The last great adventure (Final Fantasy V Retrospective)

[@AltercateTV]

At last, it’s done! This is my love letter to Final Fantasy V. It’s my longest video yet, and quite possibly the most heartfelt defense of FF5 that’s available on KZbin lol. I hope you enjoy it! And as always, thanks for supporting me. :) You know what comes next… But I have a couple of other videos I want to make before I get to “that one”.

[@alanlee67]

I'm assuming "that one" is the game that put jrpgs on the map.

[@mattcote7687]

Looking forward to what comes next :)

[@Steve-mx6lz]

👍 just started playing 5 So good

[@Adamatronamus]

Just finished the FFV pixel remake. Such a feel good game the entire way through. Thanks for putting so much heart into these reviews as they inspired me to play the games all the way through.

[@AltercateTV]

Wow, that's really cool! I never thought my videos would actually inspire people to play the games :)

[@Leatherhead64]

Thank you for your thoughtful and greatly enlightening video essay on this game, Altercate. FFV is and has been my favorite entry in the franchise for nearly a decade now, and you hit the nail on the head in basically every aspect. FFV is a game I can return to time and time again and never feel like it'll be dull or a slog or that it will fail to offer something new to me. And, as someone who didn't even start playing Final Fantasy games until about 2009, it's sometimes difficult for me to understand the criticisms people have regarding the game's narrative axis. Final Fantasy V is a very special game, and I'm really happy that, after so many years of being viewed as the black sheep of the franchise (which you could arguably refer to any game in the series as, save for maybe FFIII), there are folks like you who speak up and express such dear appreciation for it and the incredible experience it has to offer.

[@AltercateTV]

Thanks for saying that! It’s really cool to see someone who got into the series in 2009 praise this game. Was FFXIII your first Final Fantasy game?

[@Leatherhead64]

@@AltercateTV Actually, while I own FFXIII, I have never played it! My first introduction to the series was a little earlier than 2009, with FFVII in probably 2007 or so, but at the time that game's story and mechanics just did not jive with me at all, as I was still very new to the RPG genre (and games telling stories in general), and I put it down after about 3 or 4 hours (I've since gone back to it and enjoyed it a lot more). My first FF proper was actually FFI with Dawn of Souls on GBA, and I fell in love with it almost immediately, then loved FFII even more. I have a great fondness for both of those games even now.

[@danikame9481]

Liking and commenting as requested. I love these long form videos. Excellent content.

[@AltercateTV]

Thank you for the support! I really appreciate hearing that :)

[@rezterralico4369]

For sure. Grinding on missions in final fantasy 7 Crisis Core Reunion. Seeing how many missions I can get doen on only chapter 3. LOL Like 23 percent done the mission and have health at 9999 so funny.

[@Kris_Harp]

I've been playing through the entire Final Fantasy series chronologically and even though I've beaten this game multiple times I had to wait until I finished it again before I could appreciate this video in it's entirety. Huge fan of this series!

[@adammalik5397]

as you mentioned in ff4 video, it (ff4) became the prototype for most of future titles (except this one) where melodrama is the main attraction. i started playing ff series when it is known for that storytelling and downplayed the job based titles like 3 and 5, but boy.. i was wrong for me 5 is like a parody (in a good way) to the series itself, i even suspect the sillyness of exdeath origin, plain motivation and shenanigan (disguise as a tree branch) are intentional. i loved the lighthearted tone and how the exploration sprites got laughing animation to brighten the mood here and there, and all of these ended up as the game's unique charm even if a remake is unlikely, i wish 5 to get at least a decent remaster like dq3. i loved that bravely series are like iterations of ff5, but they simply are not FF

[@AltercateTV]

Thanks for sharing! After playing Stranger of Paradise, I started thinking that it would be incredibly cool to see a FFV remake using a similar system, but one where you would be switching between the four heroes in combat to pull off combos and protect each other. I think it’d be a great fit for a reimagined FF5!

