Question!

[BerserkChip]

If I played through, but didn't like, Final Fantasy 1, 4, and 6, is 5 worth giving a shot?

[Advent-EVA]

Story-wise, if you didn't like Final Fantasy VI, then you'll be heavily disappointed by V ; it probably has one of the worst scenarios of all Final Fantasies up to this day. The characters do not stand out either, however Galuf and Faris could be an exception. The antagonist's backstory is not all that appealing either and is very linear.

The game shines in the gameplay department: 22 jobs in the original version, 4 more were added for the GBA release, although many consider them to be fairly useless, but that's not the point here. Diversity would be the qualifying word for this game, as it allows you to customize your party in every possible way. There's also a lot of dungeon crawling, and some dungeons are actually very tedious.

Final Fantasy V could also be considered one of the hardest FF games (that doesn't mean much, since this series is not heavily renown for it's difficulty factor), but that's only if you don't grind ABPs (Ability Points, which allow you to level up your jobs), otherwise the game's difficulty is rather average. With the proper party preparations and customizations, you should survive every threat sent in your way fairly easily.

Its musical score was not as heavily acclaimed as FFIV's or VI's, although some of the tracks are fairly enjoyable. The fighting theme did get on my nerves after some time as it tends to be very repetitive, and also because random encounters are very frequent. It's not bad, but it definitely isn't one of Uematsu's finest works, so if music is one of the factors that make you enjoy playing RPGs, you might be a little disappointed here.

[Speedy07]

I'd say it was pretty good, the story was both humorous, and interesting, it was difficult, the music was okay, and that's about it :P

[One Winged Angel]

It's a III clone IMO.

Not an exact clone, but Job classes and the like. Not a comparison to VI.

[Neo Bahamut]

To the OP, why didn't you like these games? That might help people make suggestions. Oh, & have you played any of the later FFs?

Story-wise, if you didn't like Final Fantasy VI, then you'll be heavily disappointed by V

I gotta take this challenge. Mostly because people say V/VI sucks/is the best, respectively, but I thought like the opposite, at least as far as some specific categories go.

it probably has one of the worst scenarios of all Final Fantasies up to this day.

Crystals are shattering due to machines. Evil mage of extreme power tries to attain the power of the Void to reduce everything to Nothingness. Eh, replace "crystals shattering" with "evil empire" & "Void" with "Warring Triad" & I'm not seeing a big difference.

The characters do not stand out either, however Galuf and Faris could be an exception.

Admittedly, I'm not that far in, but I think the characters stand out pretty well. Lenna is caring, albeit gullible & annoying. So, maybe she doesn't stand out, but she at least has a personality to cite. Faris is a badass with a heart of gold. In my opinion, she's one of the most badass characters on the heroic side to date. Galuf is a badass grandpa. Bartz is a humorously ditzy hero who seems to be able to combine comic relief & serious drama pretty well. Exdeath really gives me a feel for how cruel he is &, in my opinion, set the tone for his immediate successors, Kefka & Sephiroth. I'm also noticing a hint of strategic ability.

As for VI, there were some members of the cast that I thought were pretty good. Celes should be praised for being a progressive female protagonist, Shadow for the subtlety of his backstory, Kefka for being both hilarious & terrifying, etc. Others, however, I think get way too much credit. I find Terra annoying & a stereotypical depiction of female gender roles & Gau to be...well, Gau.

In general, I find both games' characters to not live up to the way fans describe them, but be about what I'd expect from most FF titles.

The antagonist's backstory is not all that appealing either and is very linear.

Here's where I think VI is really just as guilty. Kefka went insane due to a botched Magitek Infusion & now wants to "destroy everything." So...yeah, I'm not seeing why this guy's development is so praised. He is characterized very well. He developes very poorly. There's a difference.

And until the World of Ruin, VI is like the King of Linearality. Not only that, but predictability. You can call everything a mile away. The Empire betraying you when you go to get the Espers, Kefka following you to the Gate...like the game's only twist is Kefka's ascension.

random encounters are very frequent.

I don't know what to say about this, really. Everyone seems to say that "FFY has a lot of random encounters" whenever they're listing faults for it. Unless I see some numerical comparisons, personally, I think it's all in one's mind.

Things I didn't address I agreed with. For as far as I'm at, of course.