An expansion to the FFV RPGe fan translation, this is my attempt to make Final Fantasy V more interesting by adding lines of dialogue and weaving together many plot references throughout the game’s script. Also it’s a project to use more natural language than what’s seen in other versions of this great game.
Much like FF6, every time a new character speaks, a new dialog window is used. The way that the RPGe translation runs multiple characters’ lines into one window on the screen is a serious grievance of mine, and it makes the experience of reading the game’s conversations needlessly slow and muddled. I began this script overhaul to fix this, and it’s blossomed into a larger thing only as I’ve fixed and expanded the “screenplay”.
I used inspiration from every version of this game that I’ve played. I discovered the original fan translation of this game when it was underway back in the late ‘90s, so I grew up playing the RPGe translation… but I enjoyed FFV Advance years later and the Pixel Remaster edition when those dropped on Steam. Drawing also from romhacks I’ve played more recently, like FF5R, FFV Spoof, FFV Legend of the Crystals (Spooniest’s project, where I found the new font), the new dialogue is sourced from many versions of the the Final fantasy 5 universe. My own ideas were used too of course, and I explain a bit about that below.
This Fresh Script also offers a slightly shorter font in the dialog window, which looks closer to FF6 and was adapted from a re-translation by Spooniest. I find this font to be a major improvement to both ease of reading, and to overall presentation. It makes the game look better, in my opinion.
In order to “connect the dots” and to remove awkward character interactions, I added a lot of new lines. I developed the game’s characters a bit by doing this, but I aimed to retain their traditional, canonical personalities, even though some creative liberties were taken.
Bartz is more enthusiastic, and he marvels good-naturedly at things he doesn’t fully understand. He seems more childlike and is never overly sour or depressed. His fallback exclamation is “Jeez!” which he says often when confused or surprised. He also mentions his fear of heights whenever he’s forced to fly, even though he’s conquered it (more or less).
Growing up traveling the world gave him a good sense of social customs and some natural tact; in the scenes where he interacts with royalty, he’s more polite than the other characters.
Lenna says a lot more, and many of her new lines express concern and kindness for animals and for other people.
She has an overly-formal flair to her speech, but this is to be expected from a princess raised as an only child and who seldom travels very far from home. She’s sheltered but totally sincere in her actions, and her personality slowly thaws out over the course of the game.