Nintendo's page sums up the story: a young man traveling the world with his chocobo meets Lenna and Galuf where a meteor has fallen, and caught up in the fight, they meet the pirate Faris and set out across the world. Square Enix's page says the four crystals of wind, water, fire, and earth, which bring the world prosperity, are nearing their limit: the wind stops, the water dries up, and the world begins to shake. Square Enix's 2021 press release says the king hastens to the crystals' rescue and goes missing. final-fantasy-v-history/story
PublisherNintendo: Virtual Console — Final Fantasy V · game introduction, first paragraph — ours: the story begins when the hero, who travels the world with his chocobo, meets Lenna and Galuf at the place where a meteor fell. Caught up in the fight, they then meet the pirate Faris and go on to adventure across the worldチョコボとともに世界を旅する主人公が、隕石の落下現場にいたレナとガラフに出会うことから物語が始まります。戦いに巻き込まれた彼らは、さらに海賊のファリスと出会い、世界各地を冒険していくことになります。ファイナルファンタジーV (Square Enix official game page, game.json) · game.json, catch_copyこの世に繁栄をもたらす4つのクリスタルに限界の時が迫っていた。ファイナルファンタジーV (Square Enix official game page, game.json) · game.json, catch_copy — ours: the time of their limit was drawing near for the four crystals that bring prosperity to this world. The wind stops, the water dries up, and the world begins to shake. The copy opens 風・水・火・土 (wind, water, fire, earth)風は止み、水は涸れ、そして世界は揺れ始める。FINAL FANTASY V pixel remaster press release (27 October 2021) · body, first paragraphFINAL FANTASY V presents the story of a young man and his Chocobo, who find themselves drawn toward friends that will change their destiny. When the crystals that balance the powers of the world are threatened, the king hastens to the rescue...only to go missing.Cited by: Final Fantasy V
The adventure leads to deep caves, the open sea, a great forest, and a library, among other places, and vehicles that appear as the game goes on take the party into the sky and under the sea. final-fantasy-v-history/world
PublisherNintendo: Virtual Console — Final Fantasy V · game introduction, world paragraph — ours: the adventure that began with the meteor's fall leads all over the world, to deep caves, the open sea, a great forest, a library, and more. As the game goes on, various vehicles appear, and the sky and the seafloor become stages of the adventure too隕石の落下から始まった冒険の行く先は、深い洞窟や大海原、大森林、図書館など、世界各地に渡ります。また、ゲームを進めるとさまざまな乗り物が登場し、空や海底も冒険の舞台となります。Cited by: Final Fantasy V
The Japanese manual calls a job a title of the heroes of the past, held in the crystals: changing to a job gives a character those heroes' power, so a Knight becomes a master of the sword and a Geomancer a master who controls nature. Fighting on in the same job raises its job level with ability points, and each level teaches the job's abilities. A learned ability isn't lost on a job change, and attaching it to another job lets the player build characters with all sorts of powers. final-fantasy-v-history/jobs
ManualFinal Fantasy V (Super Famicom, Japan) instruction manual · p. 23, ジョブの意味 — ours: the titles of the heroes of the past, held in the crystals: that is a job. Obtain a job and change to it, and you can take on the power of the heroes of the past. A Knight becomes a master of the sword, a White Mage of white magic, a Geomancer a master who controls natureクリスタルに込められた過去の勇者達の称号Final Fantasy V (Super Famicom, Japan) instruction manual · p. 23, ジョブの意味過去の勇者の力を身につけられるのですFinal Fantasy V (Super Famicom, Japan) instruction manual · p. 25, アビリティとは — ours: an ability once learned isn't lost even on a job change, and attaching it to another job lets you create characters with all sorts of powersジョブチェンジしても失われずFinal Fantasy V (Super Famicom, Japan) instruction manual · p. 25, アビリティとは様々な能力を持ったキャラクターNintendo: Virtual Console — Final Fantasy V · game introduction, job paragraph — ours: as the story goes on, you become able to change job. Fighting on in the same job, you learn abilities, each job's special powers. Combining jobs and abilities allows many ways of fighting物語を進めると、「ジョブ（職業）」を変えられるようになります。