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The English translation finally has made this playable, and it is a spectacular experience! White-knuckle challenge through whole dungeons, constant demands on your ability to plan and implement class/skill strategies, and hugely expanded content in terms of new enemies, secrets, and treasure.

I would not recommend this as a first-time experience. A deep familiarity with the job & skill system of FFV is needed to achieve the level of creative and flexible strategizing to make it through this hack. This is best enjoyed by seasoned SNES-era JRPG veterans who have at least one run through of FFV under their belt.

A few tips: 1) Get creative with "steal"–you can now steal 3 different items from most enemies, and this is the only way to get some of the most exciting new pieces of equipment. 2) If you get wrecked by a monster-in-box, leave it for now and come back later (quite likely closer to end game). 3) There are two excellent grinding spots based on locations/enemies from FF6–one for AP, the other for XP. 4) Don't shy away from save states :) And a fast-forward-capable emulator is also recommended (mainly to reduce tedium for some tough late-game steals).

Amazing hack!

FF5r offers so very much, and I recommend any fan of SNES-era JRPGs give this a try. Many of the monster formations are more interesting than the original game, imho. Some of the design choices are brilliant, like having the tiny wheeled knights guarding the Fire Ship, versus the Big Bridge. And not to spoil anything over much, but actual clones of the heroes appearing outside of Castle Bal sure fits with the story a lot better than what the original game dealt us!

New armor options are strewn throughout the second half of this hack, and a lot of fantastic gear is available all game long, if you steal aggressively. Most monsters have more than one steal, which makes the original game seem boring if you play this version for any length of time!

Some of this game's bosses are phenomenally challenging, and require a careful party setup. Don't let this deter you from experiencing this fantastic romhack, though! You can pass up many of the most difficult fights (many are monster-in-boxes) and return later, with better weapons and higher levels.

Give this a serious go, and you'll be glad that you did. Just don't expect to compare it to the vanilla FFV, it's an entirely different experience!