wtf FFV and FFIV same gba game?

[punkonjunk1024]

Seriously, lookit these -
http://www.gamespot.com/gba/rpg/finalfantasyiv/index.html
http://www.gamespot.com/gba/rpg/finalfantasyvadvance/index.html

So I was all excited for 5 today, and after some searching... I figured out that it was basically released a long time ago? Whats going on? Are these basically the same game, with 5 having some graphical bump-ups, or did both games just star a guy named cecil? with pretty similar graphics? I'm sooo confused...

[Warlock]

What the *heck* are you talking about?

Or more specifically, how can anyone not know about the old Final Fantasy games? :P

[Tygore]

Um, no? I see no references to Cecil within the section on V. My only solution comes from looking at your username, and that would be to lay off the 'junk' for a little bit.

[MottZilla]

Final Fantasy I, II, and III were released on the Famicom. Final Fantasy IV, V, and VI were released on Super Famicom. Over here we only say FF1, FF4, and FF6. They rebranded them to be 1, 2, and 3. Everyone knows that after the sudden jump from FF4 to FF7. FF4 and FF5 are not the same game and do not star the same heroes. You should play FF5 if you never did before.

[Warlock]

I should also point out it takes about 2 seconds to google that -_-

[punkonjunk1024]

Thats what I was asking. :) I kinda tried, but the results confused me, I was hoping someone could explain it as simply as mozilla did, as both games on gamespot, (ffIV and FFV) had screenshots with someone named cecil in them. As for classics, all I've played alot and liked are ff6 and ffmq (which ruled) and ff7-9. I've played dawn of souls all the way through, and I'm just wondering if these two were a "remake" or something retarded, but as since it's not, oh god I've confused myself too much

Thanks for the help. :)

[Cloral]

Where are the screenshots of FFV with Cecil in them? I followed the link you provided and none of the screenshots had anybody named Cecil. Nor were there any screenshots from FFIV in the FFV section. Perhaps you got confused and were looking at the FFIV section, thinking you were looking at FFV?

[mikeron]

Play them now, before we all gang together and assrape you with lit cigars for your insolence. feh

[Mitsukara]

Final Fantasy V is my absolute favorite Final Fantasy games. If you are still confused to any degree, here are some unique points/information about the first five Final Fantasy games to help clarify:

Final Fantasy 1 features a very generic plot about 4 light warriors who must relight the 4 elemental orbs by defeating 4 elemental fiends, and then confront a further evil power which has been building behind the scenes. At the start of FF1 you choose the classes of your party, and there is no change in this (other than leveling up/buying spells/equipment) until they upgrade to essentially better versions of the same classes. FF1 was for the Famicom/NES and later remade for the Wonderswan Color (WSC), and that version was enhanced/rereleased in Final Fantasy Origins (PSX) and Final Fantasy: Dawn of Souls (GBA).

Final Fantasy II has a more complex storyline about a group of orphaned siblings fighting an empire; there are four in the beginning but one is lost and you begin the game with only three of the characters. These characters are all flexible in their abilities, but have natural built-in tendancies and skills to a certain degree. FF2 was for the Famicom and later remade for the WSC; that version was later enhanced and featured in Final Fantasy Origins (PSX) and Final Fantasy: Dawn of Souls (GBA), which were both released in the US.

Final Fantasy III backtracked to FF1 in some ways with four generic characters who can be set to certain classes and must blahblah 4 elemental crystals blahblah evil and learn the history of the creation of the world and three powerful individuals in it, one of whom is the primary villain of the story- mostly- and two of whom will more or less aid the light warriors in their quest. However, this game introduced some new concepts; it introduced the class change system, allowing characters to change to one of a set of classes (with more becoming available later in the game); it featured four different airships, each with unique differences and limitations; and it was incredibly long and featured multiple overworlds. FF3 was for the Famicom/NES and has since been rereleased on the WSC; it hasn't been released in the US but will be soon in a new remake for the Nintendo DS. The NES ROM has been translated for a long time though.

Final Fantasy IV featured a very set storyline and very set characters; it was a very complex story about mysterious corruption suddenly appearing in the world and various people's response to events, and seemingly someone who was attempting to take over the world- though there's more at work in the background than that. It was unique in that it allowed for five characters in the party, followed a very linear design, and thus was extremely straightforward. The characters in the party left and returned a lot. FFIV was for the SFC/SNES and released as "Final Fantasy II" in the US; it was remade for the WSC, ported to "Final Fantasy Chronicles" for the PSX (which contained FF4 and Chrono Trigger... making the name a strange choice), and has recently been rereleased/enhanced to some degree for the Gameboy Advance.