[@adammalik5397]

@@AltercateTV now that you mentioned Sop, i think a multiplayer coop party adventure would be fantastic! not sure if AI can compensate the delight of controlled party members, it could hinder a full party synergy and combo

[@chadwickjdillon]

Dope! Amazing vid quality as usual with all of this series. I watched the FF anime as a kid in the mid 90's, and it labeled itself as based on the best selling final fantasy 5. Very confusing because 3 was the most recent one for any of us, and then 7 happened and all of our brains melted out of our ears. Ohh the world before the internet. 😅 To be relevant, I never finished the fan translated rom when I played it on my then brand spanking new (and modded day 1!) PSP... but it certainly made me appreciate the incredible amount of work the fan community did for that game. Again, great video. Cant wait to rewatch it 4 more times while waiting for the next. Cheers!

[@AltercateTV]

Thank you so much for your kind words! :) It's funny, I always assumed the anime would be terrible so I never ended up watching it back in the day lol. But I watched the first couple of minutes a while back just to see what it was like, and I was really surprised at how high the quality of the animation was! I'll have to sit down and watch it someday.

[@chadwickjdillon]

@@AltercateTV its super fun and a neat subversion of ffV. It takes place 100 years after the events of the game, so everything is just a brilliant echo of its own past. Again, i cant say enough how tremendous your content is. I share it all over, so hopefully we can get this new channel some traction like the old!

[@AltercateTV]

​@@chadwickjdillon Cool, I'll definitely check it out! And wow, thank you so much for your support, that means a lot to me! It's an amazing feeling knowing that there are people out there waiting for more of my content! :D

[@alanlee67]

This is the second best ff for me after 7. The job system is the best mechanic in all of games. To me, this is pretty much final fantasy 1. I feel it is so much superior to what came before and feels like the first modern final fantasy

[@AltercateTV]

Thanks for sharing! I feel similarly. This is the earliest game in the series that I keep coming back to out of sheer love for the gameplay. :)

[@Chibi_Devanam]

To me FFV was one of the greatest FF adventures, it introduced many good things to the franchise. I adore variety in games, and consider it as one of the most important aspects. This is something that prevents them from being monotonous and repetitive. And I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Gilgamesh in FFVI for the first time, making HIM returning character in the franchise was one of the best decisions I'd say, he and his theme is absolutely one of my favorite things that FFV gave us. If I had to pick negative things; it's obviously Exdeath just being evil 'cuz he was born that way and completely underwhelming, (there's early draft of his plot on wiki at 'Behind The Scenes', which is still pretty meh, but could have some potential if done right.) I found it annoying that it was possible to accidentally miss few one of a kind things like final Bard's song and other stuff that got later sucked into the void and became unobtainable. Defeated Omega and Shinryu, yet never finished post-game because got stuck on certain boss there, forgot which. And I'd like to point out that Exdeath's Battle Theme (Decisive Battle) is a very underrated banger, it just starts very slowly.

[@AltercateTV]

Thanks for sharing! Yeah, Gilgamesh always puts a grin on my face every time he shows up in another game haha. My favorite appearance has to be FF8. That sequence where he first shows up absolutely blew my mind back in the day! :D

[@CrazyArcadia]

Just got here from your other channels' review of the FF V pixel remaster. Will save this for later, FF V is still one of my favorite JRPGs :)

[@AltercateTV]

Thanks for the support! I hope you enjoy the video :)

[@mr79843]

This was a great game! I was one of those who as a teenager was online always looking for updates to my emulators and games I couldn't get in the US. I played that original FFV ROM. I remember "Butz" and "Cara". So I don't have quite the same level of nostalgia for V as I do for VI (due to owning VI and having it be the first RPG I played to completion with the understanding of what I was doing and why) I do still have nostalgia for it. IV was the one I didn't play until later in my late teenage years. I have more nostalgia for V than IV. All of them are amazing games in their own ways. FFV is brilliant and I miss the old way of doing RPGs. I appreciate Dragon Quest for mostly sticking to the old ways. I mainly only play games from the PS3 and back to the NES nowadays. Anyway. Just wanted to comment to attempt to help you out with the algarithm. Great video as always! Thanks!