また、同じジョブで戦い続けると、ジョブごとの特殊能力である「アビリティ」を覚えます。ジョブとアビリティの組み合わせによって、多様な戦いかたが可能です。Final Fantasy Anthology instruction manual (North America) · p. 18, Ability Definition — the English manual of the 1999 PlayStation release; the paragraph before says Ability Points (ABP) raise the job levelWhen Job Level increases, the player will learn various Abilities. These Abilities are special techniques unique to the Job. Once the Ability is learned, it will not be lost during a Job Change. By combining them with Abilities from other Jobs, the player will be able to create extremely versatile characters.Cited by: Final Fantasy V
Square Enix says abilities developed the job change system further, letting the player raise characters to taste, such as a Knight who can use magic. final-fantasy-v-history/abilities-develop-job-change
PublisherファイナルファンタジーV (Square Enix official game page, game.json) · game.json, detail_content — ours: with the addition of abilities (special skills), which develop the job change system further, you can raise characters to your liking, such as a Knight who can use magicジョブチェンジシステムを更に発展させたアビリティ（得意技）の追加により、魔法を使えるナイト等、自分好みのキャラクターを育てられます。Cited by: Final Fantasy V
The manual says Final Fantasy V's battles use the Active Time Battle (ATB) system, in which time flows, so the player has to fight in step with the enemies' moves and changes. The English manual says the player has to plan ahead to avoid giving enemies more time to act. Square Enix says the game expands on Active Time Battle, which it says debuted in Final Fantasy IV. final-fantasy-v-history/active-time
ManualFinal Fantasy V (Super Famicom, Japan) instruction manual · p. 18, FFVの戦闘システム — ours: FFV's battles adopt the ATB (Active Time Battle) system, in which the flow of time exists, so a way of fighting suited to the enemies' moves and changes is demanded時間の流れが存在するFinal Fantasy V (Super Famicom, Japan) instruction manual · p. 18, FFVの戦闘システム敵の動きや変化に合わせたFinal Fantasy Anthology instruction manual (North America) · p. 14, BattleThe FINAL FANTASY V battle system uses an ATB (Active Time Battle) system in which time flows continuously during battle. With this feature, the player will have to take advantage of each turn and plan ahead to avoid giving enemies more time to act.FINAL FANTASY V pixel remaster press release (27 October 2021) · body, first paragraphexpands on the iconic Active Time Battle system, which made its debut in FINAL FANTASY IV.Cited by: Final Fantasy V
Square Enix's 2021 press release calls the game well regarded for its deep, customizable job system, which lets players freely choose jobs for their characters to master and supports many different playstyles. final-fantasy-v-history/regard
PublisherFINAL FANTASY V pixel remaster press release (27 October 2021) · body, first paragraphWell-regarded for its deep and customizable job system, which allows players to freely select jobs for their characters to master, FINAL FANTASY V supports many different playstylesCited by: Final Fantasy V
