If you ask most people you know who've played at least a couple of Final Fantasy games about their favorite entry, the most likely answer is Final Fantasy VII, and for a good reason: it's Square Enix's golden chocobo. It's easily the most well-known and most profitable entry in the franchise even if many don't it as the best in the series. Critically, the one with the highest ratings on Metacritic is Final Fantasy 9, which holds a 94 rating on the reviews aggregate website. At least, as far as the original four-disc PlayStation version is concerned. But, if you ask the guys working on Final Fantasy 16, their answers will be different than most.

IGN recently sat down with the Final Fantasy 16 development team for their IGN First segment, where, among other things, they were asked about their Top 3 Final Fantasy titles.

Among those interviewed, all except for the game's producer, the beloved Naoki Yoshida, who's also known among fans as Yoshi-P, was the only one who didn't mention Final Fantasy V.

When asked why Final Fantasy V was their favorite, the developers had varied answers. The game's director, Hiroshi Takai, shared it was the first Final Fantasy he worked on as a developer, commending its battle system as the "unshakable No. 1" in the series. Creative Director, Kazutoyo Maehiro, agrees with this sentiment, saying that he was a student when he played it and it was one of the games that inspired him to become a developer.

On the other hand, Art Director, Hiroshi Minagawa, described Final Fantasy V as the game that "established my idea of what the Final Fantasy series is", commending its job system and abilities.

Finally, the Localization Director, Michael-Christopher Koji Fox, had a valid but macabre reason for his particular liking of Final Fantasy V. According to him, Final Fantasy V was "the first one that really blew me away", pointing out the fact that "a main character dies" midway through the game.

The concept of finality and death had been relatively unexplored in gaming at that point, which is probably why FFV stuck out to Koji Fox and many other gamers.

One of Yoshida's favorites was Final Fantasy VII for its content, which he says "was almost unbelievable at the time", saying that it made you feel "the incredible power of Square's developers at the time."

Ironically, other more well-known titles, like the aforementioned Final Fantasy 9, weren't mentioned at all.

In case you're wondering why most people have little clue about Final Fantasy V, it's simple: the launch version never came out in the West.

Final Fantasy V came out in Japan in 1992 and Final Fantasy VI came out two years later. Unfortunately, localization of the former took too long because Square was also working on Secret of Mana simultaneously. Unfortunately, by the time that Square had finished its development on Secret of Mana, Final Fantasy VI was also already out in Japan. But, the official word is that FFV was deemed too difficult for gamers in the West. Because of this, Square chose to go with FFVI instead, which was released as Final Fantasy III in North America because only two other Final Fantasy games had made it outside of Japan at that point: Final Fantasy I and Final Fantasy IV.

It wasn't until 1999 that Final Fantasy V finally came stateside as part of the Final Fantasy Collection alongside Final Fantasy IV and Final Fantasy VI.

Criminally underrated doesn't even begin to describe Final Fantasy V as it hasn't been as re-released and ported as much as other entries. Its predecessors have been ported more often (too often, in fact), and Final Fantasy 6 is one of the most beloved JRPG titles of its era, right alongside the likes of Chrono Trigger.

Despite the lack of familiarity among casual audiences, hardcore fans are well aware that FFV left an indelible impact on the franchise. After FFIV introduced gamers to protagonists that were actual characters with completely separate character arcs, FFV solidified the franchise's job system, which has since been used by future entries and even several other non-Square Enix titles like Bravely Default and Octopath Traveller.

Who knows? Now that Square Enix is in the mood to do remakes and remasters (Final Fantasy 9, Final Fantasy X, and Final Fantasy Tactics are reportedly atop the list), Final Fantasy V might finally get the credit it deserves.

For now, fans can look forward to playing Final Fantasy 16, which will carry trace elements of Final Fantasy V. The game will come out on June 22 but the well-received demo is already out. Unfortunately, spoilers are all over the internet, so beware. FF16's review embargo lifts sometime next week ahead of its release.