[@AltercateTV]

I’m pretty much the same-FFVI was my first introduction into the series, and I only got a chance to play FFIV a couple of years later! Thanks for sharing and thanks for your kind words :)

[@gildor5666]

man these restrospective videos are among the best I've seen, wish you the best! great work

[@AltercateTV]

Thank you! That's very encouraging to hear :)

[@mattcote7687]

Looking forward to more great retrospectives!

[@AltercateTV]

Thanks for the support! :)

[@richardxavier5442]

Another brilliant video from this channel! As someone who loved the gameplay of Final Fantasy 5, but was disappointed in the story and characters, I want to comment on what you said about this topic in the video, just to elaborate a bit on why people like me may feel the way we feel: (Note that these are my opinions only.) First of all, the world and the setting: While I think it was a good idea to have two worlds that then merges together, I felt it didn't add that much to the game in the end. All three worlds look very similar, with green plains, mountains and deserts, with only the continents placed in different shapes. In FF4, the overworld, the underworld and the moon each had a very distinct look and design to them, giving the game more variation. The part in FF5 where you can access new dungeons and territories after the world merge is cool, yes, but I felt that games like, for example, A Link to the Past did this much better with the Light World and Dark World (and those two worlds also looked very different to each other). Also, unlike you, I didn't like the final dungeon in FF5. I know that the developers probably were going for a creepy, psychadelic effect with having the dungeon being composed of different parts from the world, but to me, it just felt like they were lazy and reused assets to save time. The final dungeon in FF4, where you slowly descend into the moon's core, was much more memorable. Then it is the main story: While there are indeed many good scenes and events that happen (like you described in the video), the main story and plot is basically just the "Four elemental crystals and the Light Warriors" narrative that has already been told twice before (in FF1 and FF3), and it felt really old to me at this point (especially since both FF2 and FF4 tried out some new and fresh ideas for their stories). Ex-Death is also a super boring villain, and his design is almost identical to Golbez's in FF4, which I felt was really lazy. Also, although many of the ideas for the characters had potential for introducing some deeper story telling, a lot of it is handled sloppily, or is just played out for laughs. The reveal that Lenna and Faris are sisters is presented as a big thing, but the player has already figured that out long before the main characters have. Having Faris posing as a man but actually being a woman could have been an interesting subplot to explore, but instead, it is used only for jokes (like having her having trouble walking in a dress etc.). Finally, the part where Galuf dies: While I like the scene and appreciate that he actually stays dead (unlike the many characters in FF4), the fact that Krile immediately after Galuf's death gains all his abilities and stats deeply lessens the impact his death had on the player both emotionally and gameplay-wise. In the end, it basically feels like Galuf just had a sprite-swap. Had the game had Krile starting from level 1 with no job abilities, it would have affected the player much more. In the end, I felt that for a JRPG released in 1992, Square should have done much more with the story and plot. I don't know if you have played other JRPG series released in the late 80s/early 90s, but my opinion is that a game like Phantasy Star 2 (which was released in 1989 for the Mega Drive) had a far superior story, and did the plot device of killing of a main character much better than Galuf in FF5. And Dragon Quest 4 (released in 1990 for the NES), did the "various characters end up together due to circumstances and travel the world together" plot better than FF5 (and DQ4 had a much more memorable villain too, with a true motive to why he does what he does). I guess what I'm trying to say is that the story and characters in FF5 are not bad in themselves; it is just that to me, FF5 felt like a step back compared to games like Phantasy Star 2, Dragon Quest 4 and Final Fantasy 4, which tried to push the art of telling a narrative forward. I apologise for the long post, but I really wanted to explain my feelings about this topic. And to end on a positive note, I want to say that everything else with FF5, I absolutely love! The graphics, the music, the dungeon design and ESPECIALLY the gameplay are all wonderful.