The Final Fantasy V credits printed in the English manual of the 1999 PlayStation release list Hironobu Sakaguchi as director, Yoshitaka Amano for image design, Nobuo Uematsu as composer, Yoshinori Kitase and Ikuya Dobashi for field planning, Hiroyuki Itou and Akihiko Matsui for battle planning, Ken Narita for the field program, and Kiyoshi Yoshii and Katsuhisa Higuchi for the battle program. Tetsuya Nomura is among four battle graphics artists. final-fantasy-v-history/credits
ManualFinal Fantasy Anthology instruction manual (North America) · p. 58, Credits, Final Fantasy VDirector Hironobu Sakaguchi Image Design Yoshitaka Amano Music Composer Nobuo Uematsu Field Plan Yoshinori Kitase, Ikuya Dobashi Battle Plan Hiroyuki Itou, Akihiko Matsui Field Program Ken Narita Battle Program Kiyoshi Yoshii, Katsuhisa HiguchiFinal Fantasy Anthology instruction manual (North America) · p. 58, Credits, Final Fantasy V — a separate list, FINAL FANTASY V REMAKE STAFF, follows for the PlayStation versionBattle Graphics Masanori Hoshino, Tetsuya Nomura, Hiroshi Takai, Hirokatsu SasakiCited by: Final Fantasy V
Kitase told 1UP that on Final Fantasy V he worked on the event scenes and the scenario text with Sakaguchi, since the storytelling had grown too much for the one person who had always handled it. He said Sakaguchi was in charge of the overall plot, and that because the story was relatively serious, he wanted to add spots of comic relief. final-fantasy-v-history/kitase-role
InterviewFinal Fantasy: Kitase's Inside Story — 1UP · p. 2, answer on his work on FFVWith FFV, I was involved in creating what would be referred to as cutscenes -- we referred to them as event scenes -- and also the scenario text. Up until then, one person had always been responsible for this aspect of the games, but with FFV the amount of work involved in the storytelling and scenario really grew exponentially, so it was too much for one person to handle alone. So, I worked with Sakaguchi to take this task upon ourselves.Final Fantasy: Kitase's Inside Story — 1UP · p. 2, answer on the comedy in the cutscenes — the interviewer's question called FFV much funnier than previous games; Kitase's answer doesn't take up the comparisonSakaguchi was in charge of the overall plot, and because FFV was a relatively serious story, I wanted to be sure to inject spots with a little bit of comic relief and humor.Cited by: Final Fantasy V
In shmuplations' English translation of a 1992 interview, Sakaguchi said the team made the new job and ability system to carry on and develop good ideas from Final Fantasy IV, but that the aim was to give players fun they hadn't had yet, not to sum up the series. He said many people would dislike a mere continuation of Final Fantasy IV, so the team was "putting FFIV down for awhile". final-fantasy-v-history/sakaguchi-aims
InterviewFinal Fantasy V – 1992 Developer Interview · Sakaguchi, answer to the opening questionWe created this new job ability system in order to carry forth and further iterate on the good ideas we had in FFIV. In that sense it was a distillation. But rather than some summing up all of what Final Fantasy has been, it’s more that we simply wanted to give players a kind of fun they haven’t experienced yet.Final Fantasy V – 1992 Developer Interview · Sakaguchi, answer on FFIV's linear storyEven if FFIV was well-received, there’s many people out there who would dislike it if we just made a continuation of that game, so we’re always trying to do something new. We’re putting FFIV down for awhile.shmuplations says the interview was mainly taken from Famicom Tsūshin, with portions from Dengeki SFC and the GSLA.
