Final Fantasy V

Final Fantasy V is the fifth installment in the Final Fantasy series by Square Co., Ltd., originally released for the Nintendo Super Famicom. The game was ported to 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, by RPGe in 1997. Final Fantasy V was later released for the Game Boy Advance, as part of the Finest Fantasy for Advance compilation.

The game centers around a group of four seeming strangers brought together by circumstance to save the Crystals, who have mysteriously begun shattering one by one. Eventually it is revealed that the villain Exdeath is behind this, as part of a plan to both release himself from his imprisonment, and to gain the power of the Void, a realm of nothingness which could bestow absolute power on one able to resist being absorbed by it. The four thus turn their attentions to defeat Exdeath and stopping the unstable energies of the Void from consuming their world

It is interesting to note that it was the first Super Famicom Final Fantasy to incorporate the use of, in the Japanese text, Kanji. Previous NES Final Fantasy titles had originally used an all-Hiragana script due to character-space limitations. Final Fantasy IV was the last to have this (despite the fact that a Kanji script was possible at the time), and is the most visibly connected to its predecessors in style.

The Final Fantasy anime, Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals, serves as a sequel to the events depicted in the game, 500 years after the events of Final Fantasy V.

Gameplay
The main feature of its gameplay was the revamped Job System (originally in a different form in Final Fantasy III and introduced in the original Final Fantasy), allowing all characters to potentially master up to 22 jobs. The player starts out with no job classes (they are defaulted as "Freelancer," 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, ABP, 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.

Like other games in the series, this game featured "super" bosses, namely Omega and Shinryu. Both of these bosses can rapidly wipe out the party (even if every member has absolute maximum status points) and special tactics are required to defeat them. Facing these enemies is not required, and battles with them are manually initiated by the player. If the player defeats Shinryu they will receive the strongest sword in the game. After Omega's defeat, the party receives the Omega Medal, proving the Light Warriors are stronger than their counterparts 1000 years ago, but otherwise an item of no use.

Final Fantasy V also features the first recurring Miniboss of the franchise, Gilgamesh. 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), Biggs and Wedge (Final Fantasy VIII), Seifer (Final Fantasy VIII), Beatrix (Final Fantasy IX), Seymour Guado (Final Fantasy X) and Leblanc, Logos and Ormi (Final Fantasy X-2).

In Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls, the bosses Atomos, Gilgamesh, Shinryu, and Omega appear in the original Final Fantasy's Lifespring Grotto bonus dungeon.

Characters


The game stars a crew of five unique characters. The initial four characters remain together for much of the game, until one is permanently replaced by a fifth character.


 * Bartz Klauser (バッツ・クラウザー; Battsu Kurauzā) 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 Lenna. His name is Butz in the fan translated version.
 * Lenna Charlotte Tycoon (レナ・シャルロット・タイクーン; Rena Sharurotto Taikūn) is of the princess archetype, and meets Bartz at the meteor. She is the daughter of Tycoon's King. Her name is Reina in the PlayStation version.
 * Galuf Halm Baldesion (ガラフ・ハルム・バルデシオン; Garafu Harumu Barudeshion) 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 as the story progresses.
 * 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 Lenna that is later revealed.
 * Krile Mayer Baldesion (クルル・マイア・バルデシオン; Kururu Maia Barudeshion) is the granddaughter of Galuf, and aids the party several times. Later in the game, she takes Galuf's place in the party. Her name is Cara in the fan translated version.

Story
The main character, Bartz Klauser, a lone wanderer who rides a chocobo, notices a meteor crash in the woods near Tycoon. There, he comes across a young woman, under attack by goblins. He rescues her, and she reveals her name; Lenna Charlotte Tycoon. After their conversation, they discover an old man near the meteor who is unable to remember anything except for his name: Galuf Doe. Lenna reveals that she is on her way to the Wind Shrine, where her father, Alexander Highwind Tycoon, the king of Tycoon, has gone to discover why the wind has suddenly ceased. Galuf, suddenly realizing that he needs to go there (though he has no idea why), goes with her. Bartz continues on his way, but is unable to get far before his chocobo forces him to return and rescue Lenna and Galuf from more goblins. The three decide to travel together to the Wind Shrine, but the path is blocked by the crash, leaving water as the only route.

Because there is no wind, there is no way to sail. However, the trio observes a pirate ship pulling into a secluded harbor, and they attempt to steal it. The captain, Faris Scherwiz, soon captures them, but recognizes Lenna's pendant and decides to help them get to the Wind Shrine. Later, when the friends are stuck in the Ship Graveyard, while trying to change Faris' wet clothes, the truth is revealed; that she is a woman.

They find that the four elemental crystals of Wind, Earth, Fire, and Water, are actually the seal binding Exdeath, a powerful warlock who tried to take over the world years before that came to being when a tree was possessed by an evil spirit, so that he does not attempt to do so again. Unfortunately, each crystal is being used to improve people's living, effectively draining them of their power. As they try to obtain the crystals, however, one by one, they are destroyed.