[@AltercateTV]

No worried, I appreciate the thought you put into this comment :) I more or less agree with your points. The world design could have been more interesting. Although I still think the sense of renewed adventure when entering the second world works pretty well, and the variations on the plains/forest environments are pretty cool, your example of Link to the Past is a good one, since that game admittedly did this a LOT better. Agreed about Exdeath being a carbon copy of Golbez lol. They look extremely similar. But Exdeath is more memorable to me (and I prefer his design) so I guess I cut him a lot of slack in that regard. You're not wrong, though -- there isn't a lot to this game's villain. Also agree about Lenna and Faris being a pretty lackluster plot twist and how Faris' story could have been a LOT more interesting. And yeah, as much as I like the motif of Galuf passing his legacy on to Krile, it probably would have hit harder if she'd had to start from scratch. Your references to earlier games in the genre doing more to advance storytelling are probably quite fair. I'm only now starting to make my way through the Dragon Quest series and I'm excited to see how it develops. Phantasy Star is another series I'm only passably familiar with and intend to look deeper into in the future. What you said makes a lot of sense, and it's a totally valid perspective. I think my main beef with FF5's modern reputation is just that, as I said in the video, I often feel it's judged by a different standard than FF4 and FF6, simply because it didn't show up in the west until "too late" for most of us to have any nostalgia about it. Your criticisms still stand from a historical perspective, though! Thanks again for sharing your thoughts. :)

[@richardxavier5442]

@@AltercateTV No problem! I definitely agree with you about the lack of nostalgia in the West for FF5. Nostalgia is a tricky thing like that; we might feel it makes us judge games unfairly, but at the same time, games that are nostalgic are so because they have become part of our history. It might be unfair, but that is what it is. FF4 and FF6 had the luck to be shipped to the West, and as such, they became a big part of many people's childhoods (mine included). FF5 was not so lucky... I guess the best we can do is to is to try to play every game with an open mind and see it for what is is.

[@benjames8211]

now i see where alot of the cool stuff came from in ff7 like flying around on ship or running around on chocobo.

[@lukewatts7693]

I’m waiting for the pixel remasters on ps4 this year, I had Anthology back in the day but can’t remember them enough. I don’t know which FF to play first, I’ve been watching your reviews and each video I’m like yeah I’ll start with that one and then I watch the next one in the list and then think “no that one first”

[@AltercateTV]

Haha. Whatever you end up choosing, I hope you have a blast! If you want my two cents, there’s something to be said for playing through the series from 1-6. But I also think starting with 4 and then playing 5 and 6 makes a lot of sense, especially if you’re more into the story element!

[@SaxBit]

I've LOVED all of your Final Fantasy retrospectives so far! Is there a Final Fantasy 6 retrospective in the works?

[@AltercateTV]

Thank you so much! Yes, I'm working on the FF6 retro right now! Hoping to have it done sometime in March :)

[@ahhkekeke]

Yeahhhhh babbyyyy!!!! You know what I'm watching tonight!!!

[@AltercateTV]

Love you, brosef! 🐺🤛❤️

[@defaultuser01]

Bro how do you not have more subs wtf.

[@AltercateTV]

Thank you! ❤

[@defaultuser01]

You’re welcome! You scratch my autistic itch for history about games ahaha

[@songohan5866]

Banger video. Love your analysis of the final fantasy series.

[@AltercateTV]

Thank you! :)

[@Morgil27]

My ultimate party makeup? After mastering all other jobs and beefing up freelancer, equip dual-wield, rapidfire, and spellblade. Its a setup that makes even the two superbosses, Omega and Shinryu, a complete and utter joke.

[@AltercateTV]

That was my setup from my original playthrough, way back! :)

[@mikel3510]

I just found your starcraft channel through these ff retrospectives...unfortunately I watched a few before knowing I should switch over. Not into starcraft but a huge ff fan. Anyway, double view on this video, I guess lol. And a sub

[@AltercateTV]

Thanks so much for the support! 😍

[@williamishee9533]

Omfg I’m so excited. Let’s do this!!!!!!!

