Final Fantasy V: A 30th Anniversary Retrospective Gaming Documentary

Final Fantasy V was a great game that differs from the other 16-Bit Final Fantasy games that surround it, both in style and the journey that the game took. (Chapter markers and more below…)

Episode information
GTV 142 “Final Fantasy V 30th Anniversary" Season 7 Episode 20
Original Airdate: December 9, 2022
Produced November 16-December 9, 2022
Recorded at Butsudan Studios and edited on my 14” MacBook M1 Pro! Edited and produced with Adobe Photoshop, Final Cut Pro and Topaz Video AI, all while riding the train to work and home, back and forth, day after day. Oh, and lunch breaks too!


0:00 Bartz Cares!
0:10 GTV ID: Ride the Wind!
0:17 Introduction: A Presentiment
1:00 Act 1: Ahead on Our Way
10:20 CM 1: Final Fantasy V is Coming! (Japan, 1992)
10:37 Act 2: Four Valiant Hearts
19:35 CM 2: Final Fantasy V is Here! (Japan, 1992)
19:52 Act 3: Fate in Haze
29:23 CM 3: Final Fantasy V Advance (Japan, 2006)
29:41 Act 4: Dear Friends

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Partial transcript

Final Fantasy V is an unusual game, for many reasons. A game of many quirks that only a special kind of RPG fan can truly appreciate. Perhaps it was destined to be so, as Final Fantasy V began life in a unorthodox way. The game began development before final Fantasy IV and was even advertised before the game it was intended to follow! Perhaps behind the scenes, many of the characters, and scenarios exist in some sort of ether, that later gets arranged and properly numbered. Maybe it’s better that stays a mystery. However, it is a fact that Final Fantasy V was first advertised not long after the release Final Fantasy III. A print ad appeared in the pages of Japanese game magazines in November 1990. “Super Final Fantasy” as it was known, told everyone that this would be SquareSoft’s first entry for the Super Famicom. Set for Summer, 1991. No tangible information was given, leaving the reader’s imagination to dream of what a 16-bit Final Fantasy might be.

Final Fantasy IV, was originally scheduled for the 8-Bit Family Computer, with Famicom Tsuushin Magazine, explaining a scenario of what this game might be, based on the scant information teased at the time. It has never been made clear how far this game made it through the development process, but sometime afterward the game was promoted to the Super Famicom, becoming the classic we all know and love, debuting in July 1991.

The core of the Final Fantasy Series had always been the led by Hironobu Sakaguchi, creator of the series, and director or producer for all of the early games. Yoshitaka Amano, created the designs of characters and monsters. Nobuo Uematsu composed the score for each game. Within each installment, other key staff would vary. For Final Fantasy V, Yoshinori Kitase joined Sakaguchi in writing the scenarios of the game. Kazuko Shibuya created the sprites and graphical elements. Tetsuya Nomura designed the monsters and enemies based on Amano’s artwork.

In the early days of the Final Fantasy series, the number system carried a special meaning. Odd numbers were intended to be games that focused on character customization. Even numbers were meant to be story driven. Looking back at the first six games, its easy to see that I, III and V follow a similar formula, where each playable character can have his or her attributes selected and modified to different extents, all based on what the player decides. Final Fantasy II, IV and VI feature characters that get stronger over time, but have almost no qualities that can be altered. Over time this setup has faded away, but must be remembered when invested in a critique of the early days of the series.

All artwork done by the great Yoshitaka Amano!

Gameplay footage provided by The FF TV Channel.