Does Final Fantasy V Deserve Its Reputation? A Newcomer's Perspective 

It's the perfect example of a "classic" RPG.

I think a big reason why people don't talk about this one, is that 4 and 6 not only came to the west when 5 did not, which causes there to be a lot of nostalgia for those two and 7 now that I think about it. Go to almost any review for those three, and you will see a lost of comments about how people grew up with those games, yet with 5 you don't. Five is the best for me, but I grew up on 3 for the DS, so I might be biased. Edit: My younger brother played most of 5 a while back, and his general strategy for bosses was to see what level they were, calculate if he could make it a level of five, then cast Level 5 Death. It was hilarious.

I feel like nearly everyone who gives this game a chance ends up falling in love with it. I have no doubt that had square released it on snes in the west, it would be way higher on everyone’s list

The last of the truest Final Fantasy games, as the purists will tell you. It really does need more love. It's the first one to introduce class-customization and show how fun it can be to break the game! Almost feels like you're cheating!

FFV is my favorite Final Fantasy! I love the gameplay and the different combinations involving the job system. For example: equipping a magic user with the Dragoon's Lance ability to deal free magic-based damage that also syphons MP and HP. I also liked the story.

Lol, finally someone besides me who pronounces Galuf's name like that XD One thing that people sleep on about this game is funnily enough its story. It has really nice themes about generational conflict, even how the Dawn Warriors leading to the Light Warriors. It is really concise but also doesn't get in the way of the gameplay. This game is like having your JRPG cake and eating it too. This game has spoiled me when it comes to mechanics in JRPGs lol.

I was hoping to find a more thorough source, but you’re probably right about ExDeath’s treehood being a mythological, or at least cultural reference. There are similar ideas in InuYasha. The main character is a demon who is sealed against a sacred tree (often a feature of Japanese shrines), and the villain is a self-hating conglomeration of demons that spends part of the time in a human shape, and part of the time as a chimeric mass. (Fittingly, the villain was named Naraku, which is the name for the Buddhist version of Hell.) ExDeath would seem to be a combination of these ideas: sealing evil creatures in one spot that was supposed to safely contain them, until they merged with their prison and turned into a walking one-man Hell. This is further illustrated with his final boss form depicting a bunch of horrible creatures spilling free from a twisted trunk. Wouldn’t seem so random to a Japanese audience.

Despite it's vibrant colors, whimsical atmosphere, and comedy, FFV actually has quite a bit of tragedy. The world is decaying, kingdoms fall, friends are lost, etc. I've started to look at the comedic portions as the characters joking around to keep some kind of motivation to push on.

After playing most of the FFs. Five’s cast is my definite favorite.

I think Bartz is the most under appreciated protagonist in the series. He's one cool dude who works to save the world just on the principal that he needs to have his friends' back. He was completely willing to let go what happened to his dad until he met the old man and Lenna.

FF5 is pretty underrated. I remember when they released it in the US on ps1. Loved it since I had played tactics just before this came out!

Imo, the job based Final Fantasy titles will always be the most replayable and 5 being the peak of it. The job customization in this game is insane and the story is light hearted and easy to pick up though it has some dark moments, still captures the essence of adventure. Definetely one of the best Final Fantasy games for a new comer to get into then dive into the heavy story based titles like 4, 7 and 10 and save 6 and 9 as best for last.

FFV was a great game had a awesome job system.

Ff5 is truly a gem. Played tactics at a young age and to discover the job system is so similar so many years later was mind blowing. Funny and heartfelt, with great customization options and challenges that lend themselves to clever solutions. I don't know when i will replay to try a 4 job fiesta, but i know it won't be long.

I loved playing V, Bravely Default is a spiritual successor to that game. I've only played BD2 so I hope one day the first will get ported to the Switch at some point.

My favorite FF

Glad to know someone enjoys ff5 and ff12 as much as I do. We have similar taste when I saw the tierlist. I dont like missable stuff so I explore as much as possible before continuing the story. Good thing you didnt mention mix because once you know of its power it makes the game too easy if know how to exploit it. Forcing berserk on bosses who are immune and casting blink will make their physical attacks miss. That gives you plenty of time to mix some dragon power on a x-fight party member and hit all 9's if you mix enough. Forcing berserk on exdeath though was unintended and leads to a never ending fight on his tree form.

I much prefer job class systems like these that aren't vanilla, meaning that when you choose a job you won't be limited to only that job's abilities and can mix and match abilities from other jobs

The only reason ff5 is underrated is due to the US not getting it until the playstation port...

He turned himself into a splinter. Funniest shit I've ever seen.

Exdeath is my favourite antagonist in the whole series. When he turned into a splinter, it was the most explosive reaction I've ever had in a video game.

