Final Fantasy V Advance

 Game Boy Advance
User Score
8.2

Generally favorable reviews- based on 90 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 72 out of 90
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 90
  3. Negative: 3 out of 90
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  1. Sammechu
    Aug 2, 2013
    10
    The job system for Final Fantasy V is comparably perfect to that of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. This is one of those games that I could just play for hours and hours and never get sick of it. The story alone takes up a very large chunk of time, say nothing about hunting down the side-quest bosses. I love this game to pieces.
  2. BasilZero
    Apr 10, 2015
    9
    Game: Final Fantasy V Advance
    Genre: RPG
    Developer: Squareenix System: Gameboy Advance (GBA) Total Score: 88/100 Value Score: 88/10 • Story: 10/10 • Characters: 9/10 • GamePlay: 9/10 • Graphics: 8/10 • Sound: 7/10 • Music: 10/10 • Length: 8/10 • Replay Value: 7/10 • Player Value: 10/10 Pros +Improved graphical visuals +Four new jobs +Game was re-translated +A    Game: Final Fantasy V Advance
    Genre: RPG
    Developer: Squareenix
    System: Gameboy Advance (GBA)
    Total Score: 88/100
    Value Score: 88/10

    • Story: 10/10
    • Characters: 9/10
    • GamePlay: 9/10
    • Graphics: 8/10
    • Sound: 7/10
    • Music: 10/10
    • Length: 8/10
    • Replay Value: 7/10
    • Player Value: 10/10

    Pros
    +Improved graphical visuals
    +Four new jobs
    +Game was re-translated
    +A bestiary has been added
    +Quick save function
    +Music player which allows you to listen to the whole OST
    +A New 30 floor dungeon has been added filled with new weapons and enemies/bosses
    +Improvement over the porting unlike the GBA version - does not have the bugs or slow downs.

    Cons
    -Grinding is still a major issue to the game despite being improved
    -Some enemies have fake targets which were added by mistake
    -Due to the fact it is on the GBA - the sound quality is worse than the original and PSX versions
    -Post game content not as in depth as FFIV Advance    … Expand
  3. red16mage
    Dec 11, 2011
    9
    Final Fantasy V stands out from most in that you have the ability to completely customize, mix and match your characters' classes, or "jobs", similar to Final Fantasy III. You can have a Ninja, a Black Mage, a Knight, and a White Mage in your party, or you could just go quadruple Ninja. The choice is really yours. With every job, you also have the option to add an "ability" from anotherFinal Fantasy V stands out from most in that you have the ability to completely customize, mix and match your characters' classes, or "jobs", similar to Final Fantasy III. You can have a Ninja, a Black Mage, a Knight, and a White Mage in your party, or you could just go quadruple Ninja. The choice is really yours. With every job, you also have the option to add an "ability" from another class. For example, if you unlock the White Magic ability from leveling up your White Mage, then you can use that ability with, say, a Samurai. So you now have a Samurai that can also cast White Magic. This creates a huge diversity to combat, with tons of different job/ability combinations, so you can really make your party unique. The combat is the highlight of the game, in my opinion.

    The story itself is a little cliché, but it's entertaining enough. One of my main gripes is that no major character development is really present, this is something that Final Fantasy IV handled so well. Overall, the story isn't bad by any means. The rest of the Final Fantasy series just rose the bar so high, this entry just can't quite reach it.

    The musical score is on par with the rest of the series, that is to say, it's fantastic. There are many memorable tracks. I never got sick of hearing the overworld theme, which is important, because you'll be spending a large amount of time there.

    If you consider yourself a Final Fantasy fan, or even just an RPG fan, I would highly recommend trying this one out. If you are looking for an epic story to immerse yourself in, then, while this game doesn't fail to deliver, there are other Final Fantasies that excel more in that area.

    9/10. Highly recommended.    … Expand
  4. XV_
    Feb 14, 2021
    9
    [PSN version]
    The core of Final Fantasy V is its job system that has evolved in some way from the job system on FF III. You start as a Bare or Freelance class and each time you make significant progress within the story, you'll be awarded a new set of jobs to choose from. The beauty of this job system, however, is its skill mixing potential, once a character level up a job it will be    [PSN version]
    The core of Final Fantasy V is its job system that has evolved in some way from the job system on FF III. You start as a Bare or Freelance class and each time you make significant progress within the story, you'll be awarded a new set of jobs to choose from. The beauty of this job system, however, is its skill mixing potential, once a character level up a job it will be awarded a new skill of that particular class, and now will be available to equip it with another job, so you can have healing Ninjas and summoning Thieves if you want to. Trying to make the most efficient killing machines within my party was a lot of fun, it reminded me a lot of my time with the Final Fantasy Tactics games, and is easy to see where they took their inspiration from.

