History YMMV / FinalFantasyV

** Compared to ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'', ''V'' [[https://shmuplations.com/ffv/ greatly expanded and improved various of its aspects]], it has 4x as many event scenes as ''IV'', has 3x as many spells and abilities as ''IV'' did and introduces many new job classes and styles of play while keeping most previous ones, has significantly more music tracks with many memorable ones, and improved on the ATB battle system that ''IV'' introduced by including the now standard battle bar.

* EvenBetterSequel: Maybe not to ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' (though ''V'' ''did'' improve on the ATB battle system that ''IV'' introduced, including the now standard battle bar), but ''V'' is regarded for taking everything ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII'' did right with the JobSystem and expanding upon it immensely. While ''III'' had the JobSystem it wasn't too well thought out, with jobs gotten later on often just being direct upgrades to previously gained jobs. ''V'', meanwhile, does much better at balancing the various jobs, giving each and everyone their own unique strengths and weaknesses, and rarely ever having jobs that are flat-out upgrades to previously gained ones. Even many of the jobs gained from the first crystal remain not only viable in the end game but can be rather potent in their own rights. The game's excellent JobSystem has aged like fine wine and remains its main strength nowadays, even when comparing it to its equivalents in following games.

** However, the later re-releases of ''Final Fantasy V,'' starting with the re-translated [[Platform/GameBoyAdvance]] port and going up to the most recent ''Pixel Remaster'' release, seem to have helped the game's reputation improve in America as more people were given a chance to play it and experience an improved translation that leans much more heavily into the game's light-hearted, irreverent, silly tone. The characters appearing in spin-offs and being referenced in games such as the wildly-popular ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' hasn't hurt, nor have the frequent cameo appearances of [[LargeHam Gilgamesh]] in various games (most recently, ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRebirth''), with ''Final Fantasy V'' being the one in which he debuted. The addition of quality-of-life improvements to the ''Pixel Remaster,'' such as the ability to modify experience, ability point, and gil gains has certainly helped alleviate issues with grinding, and the ability to toggle random encounters on and off hasn't hurt, either.

** However, the later re-releases of ''Final Fantasy V,'' starting with the re-translated GameBoyAdvance port and going up to the most recent ''Pixel Remaster'' release, seem to have helped the game's reputation improve in America as more people were given a chance to play it and experience an improved translation that leans much more heavily into the game's light-hearted, irreverent, silly tone. The characters appearing in spin-offs and being referenced in games such as the wildly-popular ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' hasn't hurt, nor have the frequent cameo appearances of [[LargeHam Gilgamesh]] in various games (most recently, ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRebirth''), with ''Final Fantasy V'' being the one in which he debuted. The addition of quality-of-life improvements to the ''Pixel Remaster,'' such as the ability to modify experience, ability point, and gil gains has certainly helped alleviate issues with grinding, and the ability to toggle random encounters on and off hasn't hurt, either.

** However, the later re-releases of ''Final Fantasy V,'' starting with the re-translated GameBoy Advance port and going up to the most recent ''Pixel Remaster'' release, seem to have helped the game's reputation improve in America as more people were given a chance to play it and experience an improved translation that leans much more heavily into the game's light-hearted, irreverent, silly tone. The characters appearing in spin-offs and being referenced in games such as the wildly-popular ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' hasn't hurt, nor have the frequent cameo appearances of [[LargeHam Gilgamesh]] in various games (most recently, ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRebirth''), with ''Final Fantasy V'' being the one in which he debuted. The addition of quality-of-life improvements to the ''Pixel Remaster,'' such as the ability to modify experience, ability point, and gil gains has certainly helped alleviate issues with grinding, and the ability to toggle random encounters on and off hasn't hurt, either.

** However, the later re-releases of ''Final Fantasy V,'' starting with the re-translated GameBoy Advance port and going up to the most recent ''Pixel Remaster'' release, seem to have helped the game's reputation improve in America as more people were given a chance to play it and experience an improved translation that leans much more heavily into the game's light-hearted, irreverent, silly tone. The characters appearing in spin-offs and being referenced in games such as the wildly-popular ''FinalFantasyXIV'' hasn't hurt, nor have the frequent cameo appearances of [[LargeHam Gilgamesh]] in various games (most recently, ''Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth''), with ''Final Fantasy V'' being the one in which he debuted. The addition of quality-of-life improvements to the ''Pixel Remaster,'' such as the ability to modify experience, ability point, and gil gains has certainly helped alleviate issues with grinding, and the ability to toggle random encounters on and off hasn't hurt, either.

* PolishedPort: The ''Advance'' version on the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance comes with new content (most notably 4 new jobs and a new dungeon), a couple quality-of-life features, and overhauled the shoddy translation present in the UsefulNotes/PlayStation ''Anthology'' version. It's widely considered the definitive version of the game bar some AntiFrustrationFeatures added on the ''Pixel Remaster''.

