the sort of childish joy in being surprised by a new and useful ability, but I would readily trade it to avoid the irritation of learning that I spent all that time grinding for an ability I didn't actually need. This lack of foreknowledge will also probably affect your approach to classes, causing you to avoid classes you really should be taking and taking classes that are absolutely pointless. Take, for example, the case of the Ranger. It gets a few nice bonuses, but its Rapid Fire skill doesn't seem particularly useful... until, that is, you unlock it for your Freelancer class to use, combine it with the Ninja's Dual Wield and the Mystic Knight's Spellblade and suddenly your warriors are attacking eight times per move with Excaliburs enchanted with the Flare spell. On the other hand, you have something like the Red Mage, which seems useful at first, but is easily outclassed by the end of the game. Same with the Black Mage. There's little reason to use either of them, Summoner makes Black Magic obsolete (other than for use as Spellblades), and Red Mage makes itself obsolete with the inability to cast any magic over level 3 or outside the standard Black/White tree. Which this game has a lot of. There are Summoners, Blue Mages and Time Mages as well. So because of that, you're advised to look everything up instead of going in blind. It's important to plan, folks.
Graphically, the game looks fine. It could have stood for an
update or two for the GBA, but I'll take what I can get. The sprites still look a little pixelly in places and it's obvious they didn't put as much effort into updating this game as they did FFVI for the GBA, but even still, the environments are generally pretty decent and the in-battle sprites all work pretty well. And hey, there's no ridiculous Mode Seven either, so it has that going for it. I jest. Still, it's nothing that will blow your mind, so remember that you are playing a game that debuted on the SNES in 1992. There is some good variety in the environments too. From a ship graveyard to a dragon mountain, to a fleshlike, organic tower, the game does its best to keep itself interesting. I do love how every class has its own individual sprite as well, it really shows how they were putting focus on making your gameplay as diverse as you wanted it to be.
In terms of music, the game is fantastic, I still listen to many of the tracks even now. The main theme, Ahead on Our Way, is something most people recognize from FFVII, so it says something about the quality of the soundtrack of this game that it debuted here. Other tracks are great as well. Everyone knows Clash on the Big Bridge, of course, but the standard battle theme has just as much energy, the final boss themes are appropriately energetic and foreboding, the overworld theme has a strange sort of... upbeat wistfulness that makes it appropriate for all kinds of situations, not to mention very catchy, and the Final Fantasy main theme played on the music box for the final cutscene is almost tearjerkingly beautiful even if the scene itself is a happy one. And then it immediately goes into the credits theme, which is just about as good. This game's soundtrack is seriously underrated among fans, more really do need to give it a listen.
I'll continue to stand by what I said in the opening. The foundation of this game is brilliant. It takes your standard turn-based game and gives you every little toy imaginable to play around and experiment with, and then makes a whole game around it. No other turn-based game I know of gives you that much freedom, not even something like Golden Sun, where you can change class at any time but your core commands remain the same. If you're looking for the definitive example of how to do a turn-based menu RPG correctly, then look no farther.
Graphics 7 Sound 8 Addictive 10 Story 3 Depth 10 Difficulty 4
Review Rating: 5/5
Submitted: 07-29-15
Updated: 07-29-15
Review Replies: 1
10
Final Fantasy V Review mr.pace
Final Fantasy V Advance is one of my favorite games to play were on vizzedboard. Though it can be quite hard at times, over all it is a great game. Your hardest enemies are not Omega and Shinryu, but Neo Shinryu and Omega MK II and unlike Omega and Shinryu, Neo Shinryu and Omega MK II are not optional they are mandatory, but it's all worth in the end when you get you last job the neocromancer. This game is fun, but definitely not for beginner ff players.Overall: This game is very exciting and complex but not to complex. The game explores the vastness of the final fantasy job class world allowing you to enjoy and experience all aspects of all final fantasy games until now(ff v). Graphics: The graphics I believe could have been better, or on a final fantasy dawn of souls level or ff vi level.Sound: I believe the music was awesome. Probably the most memorable thing about the game. Addictiveness: As all final fantasy games are, this game is very addictive. Once playing the game, I did not want to stop. I believe the game-play and the ability to chose which characters could use what was the greatest reason. Once you realized that you have to level up certain characters to beat certain optional bosses, you can really begin to understand the concept of the game.Story: The was excellent. There were many flashbacks for characters so you could learn who you were while play. Learn your players motives to do what he does. ExcellentDepth: The game could have had a better secret mode with greater missions and stuff because once you beat that part you don't want to play anymore.Difficulty: This game could be quite difficult at times especially when without the proper experience, spells, and jobs.Great game
Review Rating: 4.7/5
Submitted: 04-18-11
Updated: 07-18-12
Review Replies: 4
9
Final Fantasy V: The Advanced Saga Dragoon Sword88
Final Fantasy V Advance is a turn-based RPG that has interesting features that set it a part from the other Advanced games. I am a personal RPG fan so to me this is a fun game despite it being difficult at times. Besides that it has things to offer that the other Final Fantasy Advanced games don't.
