Final Fantasy V Advance Review

Final Fantasy V is the lost SNES title in the series. Unless you bought the original Japanese cart and a handwritten translation, or tracked down the rare PSone release (with debilitating loading times) in Final Fantasy Anthology, then this is your first chance to play it legally. Released at a time when odd numbered Final Fantasy games emphasised the battle system and even numbered titles focussed on the story, you'll immediately notice the paucity of dialogue here.

The opening scenario is cute but sparse: You're Bartz, a wanderer who travels the world with his Chocobo, Boco, earning his living by... well, actually it never really gets that far. The earth's balance of elements is maintained, as was the case in all early Final Fantasy games, by four elemental crystals (and the less well known '70s pop band): Earth, Wind, Fire and Water. The wind crystal, that jewel which ensures ships sail, flags fly and kites soar, shatters at the game's opening. The Princess Lenna decides to investigate and, by accident, falls into Bartz's company. The unlikely pairing are swiftly joined by the amnesiac pensioner Galuf and a strong willed pirate girl, Faris.

The four then travel the world on the quest to save the crystals from whatever force is causing their combustion. It's an unlikely mixture of characters (although FF12 players will recognise some subtle echoes) but the team works well together. The translation, different from the one on FF Anthology, while a little staid and juvenile, does fairly well at communicating the camaraderie between the group. Indeed, it's surprising how, after a few hours, when a plot twist wrestles one from your grasp, you realise just how much affection you've invested in them.

However, where the game really shines is in the battling system and, more specifically, the job class mechanic. Final Fantasy V essentially wrote the rulebook on handling character class development and its influence can be seen today everywhere from Final Fantasy Tactics to Oblivion. After the first hour or so of gameplay it's possible to assign each of your characters a job class in which they specialise. Each class grants special abilities and gives the character a second levelling track to consider. You earn job class experience from battling as well as your usual character experience, jobs levelling up separately to characters. While your specialisation can be switched at any time, as you level up the job the special abilities it grants are learned and can be carried over into new job classes. So, for example, you might train Bartz to be a level 2 White Mage which will allow him to take the 'Cure' ability into a new job. So you switch his expertise to the Monk class which will enable him to hit twice in one attack while retaining the ability to heal others from his experience as a White Mage.

This system (a near carbon copy of which underpins Final Fantasy XI) made the game the first Japanese RPG to give players true control over their character's specialisations and abilities and its quality and elegance is clearly visible today. This is helped by a GBA conversion that features no load times and which has sped up the flow of battles so that they can be raced through with ease. The GBA conversion is also worth noting for the new features it brings to the title. A quick-save function (perfect for gaming on the go), updated graphics, four new jobs (Gladiator, Cannoneer, Necromancer, and Oracle), a reworked soundtrack and a new 30-floor bonus dungeon have also been incorporated into the package.