* SequelDifficultyDrop: Only in terms of acquiring spells, unlike ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV IV]]'', this game goes back to the tradition of buying spells from shops. Also, unlike the [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem NES]] games (and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''), you only need to buy a spell once, and then everyone in your party can use it. Thus, there's no reason not to buy spells given the opportunity, unless you're strapped for cash. However, Blue Magic is its own beast altogether that needs to be learned individually the hard way and it's even harder than prior games due to only being able to be learned by getting hit by very specific enemy attacks while using a specific job/ability.

* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: Although the character sprites and backgrounds for the mobile and Steam ports came in for a lot of criticism (as seen above), the ''monster'' sprites are a different story. Being freed from size limitations and 16-bit color meant the concept art could be fully illustrated (compare the [[https://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Enchanted_Fan_(Final_Fantasy_V) Enchanted Fan's]] new sprite with the old ones, for example). Of course, it also made players aware of some NightmareFuel that they had been blissfully unaware of thanks to the low level of detail....

** Neo-Exdeath has two nasty attacks, Almagest and Grand Cross. The former is essentially a nerfed version of Zeromus's "Big Bang" attack from the previous game, which still inflicts about 1500-2000 damage and leaves you with HP drain for a few turns. The latter inflicts a random status ailment on every party member... and considering that the status ailments can include death, petrification, and zombification, it's possible (albeit rare) for the attack to result in a TotalPartyKill.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Did Kelger really think that Galuf's new allies were servants of Exdeath? He openly states that he wants to fight Bartz even if they're not affiliated with Exdeath. He may have realized that a new generation of warriors was needed to settle things and was trying to test them.
* AmericansHateTingle:

** The Game Boy Advance release added a ''lot'' of pop culture references and generally gave the dialogue a more satirical slant. Coupled with the game's art style and that the story is more in the vein of "old school" RPG video games compared to how the genre has evolved in the new millennium, and ''Final Fantasy V'' became an AffectionateParody that isn't afraid to have fun with its concepts. This also makes the GBA port much more fun than the [=PlayStation=] version, which had a translation that was more accurate to the original Japanese (sometimes, when it didn't [[BlindIdiotTranslation get stuff wrong]]) but far more straightforward and less enjoyable.

* {{Fanon}}: In some circles, Exdeath is depicted as a reincarnation of Enuo due to sharing his goal to take control of the Void, not to mention both of them being ancient evils sealed away. Part of this may stem from the nature of Enuo's sealing being ambiguous in some releases, causing people to believe he was sealed in the Forest of Moore in the tree that eventually became Exdeath.

** Nobody really complained when the main character's name was quietly switched from Butz to Bartz for the U.S. localization. Not that people mind calling him Butz for some joking fun (see MemeticMutation)

** The Game Boy Advance release added a ''lot'' of pop culture references and generally gave the dialogue a more satirical slant. Coupled with the game's art style and that the story is more in the vein of "old school" RPG video games compared to how the genre has evolved in the new millennium, and ''Final Fantasy V'' became an AffectionateParody that isn't afraid to have fun with its concepts. This also makes the GBA port much more fun than the [=PlayStation=] version, which had a translation that was more accurate to the original Japanese but far more straightforward and less enjoyable.

* SoBadItsGood: The [=PS1=] translation can be this at times due to how unintentionally hilarious it can be due to its inaccuracies. After all, in which other [=RPG=] do you battle a Kraken named ''Soccer''? (For the records name it's meant to be translated as ''Sucker''). The Official ''Advance'' onwards translation and [=RPGe=] fan translation are infinitely better without a shadow of doubt though, having various (intended) hilarious moments and being faithful to the original Japanese with {{Woolseyism}} being the cherry on top.

%%* SequelDifficultyDrop: Unlike ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV IV]]'', this game goes back to the tradition of buying spells from shops. Also, unlike the [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem NES]] games (and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''), you only need to buy a spell once, and then everyone in your party can use it. Thus, there's no reason not to buy spells given the opportunity, unless you're strapped for cash. They were also nice enough to include ''Elixer'' drops in the very first dungeon.

** Gunch: Goblin Punch, a Blue Magic spell picked up as soon as you get Blue Mages after the Wind Shrine and used in speed runs ForMassiveDamage.

* EvenBetterSequel: Maybe not to ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' (though ''V'' ''did'' improve on the ATB battle system that ''IV'' introduced, including the now standard battle bar), but ''V'' is regarded for taking everything ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII'' did right with the JobSystem and expanding upon it immensely. While ''III'' had the JobSystem it wasn't too well thought out, with jobs gotten later on often just being direct upgrades to previously gained jobs. ''V'', meanwhile, does much better at balancing the various jobs, giving each and everyone their own unique strengths and weaknesses, and rarely ever having jobs that are flat-out upgrades to previously gained ones. Even many of the jobs gained from the first crystal remain not only viable in the end game but can be rather potent in their own rights. The game's excellent JobSystem has aged like fine wine and remains its main strength even nowadays.