Originally released on the Super Famicom in December 1992, Final Fantasy V would end up being the one 16-bit entry in the franchise to not receive a localization. At the time, the localization process was incredibly costly and time-consuming, resulting in Square making the decision to focus its efforts on localizing Final Fantasy VI to bring to the West rather than Final Fantasy V. As a result, Western gamers wouldn’t get an official release of the game until the PS1-era compilation Final Fantasy Anthology, bringing both FFV and the timeless FFVI into the modern era. Since then, Final Fantasy V has rightfully earned its place as one of the most-loved games in the series, due in no small part to its incredibly whimsical and lighthearted story juxtaposed against its deep and rewarding Job System.
Later ports of Final Fantasy V would introduce new dungeons, new jobs, and other gameplay changes, adding content to what’s already a fairly robust experience. The release of the Pixel Remaster series raised the question of what extra content, if any, would arrive as part of the new “definitive” releases of the first 6 Final Fantasy games. While the Pixel Remaster version of Final Fantasy V cuts much of the extra content that the PlayStation and Game Boy Advance releases feature, it does present the best looking and sounding version of the game yet. Further, the Final Fantasy V Pixel Remaster includes a host of changes that make the process of mastering jobs and grinding out levels far easier. Considering that the game has some of the toughest bosses in the series, that’s a major boon for players.
Final Fantasy V vs Final Fantasy V Pixel Remaster: Side-by-Side Comparison
Despite Western audiences initially missing out on Final Fantasy V, the game now has one of the most robust port and re-release catalogs in the series. Starting with the first official Western release courtesy of the Final Fantasy Anthology, Final Fantasy V has a total of 6 different ports and re-releases that predate the Pixel Remasters. The goal of the Pixel Remasters is to bring players the first 6 Final Fantasy games using a consistent presentation and visual style all while remaining true to the original releases of each game. Final Fantasy V is perhaps one of the greatest games in the series, and its Pixel Remaster version earns the same honor of being one of the unmissable games in the collection. Between the improvements to the sound and visuals and subtle gameplay enhancements, Final Fantasy V‘s Pixel Remaster dutifully preserves a timeless classic.
| Characteristic | Final Fantasy V (Super Famicom) | Final Fantasy V (Pixel Remaster) |
|---|---|---|
| Release Date | December 6, 1992 | November 10, 2021 (PC and Mobile) April 19, 2023 (PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch) |
| Platforms | Super Famicom | Android, iOS, PC, PS4, Nintendo Switch |
| Total Sales | 2.65 million units | 355,000+ units |
| Publisher | Square | Square Enix |
| Region | Japan | Global (Japan, NTSC, PAL) |
| Review Aggregate Score | 66% (Mixed or Average) | 82% (Generally Favorable) |
| Gameplay | Original, unaltered release. High encounter rate, missable encounters, sequence breaking | Includes all the improvements from the Game Boy Advance release, including making certain Jobs/Spells more powerful, lowering the encounter rate, and making missable encounters mandatory |
| Script | Original, unaltered script | Uses the improved Game Boy Advance version script, with updated dialogue and tweaks to item and location names |
| Visuals | 16-bit sprite-based graphics | Improved visuals and animations, brighter color palette, environmental effects, and character sprites |
| Total Jobs | 22 | 22 |
| Bestiary | ✅ | |
| Mini-Map | ✅ | |
| Auto-Battle | ✅ | |
| Boost Functions | ✅ |
Final Fantasy V vs Final Fantasy V Pixel Remaster: 5 Must-Know Facts
Here are 5 must-know facts when comparing the differences between the SNES release of Final Fantasy V to its Pixel Remaster version:
- The Pixel Remaster release of FFV features the script from the Game Boy Advance version. This improved script fixes the names of items, locations, and characters to more accurately reflect the original. Additionally, there are tweaks to character dialogue, making the main cast altogether more likeable.
- The use of the Unity engine to build the Pixel Remasters helps all 6 games maintain a consistent visual style. Additionally, it affords the developers the opportunity to do things not possible in the original Super Famicom release. FFV‘s Pixel Remaster features a brighter color palette, improved character and enemy sprites, background animations and environmental effects, and other noticeable changes over the original.
