Castle Exdeath, an unrevisitable location.
Final Fantasy V, like most other entries in the Final Fantasy series, features a large number of unrevisitable locations.
Definitions[]
A location in Final Fantasy V is considered unrevisitable if there exists a game moment before the ultimate point of no return such that the location is not accessible (at least in its original form) going forward.
Game moment[]
Game moment is an unofficial term to describe a mechanic used by most RPGs, including Final Fantasy V, to keep track of story progression as more events are triggered, and the game is saved and loaded. It usually consists of an increasing counter or discrete enumeration. Certain locations are programmed to be visitable only within a well-defined subset of game moment values. Additionally, certain locations are permanently altered after well-defined game moment values to the point that they can be considered different locations. For these reasons, game moment is relevant to unrevisitable locations.
Point of no return[]
The ultimate point of no return is defined as the game moment when the party can only defeat the final boss(es) or get a Game Over going forward. In particular, the player cannot save their game past the point of no return.[note 1]
In most versions, the ultimate point of no return is reached when approaching the final boss to initiate the battle against it. The Advance and discontinued 2013 mobile and Steam versions do not have an ultimate point of no return.
The "ultimate" qualifier is used to distinguish the ultimate point of no return from earlier game moments that work similarly (e.g. leaving Bartz's world for Galuf's world).
Time reversal[]
The player can leave the final dungeon and return to the merged world at any point before the ultimate point of no return (despite in-game warnings of the contrary). If the player has witnessed the cutscene before the final boss, its effects are reversed upon returning to the merged world (or by saving and loading "cleared data" in the game versions that support such feature). This avoids making additional locations unrevisitable.
Missable content[]
Unrevisitable locations are closely linked to missable content, because every collectible and event that is exclusive to unrevisitable locations is missable by definition.
Unrevisitable locations[]
Most unrevisitable locations become so for story reasons. The plot of Final Fantasy V is characterized by two one-way travels to different worlds (Bartz's world to Galuf's world, and Galuf's world to the merged world), and trips to dungeons that get destroyed or permanently altered as soon as the party completes the first and only storyline visit to them. Additionally, destroying certain locations is part of the main villain's grand plan.
Bartz's world[]
Torna Canal (GBA).
The Torna Canal cannot be accessed anymore after the party awakens in the Ship Graveyard, which is immediately after the first and only visit. The canal still remains visible on the world map in both Bartz's world and the merged world, but it is a mere world map element.
Walse Tower becomes inaccessible in its original form after the story events there. An underwater version can be accessed in the merged world with the help of the submarine. However, it is a different dungeon with different enemy formations, and different treasure chests.
Karnak Castle, the Fire Crystal chamber, and the tunnel linking the castle to the Fire-Powered Ship become unrevisitable following the time-limited escape from Karnak.
Ruins of Gohn (GBA).
Gohn becomes unrevisitable after the first visit, as approaching it for a second time triggers the cutscene where the Ronka Ruins rise towards the sky. The underground dungeon below Gohn cannot be revisited either after the first and only visit, including both sides of the teleporting room.
The Ronka Ruins become unrevisitable following the conclusion of the events there.
Some dungeons do not disappear mid-way through Bartz's world, but do not re-appear in the merged world. They are:
- The four meteorites.
- The Ship Graveyard.
- The Desert of Shifting Sands.
Of those, the Desert of Shifting Sands makes a brief appearance in a cutscene in the merged world, when the party discovers that the sand tides have stopped. Immediately afterwards, the desert becomes a regular world map desert.
A few other dungeons from Bartz's world re-appear in the merged world, but cannot be accessed by the party before they become permanently inaccessible.
Galuf's world[]
Barrier Tower (Pixel Remaster).
Xezat's Fleet and Barrier Tower become unrevisitable as soon as the events at the latter are completed.
Castle Exdeath, Gil Cave, and the Underground Waterway do not feature in the merged world. Castle Exdeath also irreversibly changes its appearance (and some of its battle formations) mid-way through its exploration by the party towards the end of Galuf's world.
The Big Bridge becomes a mere world map element in the merged world.
The Moogle Village is still present when the party awakens in the merged world. However, it becomes inaccessible at the end of a linear chain of events ending with the party boarding the airship after defeating Melusine. Therefore, it becomes effectively unrevisitable as soon as the party fights Exdeath is his castle. Not even the Ancient Library glitch allows for the Moogle Village to be revisited. In principle, the player can use it get early access to the airship, then travel to Phantom Village to unlock the black chocobo, and use that to travel to the forest where the village is located. However, that forest in the merged world is just a regular forest for gameplay purposes. The player can only infer that the Moogle Village is supposed to be there by its position on the world map, and a single cutscene.
Ghido's Cave underwater.
The upper floors of Ghido's Cave are unrevisitable in the merged world, due to the cave reverting to being above sea level once again.
The first two sections of the Great Forest of Moore, part of the third section, and the interior of the trees between sections, become unrevisitable after the forest catches fire. The interior of the Guardian Tree becomes inaccessible after Krile joins the party. The remaining part of the third section and the small underground cave where the party waits for the forest fire to end do not exist in the merged world. While the exterior of the Guardian Tree appears in the merged world, it is considered a different dungeon.
Merged world[]
Castle Walse tower, an unrevisitable location (GBA).
Walse, Castle Walse, Lix, and Istory are still present when the party awakens in the merged world. However, they become inaccessible at the end of a linear chain of events ending with the party boarding the airship after defeating Melusine. Therefore, they become effectively unrevisitable as soon as the party travels to Galuf's world. However, in the SNES and PS versions of the game, the player can make use of the Ancient Library glitch to gain early access to the airship, and revisit those locations before completing the aforementioned linear chain of events.
Castle Tycoon becomes inaccessible upon meeting with Ghido in his cave in the merged world.
The Library of the Ancients becomes inaccessible as soon as the player triggers the cutscene immediately before the boss fight against Melusine. Still, as it is part of the linear chain of events that happen before the party gains access to the airship, it can at least be visited within a short span on game moment values in the merged world.
The entire Fork Tower complex becomes unrevisitable after it disappears following the events at the top (i.e., the player getting the Holy and Flare spells).
Annotations[]
- ↑ In other games, this is not necessarily true. For instance, in Final Fantasy VII the Save Crystal item allows the player to save the game past the ultimate point of no return, making almost everything in that save file "permanently missable".