Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride

"A match made in Heaven...."

Let's just face the facts - Dragon Quest is the BEST role playing series ever. No arguments whatsoever. And there's many reasons to like Dragon Quest from the odd trilogy system the games follow to the classic old school feel when playing Dragon Quest. Either way it goes, the series is the best. I remember when I broke my Dragon Quest cherry via the spin-off game, Dragon Warrior Monsters. I loved that game a lot, which sparked my interest in the Dragon Quest series. I've played a good amount of Dragon Quest games over the years, but the Zenithia trilogy are the games I haven't been exposed to until Square's recent remakes. So, when I heard that Dragon Quest IV - VI were being remade and released onto the DS, I was skeptical because Square released a ton of Final Fantasy games onto the DS, but hardly anything indicated we were going to see the Dragon Quest remakes, and I was pretty convinced we weren't even going to see Dragon Quest IV. Well, as you all know, I was wrong and we eventually saw DQIV get released....finally. But the one I wanted to play the most was V. I've heard a lot of great things about Dragon Quest V, especially when the producer said it was his favorite in the series.

So, for the first time ever, the US has been exposed to Dragon Quest V, and boy was it worth the wait.

Now, Dragon Quest games typically aren't known for their stories, but the storyline in Dragon Quest V was highly engaging. It kept me playing on and on for hours on end. Basically, the Hero(You) has just escaped from being a slave after watching a traumatic moment during your childhood, and it's up to you to stop the forces from evil from, you guessed it, taking over the world. Now, this may seem clichéd, but believe me, Dragon Quest V's story is FAR from clichéd. You won't find any silly airships or overweight chickens in this one, but what you will find is a classic story that spans three generations from the hero's birth all the way to his/her marriage and kids. Even though Dragon Quest V's story can be dark at times, the light hearted humor is still present. There are a lot of puns in the game, and while I agree some of them are...questionable, it just wouldn't be Dragon Quest without them. And there are some humorous moments in the game that will make you chuckle, but overall, it's really nice.

But what makes the story even better is the addition of Party Talk. We got cheated out of party talk from DQIV, but not this time. It has returned and it makes the characters even more deeper. Even the monsters you recruit have something to say, which tends to be humorous at times.

Now we talked about the story, but the gameplay is what makes Dragon Quest well Dragon Quest. Yes, the game is old school- the usual traveling to towns, going to dungeons and fighting monsters, etc. But something about this game keeps you wanting to play be it the large, vast world, to the different locales you visit. Yes, Dragon Quest V is old school, and it just wouldn't be Dragon Quest without old school.

Just like in most traditional role playing games, you're going to have to train and battle in order to be on top along with having good equipment. The random battle encounter is a bit high at times, which also tends to have overly powerful monsters, so keeping good tactics and decent weaponry should allow you to prevail through the battles. The battle system is very simplistic where you don't have these gimmicky bars filling up or anything. Just good old fashion turn based affair.

While you do get the usual side characters who join your party at different points, Dragon Quest V introduces the concept of monster taming, which led to the spin-off series Dragon Quest Monsters. Not all monsters can be recruited though, only some of them. After battling certain monsters, they may ask to join your party, but you can only have so many of them traveling with you at one time.

And there's quite a bit of minigames in the game. You got the usual casino and tiny medal quest, but in addition to that, you have a few Slime based mini games and the welcome return of the Pachisi tracks from DQIII(called TnT Boards in this games).

Overall, Dragon Quest V has a lot of gameplay material here to keep you busy for a long time.

I mentioned that Dragon Quest V was an old school game, so the graphics obviously will be old school as well. Now, some people will probably complain about Dragon Quest V's graphics, but really, there's nothing to complain about. Sure, it's not remade in 3D like another game, but Dragon Quest just wouldn't look good in 3D. The graphics really are just spectacular with the vibrant colors of different areas, which gives a lot of detail. Some of the dungeons are really colorful such as one dungeon later on in the game that takes place in a volcano. The game also utilizes both screens during gameplay, which is pretty unique. Also, the game is in 3D, but the character sprites and all are in 2D, and it works really good. Usually, I would prefer Dragon Quest's original style graphics, but the updated look from the Playstation 2 remake for which this game is based on, works like a charm. And you want find any gimmicky FMVs here, but the game doesn't need them. Everything is highly detailed from the medieval style castles to the different locations you and your part visits. In addition to that, the game incorporates different times of the day from morning all the way up into night, and each one is represented by a nice graphical touch up. All in all, the graphics are polished and updated, but the old school charm is still there.

The Dragon Quest games have always had good music, and this one is no different. You still have the traditional Dragon Quest theme in the title, but you also have the usual battle themes and the epic boss themes. And some of them are pretty catchy, enough to rival the music of Dragon Quest III. Still, the music in Dragon Quest V is really good and fits the scene nicely. The same can be said for the sound effects as they too fit the scene nicely and gets the job done. If you've played Dragon Quest before, the themes and sound effects shouldn't be anything new to you

Dragon Quest V is not a short game by any means, and at times, not a very easy one. But, that only makes the game better. The overall quest can last you at least 40 hours, and that's just for the basic play-through. There's an additional bonus dungeon at the end of the game to go through, plus the numerous side quests and minigames should keep you busy for a while. And you have a few secrets here and there, but I won't spoil them for you.

All in all, Dragon Quest V is the best role playing game on the Nintendo DS. It has a certain old school charm that makes it better than others. It doesn't have full 3D graphics or a bunch of FMVs, but none are required as the game is pretty damn good on its own. Should you buy Dragon Quest V? Yes, I think you should BUY this game as you're getting your money's worth, and this is the first time Dragon Quest V has been released locally, so it's basically a new game. This is Dash_Jr, I remember it so you don't have to.

Pros:
+Highly detailed graphics
+Polished battle system
+Nice depth
+Storyline is very deep and engrossing

Cons:
-More user friendly save feature

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 03/16/09

Game Release: Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride (US, 02/16/09)