Graphics: The map sprites could have been better but the battle sprites are tolerable to say the least. The background was done better than expected. And the monster are still more detailed than the players party members.
Sound: The sound is good considering on how this site has some trouble with the music of some games. All in all tolerable.
Addictiveness: As I said I'm a RPG fan so this games is quite addictive at times.
Story: The story is the same as any RPG (save the world from evil) but still it is good for it is a little different from most RPG. I won't get too much in it to avoid spoilers, but you are to protect the crystals of Fire, Water, Earth (the Wind crystal was destroyed at the beginning of the game) unfortunately most break but you get their powers.
Depth: This game has a class system similar to Final Fantasy: Dawn of Souls but the difference is that you can change the class one of your characters is from Knight, to BlueMage (a new one) to Beserker, to Monk. That is to name a few. The turn system is where you wait for the Action bar to fill up. I think of this as a way to change up the regular turn system.
Difficulty: The game can be quite difficult if not prepared right. The bosses as you progress also make the game a little bit more difficult.
To sum it up this game is sure to be liked by many RPG fans (like me) it is turn based so for those who prefer fast paced games this is not for you. This game is for those who like/need to have time to think of the next action they will perform. All in all it is a good game for those RPG fans (but keep in mind there is some content not suitable for young RPG fans).
Graphics 8 Sound 8 Addictive 9 Story 9 Depth 8 Difficulty 8
Review Rating: 4.2/5
Submitted: 06-24-12
Review Replies: 0
10
Jobs + RPG= Final Fantasy V Kyle!
Final Fantasy V was developed by Square, now known as Square Enix, was released 1992 for in Japan for the Nintendo Famicom and was later released for the SNES (Super Nintendo Entertainment System) and GBA (Game Boy Advanced). The game was highly praised for a unique system which allowed the player to spend time not focusing on the storyline and try to find "Jobs." The Job system was unique because you could gain regular EXP to level up your characters' normal stats, and grind/farm (Both RPG terms for fighting enemies to be higher leveled.) points in the certain job/class (A class is a role in mostly RPG's that is usually unique to one character and has their advantages against certain enemies and weaknesses against certain enemies. EXAMPLE: Knight, Mage, Monk, Ninja, Thief.) to earn better moves which you get from winning battles and gaining points (EXAMPLE: "You won! You gained 3 skill points for your job! 5/30 required to level up your skill!").GRAPHICS: This game's graphics were great on the GBA and SNES! I loved moving on to a new area because I wanted to see what new colorful piece of scenery I'd see next! For a 16-bit game the graphics were over the top! However, sometimes, I felt the graphics were a little too plain, or a little too forced. But I loved it overall, which is why I rated GRAPHICS a 10. 
SOUND: The music in the game to me just wasn't catchy like it is in many other Final Fantasy's, unfortunetly. There were some catchy songs, but not many. I rated this category a 3 because it just wasn't something I would chose to play if I wanted to play a game with good music.ADDICTIVENESS: I rated this a 10 because this game had many scenarios where I would spend a large chunk of time grinding so I can take my time fighting many of the exotic-looking bosses and not die, but also because the grinding was fun, and interesting. In games like Dragon Warrior or Final Fantasy Dawn of Souls it would be mashing my "Z" key. I found the story to be interesting, at least to me. And felt it was well done, considering there is a moment I won't spoil, but REALLY caught me off-guard. I recommend people to play this game if they like responsive grinding that is worth it and doesn't result in them being always overpowered. I recommended this to my Uncle who goes crazy over good RPG's and he told me this game does not disappoint when keeping the player glued to their seat and fingers to their keyboard. STORY: I loved the story. I never read spoilers about games like these that are on Vizzed because I don't want to spoil a thing for myself. When I play a game to review it I want to make the review on my own will, not force myself to because I spent awhile beating the game and don't want the time wasted, but because I want to FULLY experience the game and try my best not to lose interest so I don't put any fake emotions and opinions into reviewing the game. And this game's story kept me interested. I felt immersed in the story and liked how the story played out. Now I will be posting the basic story for those without the time to play this amazing game, but for those who want to see this, it will be in spoilers.SPOILER: So the story starts with Bartz and his Chokobo, and they see a meteorite fall from the sky and go to investigate to find a "damsel in