[@AltercateTV]

Hey Will! Hope you enjoy :D

[@ultrazappy7815]

Love this video game so much. Favorite FF by far.

[@AltercateTV]

Thanks for sharing! Definitely one of my favorites in the series :)

[@matttyree1002]

Loving this series.subbed my sir😊

[@AltercateTV]

Thanks for your encouragement! It really means a lot to me.

[@ceegronlee]

excellent video. I enjoyed. Let's hope you make more!

[@AltercateTV]

Thank you! I’m working on the FF6 retrospective right now. Will be up in a few weeks :)

[@ceegronlee]

@@AltercateTV very excited for that!

[@Rain-sr9pp]

Loved the video!

[@AltercateTV]

Thanks! Love hearing that :)

[@justinward3218]

I swear, people should respect the NPCs more. Multiple guards tell you that Shiva is locked away in the castle, and it doesn’t take much snooping to find the two dungeon-like areas. You don’t need a guide to find Shiva!

[@AltercateTV]

Haha fair point! I love that the game lets you figure it out on your own.

[@alanlee67]

Yea these old school games have useful npcs. However, there's also error

[@murkywaters5502]

Cool video! Keep it up!

[@AltercateTV]

Thanks so much for the support! 😍

[@johnnymontalvo5620]

Thanks for this! :) I’ve played every Final Fantasy game, and Galuf’s death scene is hands down my favorite scene in ANY FF game.

[@AltercateTV]

Glad you liked the video! Yep, it’s a very powerful scene :)

[@nicholasleone3494]

fan translation of mother 3 is a lot more significant considering its STILL the only way english speakers can play the game.

[@alanlee67]

Just be level 11 for Shiva and use goblin punch. It does massive damage if your level is the same as the enemy. It's a breeze. I just grind in the water tower until I get 11 stealing mythril daggers from wyverns on the 7th floor

[@AltercateTV]

Haha awesome, will have to try that next time! Love that I’m still learning new strats for this game after playing it so many times :)

[@alanlee67]

@@AltercateTV yea. I love it. It tows the line between too overly complex, too simple, and being streamlined better than any other game ever. I also love that every single dungeon has some kind of game changing treasure or blue magic like the thiefs glove in the fire ship or stealing hayate bows from poison eagles in drakenvale.

[@joe9739]

I can't believe it's not remembered fondly.... People are missing out. They're loss

[@AltercateTV]

Totally agree :)

[@DarthJF]

FFV having had its first official release as a bad PS1 port certainly didn't do its popularity in the West any favours. That was my first experience with the game and the load times for random battles were extremely long and annoying. With the job and combat systems being so central for the game, having those loading times turned what should be one of its best parts into a chore. But I finally played V again this year with the Pixel Remaster and had a blast doing so. With the battles now loading instantly I loved experimenting with different job combinations and the game was overall just fun to play. I feel like I still slightly prefer IV over it thanks to the more memorable cast of characters and their various arcs, but V gets damn close and I never had a moment with the game when I didn't enjoy playing it.

[@AltercateTV]

Good point about the PS1 port! I’m glad I totally missed that one lol. Especially with that translation…

[@alanlee67]

Dhaaarg! The translation was like a bad 90s Saturday morning cartoon.

[@or_lionheart]

FFV was peak Final Fantasy

[@AltercateTV]

One of my favorites for sure!

