#ff5fjf2018

Lenna: For the good of my kingdom, I must leave my kingdom.

Faris: Treasure will have to wait. I gots worlds to save.

My first Job fiesta with FF5 is going real well! Makes me wish I picked it up sooner. Though, it’s only in recent years that I grew to appreciate and enjoy Final Fantasy V. But that’s a story for another day, for now I just wanna gab about and goof on my favourite early part of FF5.

So real quick for the uninitiated; The first plot point of ff5 revolves around the elemental crystals of the world. They’re breaking apart and the heroes are trying to prevent that. You learn early on that the crystals are hooked up to machines that are overusing their power and thus they’re breaking apart. Energy consumption allegory to make a long story short.

So! This means that each town/kingdom that governs the kingdom draws on a certain element for a purpose, right? The wind makes flying on dragons and sea travel easier, the water provides cleaner water and makes monsters docile, I don’t remember the earth’s benefit but I assume enriching the earth with extra energy must do wonders for farming and the like! 

Right now I have reached the Fire Kingdom! The Fire crystal’s schtick seems to be technology. The fire crystal is used to power a giant metal ship. So one could assume that the kingdom in general is a little more steam punk or something from the abundance of energy the fire crystal uses. But no, The Fire Kingdom, Karnak looks just like any other kingdom, both in castle and in village.

So to set Karnak apart from other towns in FF5 it was decided to just... set Karnak on fire! When you enter the town random parts of the village are just set on fire! Roofs, lawns, there are even plumes of flame inside the houses! But it doesn’t stop there! Oh, no!

The castle is also on fire! inside and out! The Jail, the armory, the throne room, and what I find most baffling and hilarious of them all: The Library. Why, oh god why would you let plumes of fire near very flammable stacks of PAPER!?

It’s so weird and so funny at the same time. It’s all compounded by the fact that not a single character brings this up! The main characters, the side characters, NPCs, nobody. No one ever decides to talk about how fascinating it is that their town is just, on fire.