Final Fantasy V Pixel Remaster review for PC, iOS, Android

My favorite 16-bit entry in the Final Fantasy series will always be Final Fantasy IV, it was my first real Final Fantasy, and definitely the one I was obsessed with in my youth. However, every time I sit down to play Final Fantasy V, I find my faith in IV wavering just a bit. V is an excellent game, re-adopting the job system from Final Fantasy III, combined with a solid story, excellent music, and just a great vibe overall. I was happy to have the opportunity to play it again via the new Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster series, and outside of some screen-tearing issues on the PC version, it?s definitely worth checking out. 

If you haven?t had a chance to check out any of the previously released Pixel Remasters that Square Enix has produced this year, then you?ll likely be surprised by how great they look. Final Fantasy V is no different, updating the visual style just a bit without abandoning the classic sprite work of the original Super Famicom release. It?s a really great looking remaster, outside of the somewhat ugly choice made when it comes to text font. But outside of that bewildering design, these have all been really solid upgrades on either mobile or PC platforms. The PC editions come with the benefit of controller support, and remain my preferred way to experience these releases so far. 

However, it would be nice if Square Enix would introduce some in-game display options. Particularly to address the consistent screen tearing issues that have plagued these releases on PC, which remains an issue with this release of Final Fantasy V. It?s generally fixable by tweaking options on your graphic card settings outside of the game, but having it be a consistent issue that?s not really getting addressed in each release on PC is a little frustrating. Not game breaking, and certainly fixable, but annoying nonetheless.

And that?s really my only major complaint with this release of Final Fantasy V on PC. Outside of that and the font being ugly, it?s arguably the best version of the game available in North America, including the prior GBA port and PC releases. The remaster effects are really well done, and I can?t overstate that fact enough. It also helps that Final Fantasy V is an excellent Final Fantasy entry in general, and one that tends to be overlooked in North America due to the lack of an original SNES release. So if you?ve never played it before, or haven?t pulled the trigger on one of these Pixel Remaster releases yet, then I?d urge you to give Final Fantasy V a try, you won?t be disappointed. 

Note: Square Enix provided us with a Final Fantasy V Pixel Remaster PC code for review purposes.