[@midnightstar2762]

final fantasy 5 is one of my top 5 one, i have to ask if you have any plan of retorspect of my favorite snes game "Terranigma"

[@AltercateTV]

Yes! I love Terranigma, and I'm planning to do retrospectives of the whole "Soul Blazer trilogy" eventually! :)

[@adammalik5397]

i guess this comment section can be a good source of retro games discovery 😄

[@conner101howard]

For the engagement

[@AltercateTV]

Thanks for the assist! :)

[@ThaetusZain]

I don't think it's just nostalgia that effects the perception of the story. I think it's because the story itself is episodic and the plot is less emphasized. It's more concerned with moments. Exdeath's motivations don't need to make sense anymore than Yog Sothtoth's because they aren't human. They are a tree given sapience. Human motivations don't often make any logical sense yet are relatable enough we can make sense of it from a psychological standpoint. But Exdeath is a tree

[@AltercateTV]

That’s an interesting point, I guess we can’t expect to understand the motivations of trees LOL. Regarding the story, do you really feel the story is more episodic than FF4’s? Aside from the missing character arcs, I’d say FF5’s story follows a very clear plot arc, beginning with Exdeath’s efforts to break free from his prison (which causes the destruction of the Crystals), and the rest of the game follows this plot line of first attempting to prevent his escape, then, failing that, stop him from obtaining the power of the Void, and failing that, destroy him. In that regard I think it’s a fairly tightly told story!

[@ThaetusZain]

@@AltercateTV yeah you're right. I guess what I remember seeing is little character interactions stood out more than the big plot pieces. Outside of maybe, the last battle. There's some big scenes in ff6 I remember but playing the pr game I had actually forgotten a lot of the little scenes. In ff5 I distinctly remember the character's chemistry. But I remember the dungeons themselves better than the stuff that happened in them. If that makes any sense. There's exceptions. Galuf's badass last stand for example. Ehhh I dunno, they're equal in different ways

[@billmartovich9009]

The fact that the characters are such blank slates really hurt the overall impact of the story. No, I'm not saying characters should be defined by their class, but that's unfortunately an easy shortcut that FF6 leaned on really hard. I feel the game never got me to care about the characters to the point that when good things happened I wasn't excited and when tragedy struck I was indifferent because I didn't really have anything that made me appreciate the character who was hurting. The combat was much more refined than either FF3 OR FF4, the fact that the characters were so generic in FF5 made it feel more like an improved version of the previous games rather than something completely new. The graphics though somewhat better than previously shown, are miles behind FF6 and the lone generic "surprised" sprite doesn't look very good and falls short of getting enough of the humanistic reactions than FF6 or Chrono Trigger's more variations on the characters. And I understand that comparison to be unfair, but I wasn't able to play this game until AFTER later releases were available. Everything that this game might have done that Japan fans would have seen for the first time ever, I had already seen different games improve on them. If Square remade this game, and completely rebuilt the cinematic moments from the ground up, like they did with the original game, for example, I think this could foster the feelings of identity between the player and the characters that would make the events of the game more impactful instead of just a way to get from the woods to the desert to the ocean to the end.

[@AltercateTV]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts! Yes, I think what I'm missing the most in this game's story is more opportunities for characterization. Without the crutch of class identity to lean on, the characters end up feeling very indistinct. There are some attempts at characterization, but it doesn't come across very strongly. With a few exceptions (the Faris reveal scene in the ship graveyard, the banquet scene at Castle Tycoon after you defeat Exdeath in the second world), you could basically swap the characters' lines in any given scene, and the player probably wouldn't even notice. That said, I still think the game's story is better (for its time) than people give it credit for. But from a modern perspective, it does have some serious flaws. :)

[@mobstacks9693]

❤

[@critterwyatt]

6 9 4 5 10 1 7 3 2 8. 1 and 10 I could swap just because of the importance of 1, it's also where I started. None after 10 even count. 11 and 14 are travesties of the series. Mystic Quest deserves a number more than those two. The others are so linear they could be on rail shooters.

[@ManyAGiggle]

Engagement

[@the-NightStar]

Eh, I respect this game for taking a chance to be a bit more wacky, goofy and comedic game in the series that feels more like a Shonen Jump comic than an entry in the FF series, and while I appreciate it's more light hearted and comedic tone, I also think it is a pretty weak game overall, especially in a game sense. I still think it's far from being one of the better or more impactful games in the series, but at least it's not nearly as bad as anything in Final Fantasy's PS2 dark ages and beyond.