Not only is this the first blog post I’ve made in I-dunno-how-long, but it’s the follow-up to a post I made waaayyyy back in…*checks notes* July 2017?!

According to that writeup from over NINE YEARS ago (geez!), I had started to play Final Fantasy V (the Super Famicom fan-translated version) after many years of hearing about it. It was a big one to cross off my backlog, and I was excited to finally tackle it!

Well, I made it several hours into the game and enjoyed it, but if I recall, I got kinda lost and/or stuck (the game is not great about giving specific directions) and ended up dropping it. Not because it was bad, I just kinda drifted away, like ya do sometimes.

Then in July 2021 came the Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters: remakes of the first six beloved FF games with redrawn 16-bit style graphics in a 16:9 aspect ratio, arranged music, fresh translations, and some really great QOL improvements. Appealing!! I was interested, but at $75 for the full package and a very limited physical release, I didn’t bite. However, as the titles were available individually (at $18 a pop), I did add FFV to my Switch wishlist…y’know, just in case.

When the titles on my wishlist periodically go on sale, I usually don’t mess around — I grab a deal or two. (I’m so happy to be a retro gamer, where I typically spend less than 20 bucks on the games I want, rather than $70 on new AAA titles.) So of course, when I came across a sale on the FFPRs for about 10 bucks each, I snapped up FFV.

And there it sat, unplayed, on my Switch for I’m-not-sure-how-long. At least a year, I think — I dunno, time is a blur these days.

Until a couple weeks ago, when that random spark in my gamer heart that says “hey, you should play something from the backlog!” popped up, and I instantly fired up FFV Pixel Remaster. I’m back, baby!!

Let’s gooooooo

In my older age these days, I’m not trying to prove anything anymore, so I have zero shame about consulting walkthroughs and strategy guides, especially for an RPG. And with FFV making the player experiment and master its systems, coupled with its aforementioned obtuse narrative, I made full use of those resources when necessary.

This time, I finally got into the game, played with the job system to customize my characters throughout their quest (and even figured out how to cheese a couple tough battles with it), and thoroughly enjoyed the roughly 37 hours I spent with it until I beat Exdeath (which I managed on my second or third attempt) and cleared the game with all four of my party members alive and in good shape.

Take that, sucka!!

In my ignorance, it wasn’t until I was about 30 hours in that I discovered the Boost options in the menu: a feature of the Pixel Remasters that allows you to multiply gains from battle, such as XP, Gil, and in FFV’s case, AP (used to raise job levels), up to 4x. How did I miss that?? I could’ve been done by that point! As I said, I’m not trying to impress anyone these days, so why wouldn’t I save myself a lot of grinding time by qudrupling my points and money? (Conversely, you can also cut your gains in half to make it harder, if you’re kinky.)

To that point, though, I’m also aware that players over the years have mastered this game’s job system so well that they can actually finish the game at extremely low levels — I’m talking, like, level 1 or 2 or 3. I personally did not figure it out to that extreme, but I am in awe of those who have.

Of course, the other thing I really loved about the Pixel Remaster version is just the overall presentation. The 16-bit graphics, while accurate, also feature some more modern animations in some of the backgrounds and effects. The menus (which I changed to the “classic” pixel font to retain the vibe) are nice and spacious in this aspect ratio, and the map feature (both the mini-map HUD in the corner and the detailed map accessible via the press of a button) is very welcome. Finally, although you can also select the original soundtrack, I absolutely loved using the arranged music — paired with the 16-bit graphics, it made it feel just like a ’90s CD game, much like we all wished we had gotten to experience with the ill-fated SNES CD. And if you lived through that era, you know that 16-bit CD RPGs were the peak of gaming excellence, so I loved feeling that vibe from FFVPR.

In fact, I think the PR treatment has kind of ruined me for older RPGs. There are a few (such as Breath of Fire, Lufia, and Paladin’s Quest) that I’d love to check off, but I’m not sure I can go back to old-school grinding again. I’ve been spoiled. Maybe for life.

So there. After all this time, I’ve finally crossed Final Fantasy V off my list. And it was worth it! I’m still fascinated by the depth of its system, as many players are, but I don’t know that I’ll revisit it much more. After all, the Pixel Remasters are so cool, that I wouldn’t mind revisiting my favorites, FFIV and VI, in this format…

…what?