    On the other hand, you also level up your character's base levels that in turn increase their base stats. These two separate systems have their own points and depending on the enemy you'll get a certain amount of each one, they are more or less balanced and to beat this game you don't need to do much grinding or any grinding at all.

    Aside from the normal battles, the more interesting ones might be the boss ones. For the first half of the game, these boss battles are pretty basic, where you need to take care of them and not die, but after you hit a certain point, the battles start to get trickier and challenging.

    Storywise, it has the classic approach of good versus evil. Final Fantasy IV presented a great story filled with nice twists and amazing characters, but because of the larger pool of characters, sometimes felt a little sidetracked. Final Fantasy V doesn't delve into the darker themes of the past game, neither have a complex story of politics and conquest, it is more a mix of the things that worked in the past games, and lands into a safe middle ground: not as simple as the first game but not as dense as the fourth.

    The drawback for the story is that the dialogue is way too simple, normally for games of that era, I don't mind that much their localization, but as the story unfolded and things get more personal and the stakes higher, I have this feeling that maybe the oversimplified dialogue replaced a better written and more beautiful script, I could be wrong as I haven't researched this topic but one can only wonder if the original script was this lighthearted and silly.

    What the game do great in terms of merging story with gameplay, however, is its rhythm and progression, Final Fantasy IV took some cues from FF II in this regard and make an incredible experience, yet, FF V might surpass it by some levels. Sometimes you'll be doing a dungeon, while the next destination could be just a town and an event, or in the next end, it will be a boss rush through many enemies. It never felt repetitive and I was always expectantly to see what will be next, throw side questing into the equation and you'll get a memorable adventure, my favorite aspect of the side-quests were the summon bosses that you almost casually met in the wild.

    Visually it looks quite similar if not the same as the SNES version or at least to an uneducated eye as mine that's what I get when watching videos to compare them. That aside, V has my favorite designs and sprites from the series to this point, enemy sprites are quite detailed and they look gorgeous, it always gets me how little things like eyes are abstracted to the point of being a couple of pixels and they also go the extra mile to convey emotion, it is mind-bending.

    Musicwise overall the soundtrack has aged pretty well and is solid, but there are some songs that stand-out above the rest, I'm not the only one to think of this as some of them are used in official arrangement and orchestral albums, I liked a few of them before playing this game, but I discover and fall in love with other ones too. Comparing sound to the original SNES version, the bass sounds a little deeper and other sounds may be different, but the transition is not as jarring, so overall I think that it sounds pretty good.

    I surely didn't know what to expect of Final Fantasy V, but after the great game IV turned out to be, my expectations were a little low as V is not that quoted on the medium, I imagine this must be because this game didn't see Occidental lands after many years have passed since its release, still, I was rewarded with a great experience. Some localization desitions may not aged that good or the challenge may be somewhat dull for some portions of the game, but it is impossible to ignore the charm and heart the developers put into the core of the game, being the story, the mechanics, or little details easy to overlook. Its greatness doesn't come with a darker story but with the freedom of its systems that lets you bend its rules as the very idea of fantasy does.    … Expand
  5. Jouna92
    Dec 25, 2013
    7
    Entertaining and surprisingly deep role-playing game but it doesn't have such a great story. Simple class-changing system and its ATB mechanics are easy to pick up and play. Typical RPG nothing special on it.
  6. DaveW.
    Aug 25, 2007
    8
    FFV is a strange FF. It somehow feels simpler than those games that immediately surround it, yet it is somehow superior. It feels much more solid than either IV or VI. The gameplay is solid, perhaps the most solid RPG gameplay I have experienced. The story is not the most original nor epic, but is too is solid. I think it's the solidity of this entry in the series that raises it FFV is a strange FF. It somehow feels simpler than those games that immediately surround it, yet it is somehow superior. It feels much more solid than either IV or VI. The gameplay is solid, perhaps the most solid RPG gameplay I have experienced. The story is not the most original nor epic, but is too is solid. I think it's the solidity of this entry in the series that raises it above the other FF titles originally released on the Super Famicom.… Expand
  7. HopelessVoice
    Feb 1, 2015
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. In terms of character customization, FFV is the best FF.