Honestly I've beaten FFs in order 7, 9, 10, 8 ,3, 1, 4 and 2 atm and currently playing through 5 and before I would've said that 9 is my favorite FF but man even though I haven't beaten 5 yet but it actually already surpassed 9 as my favorite FF because compared to most people in JRPGs I'm actually a gameplay over story kinda player which may sound strange but it isn't to say I don't care for the story but still FF5 has really been such a treat for me

I'm so glad you mentioned how addictive the gameplay is, when I was working my way through the game, play jrpgs like I'm reading a book every night before bed, I brought my switch with me to work and just did job grinding for fun and looking for treasure. Such a fun RPG that just seems to hit all the marks of a quality game so far back in time where you don't expect it. FFV is probably in my S tier for me. 70 hours on my file

As a lifelong FF fan, it nice to find someone who’s new to it and how much they enjoy it too! Great job with your editing and great reading as well!

Always great to see more people enjoying FFV

I have to say, this game has my favorite themes like Lenna's Theme, Clash on the Big Bridge, all the Exdeath themes, including the Neo Exdeath theme which is my favorite final boss in terms of music

FFV (Advance) was my first Final Fantasy game, so it holds a special place in my heart. Played IV and VI afterwards and can still recall how I disliked the fact that the job system was only in FFV.

Your videos are so good. I love seeing not only your comments but that you enjoyed these games so much. I've recently played back through many of them myself and it's been nice to reconnect to them.

I’m really glad that you liked it this much. It’s probably my favorite FF game. I’m thinking of doing the “Four Job Fiesta” next summer. Sounds fun!

I so so appreciate this video and everyone celebrating in the comments. It's such a special game!

If you're comfortable playing patched ROMs, there's an FFV Advance patch out there that opens up the jobs more quickly (so that the bonus jobs are in the final crystal, not the post game) and makes it so !Fight and !Item can be swapped out for other commands, which I think really enhances the game.

I played and finished FFV for the first time in 2023, and man oh man was I surprised. The story was interesting, the characters were fun, the job system was fantastic, the two worlds merging was a cool twist... it was just a really good RPG in general. I just wish Galuf didn't get Galuf'd. I liked him a lot more than Krile.

I love it despite that the SNES one never left Japan.

The reason Exdeath/Exodus is a tree is basically that it was a normal tree with its supernatural life force properties of being a big old tree used to treat it as a prison for evil spirits that were defeated, sealed inside like a genie in a lamp or the like. Basically, eventually the evilness of the evil spirits locked inside the tree corrupted it, and the tree became a self aware being full of demons. The tree is crazy because it's never known any life _but_ being full of the worst demons that human priests could seal away and keep at bay in some way, and it's angry because it's full of angry prisoners.

This was my first FF I ever played growing up; also currently replaying it and it's honestly better than I remember. It's a very mechanically dense game that offers you a wide range of freedom in play style between unique gear aspects, jobs, spells, abilities, and how you pair it all together. Can be a bit grindy at times for AP but the pixel remaster has a x2 modifier that is a perfect sweetspot for rate of progression. Being in the era of remakes, I couldn't help but imagine how incredible an action rpg remake would be with a fleshed out job system; maybe one day square will circle back

Level doesn’t raise stats but it does affect HP, MP, and almost every damage equation. This makes it a significant challenge to beat the game at a lower level.

Just beat ffv today and couldn't agree more with your takes. The job system is where the game truly shines but I don't think there was any one area that was bad. As for the job grinding - there is one square in the ocean where most enemies give you either 8 or 25 abp so that cut down heavily on the tedium. The fact that I had to look up where to grind validates your point, tho.

My first FF and one of my all time favourite with ton of replay value 🎉

For someone which finished it two times the snes version and one time the gba one, I say it's a classic, fun and damn good rpg. Underappreciated. More people should play it. It's a fantastic journey. And the battle system is top tier.

I thought the reputation was that it's one of the best FF games. Learn something new every day.

V is my go to when wanting to replay a classic RPG

that is why i think Sepiroth is so stong besides the whole S cells and Jenova thing he is obviously maxed as a Samuri black and blue and white mage maybe red to tbh

"Does Final Fantasy V Deserve Its Reputation? Thumbnail: NO" Oh great, a hit piece against one of the most beloved sprite FFs. **Watches video, hears nothing but praise** ...WTF? Have we simply been living on different corners of the Internet?

Glad to hear you enjoyed the game. I found this to be a Final Fantasy with no real fault just a great game that does everything nicely, and the job system giving it great replayability. Did you play around with Mix or the Beastmaster much? Control and Capture are their own little mechanics that give you a lot of options and interesting solutions and mix can just outright solo the game if you know what your doing. Mixing and matching of the Job System is rightfully praised but one aspect that used to go unoticed was how many classes have their own ways of dealing with the bosses so long as you employ some varied strategies. It's why the Four Job Fiesta way of playing as become quite popular. Have you already done a perspective for FF12? I can't find the video on your channel.

