I begrudgingly admit I have yet to complete a single Final Fantasy game. Having graduated from college recently, I have decided that this summer Four Job Fiesta is the best motivation to try.
Four Job Fiesta is an annual player-challenge that raises money for Child’s Play. Players are tasked to complete Final Fantasy V under a four-job limitation. Participation is free, but players are welcome to pledge donations for their completion (or non-completion) of this challenge.
The job system in Final Fantasy V
But what does a four-job limitation mean?
A hallmark of Final Fantasy V is its “jobs” system. Characters can freely switch between any of the 22 (26 on the Game Boy Advance version) available jobs during the game. Some of these jobs include typical Final Fantasy fare like the Knight and Black Mage, as well as more exotic jobs like the Chemist. At the start of the game, only a few jobs are available. More jobs are unlocked as you reach certain milestones while progressing through the game.
During Four Job Fiesta, a Twitter bot (@FF5forFutures) randomly assigns each player four jobs, one job at each milestone. Players must complete FF V with only these four jobs. Four Job Fiesta makes every play-through of FFV a little bit unique; different job combinations require different strategies to successfully defeat the final boss.
Last year, Four Job Fiesta raised more than $11,000 for Child’s Play. To start this year’s Four Job Fiesta, four members of the Final Fantasy and RPG speedrunning community competed in a four-way Four Job Fiesta race. All four racers were assigned the same set of jobs, which were voted for by the community. They were given a limited amount of time to prepare their route and had to race in front of a live online audience on Twitch.tv. By the end of this race, over $8,500 had been raised by people donating to clear certain donation milestones.
Anyone can join via Twitter.
This year’s Four Job Fiesta has already exceeded last year’s donation total. As of August 2015, more than $12,800 has been raised and this number will only increase as players continue to pledge donation amounts for their completion (or non-completion) of Four Job Fiesta. Many players also livestream their attempts on Twitch.tv with hilarious results. Frustration, celebration, and everything in between happens when job constraints encourage creative solutions to the game’s challenges. Lots of community members help each other, and some players even pop by Twitch streams to help new players livestreaming their playthroughs.
Signing up for Four Job Fiesta is easy and requires only a Twitter account. Tweets need to be sent after reaching specific milestones in the game to request new jobs. Completion of a run is confirmed by submitting an image that shows the final boss’s defeat. Finally, any version of Final Fantasy V will suffice for a Four Job Fiesta attempt, including the iOS and Android versions.
For this year, Four Job Fiesta runs until August 31.
