We’re slowly but surely getting through the Final Fantasy series.

Company Credits

Title: Final Fantasy 5 (packaged in Final Fantasy Anthology)
Developer: SquareSoft
System: Originally Super Famicom, rereleased for PlayStation
Release Date: 1992 and 1999
Game Type: RPG

Premise

A princess, a pirate, a wanderer, and a potentially senile old man
band together to prevent powerful crustals from breaking.

High Point

Gilgamesh is one of the greatest video game villains I’ve ever seen.
I love his attitude, I love his Genji equipment (which you have to
steal from him.) I love his music. I love his farewell. He’s a
villain I’d love to see return, as Cid does, in a later Final Fantasy
game.

The job and ability systems are very cool, too.

Low Point

He’s a tree?!?

The Scores

This was the first Final Fantasy game to use a system in which
characters could learn abilities of one class and use them in
another, so that counts as original. The story, however, is
pretty old hat in a lot of areas. It is the first fantasy game I’m
aware of that uses the parallel worlds idea, though, and they had an
incredibly well designed map to go along with it. I give it 4 out
of 6.

The story is not as well developed as the other Final Fantasy
games of this generation. It’s pretty linear, and pretty simple.
That doesn’t make it any less interesting, though. It’s still much
better than the plotlines found in most video games. I give it 5 out
of 6.

The graphics are at the level of Super Nintendo technology.
The introductory and concluding videos are nice, but not enough. I
give it 3 out of 6.

The sound suffers from old age, just as the graphics do. The
melodies in the music are still great, but just not enough. 3 out of 6.

When it comes to playability, the Final Fantasy titles
excel. I can spend hours and hours on any given game, and the
interface is incredibly simple to pick up. I give it 5 out of 6.

The immersion is fairly successful. I remember spending
hours just trying to learn abilities I’d never learned the first time
I played it, and trying them all out to see what they could do. I
remember trying out each Legendary Weapon one at a time until I knew
what made them special. The world is well defined enough to understand
what was going on and why, and to make me want to explore and see what
was out there. I give it 6 out of 6.

Overall, this is a very fun game that is my favourite of the
16-bit generation. I give it 5 out of 6, hampered primarily by its
lack of side quests not devoted to obtaining powerful magic or items.

In total, Final Fantasy 5 receives 31 out of 42.