Game

I finally played all of the Dragon Quest games on the NES. So it’s only fair I jump to the next console too, right? There’s plenty more Dragon Quest games to play.

This one never actually came out here. After Dragon Quest 4, or Dragon Warrior as it was called here, came out, the series went slightly dormant for a while in America. Frankly I’m stunned DQ4 came out here, but the prevailing idea was that as RPGs were becoming more and more popular in Japan, the American market was dead. So what was the point? This version has NEVER been released over here, so all we get is fan translations, but that’s okay. This actually got two re-releases. A PS2 remake, and then a DS remake, which we FINALLY did get. But enough about the background, how’s the game?

Game

Dragon Quest 5 is considered one of, if not the best, games in the entire series. I think it’s… good! If I had to rank them for you, I’d put the series right now at 4 > 3 > 5 > 1 > 2. So, in the middle right now, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad. 3 and 4 are just fantastic. This game is better than all those in one particular standpoint: It’s story.

Dragon Quest 5 is about the life of a single guy. I called him Abel. Abel’s mom was stolen by demons as a kid, and his dad has basically been doing his best raising this son and also trying to find his wife. He’s also the king of a foreign country. Anyways, you play as Abel, starting as a young child, making friends, and throughout the game you go through like, 20-30 years of life.

The game doesn’t do an amazing job of showing this? Like, you leave your friend prince’s castle, take a boat, and go to another continent. You do one quest there, and go back, and your friend is like “damn, it’s been a few years! You’re lookin’ good, I got married! :D” and I’m like “it’s been 20 minutes”. There are time skips that are more visible, but that’s the general vibe you’re gonna get. Your wife gets pregnant and gives birth in a 15-30 minute dungeon.

Oh, yeah, your wife. This game has a Wife feature. You have two wives to pick from. One is your childhood friend you fought ghosts with, and have a connection with, and one is this random rich girl you met for 2 minutes who is clearly into someone else. So like, it’s not really that much of a choice.

Two other fun things about this story. 1: It’s a continuation of 4! You almost couldn’t tell, because the world map is so drastically different, but it’s the same world. One of the dungeons is the same thing, but falling apart from age, and the Dragon God is here. The other fun thing is that you are NOT the legendary hero. This world, as most DQ games do, has a Legendary Hero who is supposed to save the world from the coming darkness. That is NOT you. At no point do you overcome that like it’s some Wind Waker plot, no, it’s just not you. It’s your son instead :)

Game

I do like the plot, it’s really good and makes you feel some things in a lot of moments. But I’m just not as into the world and dungeon design. DQ4 had a fun story with great characters, but it also was fun to play for me, with a big fun world and dungeons to explore, but this for some reason wasn’t quite as fun. I dunno. Maybe it was the mood I was in? Who knows.

Oh, it does have one other feature to set it apart. This game has monster catching! Monsters have a percent chance to ask to join your team after a battle, based on the type of monster. Some monsters can’t join, but there’s a wide selection to choose from. This wasn’t as in depth of a system as like, Megami Tensei to me, and you don’t get to name your monsters, instead they come pre-named based on their type. But it’s not a BAD system. I’ve just played better.

Over all, good game! Like an 8/10, it comes recommended. I hear DQ6 is a serious letdown compared to 4 and 5, so I’m taking a break before tackling that. I think I’ll work on another RPG series…