The Story of Final Fantasy V - A Retrospective Gaming Documentary
Channel: Zeomantic
Date: 2022-12-03

Join us on a journey through the history of Final Fantasy V, from its development to its impact on the gaming world. Discover the story of this beloved game and the creative genius of Hironobu Sakaguchi. Plus, learn about the fan translation that brought this game to English-speaking audiences. A must-watch for any Final Fantasy fan!

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Pinal Fantasy V (c) SQUARE-ENIX

#FinalFantasy #finalfantasyv #FF5 

Partial Transcript:

This is a tale of two legacies. This is a tale of the passing of the torch.  And this is a tale of the fans taking matters into their own hands! This is Final Fantasy V!

My name’s Zeo, and I’ll be your lore keeper!

Our tale begins in 1990. The Japanese RPG gold rush was still in full force. Heavy hitters like Final Fantasy III and Dragon Quest IV led the charge that year along with Sega’s Phantasy Star III. Meanwhile in the west, Dragon Quest 1 and 2 were ported over under the name Dragon Warrior. This was also the year that western fans would get their hands on the original Final Fantasy published by Nintendo.

With FF3 out the door, Square was hard at work on Final Fantasy 4 for the Famicom alongside Final Fantasy 5 for the Super Famicom to be released in the Summer of 1991 – a “Super” Final Fantasy. But the 7-year-old Famicom was long in the tooth by this point. These plans changed as development for FF4 was shifted to the newer Super Famicom and released in 1991 while FF5 would release the following year.

The People
The core team from the previous games was mostly intact. Hironobu Sakaguchi reprised his role as director one more time before his promotion to executive vice president. This was his favorite in the series until the release of Final Fantasy 9. Sakaguchi wrote the story alongside Yoshinori Kitase. This would be the first time the two men worked together. 

The Game Itself
The team had twice as much memory to work with as before, which afforded them much more creative freedom. The environments were more colorful and detailed than before. Cutscenes were more dramatic, and battle effects were more impactful. Even with this newfound freedom, they still had to take the utmost care as they were still pushing the envelope with their available resources.

It’s no secret that Final Fantasy 4 revolutionized the RPG genre. Final Fantasy 5 on the other hand, was perhaps more about “evolution” than “revolution”. It took elements from previous entries and greatly expanded on them.