When I first started this gameplay diary, it was under the assumption/misconception that everyone had played a Final Fantasy game but me. Furthermore, once I got to the writing itself, I was writing with the intent that my audience would all be people I knew who had played FF5. It turns out that’s not exactly the case, and this supplementary entry is my plan to rectify that.
After the cut, I’ll be going over the main characters we’ve met so far and the events of the plot that I’ve mostly been skimming through in the updates. In future gameplay updates, I’ll try to devote more space to the actual plot of the game, so ideally there won’t be too many of these supplements going forward.
Bartz, the protagonist
The game does allow you to re-name him but I wanted to experience the story “as intended as possible,” plus the name Bartz is way too good to not use. We first meet him as some sort of unemployed fantasy drifter, the core lifestyle for adventurer protagonists. He seems like a genuinely kind guy; he can be a bit uncertain when he feels like he’s out of his league but he holds it together.
His backstory is still mostly unknown to us, but at Zok’s house we learned that his parents are either both dead or missing, and his father was somehow responsible for the safety of the crystals — a responsibility that now falls to Bartz. Until learning this, I felt like his motivation for being in the story was somewhat vague. Now I definitely get a sense of his feelings of responsibility and possibly respect for his dad… but I am definitely looking forward to learning more about Bartz.
Lenna, the princess
King Tycoon ruled over a kingdom which protected the wind crystal, until it was stolen by something that also disappeared the King himself. Lenna is left wondering what to do, and she chooses to go protect the remaining crystals.
We don’t really know much about Lenna or her circumstances yet. I do like how forward she was when addressing King Walse. She has ideals and she stands up for them because they’re the right thing to do, but beyond that I’m not sure what else I can say about her.
Faris, the pirate
Once the leader of an impressive band of pirates, Faris joined the party… I don’t know why. But I have a theory! During the Siren pre-fight cutscene, to steal the party’s souls, Siren generates images of their loved ones. Lenna’s loved one was King Tycoon, but Faris also reacted to seeing his image. I think Faris is either Lenna’s sister or, due to how ageless her portrait and sprite look, possibly Lenna’s mother. Faris likely joined the party because she recognised Lenna, but her actual relation to Lenna is still a mystery to us.
Her dialogue is definitely my favourite so far in the game. I really appreciate that the career criminal has the most flowery language of anyone we’ve met so far. It actually textures the world a lot to me. There’s so much life that must exist outside of the kingdoms that dot the landscape. It makes the world map feel truly expansive and mysterious, like picking a direction and walking far enough will always reveal something hidden and amazing.
Galuf, the old guy
This guy.
When we first meet him, he’s sorta standing around in what I assume to be a temple. I have no evidence as to what it is, but that’s the vibe I got. He’s the amnesia guy, so our knowledge of him is limited to: has or had a granddaughter, has nothing better to do than be in the party, beard, old.
Would love to know more about this guy.
The series of events thus far in FF5 are somewhat scattered, and there is a bit of a whirlwind feeling of not knowing why anything is happening. Nevertheless, here is my attempt at a chronological list of events thus far.
- A meteor lands near the Wind Crystal. Bartz and Galuf travel there to investigate, they meet Lenna and the three of them decide to travel together.
- En route to the wind crystal, they travel through Faris’ pirate cave and are taken hostage briefly before Faris decides to help instead of hinder.
- Upon reaching the Wind Crystal, it and King Tycoon get disappeared with the implication that the other crystals are in danger. The party decides to head to the Water Crystal, in Walse. Faris decides to help because her water dragon (sister?), Syldra, is able to propel their boat even with no wind.
- The party visits Tule to get access to the Torna Canal, which separates them from Walse. The Torna Canal proves treacherous, and a whirlpool swallows the boat and Syldra. The party emerges in a sunken ship graveyard.
- Making their way through the graveyard to solid land, they encounter Siren, defeat Siren, and head on land towards Carwen. They learn that no ship can make it to Walse with the Wind Crystal non-functional and must figure out another way. Luckily, they hear of a wind drake stuck atop the North Mountain.
- Heading to the drake, the party is help up by Magissa, who attacks them for some reason? After turning Magissa into dust, Lenna is able to nurse Hiryu the wind drake back to health. Now able to fly, the party heads swiftly to Walse.
- Lenna tries to convince King Walse that the crystal is in danger but he refuses to listen until a guard bursts in and informs us that the crystal is in danger. Heading to Walse Tower reveals some comatose guards, at which point I thought it’d be a good place for a cliffhanger.
For those who have been left floundering with my sub-par narration, I hope this update helps y’all out. I haven’t really done writing like this before and in some places it really shows! Your feedback helps a lot and I’m very invested in hearing from those who’re enjoying my stuff so far. As always, find me @ironflamberge on twitter and hit me up with anything! See you tomorrow with our first foray into Walse Tower!
First Fantasy 