Final Fantasy V Advance

It took me absolutely forever to beat Final Fantasy V. I came off of FFIV on a high, started this game right away, and absolutely tore through its opening. I was really enjoying the game, especially thanks to all of the humor and pop-culture references included by the localization team. However, by the time I started to reach the late-game content, something just wasn't clicking, and I put it down for almost two years. Revitalized by all the time I need to fill in the middle of the night with my hungry newborn daughter, I went and tackled the rest of the game. It took me a while to realize it, but after finally beating FFV, I concluded that it managed to combine an upgraded version of FFIII's class system and a lighter version of FFIV's story and structure to make a near-perfect sequel. I was just too grinding-averse at the time to finish it in one go.

Following Final Fantasy IV's direction, FFV begins the game by introducing you to the party members one by one, giving you a chance to learn more about them before they join you in combat. However, once you have your fourth member, the party stays pretty rigid, putting a lot more focus on developing your team than we saw in the last game. Still, while it's not as central to the game's identity as it was in FFIV, the story here is definitely a major focus of the experience. While you endeavor to save the world from utter annihilation, you'll learn more about the histories of your party members, make new friends and allies, and see familiar locations changed by the actions of you and your enemies. Just about everything that happens feels important and noteworthy, and everywhere you go has some level of significance. I was a fan of FFIV's linearity, but FFV's willingness to open up the world, allow for exploration, and reward players that do so makes for a game world that is both fun and immersive. That openness to player agency isn't exclusive to just the game world though.

Final Fantasy V features the return of the job system introduced in FFIII, albeit with some pretty significant upgrades. With dozens of classes that can be given to any party member at any time, the series had never offered this much freedom for party customization up to this point. New jobs will become available to you as you progress through the story, at which point any party member can switch to them. Each party member also has two slots for skills, called "job command" and "ability" respectively. When switching jobs, you'll inherit a job command, usually taking the form of a new attack type, and a set of passive abilities and buffs, such as invincibility against environmental hazards in dungeons, or a boosted attack stat. The inherited job command fills the job command slot, but the buffs and passive abilities are applied automatically, leaving the ability slot open for customization.

This is where the true strength of the job system lies, giving players an incredible amount of freedom in crafting their team. As party members level up their classes, they can permanently unlock the associated job commands and passive abilities, which allows them to be set in the ability slot while using any other class. Want a dancer that fights with a battle axe, a monk with healing magic, or maybe a thief that can summon dragons and demons? That's all possible, and the options don't stop there. Recall the passive stat buffs that come with each class; while they aren't eligible for use in the ability slot, mastering a job will apply its buffs to the freelancer class. Freelancers don't have their own job commands, buffs, or passive abilities, but they can select two custom abilities instead of the usual one, and they inherit every buff from the party member's mastered jobs, which can make them excellent late-game assets. I didn't even use actual jobs for the last dungeon and boss fights, instead opting to go freelance and fully custom with my whole party, and it was incredible! I felt rewarded for all of the effort I put into mastering classes throughout the rest of the game, and the process of getting there seemed much more personal than just leveling up my party and finding them cool gear.

Despite the unfortunate return of grinding, Final Fantasy V manages to be exactly the kind of sequel the series needed, combining a light imitation of FFIV's story, and a massively upgraded approach to FFIII's job system. With this much of a focus on party customization, I was very surprised by how in-depth the narrative actually was. I had expected it to take a backseat like it does in FFI and FFIII, but it managed to stay at the forefront of the entire experience, and the game is all the better for it. Although I ultimately enjoyed FFIV more, I firmly believe this is the definitive experience amongst the first five Final Fantasy games, and it is worthy of your attention. 

The game is available for iOS here (as of 11/1/22): https://apps.apple.com/us/app/final-fantasy-v/id1492041611
The game is available for Steam here (as of 11/1/22): https://store.steampowered.com/app/1173810/FINAL_FANTASY_V/

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