 The Job System is a defining feature of Final Fantasy V. Final Fantasy V includes many standard role-playing elements, as well as renovated features introduced in earlier Final Fantasy games. Characters grow in strength by gaining experience points from random encounters with monsters on the overworld or in a dungeon. Experience culminates in a "level up" where party members' attributes such as hit points or magic power increase. A menu-based management system allows the player to equip, heal, and change each character's selected job outside of battle, as well as save the game's progress. The player can traverse a large overworld by foot, chocobo, wind drake, or airship depending on the situation. Towns scattered across the world normally contain inns for resting, shops for purchasing equipment and people from who the player can gain information. The player may also embark on several side quests that become available as the story progresses.[6] Final Fantasy V is the first game in the series to contain timed events, in which the player must complete certain tasks under a timer that depletes both in and out of battle.[7]
Job System The main feature of the gameplay of Final Fantasy V is the Job System designed by Hiroyuki Itō, improved from its Final Fantasy III incarnation. This system allows each character to gain special abilities and potentially master up to twenty-two unique jobs. Each character begins with a default "Freelancer" class, and as the player acquires crystal shards, new jobs become available.[8] A separate form of experience—Ability Points (ABP)—is used to improve characters' job levels, while they continue to earn regular experience points.[8] As job levels increase, new skills become available for that character to use in a new form of customization: characters learn job-specific abilities that may be carried over to a new job. For example, a character with the job of Knight who has also mastered Black Magic may set Black Magic as a secondary command; this would allow the use of both Black Mage and Knight abilities in battle. The nature of these abilities vary; while some may allow for selectable commands in battle, others may be innate to the class or automatically activated when conditions are met, such as the Thief's "Caution" skill, which prevents rear attacks from enemies. This system allows for deeper customization of characters.[9] While many of the jobs have appeared previously in the series, Final Fantasy V introduces a number of new classes including the Blue Mage, Time Mage, and Mime, adding new elements to combat.
Active Time Battle Final Fantasy V is the second Final Fantasy game to use the Active Time Battle (ATB) system, in which time flows continuously for both the player and enemies during combat.[8] This system was first established in Final Fantasy IV by battle planners Hiroyuki Itō and Akihiko Matsui.[10] In that game, however, there was no way to visibly anticipate which character's turn would come up next.[11] In Final Fantasy V, the player can see which playable character's turn is next in battle, in the form of a time gauge—or “ATB Bar”—which fills according to a character's speed. When the selected character's turn arrives, the player can execute one of several commands, such as attacking the enemy with an equipped weapon, using a special ability or item, or changing the character's row position. The ATB mechanic with a gauge as seen in Final Fantasy V has persisted in nearly every title in the series, as well as other Square games such as Chrono Trigger.
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