Final Fantasy V - Development

Development

Final Fantasy V was directed by Final Fantasy series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi who, prior to the release of Final Fantasy IX, called it his favorite Final Fantasy game. The character, image, and title logo designs were created by series illustrator and image designer Yoshitaka Amano, while monsters and some of the battle graphics were designed by Tetsuya Nomura. Amano has stated that he counts his depictions of both Faris from Final Fantasy V and Terra from Final Fantasy VI among his favorite Final Fantasy designs. Yoshinori Kitase was responsible for the event scenes and also collaborated with Hironobu Sakaguchi on writing the scenario text. The actual story was written by Hironobu Sakaguchi. The Job System was designed by Hiroyuki Ito, who worked on the game as a battle planner alongside Akihiko Matsui. Mode 7 effects were used in the airship sequences, which moving in the airship would cause the planet to rotate on its axis. In total, Square employed a team of 45 people to create the game, and 16 MB of space were used to accommodate for the sprites, animations, and detailed background. According to GamePro in a May 1993 issue, the Japanese authorities had asked Square not to release the game during a school day because schoolchildren would skip class to wait in line for the game.

The official English translation of Final Fantasy V began shortly after the release of the Japanese version. The game was to be titled "Final Fantasy III" in North America, but the project fell through. Translator Ted Woolsey explained in a 1994 interview, " just not accessible enough to the average gamer". Rumors circulated that a second attempt at localization would be made and that the game would be titled Final Fantasy Extreme, but this attempt was also canceled. A third attempt was made to port the game to Microsoft Windows-based personal computers for North American release by developer Top Dog Software, but this was canceled. Another attempt to port the game to Windows for North America was "handled by Eidos Interactive" circa 1998 (but it is unclear whether this is the same version Top Dog Software was working on or an actual fourth attempt). The continual canceling of the localization angered fans and led to Final Fantasy V becoming one of the first games to receive a complete fan translation.