    Why no other FF entry has tried to implement a similar character job system is beyond me. The strenght of FFV lies in its replay value; I've spent countless hours figuring all sorts of combination by mixing different Job classes and while the end game makes it all pointless (as every character is maxed out anyway) the value lies in replayability. Up for challenge runs? FFV delivers those in spades. As the player is able to choose from so many Job classes, the player can choose to go full-out Berserker mayhem if he chooses to, unable to control any of the characters, like rolling the dice and hoping that they'll deal enough damage to win the battle. Four Black Mage spellcaster run? You got it. Only fist weapon monk run? Sure, they're one of the best jobs in the game. The Job system is so fantastic that it is really a downer that the game lacks in other areas; the fights can sometime be a little bit on the tedious side and the towns and plot are a bit repetitive. This doesn't mean it's not enjoyable; FFV5 is difficult, complex and extremly engaging at its best.    … Expand
  8. likevin96
    Oct 23, 2017
    8
    Completion: Finished game with all summons and ultimate weapons. Did not attempt post-game content.

    Pros: - First FF battle system (chronologically) I have truly found to be fun. The fast-paced nature of the ATB combined with the strategic depth and variety of the job system allows for both strategic and tactical thinking. The abilities of the jobs facilitates an incredible amount    Completion: Finished game with all summons and ultimate weapons. Did not attempt post-game content.

    Pros:
    - First FF battle system (chronologically) I have truly found to be fun. The fast-paced nature of the ATB combined with the strategic depth and variety of the job system allows for both strategic and tactical thinking. The abilities of the jobs facilitates an incredible amount of variety and makes experimentation a blast.
    - A few memorable side characters, namely Gilgamesh and Ghido.
    - Best soundtrack out of all the FF games up to that point.
    - Expressive and lively characters that are a welcome change from the overly-serious and melodramatic games that were FF 1-4.

    Cons:
    - Story once again misses the mark and is decidedly of lower quality than its predecessor. Although the core cast technically does have personality, without portraits and name plates, I would likely be unable to differentiate them. Everyone is extremely generic in terms of personality and I felt no attachment to any of the characters. The dialogue has a bit more charm to it, but overall also feels rather subpar.
    - Dreadfully slow animations. ATB bar chugs along and does not appear smooth at all. Although these are likely limitations of the hardware, the impact is felt intensely playing the game in 2017.
    - Pacing falls behind at times, especially in the third act. While nonlinearity can be a good thing, the extreme openness serves primarily to stymie a sense of progression. This is exacerbated by the lack of new jobs in this act.
    - Some classes are completely overpowered and very much break the endgame.

    Final Word:
    Although the story and cast once again fail to impress, the brilliance of the job system and another incredible score by Nobuo Uematsu manage to firmly secure Final Fantasy V as the second best of the 2D Final Fantasy mainline titles.

