How Final Fantasy 5 Almost Tilted Me To Quit: Is Final Fantasy 5 Good?
FFV is a good game. But is FFV also a bad game? There are always two sides to every story, but that story is intertwined inFinal Fantasy V
So, I’ve set out on a journey to play every single Final Fantasy mainline-titles there is ever since purchasing the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster Collection for Nintendo Switch, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised so far by how well told the stories are, and how much world building there really is in those games.
FFI — FFIV was quite the breeze to get through, especially when taking the short length into consideration. I clocked in around 20 hours each game, and so I had built an expectation for Final Fantasy 5, both with its gameplay, balancing and pacing.
The Narrative Design Of Final Fantasy 5.
Final Fantasy V is a modern game, which is amazing for a game coming out in 1992.
It’s a modern game not because of it’s gameplay or story, but in its narrative design, and how the narrative is the thing that pushes forward the player.
There are not many reward-loops in its gameplay.
We have the job-system, and the classic JRPG-character progression, but that’s about it in terms of motivating the player to push forward.
This is a huge trend we see in modern gaming — narrative-centric game design.
This is by no means a bad thing, it’s actually quite the opposite when it comes to Final Fantasy V — the storytelling is really good, and we see some real emotion oozing out of the pixelated characters.
If a remake where to be made, Square Enix wouldn’t have to make any larger changes to its core design to cater to modern audiences.
The Art Of Guiding The Player
Where Final Fantasy 5 flounder and almost took out my motivation to keep playing was with its gameplay; the core foundation of JRPGs.
Usually in JRPGs, even in the more difficult and back-breaking ones like Shin Megami Tensei, the player gets guided in combat. Not guided in the sense of telling them what to do, but in terms of showing what’s ahead, to make them being able to act accordingly.
Along the journey in a JRPG, players learn to make the correct decisions based on the setup of the party they’ve chosen by playing.
When it comes to games with a really high level of customization, like Final Fantasy 5, it’s VERY important that the game doesn’t punish the player for choosing their own setup, or choosing to focus on one aspect of customization relative to another.
An example from my playthrough:
I like the classic setups.
Warrior, healer, mage and another fighter-class.
Historically that setup always ends up being the best anyway, so call it conditioning.
Final Fantasy 5 has an enormous array of jobs to choose from, which is awesome. It also has a system where if a character have leveled up a job and gained a job-specific ability, that ability can then be chosen by that character, regardless of which job they have.
That is such a cool system.
But.
This freedom comes with a huge responsibility from the developer’s side, which is to make sure either:
a. Every single combination of customization is viable; make the game easier
or
b. Have enemy weaknesses and strengths be clearly telegraphed in some way, and make it easy to understand and achieve.
Final Fantasy 5 does none of these things, which is frustrating.
Some bosses just one-shot you after you dealt an attack, physical or magical, giving you absolutely no chance to figure out how or what.
Some bosses have some insane combination of status-move, or have one-hit-kill abilities, possibly targetting your one healer.
In a game where exploring all the different customization options is the primary gameplay element, it’s such a shame that you get severely punished by not engaging deeply with it, which should be optional.
I do love the game, and I did enjoy the gameplay. I just wished the last 5 hours wasn’t a culmination of all the “wrong” choices I made throughout the game.
But as with everything in life, I’m going to take teachings away from it, and use it in future titles.