What I experienced so far... [Spoilers for GBA content]

[Elpizo]

Hey guys. I got the Japanese GBA ROM, I know, it's wrong...
Don't worry though, I don't understand a bit of Japanese and there's no way I'll finish this game in Japanese. I'll wait until it's released here in Europe. I was just a bit curious about some things in this remake, so I downloaded this ROM to check on them.

Worried that this will be like FF IV Advance? Read on!

Now, to start, FF IV Advance was a great game, but everybody knows it was a bit on the rushed side and it had some glitches.
So how's Final Fantasy V Advance then?

Well, first of, I didn't experience ANY ATB glitches in battles. Attacking goes smooth, ATB fills up nicely, enemies die like they should. No worries here anymore! I didn't play much, but I dare to say SE really did their job right and FF V Advance doesn't have any battle glitches.

Now, in terms of graphics, it doesn't differ that much from the original, in my opinion, but I never was the type to notice graphics that much. What I can say, however, is that colours are brighter and lighter than in the original. It's not bad, it's quite pleasant to gaze at.
Battle backgrounds look, in my humble little opinion, amazing. I don't really dare to compare them to IV Advance, but if you really want it, okay, I think they look better. If you want to decide for yourself, check the screenshots on bottom of this post.
I didn't really mess much with the job system, I quit playing after I battled with a party of a Knight, White Mage, Blue Mage and Black Mage for a while. Magic just looks the same as in the original, only the sound effects are a bit different.
So, in general, I think the graphics are fine. Upgraded nicely and all, no complaints here.

Next, the music. Ah, THIS is why I wanted this ROM a bit badly. The original SNES music of FF IV, V and VI was great, and I was a bit disappointed with IV Advance's music. Did they do the same with V?
Well, as far as I played, I say firmly, NO!
The Battle Theme is just so... exciting and catchy. It sounds great and is just as good as the original.
Remember the first-cave music? I liked the SNES better, but for a GBA, this version is just as good.
Hey, who doesn't like "Pirates Ahoy!"? Well, I sure did like it. And they transferred it nicely to GBA as well.
Now, the Wind Shrine, I would dare to say the GBA version of this music is BETTER than the original! Dunno why, I just feel that way.
Next: Boss Battles, how are those? Boss Music needs to be a bit dramatic and dark, IMHO. And did they succeed? Just like the Boss music in FF IV Advance, they captured the sound of the original perfectly. Although I killed Wing Raptor in 3 turns... Disappointing...
EDIT: I FORGOT to add something really important!!! IN this port, the music does NOT restart after a battle! That's good, I kinda missed that in FF IV Advance...

Sound effects, like spells and all, are a bit less than their SNES counterpart, but the good soundtrack makes up for it. The soundeffects just sound less 'full' or loud. But it's not a bad thing. Most of the time, they are perfectly fitting and far from bad. I just found myself liking the SNES effects better, that's all... Besides, for GBA, they pumped out some great music.

Oh yeah, those face-portraits nobody seems to like, in my opinion, they are no hindrance or bother at all. They fit smoothly in the dialogue (that I can't read) and although they differ from their sprites, they still give you a good idea of how the characters would look in 3D or something.

Some other things I noticed: There are FOUR save slots.
Yup, unlike FF IV advance or FF I and II: DoS, you can have 4 save files at the same time in FF V Advance. Might change in the NA or EU version, but I think that's rather unlikely, no?
Another thing: I think, and I feel bad for telling it, but I think the difficulty has been hauled down. In the original, in the Wing-Raptor battle, Wing Raptor would always be able to shield himself behind it's wing, even if it was only once in the battle. In FF V Advance, I took him down in 3 turns before he even got a chance to do that. He only got to attack me with Breath Wing... Sorry to say it, but I think it's true, difficulty has been nerfed a bit...
Also, you can Dash by pressing the B-button. So no more Thief-dashing-skill. Wonder what they did with it?
EDIT: I checked the bestiary. For those who like to complete it, there are 323 monsters in the game, have fun!