    True Score: 8.2    … Expand
  9. Rudolf_IX
    Mar 10, 2018
    8
    Final Fantasy V is the most fun of the series' SNES iterations. It might not have the campy emotional melodrama of FF4 or the all-round aesthetic beauty of FF6, but what it lacks in presentation it makes up for with the best game-play of any mainline Final Fantasy game to this day. The job system isn't overly complicated, but it enables building very diverse characters with many classesFinal Fantasy V is the most fun of the series' SNES iterations. It might not have the campy emotional melodrama of FF4 or the all-round aesthetic beauty of FF6, but what it lacks in presentation it makes up for with the best game-play of any mainline Final Fantasy game to this day. The job system isn't overly complicated, but it enables building very diverse characters with many classes for you to level up, which is genuinely fun. I have spent hours grinding, not bored but happy to see my characters gain and perfect new abilities and jobs, of which there are many more in this remake. The GBA's lackluster sound abilities surprisingly do very little to the beautiful score (unlike FF6 Advance's), which is regularly overshadowed by FF4's despite being, from an in-game perspective at least, much more effective. The SNES version might sound better and have a higher resolution, but this is arguably the better version, portable and with interesting bonus content, and certainly the best released in the west. Make sure you get this one and not the atrocious Steam/iOS/Android or PSX versions.… Expand
  10. Antares_A
    Oct 31, 2018
    7
    Story is meh comparing to most of the other ffs but it has 10/10 gameplay.
    You can unlock jobs customize your team greatly and offers good challenge that sometimes you have to grind in order to kill the specific boss.
    It also has one of the best endgame contents.
  11. sebastianali
    Sep 25, 2021
    5
    Despite being possible the best version of the game by far, is still not very good in its core gameplay. Like FF3, FF5 makes a highly emphasis on jobs. This jobs, despite giving you some of the most diverse customization on the franchise and removing one of the most annoying things in FF3 (having to win a lot of random combats when you change a job), it also breaks the game completely withDespite being possible the best version of the game by far, is still not very good in its core gameplay. Like FF3, FF5 makes a highly emphasis on jobs. This jobs, despite giving you some of the most diverse customization on the franchise and removing one of the most annoying things in FF3 (having to win a lot of random combats when you change a job), it also breaks the game completely with the only skills that matters being zeninage, rapi fire, dualcast and spellblade. Also this also means.... GRINDING! Oh my god, i just hate grinding in RPGs... Is even worse than FF3 grinding. Some enemies overall gives like 1000 exp points while leveling up requires like 40000, so you would expend like half hour or more trying to level up a single character only to win like 100 hp or more, because yes, contrary to other games like FF1, 2 or 3, (especially the former), the stats and resistance for status effects doesnt increase, making leveling up useless, having to level up like 10 times to at least resist 2 more attacks from stronger enemies. And while equipment is very interesting for its exclusive perks and is very useful overall, is very rare and cost lots of gil. You have to also grind a lot for money. This is basically the grindiest game i have ever played, not even FF3 or 8, or other RPGs (except idle games of course) makes me remember that i have to grind so much. The difficult curve isnt also very good balanced, with bosses that spams broken attacks that requires an specific strategy that basically requires trial and error to know it, or also the constant encounter rate with powerful enemies. Is just so boring...
    FFV is one of my least favorite FF, and is a shame, because the gameplay in its highest point was probably the best in the franchise, the soundtrack was amazing, graphically is so ahead of its time and it has a lot of exploration! But isnt very well polished and is so grindy that it becomes so tedious to complete. The story wasnt also very good. Isnt the worst story in the franchise by any means, but it was much inferior to 2 and 4, and it doesnt encourage me to complete the game.
    This GBA port also has some FPS drops at times, especially in the final battle, but if the game was actually fun, then i wouldnt take into account that too much.    … Expand
  12. shootingstars99
    Aug 13, 2019
    8
    A nice port of my favorite Final Fantasy game. The story doesn't try do be deep or angsty like later entries to the Final Fantasy and is pretty standard JRPG fare, in which like I have said before, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. The job system and amount of customization that comes from it is great, and is probably the deepest of the old school FF games. Even if you are like me andA nice port of my favorite Final Fantasy game. The story doesn't try do be deep or angsty like later entries to the Final Fantasy and is pretty standard JRPG fare, in which like I have said before, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. The job system and amount of customization that comes from it is great, and is probably the deepest of the old school FF games. Even if you are like me and dislike the Final Fantasy series as a whole, this is still a solid RPG.… Expand
  13. bullshark
    Feb 24, 2022
    10
    This game was an absolute groundbreaker for 1992 w/ gameplay that not only was amazing then, but holds up to the point that games like Bravely Default 2 & many others still draw inspiration from it. But this game also has a stellar soundtrack, a rewarding challenge level that demands exploration, & great visuals. It's better than all the FF's that came afterward, including, yes, FF7. AThis game was an absolute groundbreaker for 1992 w/ gameplay that not only was amazing then, but holds up to the point that games like Bravely Default 2 & many others still draw inspiration from it. But this game also has a stellar soundtrack, a rewarding challenge level that demands exploration, & great visuals. It's better than all the FF's that came afterward, including, yes, FF7. A must play, tho SNES version is the best. Play that one how you will.… Expand
  14. AtomoDelFinal
    Apr 8, 2020
    8
    Except the story, I'd say everything about this game is great. FFV's story is generic and overused, (it's basically the same as the ones from the previous games). Apart from this, the music's awesome, the combat mechanics are simple but effective and the job's system makes the game more replayable, as there are than 20 jobs to choose from.
