FF5a: Custom Classes

Hack description

In Final Fantasy 5, characters can learn a ridiculous number of skills... and only have a use for a few of them. This is because characters are given only four battle commands, and most classes pick three of those for you. Therefore, you really can only combine two classes at a time, until you use one of the two end-game classes made available to players— the Freelancer (which gives you Fight, Item, and two chosen abilities), and the Mime (which allows the Mimic command and *three* chosen abilities). This hamstrings the possibilities that the game's engine seems to want to give the player, and in my opinion reduces the fun that could be had.

The Custom Classes mod seeks to maximize the choices available to the player within the confines of the Final Fantasy 5 4-battle-command-system. You are allowed the maximum leeway granted by the game's engine to assign commands and abilities that you have earned as you progress through the game. More care must be taken so that you don't employ unwinnable strategies (such as forgetting to set a "Fight" command to your characters...!) Spells and monsters have been modified slightly and hopefully are balanced with the customization options available to the player.

The new version of the mod opens up the four "Advance" classes (Gladiator, Oracle, Necromancer, Cannoneer) by the time your party leaves for Galuf's world. When a character masters a job, any passive abilities that job had become constant, no matter which job they may choose later (this used to be a feature of the Freelancer class only). It also rebalances the stats of your characters based on the Abilities that you assign.

To peruse a more exhaustive changelog, go to http://jeffludwig.com/ff5a/download.php. You can also download an useful spreadsheet pertaining to the Custom Classes mod (in .xls format).

Contributor	Type of contribution	Description
ludmeister	Hacking

Reviews

Great flexibility, but a lot easier too	1-800-thewolf	2024-03-08	Version 1.5, rev.1
Super fun to have fun customization. Really great to keep passives from mattered jobs. End game was much easier as a result though. I know it's supposed to be rebalanced with the changes in mind, but I steamrolled the final dungeon.

Brilliant and smoothly implemented	Eldiran	2023-06-30	Version 1.5, rev.1
Great hack that makes a great game even better. It's lots of fun coming up with more interesting combinations and it just makes Jobs even more satisfying to use. I can no longer go back to vanilla FF5.

Rev. 1?	Thirteen 1355	2019-05-25	Version 1.5
I've played the game with this hack twice, and I can safely say it vastly improves upon the original experience. However, I'm not entirely sure what's up with the 'rev. 1' revision. The downloaded files still refer to being Version 1.5, no mention of a revision 1 is made anywhere but on the Romhacking page.

The Final Fantasy 5 of my Dreams	Mother Kojiro	2016-12-31	Version 1.5, rev.1
This hack takes one of the best class systems I've ever experienced and makes it even better! When I play RPGs, I don't use items, and now, I can drop that useless command forever. Class customization here is incredible, and the new order in which you receive the classes is great; getting the Dragoon so early means that you can get Lance and pair it with mages, making them a joy to use. Being able to drop the Fight command means that you can have Aim, Mug, Rapid Fire (X-Fight), or Bladeblitz without being redundant. Best of all, you get the new classes early, so they're not a complete waste of your time; Cannoneer is great early on, but by the time you'd normally get it, it's not even worth using. I also like that the equipment for each class is less restrictive; White Mages are more like clerics, now, so they can use hammers, maces, and heavy armor. It's not without its flaws, however. Galuf doesn't have unique sprites for the new classes, though that may be a limitation of the game, itself. The other thing is that there are a lot of passive abilities that don't automatically activate for classes other than Freelancer and Mime. This is a good thing in the case of something like Berserk or Undead, but ABP up and EXP up would've been nice for starters. That said, that doesn't make this hack not a vast improvement; were it not for the superior soundtrack and occasionally superior visuals, I don't think I'd ever go back to the SNES version. If you liked Maeson Mix for Final Fantasy 3, you owe it to yourself to give this one a try, and vice versa!

Absolutely awesome	Ligeia	2014-12-12	Version 1.5, rev.1
This hack basically corrects every aspect I thought could be improved in FFV, and now I just can't imagine going back to the original game. Adding the GBA-exclusive classes before leaving the first world is such a brilliant idea. I mean, what's the point of classes you can only get when your game is finished ? The extra ability slots were something I've been yearning for every time I played FFV. I even wish all four slots could be customizable for every class. Implementing the passive abilities for every class (not just the freelancer) is also a great move. The only (very minor) flaw is the lack of Galuf sprites of the GBA-exclusives classes, which can easily overlooked. In a few words, a brilliant hack in every way ! Don't forget to visit the creator's website, he has some neat tools (a random party generator) and useful info (like which enemies give those Dark Arts spells) ! Recommended ? YES YES YES !

Great, but could be fixed up a bit	TheZunar123	2014-08-03	-
(Review for Version 1.5, rev.1) I gotta say, the idea for this hack is great, it really gives you more creativity on assigning commands. The jobs are re-balanced well, particularly the less useful ones like the Bard. Allowing more equipment in the jobs is also nice, I felt like some were too restrictive. However, there is one minor problem: the default job ability is always at the top, which is an adjustment for anyone who has played the original game or other Final Fantasy games since Attack is always at the top. Even switching the command window to Shortcut still makes the cursor default to the job command, no matter where it's put. At least you can set the cursor to Memory, which solves the majority of the problem. One thing that could make the patch better is if there was a way to display the default job command on the ability screen, that way the player knows what ability they're going to get without having to go to the status screen or enter a battle.

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