QuickNavigation - FF Odyssey Final Fantasy V (Last updated on 06/20/2011)

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By: wsim

     Final Fantasy V originally came out for the Super Famicom in Japan and never quite made it to the US until it was released along with FFVI in FF Anthology for the PlayStation. However, FFV was deemed too “difficult” for North American gamers and it wasn’t until recently that RPG fanatics in North America had the chance to experience FFV for the first time. FFV combines the customization of the “Job System” and combines it along with the old-school setting of past FF games and like previous FF games before it, FFV also has a decent music score. FFV is another decent old-school RPG game but it does have quite a few flaws compared to the others though…….

     FFV starts off when King Tycoon tells his daughter, Reina that he has to go save the Wind crystal from shattering and feels a disturbance with the wind around the world. Reina doesn’t want him to go but King Tycoon insists that he must go check out what’s wrong with the Wind crystal before it’s too late. Later on, you are introduced to Faris and Galuf who also feel that something is wrong with the wind around the world and then Galuf realizes that the wind has suddenly stopped. King Tycoon then reaches the Wind crystal and then it mysteriously shatters, which is the main reason behind the stoppage of the wind previously. A young adventurer named Bartz along with his trusty Chocobo then find that a meteorite has crashed onto earth and they decide to check it out. Bartz finds some monsters attempting to kidnap Reina and then he saves her and introduces himself to her. Bartz also finds Galuf near the meteorite as well and it appears that Galuf can’t remember anything. Reina and Galuf then suddenly remember about the Wind shrine and they quickly head off there to check out what happened to the Wind Crystal. Bartz then decides to go off in his own way along with his Chocobo and then Bartz realizes that the ground is ripping apart and helps Galuf and Reina who were both trapped in the earthquake. After this, all 3 of them then agree to travel on a mysterious journey which will test the entire fate of the world. Later on, Bartz, Reina and Galuf meet up with Faris and all 4 of them use Faris’ pirate ship to travel to the Wind shrine in hopes of saving the Wind Crystal before it’s too late. After they all reach the shattered remains of the Wind Crystal, Reina’s father tells the others that the other 3 elemental Crystals will shatter unless they are able to protect them and Tycoon proclaims Bartz, Faris, Reina and Galuf as the four chosen warriors whose duty is to protect the remaining Crystals of the world. So all 4 of them go on a journey to protect the remaining 3 crystals and later on, it is revealed that Faris is actually Reina’s long-lost sister. Along the way, the party meets up with Cid and his grandson Mid, who are both experts at machinery and airship building and they provide the party with an airship to travel around the world easier. After failing to protect the other 3 Crystals as they have shattered, the party then sees Cid and Mid and it is revealed that something is responsible for the shattering of the Crystals and Bartz finds out later on that the people of earth have overused the power of the Crystals, thus weakening them and making them ripe to shatter. Eventually, Galuf’s memory returns and tells the others that he actually came from a different world and tells that a guy named Ex-Death went to earth to destroy the Crystals but himself and the Dawn Warriors sealed him up before he was able to bring chaos and destruction to the world 30 years ago. After realizing that Ex-Death has been freed, Galuf and his granddaughter Krile immediately hop on a meteorite and return to their world to stop Ex-Death. The others want to help out Galuf against Ex-Death but they realize that there isn’t any energy left to power up the meteorite and after reading a letter from Cid, they decide to find him to think of a way to power up the meteorites and help out Galuf. After finding some Adamantine to power up the meteorites, Bartz and the others then head off to Galuf’s world to find him.