  15. hector_bcn98
    Oct 31, 2022
    9
    Un Final Fantasy único, con gran protagonista y antagonista. El sistema de trabajos permite infiinitas posibilidades. Alta dificultad, necesidad de farmeo.
  16. Dom007
    Mar 28, 2021
    10
    It's a very good game, even if it's my least favourite FF game from 4-10. The Job system is great, story is good, characters are good and the music is amazing (particularly the battle themes).
  17. grilledcheeze
    Jul 12, 2021
    9
    Final Fantasy V is one of the most underrated titles in the franchise. You can debate on whether this, XII, VIII, or X-2 would be the most underappreciated game of all. But to be honest, Final Fantasy V has entered my top favorite FF games and for good reasons. One, is the Job System. I cannot stress enough how amazing this system was. I know this was already implemented in Final FantasyFinal Fantasy V is one of the most underrated titles in the franchise. You can debate on whether this, XII, VIII, or X-2 would be the most underappreciated game of all. But to be honest, Final Fantasy V has entered my top favorite FF games and for good reasons. One, is the Job System. I cannot stress enough how amazing this system was. I know this was already implemented in Final Fantasy III, (which I haven't played, so pardon me) but I would guess that V probably changed or added some things and made the system a lot better. What's so cool about the Job System is because it makes the player utilize creativity and become versatile with using different types of classes in order to approach different kinds of situations. This sold me right out the gate when the game first introduced me to this. Another thing is that it improved upon IV's characters. Not to say that IV had bad characters, it definitely has good ones, but the sheer amount of companions that accompany you in that game is insane. You can't feel emotionally invested to so many characters that literally just comes and goes every minute within 28 hours of playtime only. But in V, it has a lot less companions, and focuses on 5 characters throughout the game. It also has a lot longer play time than its predecessor with over 35 hours minimum, so that also contributes as to why the characters feel a lot more fleshed out and a lot less rushed with their arcs. The main cast are funny at times, and they show a lot of personality. Bartz is a really good protagonist. He goes under the radar for some but his character arc and development was nice. He went from a normal dude that had nothing to do with saving the world, to a guy who literally saved the world. I love this dude. Lenna is another good character. She has this damsel in distress vibe at first, but as the plot moved along, I saw that she's very courageous and strong, adamant about saving the world, the kingdom of Tycoon and its people. Speaking of strong, Faris is one hell of a lady. I love her to bits, just for the sole reason of loving women that could kick my ass. Galuf is very much the typical old man, mentor type but his personality makes up for it. He bonds well together with the other three, despite him being the most mature. He deeply cares for his grand-daughter, Krile, which showed of his thoughtfulness. Krile does the same to his grandpa. The third reason is the story. The story isn't groundbreaking or anything, but a good and enjoyable story nonetheless. It's a cliché nowadays, but if I had played it back in the 90's I would've been a lot more into it. But the story isn't just what grasped me, it's the driving force, the gravity that pulls the heroes down back on the ground, the villain. Exdeath is a master class of a villain; he's charismatic, cartoonish (my guilty pleasure), has motives that's the typical archetype for most villains which despite being common, I still enjoy and etc. He's the best villain out of all the FF games I've played. I will come around and play VI & VII soon which are the games that has arguably the best villains according to a lot of FF fans, but for now, Exdeath holds the title. There's a ton of world-building and lore-expanding info in FFV that fleshes out the setting. It's a lot of information, so it's gonna take a while to fully comprehend as to why everything came to be. The combat is similar to IV, so there's really nothing to say other than it still being a good combat system. All in all, FFV is a fantastic game. I'd probably replay this a lot sooner because of that Job System. I cannot shut up about it. 9/10, I'd love to fly on a windrake again.… Expand
  18. GerardoC
    Sep 3, 2023
    10
    Una de las joyas incomprendidas de la saga aunque en historia flaquea un poco lo compensa con su sistema de combate que combinado a su amplia variedad de profesiones da una infinidad de posibilidades y agregado a eso la gran cantidad de jefes varios de ellos icónicos dan una experiencia un poco diferente a lo acostumbrado.
  19. Yojimbo2015
    May 5, 2023
    9
    A conversion of the classic Super Nintendo RPG, some may find it a little old fashioned but I personally prefer the old 16 bit RPGs to the over-elaborate, over-complicated modern variety. A nice piece of old school interactive storytelling that's perfect for whiling away a long journey.
  20. LastResource
    Jan 14, 2023
    10
    worth it and glad to play this game again. so much memories and nostalgia within this fifth game in the series.
  21. fuor22
    May 31, 2023
    10
    I have so much fun every time I play this game. Everything about it, from the story to the gameplay, is just amazing. I enjoyed every moment while playing this game

Awards & Rankings

1
#1 Best Game Boy Advance Game of 2006
2
#2 Most Discussed Game Boy Advance Game of 2006
4
#4 Most Shared Game Boy Advance Game of 2006

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
83

Generally favorable reviews - based on 25 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 21 out of 25
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 25
  3. Negative: 0 out of 25
  1. AceGamez
    90
    A mandatory purchase for any RPG lover or video game connoisseur.
  2. Games Radar
    80
    Learning and mastering new jobs while mixing and matching new abilities is such a deep and entertaining experience that the narrative becomes secondary. You can easily spend dozens and dozens of hours leveling up jobs and experimenting with them.
    Read full review
  3. Eurogamer
    80
    This is more than just a museum piece for today's JRPG fan. The speed of the gameplay is in stark contrast to today's lumbering epics, something that suits and shines on the GBA.
    Read full review
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