So, conclusion? Well, if you were worried about this port, throw those worries away. FF V Advance looks like an excellent port for what I've played of it, with fitting music and good graphics. The day it'll be released in english can't come fast enough. :)

Next: Screenshots (No spoilers)

http://www.maj.com/gallery/Elpizo/FFVA/wrg-ffv17.png
Nice...

http://www.maj.com/gallery/Elpizo/FFVA/wrg-ffv7.png
Nice world map.

http://www.maj.com/gallery/Elpizo/FFVA/wrg-ffv3.png
Pirates Ahoy!

http://www.maj.com/gallery/Elpizo/FFVA/wrg-ffv4.png
This is what you get for attempting to steal a Pirate ship...

http://www.maj.com/gallery/Elpizo/FFVA/wrg-ffv6.png
Nice teeth!

http://www.maj.com/gallery/Elpizo/FFVA/wrg-ffv8.png
Gorgeous battle background, what more needs to be said?

http://www.maj.com/gallery/Elpizo/FFVA/wrg-ffv9.png
Nice town, no?

http://www.maj.com/gallery/Elpizo/FFVA/wrg-ffv10.png
The most Bad-ass scene evah!

http://www.maj.com/gallery/Elpizo/FFVA/wrg-ffv11.png
Look, a bird.

http://www.maj.com/gallery/Elpizo/FFVA/wrg-ffv12.png
Quite a big bird...

http://www.maj.com/gallery/Elpizo/FFVA/wrg-ffv13.png
Jobs! Yay!

http://www.maj.com/gallery/Elpizo/FFVA/wrg-ffv14.png
My party.

http://www.maj.com/gallery/Elpizo/FFVA/wrg-ffv15.png
Shiny 0_o

http://www.maj.com/gallery/Elpizo/FFVA/wrg-ffv16.png
Look, magic.

http://www.maj.com/gallery/Elpizo/FFVA/wrg-ffv18.png
Let's go to the beach! Oh, the water sparkels in the game, really!

http://www.maj.com/gallery/Elpizo/FFVA/wrg-ffv19.png
Bestiary of the goblin.

http://www.maj.com/gallery/Elpizo/FFVA/wrg-ffv20.png
Wing Raptor bestiary. Interestingly enough, if a boss has different 'poses', you can press left or right to see those different poses. That's a step upward from FF IV Advance's Bestiary.

http://www.maj.com/gallery/Elpizo/FFVA/wrg-ffv21.png
See?

Now: SPOILERS! Don't go on if you don't want to be spoiled!
http://www.maj.com/gallery/Elpizo/FFVA/01.jpg
I guess you know who this is?

Better in-battle picture:
http://www.maj.com/gallery/Elpizo/FFVA/up141857.png
End of the SPOILERS, if you're angry, blame yourself, I warned you!

Well, that's all. Hope you feel more reassured about this port now.
Close if need to. Comments are welcome.
Hope I helped out a bit...

[FF_Chick]

I made a video of the intro, if anyone wants to see it. Nice topic BTW =D.

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

The battle backgrounds indeed look nice--almost as good as the ones in the FFI and FFII remakes, in fact. Too bad the rest of the graphics have glaringly been left behind.
Now: SPOILERS! Don't go on if you don't want to be spoiled!
http://www.maj.com/gallery/Elpizo/FFVA/01.jpg
I guess you know who this is?
End of the SPOILERS, if you're angry, blame yourself, I warned you!Oh yes.

[Zeromus_X]

It's great we get to fight him instead of an Ex-Death_EG.

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

Square was able to foist Zeromus EG on us because they had that alternate sprite lying around from FFIV Easy Type. They have no such luck with FFV.

Also: Faris is crazy bug-eyed (http://www.maj.com/gallery/Elpizo/FFVA/wrg-ffv3.png).

[Jowy]

I'm slipping, sadly.

Is that Culex?

