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Does Final Fantasy V have the weakest story of the mainline games of the franchise?

W

WooHooAlex

Member
It’s in the conversation, but it also has arguably the best/most addicting gameplay hook of the series. And because you don’t realllly care about the story, you enjoy building and leveling your characters more and don’t feel bad about not being invested in the story.
 
N

Nairume

Banned
sotojuan said:
Do you mean the translation or the actual story writing is bad? By now Square has given us plenty of new ports with different translations I think.
Click to expand...
Even with the retranslations and the remakes, it's still a bit of a mess in storytelling.

A charming, fun, and memorable mess, but still a bit of a mess.
 
O

Opa-Pa

Member
sotojuan said:
Do you mean the translation or the actual story writing is bad? By now Square has given us plenty of new ports with different translations I think.
Click to expand...

Actual writing, not the translations. My last memories of the game are from the DS remake.

Like I said, I like it, but "everyone dies except not really", "rival guy is bad but then good but then bad again. We're besties tho" and "yeah actually you're not only adopted but also an alien and so is the brainwashed bad guy, who happens to be your long lost brother" are kinda bad.

The fake deaths thing alone is already bad enough and unintentionally hilarious, honestly.
 
T

theofficefan99

Junior Member
Uffff this thread is going to be another case of "l'Cie fal'Cie and Cie'th are way too hard for me to memorize"

XIII's writing has its flaws but it gets far more flak than deserved.

XV has, by far and away, the worst writing in the entire series and it's not a contest.
 
S

Sinh_Magnus

Member
I have yet to play it (is really high on my backlog so hopefully this year or the next) but its story has to be really bad to overcome III to me. I really had a bad time with that one.
To be fair along with V I haven't played either II or I, so I can also talk much about them either.

As for some people opinions here, I liked XIII or XV stories way more than III. But to each their own.
 
B

Big One

Banned
I honestly feel IV, V, and Vi are perfect Final Fantasy games and nobody will convince me otherwise. Love all three to death. I can't pick any of them over the other, though I do think V and VI are mechanically better than IV.
 
S

sasliquid

Member
I love FFV, it's not got a great story but the plot is light and airy and decent fun. I like Bartz even if he doesn't get much development and the world is colourful and diverse.

Best combat system tho.
 
C

crysta

Neo Member
Philippo said:
XV has bad execution, but the story, the themes and characters in themselves weren't bad imho
Click to expand...

Sooo... it's still bad.

theofficefan99 said:
Uffff this thread is going to be another case of "l'Cie fal'Cie and Cie'th are way too hard for me to memorize"

XIII's writing has its flaws but it gets far more flak than deserved.

XV has, by far and away, the worst writing in the entire series and it's not a contest.
Click to expand...

Agreed.
 
Z

Zippedpinhead

Member
In a world where FF3 exists ( fun world but really bland story), no other Final Fantasy will ever be close.

The four job fiesta has really changed my opinion of the game’s story and characters.
 
G

Gotdatmoney

Member
Naw. 8 has the worst story. What the fuck was that game even on about. 5 (and 3 too actually) don't have a particularly story focus. 5 has lots of funny writing.
 
A

Aarglefarg

Member
I've only played the first half but the story obstacles the characters face along the way are some of the most enjoyable in the series.
 
C

Common Knowledge

Member
It's probably a symptom of playing the first six games of the series almost back to back these past few months, but, man, I have a really hard time actually remembering the stories of each of them. I have basic plot premise down, and I remember notable characters, but honestly in the end they all kind of just mesh together in my brain, with VI being possibly the one exception due to its shift in tone for the series. I'm enjoying the series thus far, but the early games really don't seem that distinct in the storytelling department.
 
C

crysta

Neo Member
True Fire said:
SIN YU YEVON FAYTH AEON CALM THOUSAND YEARS DREAM ZANARKAND

versus

Four orphans set out on an adventure to restore light to the crystals and stop an evil warlock
Click to expand...

A summoner and her guardians set out on a pilgrimage to stop an evil whale and save the world from eternal destruction.

See. We can all keep it simple if we try!
 
