Final Fantasy V
Final Fantasy IV (II on the Super NES) is somewhat heralded for its innovation, and its American successor Final Fantasy VI (III on SNES) is frequently praised for its variety and polish. But between them - and not released in North America until the Playstation compilation Final Fantasy Anthology - is a game which not only bridges the gap between them, but also stands on its own as a memorable RPG.
Final Fantasy V is an evolution of a game in and of itself. It begins, in almost every way, leaving much to be desired - but by endgame, it's more than made up for itself. So if you decide to play FFV, don't get discouraged early on; it gets much, much better.
Final Fantasy V was the last Final Fantasy whose story revolved around elemental crystals. Its predecessor had a total of 17 crystals by the game's end; but FFV has only four, consistent throughout the game despite major changes along the way. It begins with Lenna, the princess of Tycoon, going to search for her father (who flew off with his dragon to find the cause of a sudden stop in the wind). The game's main character, Butz, comes upon Lenna in the wild and beats up some goblins to save her. Nearby, a meteor has fallen, and inside is an old man with amnesia; then the three travellers go forward to try to find King Tycoon, and are ambushed - by pirates. The story is somewhere between ridiculous and stupid in the beginning, and takes a while to improve; but through a series of interesting plot twists, earth-shattering changes, and surprisingly deep character developments, becomes rather enjoyable. In the end it all comes together, and is presented beautifully.
Perhaps unfortunately, FFV's gameplay follows the same pattern as its story. To begin with, you have a small party (four characters, never more, sometimes less; a fifth character later on, but only to replace one of the others which dies), and their abilities are limited to attacking, defending, and using items. Eventually, party members will be able to change jobs (these are what inspired the job classes of Final Fantasy Tactics: Black Mage, Time Mage, Dragoon, Samurai, Ninja, et cetera) - but these jobs are earned gradually through the story, so you can't become whatever you want right off the bat. The ability system is designed so that a character can use his main job's abilities in addition to one previously-earned subset of skills, but the job points required to earn these abilities make them impractical within the scope of most of the game. However, this system comes into its own as the game progresses; earning abilities becomes easier with more job points earned from battles, and the available job classes become more enticing. It's hard to see from the beginning, but there's quite a lot of variety in what your party can eventually do, especially with summons and some magic spells earnable through sidequests. Be warned, though - this game can get difficult, quite so at that.
The vicious pattern repeats itself even in music. While the sound effects are consistently passable, the soundtrack early on can make the game seem like a flaky cartoon. However, a number of impressive tracks later on enhance the overall presentation greatly. Graphically, FFV lies perfectly between its prequel and sequel - the characters and environments are small as in FFIV, but more detailed, and the environment itself is often active (with churning gears and machinery, something which FFVI excelled at).
If you enjoy the game, FFV has a lot of replay to offer. In typical Final Fantasy fashion there are a slew of optional sidequests, most of them very rewarding (powerful items, powerful spells, even some job classes). Through sidequests, and through mastering job classes (it's possible, though grueling, to master every single job), the gameplay experience can really be as short or as long as you want it to be after the game's basic 20-30 hour length.
Unfortunately, it's hard to give Final Fantasy V an excellent score because of its rough beginning (and miscellaneous rough spots along the way). But this initial awkwardness is rectified as the game goes on with massive improvements. Don't give up - wait and see.
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