     From this point on, Bartz and the others reach Galuf’s world as they try to find him to help him out against the struggle against Ex-Death. After crashing on a remote island, a monster captures Bartz and the others, they find themselves inside a cell, and they see Ex-Death for the first time. Ex-Death then shows an image of Bartz and the others to Galuf and then Galuf decides to save them from the hands of Ex-Death and his minions. He uses Krile’s Dragon to reach Ex-Death’s castle and eventually he runs into Gilgamesh, who is Ex-Death’s right hand man. After defeating Gilgamesh, Galuf saves the others and they all escape from Ex-Death’s castle without any harm. They all head to a large bridge and on the way to Galuf’s castle, Gilgamesh stops them and after defeating him, they all manage to enter Galuf’s castle and meet up with Krile again. After journeying for a bit, Galuf and the others decide to follow a moogle underground. They later on find that a monster attacked the moogle and they save him from the hands of the monster. Later on, they follow the moogle and they eventually reach a moogle village. Apparently, moogles have special powers that enable them to telecommunicate with others and they use this power to tell Krile back in Val Castle that Galuf is in the moogle village. Krile then uses her Dragon to bring Bartz and the others back to Val Castle and once they return, his army greets Galuf and Krile gives the Dragon a short rest. From here, Galuf’s army tells him that most of their soldiers have been wiped out and that Ex-Death has put a barrier around his castle. Later on, the Dragon appears to be dying from exhaustion and the party has to find an item called the “Dragon grass” to cure Krile’s Dragon so they decide to set off to find it. Also, Galuf mentions of a town called Kelb and they decide to stop by there on the way. Once they reach Kelb, there is a north gate in the town that needs to be opened to reach the Valley of the Dragons, which is where the Dragon grass lies. After entering a werewolf’s house, Galuf finds Kelga there who was one of the original 4 Dawn Warriors who fought against Ex-Death some 30 years ago. Just then, Kelga challenges Bartz to a fight but thanks to Galuf’s advice, Bartz was able to defeat the legendary Dawn Warrior. After Kelga recovers from his wounds, he then speaks to the others about the original Dawn Warriors who were: Kelga, Galuf, Zeza and Bartz’s father, Drogan. During a flashback sequence, it is revealed that after sealing Ex-Death some 30 years ago, the legendary Dawn Warriors decided to protect Galuf’s world but Drogan vowed to protect Bartz in his own world. Bartz tells Kelga that his father passed away a few years back and then Kelga opens the north gate leading to the Valley of the Dragons. Eventually, Bartz and the others find the Dragon grass and they take it back to Val Castle to cure Krile’s sick Dragon. Reina feeds the Dragon grass to Krile’s Dragon and then later on, Krile tells the others about a Sage named Gill who requests that the party visit him as soon as possible. After reaching Gill’s shrine, an earthquake occurs which manages to make the island sink underwater and the party decides to head over to nearby Surgate Castle. It happens that Zeza has sent a fleet to attack Ex-Death’s castle and after Bartz and the others find his fleet, Galuf and Zeza greet each other and Galuf introduces Bartz and the others to Zeza. Some monsters invade the ship and Galuf and the others encounter Gilgamesh for a 2nd time while Zeza is occupied in defeating the monsters. After Gilgamesh retreats, Zeza then decides to use the submarine to go underwater and once they reach a tunnel, Zeza thinks up of a plan. Galuf and the others agree to head up on the top of a tower to destroy the antenna to disable the barrier around Ex-Death’s castle in hopes to defeating him. Eventually, Galuf and the others manage to escape the tower’s explosion but unfortunately, Zeza is trapped in the tower and sacrifices himself for the good of Galuf and the rest of the party. Bartz and the others find Gill’s shrine underwater using the submarine and then Gill tells them about Ex-Death’s past and he also tells them that Ex-Death seeks what is in Moore forest and what is going on inside the Eldest Tree. Gill gives Bartz the Elder’s branch to enter the forest to stop Ex-Death. Within the forest, Bartz and the others destroy 4 seals and then Ex-Death uses the tree’s mythical power and Ex-Death traps the party using his newfound power. Krile attempts to rescue them but she also gets caught by Ex-Death. Galuf somehow manages to break free of the magic and then fights Ex-Death alone. Galuf gives it his all and Ex-Death flees, which in turn, rescues Bartz and the others from certain death. Galuf dies as a result and then Krile takes over his place in the fight against Ex-Death.

