The Wonderful Weirdness of Final Fantasy V

Those who know me quite well know that I can’t seem to spend more than a month away from my favorite Final Fantasy games. Final Fantasy IV-X just have their hooks in me so deeply. From the stories, character moments, music, and customization mechanics; all of these offer so much to me every time I replay them. But last year I might’ve overdone it with the replays! I replayed IV, VI, IX and X all in 2024. So I told myself that in 2025 I would only replay one Final Fantasy game so as to not burn myself out.

And that game is Final Fantasy V.

The first three Final Fantasy trilogies all have one thing in common:

The middle entry is weird. Final Fantasy II sported a completely different EXP system, later spawning the SaGa franchise. Final Fantasy V has a completely different tone than the rest of its series. Final Fantasy VIII has a bizarre customization system.

While I’m pretty unfamiliar with II and not very fond of VIII, I truly do love V!

Final Fantasy IV has many death scenes, shocking plot twists, and it mostly centers around the theme of changing yourself. Hell, the first twenty minutes of the game is spent blowing up an innocent village! We all know that the series is no stranger to melodrama. So it’s actually quite interesting that the sequel to IV decided to take a much more lighthearted approach. The characters all have moments of humor consistently paced throughout the game. And even if it’s not an outright joke, the game still does little things to make you smile. For example, in the first town you visit with four party members, one of your members goes to the local pub. So when you go to the weapons and armor shop, the player may only be thinking about the three members still in their party. But your fourth party member comes barging into every store you visit and says “Don’t forget about me!” It’s just this tiny fourth-wall breaking moment that comes off as unexpected in a series like this.

As an uber nerd of these older FF titles, one noteworthy fact is that Final Fantasy V is the last game in the series to be directed by the series creator, Hironobu Sakaguchi. And as most gamers know, this game wasn’t brought outside of Japan during its original Super Famicom days. Japanese publishers weren’t shy back then about holding games in Japan. And in Final Fantasy V’s case, it could be because of the class system being far deeper than the one present in the original Final Fantasy on NES. Or it could also be the aforementioned anime-esque humorous tone of the game. The game released in 1992, so it was a bit before the anime boom really started to begin in the States. Square probably had the somewhat correct assumption that western audiences want a more serious story in their long meaty role-playing games.

Another thing I absolutely adore about this game is the small party size. This series is no stranger to providing a revolving door of playable characters. And active party sizes grew smaller on the PlayStation, which meant that for VII and VIII you could only pick three party members to play as (really only two because the protagonist isn’t optional). Which is why IX made the welcome decision to have four active party members at once.

But Final Fantasy V only gives the player four characters throughout the entire game. And you get them within the first thirty minutes of the game. So you truly grow attached to these four characters over the course of the game. While they wont give you goosebumps to the same extent as Cloud and Aerith, I really can’t deny that I love Bartz, Faris, Lenna, and Galuf. I love Bartz’ little blue sprite and his companion Boko. I love Faris’ relationship with Syldra and her initial struggle with her true identity. I love Galuf’s perfectly timed jokes. I love Lenna’s undying loyalty. These characters all have the typical traits you’d see in Final Fantasy heroes, but Final Fantasy V isn’t afraid to joke around during the journey.

I can see this being both a positive and negative for many players. Most FF fans probably want the serious stories. But on the other hand, I wouldn’t be surprised if the lack of melodrama and comedic tone shine as a bright ray of uniqueness for many JRPG fans. For me, it’s the latter. And I haven’t even mention the absolutely brilliant use of the class system here. We still see its mechanics used today in games like Metaphor: Re Fantazio. And narratively speaking? Well….let’s just say I see one glaring similarity between FFV and Expedition 33.

While Final Fantasy V may always well sit in a slightly more obscure position than its siblings, it still stands the test of time as one of the greatest JRPGs ever crafted.