[boys from the dwarf]

that remake of the final boss is pretty blurry and stuff its hard to tell what it is but i guess its a reason to play FFV advance. seems cool. perhaps it'll look even better than the original final boss.

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

It's not a remake of Neo Exdeath.

[boys from the dwarf]

whats it supposed to be then? it has the same background and looks hyper powered.

PM it to me if you dont want to spoil it for everyone else because spoiler tags are just too tempting not to look at.

[Elpizo]

whats it supposed to be then? it has the same background and looks hyper powered.
That my friend, is our dear Mister Enuo. ;)
And his picture was blurry on purpose, to not spoil us too much, or so I heard...

Remember, Zeromus EG also had the same background as Zeromus.
Makes you wonder: Which optional boss would be good enough in FF VI to suit Kefka's Heaven Background?

EDIT: Non-blurry Enuo pic! Spoilers!(duh)
http://www.maj.com/gallery/Elpizo/FFVA/up141857.png

[Zeromus_X]

Oh man, he just looks awesome.

[Jowy]

Makes sense now. It's a sexy looking sprite.

[boys from the dwarf]

awesome!

how will this fit into the storyline? is it in a secret dungeon? a replacement final boss. new area on the N-zone?

how far have you got on your game eplizo? i'd imagine this boss would be harder than shinryu and omega.

[Elpizo]

Just now, I've saved Butz and the others from jail in ExDeath's castle. I don't really know how Enuo fits in the story, but I heard he's in the optional dungeon, which you can only access after getting every job, including the hidden new ones. My guess is that he fills up the background story of the void some more.
I think he's more powerful than NeoExDeath, or maybe not, because he may not have Grand Cross... I don't know. I don't think he's more pwoerful than Shinryuu or Omega, though... I don't know if I'll get to the optional dungeon in the Japanese ROM. I'm playing until I've seen NeoExDeath, though. I hope they didn't mess my 2 fav Final Boss up...

[Sefie1999AD]

Thanks for the information! That sounds quite good, although since it's all in Japanese, we don't know how the translation will turn out. Hopefully it will be as professionally done as in some of the recent FFs (games and remakes), though. As for the first boss, are you sure you weren't just overleveled compared to what your levels usually are at that point in the game? The new special boss looks pretty good, but I'll wait until I get to hear more about the boss before I say anything final. We'll see.

[Elpizo]

Thanks for the information! That sounds quite good, although since it's all in Japanese, we don't know how the translation will turn out. Hopefully it will be as professionally done as in some of the recent FFs (games and remakes), though. As for the first boss, are you sure you weren't just overleveled compared to what your levels usually are at that point in the game? The new special boss looks pretty good, but I'll wait until I get to hear more about the boss before I say anything final. We'll see.
I can say I'm really running through the game. I've beat Gilgamesh at the prison at lv 17, while in the SNES version, I was in the 20.

I just need to watch out a bit with the bosses, they CAN kill me, but with my balanced party, they are unlikely to do so. Only bosses that gave problems were Liquid Flame (5 tries) and that Snake thing in Lonka Ruins (1 try, but a looooooooooong time and spamming cure2, until he died and I could use Lv5 Death)

But like I said, it's a bit easier, not as nerfed as DoS. An average gamer would find this game challenging, but for a FF veteran it is rather on the easy side.

For Wing Raptor, I think I was lv... 4 or 5.

[Reine]

What was the Wind Shrine's music like?

I always loved that theme..

[Elpizo]

What was the Wind Shrine's music like?

I always loved that theme..
IMHO, sounds as good, if not better than the original.

[Sefie1999AD]

I managed to find the music extracted from GBA. While most songs sound pretty good and just like in the SNES version, I think there's still a clear loss in sound quality in some of the songs, especially my favorite ones, such as Nostalgia (plays when Galuf, Syldra, Lenna's Hiryuu at the top of Phoenix Tower and loads of other people die) and The Land Unknown (the world map theme of the 3rd world). The Decisive Battle (the first part of the final battle against Exdeath), the Last Battle and Dear Friends sound good, though.

