Final Fantasy V

A review by Adam Barron

Final Fantasy V in my opinion is one of the best in the series if not the best. It has a gripping storyline, a great cast of characters, incredible music, fun gameplay, and a job system which allows for full customization of your characters. Pack in a wealth of valuble and hard to find secrets along with plenty of challenges and you have one of the best RPG's ever created.

FFV has a great story that's easy for anyone to understand. It has plenty of huge twists, turns, suprises and a bunch of funny moments that'll leave you wanting to know what's coming next. All is well in the world. Strong winds propel boats to their destinations, warm fire provides the towns with a source of heat and energy, fresh water supports a healthy fish population and the fertile earth is ideal for growing crops. The four elemental crystals are what supports the world and make things go round. However when evil forces start tampering with the crystals horrible things begin to happen. The winds stop blowing, the water becomes stagnant, fire burns out of control, and earthquakes happen frequently. That's when things become interesting. Things are about to change in the world, and for one young man especially.

FFV also has a great cast of characters to progress the story along. The first charcter we are introduced to is Reina, a princess. She seems to be a normal young girl who loves to take on a challenge. Next up is Bartz, a young man who loves exploring. He is a great guy who loves to help anyone, but is troubled by a harsh childhood. The old man Galuf is in my opinion, the funniest FF character of all time. He's a kind old man who's plenty strong, and loves to crack jokes. Faris the sea captain is a mighty warrior who means buisness. She was found as a baby and raised as a pirate her whole life. There are plenty others who play a role such as X-Death and Gilgamesh (who also has his moments), but none more important than the first four.

The music in FFV is incredible. Never before have I heard a soundtrack as good as this game. Whether it be the intro theme, the boss music, or even the overworld themes, the music in this game is amazing. This game by far beats the rest of the Final Fantasy games in terms of music.

Remember... this game was made in 1991 so don't expect much in terms of graphics. It's fun to see how all the characters look dressed up in their different job suits, and the magic effects are okay, but this is an old game so get used to the graphics.

Another reason I love this game so much is because of the awesome gameplay. The level up system is quite basic, but that's about all that's basic in the game. The Job system is what makes this game so great. There are over twenty jobs, each with their own stats and abilities. There are over 300 abilties to learn which can give great variety to your party. The job system also gives you the option to completly customize your characters. For example, let's say you have a Time Mage. This Time Mage has plenty of great status magic, but not much in the ways of attack. There's an easy way to remedy this problem. Let's say you have Black Magic level 6 learned with the Black Mage job. Simply equip this ability to your Time Mage to create a character who can cast both Time Magic and Black Magic! Or say you have a White Mage with low defense. If you have the Knight's EqpArmor learned, you can easily boost up your White Mage's defense. The combinations are endless.

The game is no cakewalk either, as it is very difficult. I really don't recommend this game to beginners in the series, more for those who have finished a number of the games. Keep your level high, because even the random battles can wipe your party out. You thought Ozma was difficult? Wait until you face both of FFV's utlimate enemies. Have fun trying to beat them! This is a very hard game compared to the rest in the series.

There are also literally hundreds of secrets to find. A lot of them are easy to earn and not very useful, but there are some where you must face powerful bosses, swarms of enemies, and difficult dungeons to get powerful weapons, new jobs, and the mightiest of summons. There's even a secret town for the die hard gamers to find!

And yet I've only begun to scratch the surface of this game. There's so much more I haven't talked about, so many secrets I could list off, and an endless amount of strategies for customizing your characters. If all of you can see past the old school graphics you will find one of the greatest games ever created.

Graphics: 4/10
Sound: 10/10
Control: 10/10
Gameplay: 10/10
Adam's Rating: 11/10 - Buy This Game!!!