Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride

"This time, it's personal."

The Dragon Quest franchise has had a somewhat troubled history in North America and Europe, despite its stunning success and status as a veritable cultural icon in Japan. Dragon Quest V, original released on the Super Famicom in 1991, was slated for US release as Dragon Warrior V. Although localization was mostly completed, financial woes brought Enix's North American branch to a sad close in the mid-90s. It wasn't until 1999's Dragon Warrior Monsters that the series would re-emerge into a foreign market. For nearly twenty years, fan translations offered the only glimpse of Dragon Quest V for Western gamers.

With its DS release as Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride, the game finally reaches a worldwide market, and while it's far overdue, the wait has been worth it. DQV is nothing short of stunning – a true masterpiece equal to, if not better than, the likes of fellow SNES legends Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VI.

Story: 10/10

Dragon Quest games have always been better known for their gameplay than deep storytelling, which usually amounts to killing the demon lord (or similarly-titled archvillian) and saving the world. But Dragon Quest V makes several unique innovations on the hero's quest that distinguish it from its peers and establish it as one of the finest, most distinctive role-playing experiences ever released. DQV connects with the player on a far more personal level than most games. The silent protagonist motif works better here than perhaps any other DQ game as we play a young boy following his mighty father, Pankraz, on a mysterious quest. We'll see him face trials, tragedy, and emerge as a bold hero, but what makes his experience different from that of other RPGs is personal connect to the characters he'll encounter.

When an important character is married, dies, or experiences some other momentous events, the player genuinely feels it because DQV actually takes the time to make you care about those you encounter. This amplifies the cliche quest to stop evil because unlike most games, in which some supervillain arbitrarily sits in his evil fortress threatening to destroy the world, the villains of DQV have murdered, kidnapped, and ruined the lives of various people connected to the player. For a game with such a lighthearted facade (and translation), the story is surprisingly grim and desolate at times but more emotionally gripping than many much more lavishly produced and overblown adventures. By the time I finished DQV, the heroes felt more like family than animated sprites and this is key to DQV's story. Most role-playing games seem to stick to chiche, overdone themes of romantic love, if there is any real theme at all. On the other hand, DQV offers a resounding affirmation to the power of family that I've never seen in any other game. Many newer, prettier RPGs – as well as both Americans and Japanese – could learn from this humble game's storytelling and emphases.

Adding to DQV's distinctive quest spanning almost three generations is marriage. Unique among role-playing games, you'll have the choice to marry one of three women – Bianca, your girl-next-door childhood friend; Nera, the sweet, pretty daughter of a wealthy aristocrat; or Debora, her bratty, obnoxious sister. If there's any gripe to be made against DQV's story, it's that the game attempts to brow-beat and guilt you into marrying one character in particular. For veterans of Dragon Quest, the story is quite short in comparison to the mammoth adventures of VII and VIII, and considering that it takes place over a good twenty-two years or so, it feels almost too quickly-paced. Regardless, one would probably need a heart of stone to not be touched by this game.

Gameplay: 9/10

Dragon Quest V plays very much like most Japanese RPGs – you'll fight monsters in turn-based battles to earn gold and experience points; you'll interact with townspeople and raid their houses for herbs, chimera wings, and mini medals; you'll explore caves and towers; and of course, you'll fight the big evil guy in his castle in the underworld. Like other DQ games you'll do most things by menus, which are cleaner and easier to use than ever before. Some reviewers have criticized the menus, but don't believe them; the interface works perfectly fine. However, DQV introduced a number of innovations to the role-playing genre, the most conspicuous one being monster recruiting. As best as I can tell, DQV – which preceded Pokemon by five years or so – introduced the entire concept of capturing monsters. Your monster allies fight alongside your human characters and can equip weapons and armor, in addition to learning unique spells. Unlike the Monsters spinoffs, monsters join randomly and not all can be recruited. You can carry a combination of up to eight monsters and human allies in your wagon; others can be stored, but unfortunately not earn experience points. The game's overall feel is somewhat different from other games in the series due to the monster recruitment system. Some games, such as VIII, stick the player with a simple set party and distributes spells and abilities between them, but in V you'll have to mix and match characters and catch monsters to beat challenging bosses and dungeons, adding to the game's challenge and replay value.

DQV also introduces a number of sidequests and minigames not present in the Super Famicom original. Treasures And Trapdoors, which appeared in Dragon Warrior III as Pachisi, is a life-sized board game based around dice roles. You can visit the casino and play slot machines and bet on monster fights, as well as entering your Slime monster into a race. There's also Bruise The Ooze, Dragon Quest's goofy take on whack-a-mole in which you use the DS stylus in an attempt to pound the living daylights out of slime monsters. You can visit the Knick-knackatory, where you can collect unusual items called knick-knacks that you'll find along your quest. The mini medal man gives you prizes for your mini medals, shiny trinkets you'll find during your quest. And of course there is also a bonus dungeon, in which you can challenge a super-powered boss monster.

