Games | Super NES | Final Fantasy V
Article by Philip Armstrong? | Nov. 1, 2010
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Final Fantasy V Developer: Square |
“Final Fantasy V? Underrated? Surely not,” you scoff, dunking a biscuit into your Earl Grey. After all, you’re a sophisticated gamer. You know that the Final Fantasy series has seldom repeated the heights reached by number V, but... oh. Oh my. While Final Fantasy V has been praised for its sublime gameplay, often that praise is amended with “despite the inconsequential story.”
Sandwiched between two of the series’ most fondly remembered narratives, V’s plot does seem a tad simple. Unlike the colorful casts of IV and VI, you just have four guys who arbitrarily meet up and wander from place to place, fighting monsters and breaking crystals.
However, this simplicity is V’s secret strength—it’s the quintessential Final Fantasy. Airships, chocobos, moogles, summons, secrets? It’s got them in spades. There’s a simple sophistication at play here. And just when you think you’ve got a handle on the structure of the story, V ditches the “save the crystals” plot and leaves you wide-eyed with a whole new world to explore. And when you’ve settled into the new groove it goes and does it again.
The same treatment is given to the characters. Sure, there aren’t as many of them, but they’re given more individual development. More than any other Final Fantasy the cast of V feel like friends. Their easy banter is a joy. When one of them bites the big one he is immediately replaced with someone who has all his old skills. From a gameplay perspective, there is no change. But for the rest of the game we’ll miss that lovable, gruff old man. His loss is felt.
Though V does get suitably epic near the end, that’s not what it’s about. No, it’s about enjoying the small things in life. It’s camaraderie between friends and adventure for adventure’s sake. It’s getting up early to watch the sunrise. It’s stopping to smell the roses. Final Fantasy V is the simple pleasure of afternoon tea. And I know that’s something you’ll appreciate, wot?
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