We have waited long enough. It was worth it. Like FF4A and/or FF5 SNES version? Then this game will surely interest you.
Please note that this is a remake, and I point out how it should be rated as a remake.
While reading last year a few weeks before Christmas (which I was getting ff4 advance on Christmas :D) about Final Fantasy 4 screenshots scanned from japanese magazine, I was excited by the very first proof that FF5A would come out. Final Fantasy 5 was always my favorite SNES FF, namely because of the job system; the possibilities are _ENDLESS_; from making a jumping Black Mage, kicka** Samurai little girls or annoying Ninja-Mimes, Final Fantasy V isn't the kind of game that will affect much character statistics by using specific classes overtime. You have the absolute freedom. Back to my intro: so, yeah, I had bought FF Anthology eariler. FF5 on that lacked very, very much the non-BETA touch, it was laggy, loaded so frickin' much and I had constantly this feel that I wasn't playing a complete game. Regardless, I still saw it as a good game. When I learned that FF5 was coming out the 7th November, (yesterday of the day I review), I knew I would die during the middle of the night because of the waiting. At the 6th November, I thought the store had it already, but they said that they didn't know when it would come out; and I held a grudge against that store, until I got it. Let me explain. So, my parents had to go to a meeting the next day, and I asked them (since I am restricted to be rather young) to buy it for me, and gave them some money to do so. 6:51 P.M., the phone's ringing changed my mood for the evening. I had done every chore I would normaly complain so much that Chuck Norris wouldn't even be able to hear it, and after even doing them, my mood remained unchanged, just to prove the excitation ;). 9:12, my parent had arrived. I ran to them, and I "knew" they would once again get the wrong game (FF4 Advance were my thoughts), but looking through the shopping bag, FF4A's boxart was brown; not white. I took it, thanked them, and locked up myself in my room 'til I had to go to bed (I was all ready for that, increasing the amount of time that I could play :D). I couldn't beleive it. It was the first copy sold in my town. To me. Woah! I carefully inserted it into my DS lite. I had severe trouble sleeping, but I eventually ran out of energy. ~Gameplay~
The first thing that comes to my mind when hearing the word "five" is the job system. Any clue? No? Well, go back to kindergarten. What makes this game tough is the job system; probably the game with the most customizable party members; but what I liked the most when being new to that system, it's that you didn't have to use the complexity; you could just choose a job, and hold onto it. Eventually, you would learn to use the abilities. Both the job and ability selection are crucial for saving the world. I have not seen the new jobs yet, but they sound nice already. On the speedy side; this isn't the FFV you remember to constantly load and would be extremely laggy, buggy, ect. at times. This is about fixed up: when I played, I wouldn't see significant delays, the order which I placed my commands were more accurate and when an ability was used, the animation goes fast. Did I mention enemy deaths? In the old days, when you killed an enemy, the game went slower, we can all tell, by when casting Haste, slow, or any spell that does that "aura" thing, the flashing red lines around your party members would go slower. This is something I loved; kill, bam, kill, bam. No more kill... bam, kill... bam. With all these speed-ups, battles go far faster than previously seen. While holding a PS controller (I never really liked Sony, Nintendo is the best and will always be for most games), you would wait 6 seconds for the battle to start. About 1 second of each enemy defeated, then the victory was about 4 seconds, with items, around 7-10. 6+1 to 5+7 to 10 = 14 to 22 seconds, in total. This substracted a large part of gameplay on Anthology. 22 Seconds of plain waiting for some battles. I could finish FF4 2-3 times in that period. FF5 Advance's battles go to a much faster rythm, but not too fast. This would remove my thoughts "Oh, f**k, I have to fight more battles.". Loading is over. Playing is the priority. Whatever has become of the display of enemy status effects? Any sign to know whatever animation Sleep does? Some minor issues. FF5 no longer seems buggy. The difficulty, however, remains intact. Once again, I had problems in some early parts of the game (namely Garula), which forced me to use my 4 and only Phoenix Downs. Ok, easy games show lesser meaning. But, when a game is too hard, it's just boring. FF5 is close to that, very hard, but not impossible. You'll effectively find some minor adjustments that gives this game a better look. Also notice that this game has 4 saving slots, 1 more than previous FF4A, preserving the more-than-usefull Quicksave feature. Oh, and when the ATB display is off, it displays both maximum HP and MP. ~Graphics~
I just found out that each criteria here doesn't affect the score equally! Enough with discoveries, graphics time. What can I say? The graphics did look "good" in the SNES/PS version, but this time, they're prettier. For my expectations, the graphics for the GBA on this game meet's its fate: A. As I said above, there is smaller lag usualy caused to the lack of graphic handling or watsoever, I'm not a pro *yet* on computers. Anyway, the game looks more alive... I never really went deep into graphics, but I still state some opinions ;D. Along with the small cutscene before the titlescreen, the graphics have a feel of life. This includes the newly added portraits; I feared the worst: Bartz having white hair, it bugged me forever. When seeing Lenna's, ok, it's fine. Faris' looked good! I liked the way her face was XD. Galuf's simply makes me laugh; the looks of his eyes... *smiles in a way which is about to laugh* Ok, so I saw Bartz's sprite. Then, when I first saw his portrait. Yes. Yes, YESSSSS! He actually had brown hair, and really seemed like Bartz instead of an emo (y'know, like in the videos in Anthology) and had a cool look. Still, some complexity was missing, but not too major for a significance, such as moving platforms in the fire ship, occasional lag (e.g.: summons). ~Sound~
The sound is something that worried me much too. The music in FF5 on Anthology was also a factor that kept my feelings for that game lit. When first hearing the sound of the introduction cutscene before the titlescreen, I was put to a relief. On FF4A, the music had gotten a step down, from my opinions. FF5A's soundtracks are fresh, and still awesome. It's about impossible to hate this game's music compared to other GBA games. Plus, the sound effects were reworked, too. Fists now sounded more like fists instead of about the sound of a knife ripping through carton, and weapons seem pretty well. Remember those sound issues in Anthology? I perfectly hear the sounds all the time now!
After all...
The goods: Reworked job system, less laggy, plenty of challenges, many sidequests, improved soundtracks & sound effects and some stuff added... enough spoilers!
The bads: Very pissing situations (such as L5 Death cast on your all-lvl-15 party), some bosses are simply too hard, some status effects not shown and a storyline that forgets it's main heroes a little.
I strongly recommend anyone who thirsts for an RPG on the Nintendo DS/GBA, who liked FF1, 2 & 4 on GBA or just love FF5. Purists may not love this game because of the slight changes.