[Reine]

I didnt like much of the music in FFV, only a few select ones, so im pretty much wondering what its all like in this version.

I was also hoping the difficulty hadnt been toned down, I dread to think of how easy they will make FFVI..

[Elpizo]

I didnt like much of the music in FFV, only a few select ones, so im pretty much wondering what its all like in this version.

I was also hoping the difficulty hadnt been toned down, I dread to think of how easy they will make FFVI..
Don't worry, if you read my review in the other topic, you'll know that the difficulty hasn't been decreased at all.

Sephiroth1999AD, I'm happy you like the music, but I don't think those songs sound worse, just different. GBA needs different things to work with than a SNES, that's why, in my eyes, the music of V Advance is excellent. I've read many opinions of people who disagree with that... But I've played the game, I don't know everything, but the music in-game, may sound better, because then, you also see the scene in which it is played. This really counts for the Decisive Battle (you know, that dramatic battle-scene with X-Death versus 1 person).

But oh well, each on his own. I'm hoping people will still buy the game, though.

[Reine]

I seem to the only person that liked FFIV Advance's music far more than the original...

Therefore I'll probably enjoy the music in this game very much.

I suppose playing the GBA music on the PC would probably pale to the originals, but when I played the ROM of IV, it sounded really good in ful stereo and soon, but thats just my personal opinion.

This game seems to be incredible so far, and I eagerly anticipate its European release

[Crossblades]

Good to know. I can't wait for this release:)

[abrojtm]

I don't know how to access the hidden dungeon, but it's not by getting all of the jobs because apparently you get Necromancer by defeating Enuo.

[Elpizo]

I don't know how to access the hidden dungeon, but it's not by getting all of the jobs because apparently you get Necromancer by defeating Enuo.
You need to have done a certain event in the third world, then the sea below the mirage village will start to boil at a certain place. Dive with your submarine, enter the sea trench and grab the 3 crystal shards giving you Prophet, Gladiator and Cannoneer. Then beat the game (I think) and enter the door in the upper-left corner. Have fun with a (on the first sight) quite hard new dungeon. :)

[Sefie1999AD]

So how well are the new classes balanced out? Are they overly useful, or are they near-useless? If you could think of any strong and weak points those classes have, that would be good too. :)

[Elpizo]

So how well are the new classes balanced out? Are they overly useful, or are they near-useless? If you could think of any strong and weak points those classes have, that would be good too. :)
I haven't really used them yet. I used my SNES-party on this GBA ROm for the ease, cause then I could look up what certain spells were (by looking at the MP or something like that).
I'll try and use them later on. But I think they are just as useful as the normal classes. Otehrwise, it wouldn't be fair. They shouldn't be overpowered, since they are quite easy to find (except Necromancer).
I do know about the Gladiators 'critical' command, or something like that, but I'm not sure what it does. I'll look it up when I have some time. These days I'm too busy to play games, however.

[UltimaMasamune]

Elpizo I disagree about the dificulty this version is harder than the SNES version

the game is only easy in world 1 it gets much harder in world 2&3

[Elpizo]

Elpizo I disagree about the dificulty this version is harder than the SNES version

the game is only easy in world 1 it gets much harder in world 2&3
I know, read my Final Review in the other topic, gee, doesn't anybody notice that one?

I wouldn't say it's harder. But it isn't nerfed.

[The Crystal]

What i want to know, is if Enuo is a normal secret boss, or if he is a "new final boss" like Zeromus EG is. Someone have this information?

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

Zeromus EG is a secret boss. Just because you can't fight it until you've beaten the game once doesn't make it the new final boss. And yeah, Enuo is the same way.

[Bolivar]

that's crazy w/ Enuo. I didn't know who the picture was, because they never show him in the original to my knowledge, but that's real crazy.

edit: question: what's up w/ the Enuo monsters you can fight in the caves of Narshe in FFVI? What are they? look like tentacles or somethin to me.