     They all decide to enter Ex-Death’s castle in order to confront him and then along the way, they fight and defeat Gilgamesh again. Ex-Death then sends Gilgamesh to the N-Zone as a result of his failure and then the party fights Ex-Death. After defeating him, Ex-Death then merges the Galuf’s and Bartz’s worlds together to form a new world. Bartz and the others find themselves in this new world and they return back to Tycoon Castle for a little break. After visiting the Chancellor of Tycoon, Reina and Faris are greeted by the people of Tycoon and Bartz then talks to Krile about Galuf. Bartz wonders on how Boco is doing and he and Krile then go off to find him in the cave where Bartz left him earlier on. After meeting with Boco, it appears that he got married and his wife is pregnant. Boco then decides to go with Bartz on another journey again and while riding around, the ground shakes and they all land into some mysterious cave. After a monster attacks them, Bartz and Krile manage to defeat it and then they decide to head up to the surface again. They both find Faris there and she then joins Bartz and Krile and they head off to find the Sage Gill. The Sage explains more about Ex-Death’s past and more about the two worlds and then suddenly, Ex-Death appears once again and then traps Tycoon Castle under the “Cleft of Dimension”. Ex-Death seeks the power of the Void and then blasts Gill and the others out of the cave and then goes away. Gill then realizes about the Ancient library and then he and the others head there to find out a way to defeat Ex-Death for good. Apparently, the party is too weak to fight the monsters in the Cleft of Dimension and they need the 12 legendary weapons to stand a chance against them. After opening the sealed book, it explains that the party needs 4 lithographs hidden around the world in order to obtain the weapons. After obtaining the first lithograph from the Desert Palace, the party then heads back to the Ancient library but then Krile’s Dragon drops of Reina and then it appears that Reina is reunited with the others. Then it appears that Reina isn’t Reina at all. Ex-Death then appears and then he sends the Ancient library into the Cleft of Dimension. Reina then separates herself from her body and then the others attack the evil monster possessing her. After defeating it, Reina joins the party once again and then a scene occurs in which Ex-Death can’t control the power of the Void and then traps a few more towns and castles in the world, including Bartz’s hometown. After obtaining the next two lithographs, the party meets up with Cid and Mid again to make repairs and upgrades to the airship. From here they enter a waterfall to find the last lithograph and after defeating Leviathian, the party then heads to the Castle of Kuzar to obtain the 12 legendary weapons. From here, they enter the Cleft of Dimension to encounter and defeat Ex-Death once and for all. Bartz and the others manage to defeat Ex-Death’s minions and once entering the Void, the party finds Gilgamesh again. Later on, Gilgamesh helps out the party against a boss at the end of the Void and sacrifices himself to help the others. Bartz and the others head up to the final floor of the Void and when it appears that Ex-Death has trapped the party using the power of the Void, the spirits of the Dawn Warriors appear, including Drogan and Galuf and they help seal up Ex-Death. Bartz and the others encounter Ex-Death from here and engage in a final battle with him to save both worlds. The party defeats Ex-Death for good and then the party seems to be floating in the Void and it appears that the Void hasn’t disappeared entirely yet. Krile is taken away, so as the Crystals and the other members of the party and then the Crystals are all restored once again. All the previous towns and castles have now returned to their usual location, before the Void incident and then King Tycoon along with the Dawn Warriors visit the party again to congratulate them and then they go away again. Cid and Mid then begin to read a letter written by Krile and she explains what happens after defeating Ex-Death. The party is safe and Bartz travels the world again and Krile vows to visit Galuf’s spirit once again. Then a bunch of flashback scenes are shown from previous events in the game and then Krile feels a bit down after Galuf’s sacrifice but then Krile thinks for a bit and that her grandpa’s spirit is laughing with her. The Crystals have all been restored and the party now vows to protect the Crystals again. From here, Krile flies across the vast landscape and then the ending credits roll as the world is at peace once again.

     One good aspect about FFV is that the graphics are pretty decent for it’s time and while they may seem like a small jump from FFIV, the truth is that it is due to the fact that FFV was made shortly after FFIV and it was made on the same hardware too. Some background scenes in FFV are quite impressive and have a good amount of detail to them and while the character sprites aren’t that much better than the ones found in FFIV, they are still an improvement. In addition, the graphics in various dungeons are nice but they are merely slight improvements from FFIV but I must say that certain character sprites are very similar to some in FFIV. The sky and cloud effects in FFV are quite impressive but where FFV really stands out in terms of graphics is near the end of the game as by then, you can tell that the graphics progress over time.