P

Poppy

Member
what i really appreciate about V is that characters dont spend a lot of time hemming and hawing about their allegiances and junk, and basically the only crisis of faith in the operation is solved before you even complete like the second shrine. after that it's all heroes fighting to save multiple worlds all the time

plus i really really love exdeath. i know his motivation is pure evil, but he's just such a good cackling villain. he is literally a tree given sentience by being stuffed full of demons, and neo exdeath is like the fruit of evil that developed from it. that's awesome. also faris is the best and my favorite forever
 
sotojuan

sotojuan

Member
Common Knowledge said:
It's probably a symptom of playing the first six games of the series almost back to back these past few months, but, man, I have a really hard time actually remembering the stories of each of them. I have basic plot premise down, and I remember notable characters, but honestly in the end they all kind of just mesh together in my brain, with VI being possibly the one exception due to its shift in tone for the series. I'm enjoying the series thus far, but the early games really don't seem that distinct in the storytelling department.
Click to expand...

The first three games (and I guess V) were just variations of the role playing video game that emulated board games like D&D - Pick your classes, go save the world. Story was there but it had none of the character development or narrative that started with IV and was kicked into overdrive in VI. It's really not fair to compare them as they were going for different things.
 
T

TheEndOfItAll

Neo Member
I am well aware that I'm in the minority on this, but I think V is the second weakest game in the series from most standpoints, and story is right up there with the most boring. The Galuf death is the only redeeming scene, but they completely cover it up in the gameplay by handing you a new character with the exact same skills and experience level. That really reduced its impact.

I also just never made a connection with any of the characters.
 
H

HiroTSK5

Member
I always saw FFV as a "Saturday Morning Cartoon" very bright, a lot of jokes probably one of the more episodic games (go to area with crystal, solve some problem, watch crystal blow up) at least in the early game.

With FFIV it never bothered me that no one stays dead (except Tellah) because when it happens, it happens during the climactic scene with the Giant of Babil where things are at their worse but then the dwarves show up and you're like "Yeah" and then the Red Wings show up to help with the presumed "dead" cast members and its just so upbeat. That and I love that the game escalates all the way to the moon.
 
M

Mr. Nice_Guy

Member
Philippo said:
XV has bad execution, but the story, the themes and characters in themselves weren't bad imho
Click to expand...

The execution was so poor though that it basically negated any strengths the latter 3 things you mentioned had for me though. Still,
the final campfire scene
was really well executed and about the only thing that payed off in the game so I can't call XV the worst.
 
A

AsakuraZ

Member
Still never beat it to this day. Just got bored with the game a few hours in.

But surprised to see some IV as a weak story? I think its a great entry in the series, unique locations (you go to the moon dammit!) , characters that all get there time to shine and a strong villain.
 
K

Kuraudo

Banned
I'd say it's middling. Unlike later games, it at least tells something that's reasonably coherent.

I find III and IV to be the weakest of the older games, while the modern ones have been poorly realised since XII. V probably sits slightly above those.

Philippo said:
XV has bad execution, but the story, the themes and characters in themselves weren't bad imho
Click to expand...

Stories aren't really marked for their potential though. XV could have told an excellent story--it has a fantastic premise, some really interesting plot twists, a good cast of characters including a wonderful antagonist--but almost every aspect of it is squandered.
 
K

kurahador

Member
XIII is hands down the worst.

"OMG we can't do what the bad guy said. Let's run and find another way."
"Fuck it, let's do what the bad guy said anyway."
Everything turns out fine.
 
1

120v

Member
i think FFV was during a phase where square wasn't quite sure what they wanted the series to be yet. my assumption is they looked at the success of Dragon Quest and decidedly returned to the simpler approach of "defeat the Dark Lord" while focusing on established gameplay strengths

for whatever reason they did a 180 on that with FFVI and beyond. but it's kind of irrelevent because FFV ended up being fun, plain and simple
 
B

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
kurahador said:
XIII is hands down the worst.

"OMG we can't do what the bad guy said. Let's run and find another way."
"Fuck it, let's do what the bad guy said anyway."
Everything turns out fine.
Click to expand...
Basically.
 
BasilZero

BasilZero

Member
That goes to XV - at least with its execution lol



But that not included for me would be either FFI with its simplicity imo.



V was great.
 
S

SgtWiggles

Member
V has always been one of my favorites. The story was decent but not the focus, and the job system was crazy indepth.

If I had to pick a least favorite, 3 would probably earn that title in a heartbeat.
 
N

Niosai

Member
I feel as though those here that are saying "XV was worse" are trolling. XV had a decent story no matter what direction you approach it from. Yeah, the execution could've been better but all around it was much better than some of the previous games.

On topic: I'd argue that III was weaker than V.
 
S

SilentSoldier

Member
FFV and its job system are the reason why its one of my favorites in the series. If we're talking legitimately bad stories in FF games, we've got 8, and 10 for that.
 
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