distress" situation and rescue a Princess named Jenna and find a old man named Galuf who at one point discovers he has amnesia after odd flashbacks. Now after they rescue the princess and old man, they find out they are going to the wind temple because they heard there is something bad going on there, so Bartz decides to accompany them on their way and protect them as well. Soon they journey to it and when in a cave which is the base of pirates they meet a pirate captain who lies and says SHE is a HE because SHE felt it'd be awkward to be the only girl-pirate there. Soon you find out she and Jenna are related (They are sisters) and they want to find their father. Back to their journey. So the pirates let them go and the pirate-captain accompanies the group and becomes a party-member. Once they get their way to the top of the wind temple, the crystal-shard destroys and the party receives their starting Jobs/Classes. Then they go to all the other temples. And I will not spoil anything else. You'll have to find out for yourself ^^SPOILER OVER.DEPTH: This game has some pretty awesome stuff to do when not doing the storyline. You may get some classes by fighting what I'd call, secret bosses. This keeps people still playing the game and gives them a break from the already lengthy storyline. DIFFICULTY: This game was extremely easy for me (Yes, there is a EASY version for the SNES, but I don't like cheating.), and probably is for you if you have played RPG's before. I would recommend this to new RPG'ers, because it teaches them the class differences for most Final Fantasy games and other franchises. This game had some really tough bosses if I may say so myself. Especially those "secret bosses" I was talking about. The rating I gave it for difficulty was 5 because it had some tough parts if you don't grind, but it was usually a piece of cake. This game may be a challenge though, for those new to RPG's. I remember this was my first Final Fantasy and I sucked at first... But it paid off because now I am great at RPG's. As I have said, I recommend this for old-time RPG'ers and those new to the genre. ~ Won't allow my Russian name :(
Graphics 10 Sound 3 Addictive 10 Story 10 Depth 10 Difficulty 5
Review Rating: 4/5
Submitted: 03-04-13
Updated: 03-04-13
Review Replies: 1
9.5
Final Fantasy V Review Tekky7
Alright... to start off, LOVE THIS GAME. It has to be my favorite
Final Fantasy on the Game Boy Advance, and I can NEVER put this game
down for a good 3 to 5 hours. The side quests, I can go on forever.
They are quite lengthy and sometimes difficult. The story has tons of interesting and,
sometimes heart-wrenching, twists that keeps a gamer who is
interested in story lines (like me) entertained and almost brought me
to tears at one point. The job system is great, too. It gives you
an endless customizable options for your characters. Blue Magic has
also been implemented in so you can learn some of the monsters'
attacks. The bosses are absolutely going to annihilate the
under-leveled, with high HP, multiple forms, and powerful attacks
that strike the entire party. You cannot go wrong in the purchase of
this amazing RPG.
Graphics 8 Sound 8 Addictive 9 Story 10 Depth 9 Difficulty 8
Review Rating: 3.6/5
Submitted: 12-13-12
Review Replies: 1
10
hardest FF game mister sandman
OVERALL; it was a great game. The only FF with a diverse class system of 22 jobs/classes and every crystal you finish you get more jobs/classes.
GRAPHICS: its better on graphics gba than snes version. The magic animation is pretty the game of FF game with bit graphics.
SOUND: lets be honest the music is crap compared to the snes so pretty much had game on mute
ADDICTIVENESS: idk it's just me i never replay games but all the class you get would increase the playability because i believe there is 22 classes you get and it keeped me playing
STORY: ONCE AGAIN the game starts out the crystal thing but then the game throws a big twist after finishing the crystals quest
DEPTH: its not a big game but the game is kinda long I beat the game in about 40 hours
DIFFICULTY: every boss was a challenge for me because they all are hard to fight if you don't know the bosses weakness
Graphics 10 Sound 7 Addictive 6 Story 10 Depth 8 Difficulty 10
Review Rating: 3.4/5
Submitted: 03-04-13
Review Replies: 4
9.5
better graphics then the nes joey9900
I recently played the Final fantasy Vi version on nes and I'd say for Game boy advance it's really well done and the story art is a lot better and be it the game play is a lot smoother and cleaner then Nintendo. Via I don't own a gba in real life I really do like it and have played final fantasy 1 through 3 and even x on ps2. It does take some time to get though all the cut away story lines but that makes it all worth it when you get to fly around and the job classes are a nice touch for you not only get to have the class you start with but earn extra methods as well.
Graphics 10 Sound 6 Addictive 6 Story 7 Depth 6 Difficulty 5
Review Rating: 1/5
Submitted: 11-25-13
Review Replies: 1
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