Recordkeeping: Final Fantasy V COMPLETE

[xyzzysqrl]

Well I certainly was wrong about this for a while.

My previous opinion of Final Fantasy V was that it was sort of okay. The only good script for the game is the GBA version (actually true), and it's basically an excuse to have a really elaborate combat system. (Also true.) My problem was that I was treating it sort of like Final Fantasy 1 But Longer. Pick four jobs, play until those jobs are Mastered, pick four more jobs, etc.

This is a boring as hell way to play Final Fantasy V. Trying this was probably responsible for my burnout on several attempts to play through.

Armed with copious advice from a friend, I instead tried swapping up my approach for each situation, messing around with jobs and learning their ins and outs. Suddenly it was actually... ??? FUN ??? to struggle against bosses, reload to save, plan a strategy of attack, and watch the battle go from "climbing one-handed up asshole mountain" to "surf forever on a wave of glory and heroism".

So... yeah, honestly? FFV is a LOT more fun than I gave it credit for. It's always important to play the game in front of you, instead of the game in your head. Find out what a game wants from you and learn how it wants to be played, and suddenly things get smoother and cooler.

S'a good thing to remember.

(PS. I beat Omega but not Shinryu. One day I'll go back for that dragon. ONE DAY...)

Comments

[swordianmaster]

I mean, I already told you the Chumpy Super Easy Way to beat Shinryu. One Easy Tip etc etc.

The brutal-as-hell Play By His Rules option involves four Coral Rings, levels in the 50s or 60s at LEAST, and as many Ice Shields as you can muster. Preferrably as many Dragon Lances as you can bear to steal from the dragons in the last part of the void, too.

Still, you did eet. And I'm glad you had fun with it.

[penguinmayhem]

Ah, Old School FF. When shit like "bosses are weak to confusion" was a thing.

Or having Terra snap wands on people's asses for insane damage.

Or instakilling a boss with a phoenix down.

[swordianmaster]

Every FF has bosses like that, though, is the thing.

The reason that it doesn't have the same reputation as the Shin Megami Tensei series (as an example) is twofold:

1) The series is distressingly opaque about whether or not something is effective. Did that status effect miss because the enemy is immune, or because it has bad accuracy? NOBODY KNOWS unless you start pouring over enemy data charts in a FAQ somewhere. By contrast, most games in Atlus's toolshed are crystal clear about what does or does not work.

2) Dovetailing into the first point, Final Fantasy is, similarly to Dragon Quest, designed to be approachable casually. That means that even if status effect shenanigans are the most efficient way of downing a boss, very very rarely will it be as accessible or practical as just hitting an enemy until enough numbers pop out of it and it dies.

As of such, even if FF has tactical merit and can be cleared strategically with status effects and smart gameplay, it lends itself far heavier to just grinding to a high enough level that you can brute force everything.