Gilgamesh is actually on a bridge in ff12 in the llusu mines. My fav appearance

If you haven't played Final Fantasy Tactics, you would love it. Its job system is adapted and expanded from this game. I don't recall exactly but I think I put nearly 150 hours into that game in order to discover all the hidden jobs and figure out all the game breaking builds, like the Calculator. Tactics is easily the best Final Fantasy game in my opinion. No Blue Mage, but the spiritual sequel (Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, also excellent) has one. Anyway, I just started Final Fantasy V and your description has me excited to get into it!

I love FF5! Its such a fun game and has a great job class system.

Gonna watch the II video next because idk how that can land in A

Yo, is this a new fan translation patch to FFV SNES? The thin font and dialogue looks miles better than anything that was done on SNES or PS1 before! Heck this gives the GBA port a run for its money!

I am also going through all the main FF games. I have worked my way up to FF8. I really like FF5. I had played it years prior and when I was going through ff3 I couldn't help thinking how much better FF5 was.

final fantasy V is one of my all time favorite games not just final fantasy games but it does have a few flaws that hold it back form being 10/10 best game ever like IV the first being blue magic and how much of a pain it is to learn some of the spells i much prefer how the later games do it where all a blue mage had to do was see it used and they learned it second is it has couple of "oh crap i really dont want to deal with this again moments" mainly the events after getting the fire crystal jobs and getting most of the lvl blue magic spells and lastly and my biggest gripe with the game is how long it takes for the final party member to join since their my favorite character in game other than that its amazing it has great characters good story best job class in the series second best antagonist in the series (behind kefka) great cheesable bosses that rewards knowing what your doing status aliments are actually useful and its one of the only two where in the later updated gba ports the bonus content is actual worth doing and fun (other being II with the soul of rebirth) the extra classes sealed cave and cloister of the dead are actual fun unlike the crap in I IV and VI especially VI i already wasnt a fan of the two original split party dungeons in VI and the dragons den is just those but on steroids lol

Only played ff3 thru ff9, and ff5 has been my favorite so far. And the most difficult out of the ones i played

Final fantasy 5 was unique hame and I really liked the plot. Also it quite a difficult game.

In Japan V has a much better reputation

A Patch? You describe the Four Job Fiesta... But is there a patch for that now? Curious.

I'm playing it now and glad I finally gave it a chance cause I'm liking it more than 4.

By the time Final Fantasy V actually came to the States on FF Anthology, it was after FF4, or "2", after FF6 ("3"), Chrono Trigger, FF7, and we were awaiting FF8. 6 and 7 were highly dramatic, which was carried over from FF4, so many people expected FF5 to be the same, which it mostly wasn't... especially with translation issues like with Faris. It has a Guns n Roses kinda thing where people waited so long for the next album that they sorta stopped caring after the next big thing popped up. Also Final Fantasy 7 brought in a new audience who never played FF on the SNES but because of mass marketing, they had to try it. Those new kids had no interest in sprite graphics from yyears ago. Also, Final Fantasy 4 ranks that low but Final Fantasy 2 ranks that high? Most people who've played the games when they were new would argue against that.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 recently got me more interested in JRPGs with a class/job system so I think I'll pick up the Pixel remaster version of this game soon.

Final Fantasy 5 for me is the best Final Fantasy the only two I would consider close seconds would be Final Fantasy 2 and Final Fantasy 15. The story is fantastic yeah it's still condensed enough that it doesn't precede the gameplay, the characters have enough backstory and feel fleshed out enough, and the refined job system is just perfect. I know a lot of people grew up with six and seven, but I personally feel that six has horrible pacing and could definitely use a remaster of some kind. It's not a bad game, its story is excellent but I think it could have waited a generation or so before coming to fruition. Final Fantasy 7 is a great game but for me it has a terrible endgame. Which makes completing the game tedious after you've done everything, and no I don't count the weapons as a good finale to the game as you really have to grind and play as meta as possible. They are great games but they could have been better, Hence the reason seven has had so many remasters. But five not only had great combat, but a solid endgame to which you could grind freely and happily with plenty extra to do, and it had a solid story that didn't take over gameplay. The job system was refined to its pinnacle with almost no flaws to its creation. You could play hundreds of different party combinations and for turn-based game to allow that much freedom is hard to do. And not to mention since it doesn't take itself too seriously most of the time it's relaxing to just play it to completion. When the game does challenge you it challenges you well and pretty much fairly, with a few exceptions do having to play as precise as possible for certain enemies. For me I don't think a turn-based game has entertained me quite like five. It's hard to balance turn-based games in general, and five did it as well as you possibly could. I think that's why they haven't remastered it quite yet because it's so perfect, and the reason 6 probably hasn't had one except for the pixel remasters is because a lot of people think that game is perfect as well. And while I don't think six is perfect, the fact that 5 and 6 haven't had a remastered and people still love these games to death should show how much care and love went into them in the first place.❤

you also might like Dragon Quest 9 it vary grndy with many jobs to unlock and max out to make godly op characters.