Cited by: Final Fantasy V
In shmuplations' English translation of a 1992 interview, Keizou Kokubo said Final Fantasy IV had drawn criticism as too linear and boring, which the team tried to take into account. He said Final Fantasy IV had 8 Mb of memory and Final Fantasy V 16 Mb, yet the team still struggled with the limit and pushed map compression as far as it could. Katsuhisa Higuchi said the game was at first planned at 8 or 12. final-fantasy-v-history/memory
InterviewFinal Fantasy V – 1992 Developer Interview · Kokubo, answer on pressure after FFIV — the translation spells it "critcism"We got some critcism about FFIV, that it was too linear and thus boring, so we’ve tried our best to take that into account when making FFV. We only had 8Mb of memory for FFIV, and we stuffed it to the brim. This time we’ve got 16MbFinal Fantasy V – 1992 Developer Interview · Kokubo, same answerBut of course, once we got down to it, we were still struggling with the memory limitations. We pushed the map compression as far as we couldFinal Fantasy V – 1992 Developer Interview · Higuchi, answer on the game's size — the question asks whether it was always known that FFV would be a 16 Mbit gameAt first, we were planning to make it with 8 or 12.Cited by: Final Fantasy V
In shmuplations' English translation of a 1992 interview, Higuchi said some people at Square had beaten the game without ever changing jobs, and Akihiko Matsui said the team made every job usable, so that any party can reach the last boss, even one of four Monks. Ken Narita said the many abilities produced combinations the developers had never intended, and Sakaguchi said the team tried not to remove too many of them, so that players could enjoy discovering them. final-fantasy-v-history/any-party
InterviewFinal Fantasy V – 1992 Developer Interview · Higuchi, answer on whether the game endsWe had some people at Square who beat it without ever changing jobs too, with the default job.Final Fantasy V – 1992 Developer Interview · Matsui, on the jobsThere’s so many different jobs, and we decided to make them all viable. Players are free to make any kind of party they want. Player A and Player B might have completely different parties, but ultimately any party can make it to the last boss.Final Fantasy V – 1992 Developer Interview · Matsui, on the jobsyou can go all the way with an all monk party.Final Fantasy V – 1992 Developer Interview · Narita and Sakaguchi, on unintended combinationsThere’s so many abilities that sometimes amazing combinations would pop up that the developer-in-question had never intended or even realized existed.Final Fantasy V – 1992 Developer Interview · Narita and Sakaguchi, on unintended combinationsWe wanted players, too, to enjoy the thrill of discovering these techniques, so we tried not to remove too many things like that.Cited by: Final Fantasy V
In shmuplations' English translation of a 1992 interview, Sakaguchi said the Blue Mage came from a designer of Final Fantasy IV's monster data who thought it would be fun to let players use the monsters' abilities. He said a Diver job, planned to equip harpoons and fight better in the ocean, was rejected, and Narita said a planned Beastman became the Berserker. final-fantasy-v-history/job-ideas
InterviewFinal Fantasy V – 1992 Developer Interview · Sakaguchi, on the Blue MageOne of our designers who created the monster data and stats for FFIV, he had an idea that it would be cool to let players use those monster abilities too.Final Fantasy V – 1992 Developer Interview · Sakaguchi, on rejected ideasThere was a rejected job too, the “Diver”.Final Fantasy V – 1992 Developer Interview · Sakaguchi, on rejected ideasIn our planning documents, we wrote that they could equip harpoons, and they were stronger when fighting in the ocean.Final Fantasy V – 1992 Developer Interview · Narita, on rejected ideas — Sakaguchi had said "I think there was some kind of “Beastman” character…"That ended up becoming the Berserker.Cited by: Final Fantasy V
In shmuplations' English translation of a 1992 interview, Uematsu called the music its own thing, separate from Final Fantasy IV's, though as part of a series it includes certain melodies, always arranged differently. He said there are about 50 main songs, 60 to 70 with the shorter themes, and that a 150-page planning document outlined the story and script. Minoru Akao said the map music now continues from where it left off after a battle. final-fantasy-v-history/music
