Where other RPGs have parties, Final Fantasy V has a Fiesta
Earlier today, the Final Fantasy V Four Job Fiesta opened for pre-registration once again. If you don't know, this unofficial event is an annual celebration of FFV and the unexpected challenges that can emerge from the myriad ways it can be played. At set points throughout the game, your party gains access to sets of jobs associated with the four elemental crystals; Fiesta entrants start out limited to the starting job and shout out to a Twitter bot at each milestone to gain access to one more job they can—and must—use for the rest of the game. Eric Koziol began holding the event in 2009, and since 2011, he's taken advantage of the attention to collect donations for Child's Play, a charity that donates toys and games to hospitals around the world.
The Fiesta is now in its eighth year, and although the basic concept hasn't changed, many of the same players have yet to tired of it. After all, every roll can bring an entirely different experience, and if that weren't enough, Koziol has programmed commands that prompt his "Gilgabot" to assign jobs according to a wide array of special restrictions for even more granular possibilities. These include "#RegFF1," which limits the pool to jobs that debuted in the original Final Fantasy, and "#BERSERKERRISK," which puts you in danger of taking on the unruly Berserker job as the donation total ticks higher. This year brings introduces two more: "#regpopular," which assigns jobs randomly albeit weighted toward the winners of Twitter polls conducted over the last few months; and "#fifthjob," which replaces your fourth job once the fourth party member bows out of the story. All these options frame FFV in an engaging meta-game that cultivates participation year after year.
For those who like to watch, the Fiesta website tracks the status of everyone who's registered, including what crystals they've reached, what categories they're running, and whether they're streaming their progress. Honors are awarded for completing the game and beating its infamous super bosses, which can range from a cinch to practically impossible depending on what jobs you end up with. Spectators can also tune in to "The Run," a live-streamed race between speed runners using jobs determined by competing bids from the community—bids which are also donated to Child's Play.
FFV was once one of the more overlooked Final Fantasy games outside Japan as it was passed over for localization in its time, only becoming available in English years later in the form of a fan-translated ROM hack and a thrown-together PlayStation port. Its following grew with 2006's Game Boy Advance conversion, which charmed players with an improved localization full of comedic asides capitalizing on the game's relatively inconsequential plot. But the game has entered a new realm of awareness thanks to the Four Job Fiesta, which has single-handedly raised the game's cultural cachet among thousands of participants, whose numbers continue to grow each year. Now FFV isn't just a popular subject to fans of the series but boasts a dedicated community unto itself, with the Fiesta dominating much of the conversation.
As of this writing, hundreds of players have already entered the running, and Koziol has reached nearly ten percent of this year's donation goal of eighteen thousand dollars. Pre-registration will remain open until just before the festivities begin on June 19, and the party will continue through the end of August. If you've never joined in before, consider giving it a spin this year. Even if you've been cold on FFV in the past, you might find tightening your focus to just four jobs will help you see it in a whole new light.
Fan art by Jocelyn Samara