I liked breaking the game combat wise. Would've been nice to have optional dungeons to play in that nothing except severely broken can survive in.

dude, this review is a fkin masterpiece. guy is gold!

FF5 is my favorite game in the series, the gameplay is so addictive and makes for incredible replayability!

Good video, thanks. Gonna give this game a go on emulator

I'll be back when you do FF6, idk if your saving the best for last .. subbed

I recently started playing the game but quit due to it's difficulty spikes (it all started in the second world and peaked in the island shrine,i might replay it after my final college exams and this time i will specialize the party instead of trying everything since i feel that i was punished for trying everything)the game isn't easy like many people said nor is it super difficult,the game cast isn't bad i loved krile and galluf until that point in the game(bartz,leena and farris are not bad too)and the job system is amazing much better than the psp final fantasy tactics that ruined many jobs(for example white mage is absolutely necessary in FF 5 but in tactics it sucks and is surpassed by the chemist)the balance in that game isn't very good. I also liked exdeath something rare in classical jrpgs to me If you can please reply to my comment i want to know what you think about my points. Edit:fun fact we have the same opinion about final fantasy 2 and 4 to me 2 is better than 4 storywise and character wise

Nice video, love 5

Celtic vipes would be bagpipes or maybe a harp

This is definitely an S tier FF game and is 2nd among all the FF games for me. The only one that I put ahead of it is FFVI.

FFV is probably the most "Final Fantasy"-ish Final Fantasy. You have everything a FF game supposed to have in this one masterpiece game. It's almost like an insult when FF16 producer said that FF16's gameplay was inspired by FF5's... If anything, FF16 is the least customizable FF game I've ever played.

When I first played ff anthology I liked 5 a whole lot better then 6

I like your channel, been watching quite a few of your videos, but I have to say: You have one of the most pants-on-head INSANE FF series tier list I've ever seen. It's like you spun a roulette wheel to determine the positions. I still like hearing your views on the games, but you so have some bizarre tastes.

I will say that the story was slightly....slow. But it is funny as hell. And the game is just.....so....damn...much....fun! It is not the masterpiece story driven epics of IV, VI, or VII. There is just so much to do and see. Side questing galore, and the job system is the peak of Final Fantasy job system. I love the hell out of this game.

Amazing game! ❤

I miss the quirky mainline FFs. The last one we have one is IX. I'm getting tired of the edgefest which later FFs ramped up

gba version was super glitchy it constantly resetted all the progress and the other one had bad translation last time i played, pixel remaster probably best way to play it

Only after you beat it

I got to the Crescent Island with the Chocobos and then the script stopped working. I exhausted every possibility on the island then ran around the whole map for hours and nothing would activate any story event. I gave up and never played again. I don't enjoy these linear games where you run around endlessly trying to figure out why the game is stuck. The job system didn't matter because the combat was not challenging enough for there to be much actual gameplay, I was mostly pressing A, A, A, A, A over and over. The story was an F. This game is a D tier for me.

FF5 had an awful story and weak characters. It also had a FANTASTIC combat system and a really unique and fun-to-explore world. Honestly, the best character in FF5 is the setting itself. Just wandering around learning and powering up, is truly awesome.

final fantasy five four job fiesta ( for charity )

n0ice

"A new comer's view" bro, I litterally played it as my first FF game and the ambientation/rythm of this game beats FF6 and 4 for two reasons - Its not too edgy - Explains all fucking characters (exept Enuo by disgrace)

Maybe I'm not on forums enough, but in my circles everyone likes FFV and recognizes it for starting many of the long term trends of the series. So when I saw your title and the big "NO" on the thumbnail, I was ready to hear why you don't like it. Left me confused and surprised when you explained how much you ultimately enjoyed it.

In a nutshell it's basically just a better 3 lol

Algorithm

Guh-loof?!

Idc FFTA, FFT, FFV, FFIV is my favorite

This is easily the weakest story of the three Final Fantasy games on the SNES but it might be the best combat system. Jobs are so much fun.

I think 5 is ok but 3 and 4 way better and 6 of course better

FF5 was my third FF, and gonna say it, ur wrong, I have not seen the video, but this thing lacked what FF6 lacked and put it out of inperfection, the limit on the Edgyness, the villian had a reason to be and the characters had development with each other on camera, and were tragic, but stopped crying after a time

> grinding AP got monotonous > has X-fight when going against mid-game enemies Uh... pretty sure that's your fault.