Although DQV offers a relatively short quest of about 23-25 hours (compare this to VII's 100+ hour quest and VIII's 50+ storyline) the glut of bonus features (and incredible endurance required to recruit the more powerful monsters) means that the game offers considerable bang for your buck, not to mention excellent replay value offered by marrying a different character. Of final note is DQV's party chat feature. Although it was cut from last year's remake of Dragon Quest IV, it's back due to popular demand and adds considerably to the gameplay and story. Human characters offer an incredible amount of dialogue – simply press the “B” button after just about any conversation to hear your friends and family chime in. This adds considerably to characterization and establishing DQV's unique emphasis on family; your allies feel less like animated sprites and more like people when they comment on even the most mundane of conversations. It's not exaggerating to say that the game would feel dramatically different without it.

The main problem with DQV's gameplay, as another reviewer has pointed out, is that it's even more based on sheer luck than other games in the series. Between monster recruiting, the casino, TNT, and the Tombola, you'll likely find yourself wasting hours on end trying to get lucky, which is extremely irritating. One of the series' strongest attributes is rewarding a player for working hard – such as fighting monsters to become more powerful – but the excessive reliance on luck in DQV makes it lose a fraction of a point. The rather spartan system of monster catching – compared to the spinoffs in which one can lure the monster using meat or a display of strength – is irritating for the aforementioned luck-based reasons. It could definitely have benefitted from an overall to bring it up to speed with other, modern monster-catching games. But these are all very minor and somewhat subjective gripes in the grand scheme of things. Overall, DQV's gameplay is outstanding.

Graphics: 9/10

“Hand of the Heavenly Bride,” like “Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen”, utilizes the same graphics engine found in Dragon Warrior VII. Like “Chapters,” DQV is considerably prettier than VII. Almost all characters are 2D-sprites, and the action occurs in colorful 3D environments. Although the DS releases of DQ have been criticized for their graphics, they fit the games perfectly. Battles look fantastic, as monsters display a huge range of animation that dwarfs “Chapters.” I wouldn't be surprised if monster sprites took up more space on the DS card than anything else. Environments look much improved over DQIV as well; you'll see more distinctive architecture and environments (staircases come to mind) than in its predecessor. The final boss fight stands out as particularly spectacular in comparison to DQV's Super Famicom and PS2 incarnations, and even eclipses some much fancier-looking console RPG fights. Overall, the game's graphics fit it perfectly and look far more honest than the clunky, awkward 3D of some DS games.

Sound: 9/10

Koichi Sugiyama's orchestral scores are one element of Dragon Quest games that are universally consistent. Town themes are humble and cheery; battle themes sound tense and exciting; and staying at the inn or saving your game always produces the exact same melody from title to title. But Sugiyama's compositions for DQV are easily among his best; the overworld theme is probably my favorite from any DQ game, and the battle theme is one of the only ones I haven't gotten sick of hearing for the ten thousandth time. The ocean theme is simply beautiful as well. Usually I turn off the sound several hours into the game in favor of my music player of choice, but DQV is rare among the series in that I listened to (and even hummed) the music throughout the entire game.

Translation and Localization: 7/10

The translation is the only real weak link in DQV. Even more so than “Chapters,” DQV features many localization changes from the Japanese original, including many (if not most) character names, town names, monster names, and even plot elements. This wouldn't be so bad on its own, but the game tries far too hard to be funny, making puns and jokes at inappropriate times. This seems like some sort of attempt to attract younger gamers and to distinguish the DQ series from other role-playing games, but it falls flat on its face more often than not. Considering that many who will be buying this game are hardcore Dragon Quest fans who have already played fan translations of the SNES original, the bizarre, overwrought localization choices probably feel like a slap in the face. However, those who have not played the original (or games released prior to the Square-Enix merger) probably won't be bothered as much. Dialects incited criticism for their overblown use in “Chapters,” and appear far less frequently in V as a result. Party chat, which was cut from the US release of “Chapters,” is also back due to fan protest. Perhaps by the time Dragon Quest VI is released in the US, Square Enix will finally quit making unnecessary edits and changes in favor of staying faithful to the Japanese original.

Overall: 9.5/10

Dragon Quest V, despite quibbles with the localization odds-based gameplay, is overall a stunning game and one of the best RPGs available for the DS – or any system, for that matter. A deep, involving, personal story with an emphasis on family is perhaps its centerpiece, but monster recruiting and numerous optional quests and features add to its appeal. Now that it's been released outside of Japan with many features its past incarnations lacked, there's never been a better time to experience this outstanding adventure.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/24/09

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