As they attempt to save the last crystal, they meet Krile Mayer Baldesion, Galuf's granddaughter, who helps Galuf retain his lost memories. However, as the final crystal is destroyed, Exdeath is freed from his seal and goes to Galuf's homeworld. Galuf and Krile follow after him, but will not let Bartz, Lenna and Faris travel with them because of the danger. However, they manage to go to his world. When the party arrives, Exdeath is already wreaking havoc, battling Galuf's armies on the Big Bridge. Afterward, Bartz, Lenna and Faris are captured. However, Galuf sneaks into Exdeath's Castle to save them, defeating Gilgamesh, one of Ex-Death's lieutenants, in the process. However, the warriors are blown to a distant continent when the barrier is activated during their escape and are forced to make their way back to Castle of Bal where it is revealed that Galuf is actually a king in this world. They are advised to see a sage named Ghido, but Exdeath manages to sink the sage's island into the ocean.

The warriors join up with one of Galuf's companions and former Warrior of Dawn, Xezat Matias Surgate, who is leading a fleet against Exdeath. They infiltrate one of the towers powering the barrier around Exdeath's castle, but Xezat is forced to sacrifice his life in order to help them accomplish this. The warriors enter the castle, but find that it is sealed and learn of Exdeath looking for something in the Great Forest of Moore. They reach the Master Tree and dispel the seals, but Exdeath claims the power of the crystals and devastates them. Krile intervenes, but Exdeath holds her in a ring of fire. Galuf breaks his crystal, saves Krile and fights Exdeath until he collapses. Exdeath retreats and Galuf dies of his wounds, despite the party's efforts to save him.

The party enters Exdeath's castle and defeats him, but the three remaining crystals shatter and the worlds are reunited. They learn that he seeks the power of the Void, which had been sealed in the Interdimensional Rift, and was kept sealed by dividing the worlds. Exdeath eventually acquires this power, and he uses it across the world, consuming entire towns. Lenna is caught in the Void when Tycoon Castle is swallowed. Ghido, however, proposes that the party collect the four Slabs in order to unseal the twelve weapons used against Enuo, a being that had sought to use the Void.

The party seeks out the slabs and breaks the seals on the weapons. Exdeath, however, sends monsters sealed inside the Interdimensional Rift, called the Demons of the Rift, after them. The first Demon, Melusine (Final Fantasy V), possesses Lenna, but is forced out when Tycoon Castle's Hiryuu arrives. The party eventually enters the Interdimensional Rift, where Exdeath has acquired the power of the void, and shows his true form- that of a tree. The party survives the void with help from the original Four Warriors of Dawn and King Tycoon, and battle Exdeath. In the middle of the battle, Exdeath is overwhelmed by the Void and becomes Neo Exdeath, intent on destroying everything, even himself. The party defeats him.

The ending varies based on how many people are still alive at Neo Exdeath's defeat. Cid receives a letter from one member of the party talking about what will happen in the future. If everyone survived, Krile will visit the Master Tree, and mourn for her grandfather, until the others cheer her up and remind her of her duty to protect the Crystals. If anyone in the group died during the battle, they will be unable to return home. The survivor or survivors will visit the Master Tree, and find that those who were lost in the battle have returned to life. They go and protect the crystals once more so they don't break apart ever again.

Development
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, targeting it at "the more experienced gamers who loved the complex character building". 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. 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 also unofficially released American 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). Some fans were unhappy with the dialogue translations, particularly Faris' 'pirate accent' which was not part of the original script. When played on the Playstation 2 the emulation graphics would glitch on the save screen, although the graphics would restore on the overworld map. This error causes the game to crash on the Playstation 3. This bug is not present in PAL version of Final Fantasy Anthology.

Final Fantasy V Advance
A port of Final Fantasy V for handhelds had been considered by Square in early 2001. However, the project failed due to the absence of an appropriate platform--the WonderSwan Color was not powerful enough to run the game, and Nintendo did not allow Square to develop on the Game Boy Advance, despite Sakaguchi's wish.

Years later, after relations between Square (now Square Enix) and Nintendo improved, the game was succesfully ported to the Game Boy Advance under the title Final Fantasy V Advance, and was released in America on November 6, 2006.

Aside from graphical tweaks and a new translation, four additional jobs, a bestiary, a quick save function, music player and a 30-floor dungeon were added. Unlike the Advance port of Final Fantasy IV, some of the bugs of Final Fantasy V were fixed. There was also not as much choppiness and lag in the graphics.

Most Western fans agree that the new translation was much better than the initial PS1 release.

Trivia

 * In Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, Gilgamesh, Atomos, Omega, and Shinryu appear as guardians for the crystals of the True Moon.

External link

 * Final Fantasy V Advance official site (Japanese)
 * Final Fantasy Anthology official site (North American)
 * Final Fantasy V Advance official site (North American)
 * Wikipedia's entry on Final Fantasy V
 * Final Fantasy V ~SNES~ Sprites

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