InterviewFinal Fantasy V – 1992 Developer Interview · Uematsu, answer on connecting the soundtrack to FFIVFFV’s music is its own thing. They’re separate. Of course, being a part of a series, there are certain songs and melodies I’ve got to include, but in Final Fantasy, even if I re-use melodies from past games I always try to arrange them differentlyFinal Fantasy V – 1992 Developer Interview · Uematsu, answer on the writing processThere was a 150-page planning document that outlined FFV’s story and scriptFinal Fantasy V – 1992 Developer Interview · Uematsu, answer on the writing processThere are about 50 “main” songs for FFV, and if you add in the shorter themes, it’s about 60-70 total.Final Fantasy V – 1992 Developer Interview · Akao, answer on new additionsOne nice detail we added, is that the map music now continues playing from where it left off after a battle.Cited by: Final Fantasy V
Famicom Tsūshin's four cross reviewers scored Final Fantasy V 8, 9, 9, and 8 out of 10, a total of 34 out of 40, which Famitsu lists in its Gold Hall of Fame. final-fantasy-v-history/famitsu-review
Value
{
"review": "Famicom Tsushin",
"of": 10,
"reviewers": [
8,
9,
9,
8
]
}p. 40, Final Fantasy V column, the four reviewer boxes — the scores printed large behind each reviewer's text, top to bottom; read from the page image. The page's footnote says the reviews used a sample version close to complete8 9 9 8Famitsu.com game page: Final Fantasy V (Super Famicom) · product summary — ours: Famitsu cross review: Gold Hall of Fame (34 points); the page cites issue 208's cross reviewファミ通クロスレビュー: ゴールド殿堂 (34点)Cited by: Final Fantasy V
Famicom Tsūshin's weekly chart dated 18 December 1992 put Final Fantasy V at the top, as the magazine said it expected, with Mega Man 5 (Rockman 5) second. final-fantasy-v-history/chart
MagazineWeekly Famicom Tsūshin, no. 211 (1993-01-01) · Weekly Top 30, opening text — ours: Final Fantasy V, as expected, … splendidly shone at the top. The OCR garbles the words between, which read ケタ違いのポイント (points of a different order); the chart counts points, not copies『ファイナルファンタジーV』が、予想どおり…みごとトップに輝いた。Weekly Famicom Tsūshin, no. 211 (1993-01-01) · Weekly Top 30, opening textそれに続いて『ロックマン5』が初登場で2位にランクイン。Cited by: Final Fantasy V
Nintendo Game Zone, a British magazine, reported in its February 1993 issue that hundreds of people were already queuing at Bic Camera in Tokyo's Ikebukuro at about 8:30 a.m. on Sunday 6 December 1992, and about 6,000 by the morning. It reported Squaresoft's statements that roughly 900,000 copies sold on the first day, 4.5 times the previous Final Fantasy, and that the company expected to have shipped two million by the end of 1992. final-fantasy-v-history/launch-day
MagazineNintendo Game Zone, issue 4 (February 1993) · news item "Big in Japan" — the OCR reads "reporters^from"It was around 8.30am on Sunday 6 December, 1992 when the intrepid reporters from Game Zone visited Bic Camera, one of the largest video game stores in the Ikebukuro district of Tokyo. There were already hundreds of people lining up.Nintendo Game Zone, issue 4 (February 1993) · news item "Big in Japan"There were about 6,000 people outside by the morning.Nintendo Game Zone, issue 4 (February 1993) · news item "Big in Japan"According to Squaresoft, roughly 900,000 copies of Final Fantasy V were sold on the first day. This staggering sales figure is 4.5 times as many as the previous Final Fantasy outing. By the end of 1992, the company is expecting to have shipped two million units of the game.The 900,000 is Squaresoft's own figure as the magazine reported it, and the two million a forecast, not a result.
Cited by: Final Fantasy V
Final Fantasy V reached the United States in Final Fantasy Anthology, which paired it with Final Fantasy VI on the PlayStation; Square Electronic Arts' page said it had never been released in the U.S. before. Andrew Vestal's GameSpot review of 14 October 1999 said the game had finally reached the States after being announced and canceled for a US release at least three times, and that two fan translations had appeared since its "original nonrelease in 1993". final-fantasy-v-history/north-america
PublisherFINAL FANTASY ANTHOLOGY — Square Enix (US) product page · paragraph on the package's second gameThe second title in this compilation, FINAL FANTASY V, is seeing its first ever release in the U.S.Final Fantasy Anthology instruction manual (North America) · cover and contents — the English manual pairs Final Fantasy V and VI on the PlayStationFINAL FANTASY VFinal Fantasy Anthology Review — GameSpot · review, opening paragraphsThe fourth announcement was the charm, however, and many gamers' favorite Final Fantasy has finally hit the States.Final Fantasy Anthology Review — GameSpot · review, opening paragraphsBefore its arrival in the anthology, Final Fantasy V was announced and canceled for a US release no fewer than three times.Final Fantasy Anthology Review — GameSpot · review, on the translationsince the game's original nonrelease in 1993, there have been two separate fan translations of the entire gameGameSpot's later page lists Anthology as first released on 30 September 1999; the review itself is dated 14 October 1999 and says the game "has finally hit the States".
