Final Fantasy V

Final Fantasy V is a classic JRPG built on the Job System, which lets you freely combine abilities learned across different professions among the four heroes defending a world of elemental crystals from the dark mage Exdeath. Compared to the neighboring entries in the series, the game's tone is lighter and more playful, while in terms of mechanics it offers one of the deepest battle systems of the entire classic Final Fantasy era.

The PlayStation version was released in 1999 and was, historically, the very first official release of the game for Western players – the 1992 original was never officially released outside Japan and was known there only through an unofficial fan translation. In terms of content and gameplay, it's a faithful port of the original Super Famicom game with no changes to the Job System or core mechanics, but Square added newly produced opening and closing CG cutscenes and released the game together with Final Fantasy VI as part of a compilation (released as separate discs in Japan, and as a single package called Final Fantasy Anthology in the West). The battle and map graphics remained unchanged in the original 16-bit pixel art, with only shorter loading times compared to the cartridge thanks to the move to CD media.

It was thanks to this version that Western players officially encountered the game for the first time, having previously known it only through an amateur translation circulated on emulators, and the quality of the new official localization along with the extra cutscenes helped establish the game in English-speaking countries as a respected entry in the series alongside the by-then well-known Final Fantasy VII. For many players outside Japan, this edition represented, for many years, the only legal way to play Final Fantasy V, before further ports to the Game Boy Advance and mobile phones followed later. That's precisely why this edition is still remembered today as the moment the fifth installment finally reached an audience outside Japan, seven years on.

Why play it: For players outside Japan, this was the first official and legal way to play Final Fantasy V, complete with bonus cutscenes that were absent from the original version.