- The Pixel Remaster version of FFV is much more forgiving than the original. The original version features a surprisingly high encounter rate and some tricky boss fights that rank among some of the hardest in the series. Thanks to the changes in the Pixel Remaster release, players encounter enemies less often and the toughest encounters receive updates to their balance.
- The Boost features and Auto-Battle make a return in FFV from both the previous Steam release and the other Pixel Remaster games. Players can now speed up Job mastery by changing the amount of EXP and job points earned after each battle. Additionally, the Auto-Battle function significantly streamlines FFV‘s grind by allowing players to automatically use their last action in battle.
- Other than the subtle improvements to the gameplay and the improved visuals and presentation, the Pixel Remaster release of FFV is still the same great game as the original. No extra content from other releases carries over to this newest version.
Final Fantasy V vs Final Fantasy V Pixel Remaster: Improvements to the Script
One of the more significant changes from later re-releases of FFV is the changes to its script. As one of the few Square titles to not receive a localization during the 4th console generation, FFV wouldn’t receive an official translation until its release as part of the Final Fantasy Anthology on PlayStation. That version of the game features several translation errors and inconsistencies between the English and Japanese scripts. Many of these errors were corrected in the Game Boy Advance version, and the Pixel Remaster of FFV further polishes the script. In addition to characters and locations featuring proper naming more in line with the intent of the game’s original script, the dialogue in FFV is vastly improved over previous translations. FFV‘s story is uncharacteristically lighthearted and charming for a Final Fantasy game. Now, players get to experience that story as intended, along with its endearing cast.
Final Fantasy V vs Final Fantasy V Pixel Remaster: New Sprites and Animations
Similar to the other Pixel Remasters, FFV‘s Pixel Remaster re-release features new sprites and animations. All the games in the remaster series were built using the Unity engine, allowing them to have consistency across each release while also honoring the excellent sprite work and pixel art of the original 6 Final Fantasy games. Final Fantasy V and VI were both incredibly impressive games for their time, and the Pixel Remasters add several subtle improvements to make them even more so. Character field sprites have been improved to more accurately reflect how they appear in battle. Additionally, the Pixel Remaster utilizes the improved, brighter color palette of the Game Boy Advance re-release. Along with these changes, FFV’s Pixel Remaster also adds nice touches like new battle animations and environmental effects.
Final Fantasy V vs Final Fantasy V Pixel Remaster: Rebalancing Jobs & Abilities
While FFV is undoubtedly one of the greatest games in the long-running Final Fantasy series, it’s also not a cakewalk. One of the harder games in the series, FFV asks a lot of players, including requiring them to master specific Jobs ahead of key encounters to avoid failure. This is made all the more difficult by the game’s high encounter rate and variance in how worthwhile certain Jobs are. The Pixel Remaster makes some pleasant changes to smooth out some of the original’s rough parts. First, the encounter rate is much lower than in the original, and players can completely turn random battles off. Additionally, certain Jobs and abilities are rebalanced and have more power and utility at the cost of requiring more MP to use. Final Fantasy V is still a difficult game in parts, but that difficulty curve is now more manageable.
Final Fantasy V vs Final Fantasy V Pixel Remaster: Auto-Battle and Boost Functions
The most significant change the Pixel Remasters make over their original counterparts is, without a doubt, the Boost Functions. All 6 Final Fantasy games in the Pixel Remaster series now have helpful Boosts that players can turn on or off at a whim. These include multipliers to increase the amount of gold and experience players earn, the option to turn off random encounters, and game-specific boosts to ability acquisition (including boosts to AP for Job mastery in FFV). Along with these helpful boosts, FFV‘s Pixel Remaster also includes the Auto-Battle feature from the previous Steam port for PC. This feature allows players to have their party automatically use their previous action every turn, significantly speeding up random encounters and helping with the need to grind out levels by fighting weaker enemies.
Bottom Line
Though the Pixel Remaster re-release cuts much of the extra content that other ports of FFV feature, it’s still undoubtedly the best-looking and sounding version of the game. Further, it carries over all the positive changes to the script and dialogue from past re-releases, delivering one of the more charming and whimsical tales in the series as accurately as possible. In terms of honoring the original game, while also adding quality-of-life features that make it more palatable to a modern audience, it’s hard to think of another game in the Pixel Remaster series that does it better than FFV.