Final Fantasy V returned heavily to Final Fantasy III's pattern and did it one better. It featured kind of a lofty, often silly plot which feels sort of like an anime series of some kind, but still revolved around the old concept of four elemental crystals and four warriors (and four other warriors...). The character change system was brought back and made far more complex, with the ability to learn permanent skills by training in a class, then use those skills in a different class; and further, classes you mastered training in would give you some permanent benefits if you returned to being an unclassed character. Unclassed characters are also allowed to use more skills than classed characters, and will inherit a lot of automatic benefits from their mastered classes... so you can see where this becomes a very strongly personalized system where you can mix and match and build very powerful characters. However, the game was on a pretty good difficulty spike too, so while you might become "godlike" it wasn't something you could do by accident. FFV was for the SNES/Famicom and not released in the US; it was later ported to Final Fantasy Anthology for the PSX (which is a somewhat rare game), and is now being released for the GBA. Apparently the GBA has new classes and dungeons, too... oh, and I NEED a copy. That is all.

As for later Final Fantasy games: VI is extremely well known, released as III for the SNES and ported in Final Fantasy Anthology, and is kind of a mix of FFII and FFIV's designs (very flexible characters in a very complex storyline, who come and go a bit); VII everyone and their dog but me seems to think is utterly badass, and is for the PSX and PC, and to be honest I've never gotten very far in it; VIII, IX, X, XI, and XII I know pretty much nothing about. FFX2 looks interesting, and the words "class change system" help. I'll play the newer games someday...

Oh, and by the way, the fighter class of FF1, FF3, "Frionel" in FF2 (well, the NES version; remakes sport a weird guy who looks more like Locke), the knight class in FF3, Cecil in FF4 (later in the game; initially he wears dark knight armor), and Butz/Bartz in FF5 all have the exact same hairdo and very similar posture.

[{DSG}DarkRaven]

Wow, Jennifer. That was... way too detailed. :P


At any rate, everything stated in the post above is more or less factually accurate. Final Fantasy V was, and is a lot of fun on SNES emulators, and will be a definite pick up for my GBA when it's out. The classes and mastering system referred to above is more widely known as the Job system. For example, you could have one person in your party learning the job of a monk, while another learned the spear fighter, thief, and chemist jobs. When they had mastered those jobs, switching back to their unclassed form (unequipping all job crystals) would allow them to equip any weapon or armor and still retain their abilities. The monk would have high HP and hit twice with big damage (high criticals too) when barehanded, the thief would have a major boost to AGI, the spearfighter would be a monster with a lance equipped, and the chemist would gain double effects from using items. And that's just four of the maybe twenty classes available to learn (the exact number eludes me right now).

I never played FFIV though, but five was pretty fun.

[Glenn the Great]

Final Fantasy IV and IX are my favorites because the characters are all unique and have character-specific abilities.

I have a harder time enjoying the Final Fantasy games where your party is very customizable. One example of this is FFVII. Every character pretty much becomes a materia bar, and the only point of having characters is the different limit breaks, which is a lame way of making a character special, since all the limit breaks are mostly the same thing: just dealing big damage to one or more enemies.

I like it when a character has fixed abilities, and does something special that sets him or her apart from everyone else. It makes for better character development when the character has a fixed class, because that class will define the character's life, actions, and history.

Another thing I like is when characters come and go. I like to have a dynamic party, and I like to be forced to use certain characters because a battle can be more interesting if I'm forced to experiment with other tactics because there isn't a melee fighter in the group, or maybe I have to use some potions because I don't have a white mage at a given moment. I think that this makes for better bosses, because they can be tailored to a certain party makeup. I like when there is a certain trick to fighting a boss, and it is hard for a boss to be designed that way when it could potentially be facing a wide range of party configurations.

Customizable parties can lead to balance issues too. Many of the fights in Final Fantasy V can become extremely easy when you have certain job skills. I don't find it satisfying when a boss dies without having a fighting chance because I was smart with my job selection. I feel like I won cheaply; not that I won because I had skills.

[Warlock]

I personally feel the opposite, though I don't dislike any system (other than maybe FF1's "pick your class at start and live with it" system). Being able to customize characters lets me pick the characters I like the best, and build them up with the skills I want. I am not stuck with stupid characters like Gau because they have an ability I want to use.

Not that I don't think all characters should get playtime too - I am definately for switching up the characters throughout the story. But I don't want to be forced to use anyone on boss X (when given the choice of characters) because they have an ability that is essential to that battle (or at the very least, very nice for that battle). Great example is the need to have a White Mage in every party.

[Cloral]

I liked how in FF5 decisions you made regarding your jobs could have a large effect on the difficulty of the game. It made the system feel pointful. For instance, what I like to do early in the game is have 2 monks, a white mage, and a black mage. As soon as the monks learn brawl, which allows you to fight barehanded as effectively as a monk, I switch. The 2 monks become the mages, and the mages become monks. I give the monks the magic skills they learned as mages, and the mages the brawl ability they learned as monks. Immediately I have a party with 4 strong fighters and 4 magic users. This prepares me for just about any situation I could face in the early goings.

[mikeron]

Customizable parties can lead to balance issues too. Many of the fights in Final Fantasy V can become extremely easy when you have certain job skills. I don't find it satisfying when a boss dies without having a fighting chance because I was smart with my job selection. I feel like I won cheaply; not that I won because I had skills.Yes, but that also opens the door to challenges, like only using white mages.