Cited by: Final Fantasy V
Vestal found the story weak, with paper-thin characters and a clichéd plot, and the official translation poor, but called the job system one of the series' most in-depth: each character can take one of 22 jobs, and an ability earned in one job can be used in another, so a Knight with the Ninja's ability to equip two swords can wield a heavy sword in each hand. final-fantasy-v-history/gamespot-review
WebFinal Fantasy Anthology Review — GameSpot · review, on Final Fantasy V — the page's HTML carries the entity for éFinal Fantasy V features paper-thin characters, a trite and clichéd plot, and hours of fetch quests uninterrupted by character development or plot twists.Final Fantasy Anthology Review — GameSpot · review, on Final Fantasy VFinal Fantasy V delivers one of the series' most in-depth and detailed game systems: the job system. Each character can be assigned one of 22 possible jobs or classes.Final Fantasy Anthology Review — GameSpot · review, on Final Fantasy VA knight can use the ninja's "equip two swords" ability and then wield a heavy sword in each hand.Cited by: Final Fantasy V
Square Enix's Japanese site lists the game's later versions, among them a full PlayStation port on 19 March 1998, which added CG movies to the opening and ending; downloads for the Wii Virtual Console in 2011 and other consoles after; smartphone versions from 2013; and the Pixel Remaster for Windows and smartphones on 11 November 2021, later for PlayStation 4 and Switch on 20 April 2023. final-fantasy-v-history/ports
PublisherファイナルファンタジーV (Square Enix official game page, game.json) · game.json, game_model entry for プレイステーション1998/03/19ファイナルファンタジーV (Square Enix official game page, game.json) · game.json, detail_content, PlayStation section『ファイナルファンタジーV』をプレイステーションに完全移植。ファイナルファンタジーV (Square Enix official game page, game.json) · game.json, detail_content, PlayStation section — ours: a complete port of Final Fantasy V to the PlayStation, newly adding CG movies to the opening and ending新たにオープニングとエンディングにCGムービーを追加挿入しました。ファイナルファンタジーV (Square Enix official game page, game.json) · game.json, game_model entry for Wii2011/01/18ファイナルファンタジーV (Square Enix official game page, game.json) · game.json, game_model entry for iOS2013/03/28ファイナルファンタジーV (Square Enix official game page, game.json) · game.json, game_model entries for Windows, iOS, and Android (Pixel Remaster)2021/11/11ファイナルファンタジーV (Square Enix official game page, game.json) · game.json, game_model entries for プレイステーション4 and Nintendo Switch2023/04/20Cited by: Final Fantasy V
IGN's Andrew Alfonso, writing on 17 October 2006 about the Japanese import of the Game Boy Advance version, Final Fantasy V Advance, said Square Enix had started the port from the ground up, with much better results than the Game Boy Advance Final Fantasy IV. IGN's game details list its release dates as 12 October 2006 in Japan, 6 November 2006 in the United States, and 20 April 2007 in the UK. final-fantasy-v-history/gba
WebFinal Fantasy V Advance Hands-On — IGN · opening paragraphWith the recently released Final Fantasy V, Square-Enix had to start from the ground up with the port, and the results are much, much better.Final Fantasy V Advance Hands-On — IGN · subtitleA look into the final import versionFinal Fantasy V Advance Hands-On — IGN · Game Details box — the game details of a 2012 capture; the page header gives the US date aloneRelease Date: United States: November 6, 2006 UK: April 20, 2007 Japan: October 12, 2006Cited by: Final Fantasy V