     The battle system in FFV is quite interesting and unique, although it can be tedious at times. The Job System in FFV enables a character to equip a maximum of 2 different abilities, if he/she has learned them through the use of ABP (Active-battle points) and each job can learn certain abilities after obtaining a certain amount of ABP through various battles and so on. There are many different jobs to choose from, such as Lancer, Sorcerer, Samurai, Summoner and so on. Also, magic has to be bought in stores, just like in FFI, although some magic can be found and can only be used if your character is a Black Mage, unless you learn some Black Magic job levels, then you can equip them to another job. In this way, it is possible for a Knight to be able to use White Magic, creating a whole sense of customization within job classes. The job system is one of the best parts of FFV as the concept itself is quite innovative and creative and it’s quite different from other FF games. You gain abilities through AP and Job points after winning battles. However, the gameplay in FFV isn’t without it’s faults as leveling up in the game is quite tedious and long and you seem to gain little EXP throughout most of your battles compared to other FF games. This is my main gripe about the gameplay in FFV as it takes a lot longer than normal to level up, providing needless extra amounts of time leveling up and battling. Otherwise, the Job System is quite interesting and new however.

     One of FFV’s biggest faults is due to the fact that the game has a very dull storyline overall. The plot is quite simple to understand and it revolves around the Crystals, much like what happened in the original Final Fantasy but slightly different. There are several decent plot twists in FFV but certain events in the game were pulled off in a poor manner and the characters lack emotion and development for the most part. There are very few playable party characters in the game, the characters all lack a sense of emotion, and personality for the most part, and minus for a few exceptions and some characters are kind of dull and cheesy at best. While the storyline is simple and easy to understand, it’s pretty bland and plain and there wasn’t many parts of the plot that really shocked or surprised me for the most part. Not to mention that the characters in FFV lack personality too.

     The music in FFV is quite cheesy to say the least, except for a few tracks in the game, such as Gilgamesh’s theme and some of the castle music is quite good as well. Besides the exception of a few tracks, the overall music in FFV seems kind of bland and not as bold or epic as found in FFIV. Also, it appears that many of the tracks in FFV are kind of repetitive and while the game does have the classic Crystal theme as usual, some tracks range from quite poor to mediocre at best. Perhaps this is another key flaw in the game itself, as this seems to affect the overall mood and feeling of the game and with the mediocre music, FFV seems more of a dull game at best but it does have a few good tracks though. To me, the sound in FFV is another weak point in the game as it doesn’t seem to be Nobuo Uematsu’s best work and it’s kind of a far cry from most of the tracks in FFIV.

     Simply put, FFV is not a very fun game overall as the plot, storyline is mediocre and bland, and the characters seem to lack emotions and personality, minus for a few minor exceptions. There are a few sidequests and extra areas in the game to visit but for the most part, they aren’t entirely fun and only reveal some slight flashbacks about certain character’s origins and some sidequests are merely only created to get extra summons in the game, which does prove useful though. Even still, there are quite a few random battles in certain areas and leveling up and mastering jobs takes a lot of time so that kind of lowers the score in the fun factor deparment. The dull and uninteresting storyline kind of takes it’s toll and certainly doesn’t seem to help either, if the plot was more interesting, the game would’ve been a little more fun to play.

     FFV is one of the worst FF games ever made, while it’s a decent RPG game, it’s not good compared to other FF games in terms of storyline and other aspects too. What really does hurt this game is the fact that the characters have very poor character development and lack emotion and personality. Also, the fact that the storyline is simple to understand and uninteresting also limits this game from getting a more respectable score. The graphics are pretty good but they aren’t that big of an improvement over FFIV for the most part and the sound is mediocre but FFV does have some good tracks throughout the game too. However, even though FFV is a decent old-school RPG game, compared to other FF games it’s not very good and just doesn’t have an “epic” feel that FFIV and FFVI had for example. Unfortunately, with a dull storyline and flaws in gameplay and character development, FFV is only a mediocre FF game at best and could use some room for improvement.

GBA Remake

     The remake of FFV on the GBA offers numerous improvements which allow for another solid portable RPG experience on the GBA handheld.  The dialogue has been improved significantly, with more character development and emotion as a focus.  Admittedly, the dialogue for the PSX remake of FFV was average at best.  Again, the introduction of FFV has changed for this version as it features some in-game sequences.  From a graphics standpoint, there have been some added sprite improvements with some extra job classes as well as using character artwork from Amano.  There are no new features in terms of the soundtrack, other than the "jukebox" feature that was found in FFIV Advance.  The new job classes are:  Gladiator, Cannoneer and Oracle.  There is also another bonus job class but to obtain it, you must complete another extremely long and difficult bonus dungeon.  Finally, the load times are improved greatly over the PlayStation version.  However, slowdown for some summons and spells still exist.  Overall, much like FFIV Advance there are some new features found which enhance the gaming experience of the original game.