In the days before the 2002 marriage of Square and Enix into the RPG colossus we know today, Dragon Quest, or Dragon Warrior as it was known in North America, seemed to be aimed at more of a niche audience—far from the widely popular (and highly publicized) series it is today in Japan.In fact, it’s probably a safe bet that most westerners had never even played a game in the series until Dragon Quest VIII hit north American shores back in 2005. Such was the fate of many a localized Enix title when it was still a standalone company.
But since 2002, it hasn’t been just the former rival companies that have benefited; gamers have as well, and in spades. Aside from huge financial gains, the merger has arguably made it easier for Square-Enix to take chances by releasing old favorites here that not only have never been localized for western audiences, but also aren’t necessarily typical of the genre.
Case in point: Square-Enix’s release of the never-before-localized Dragon Quest V, a beautifully re-created iteration of the classic Super Famicom release. Like most games in the venerable series, this one is a classic throwback to the simpler times, when random battles were plentiful and characterizations were comparatively straightforward.
But that’s doesn’t mean that the game is just like any other RPG you can play on the market. To one extent or another, Dragon Quest has always struck me as a series with personality and true soul, something that sometime-overbearing, heavy-handed Final Fantasies can’t even always measure up to (although I’m nitpicking out of love in saying so).
Regardless, DQV is brimming with the series’ signature vitality. The game’s narrative follows a young boy’s journey into manhood, a path fraught with many personal hardships he must endure and ultimately overcome. Along the way, our intrepid hero has to navigate through life’s twists and turns, including personal responsibility, marriage and fatherhood.
Even today, few RPGs try the life-lived approach, sticking instead to the basic “hero must save the world from impending doom” approach. While DQV employs a little of both, there’s a notable amount of basic humanity injected into the storyline, keeping things fresh and engaging throughout.
I actually cared more about the personal lives of the game’s small cast—that includes some of the NPC supporting characters—than I really did about the impending doom. That’s pretty impressive, especially for a game that originally debuted in 1991, when RPGs hadn't yet reached the epic levels they have today. Anyway, I don’t think I’m alone when I say that most of the time you play an RPG for the story, and DQV delivers a wonderful and even moving tale.
The game has some other innovations not seen in most games of its time, as well. Take, for instance, the Pokemon-style monster catching element of the game. If you’ve played Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker, you have the basic gist—you can catch monsters you fight in the wild and allow them to join your party as allies, the difference being that unlike Joker, you battle with your beasties rather than just watching them (that, and there’s thankfully a lot less grinding).
For monster-catching enthusiasts and completionists, this feature could add countless hours to the game’s overall length, and different monsters have their own spells and abilities. Monsters can be stored in your wagon or with a monster caretaker, which makes collecting more convenient than a chore.
DQV has standard linear progression inherent to the genre, but you can choose who you want to marry, which is an interesting twist, and the addition to talk to your party about contextual goings-on is a good addition. (You also have your traditional smattering of minigames and side-quests, although DQV, for the most part, sticks to the main story). Finally, I can’t be thankful enough of the game’s dual-screen presentation.
Like last year's DQ IV, this feature makes much quicker work of dungeons, since you can use both screens to check paths for holes and dead ends without actually having to walk down them. In towns and some other areas, the environments are semi or completely rotatable, which really adds a lot to the presentation.
Personally, I love the quaint, limited environmental renderings seen in 32-bit games like this—the charming juxtaposition of humble sprites, blocky geometry and bright, simple textures evokes a sense of character that isn’t always present in more powerful offerings.
Combat animations are the same way—simple and straightforward, you simply stare your enemies down in first-person, but the baddies are large, colorful, and very smoothly animated—there’s really aren’t any hitches anywhere DQV and even for being dated, the game offers some wonderful visuals to feast on (the roiling waves of the ocean in battle and a particular water themed-dungeon come to mind).
DQV is definitely old school, but there’s very little I have to say against it. Occasionally the game’s reliance on finding clues about where to go next through obscure conversation isn’t as helpful as it could be, and at around 25 hours you can blow through this one pretty fast (if you want to). But for all the game’s heart, humor and simple-yet-engrossing narrative, these are trifles.
It may be relatively quaint by today’s stand-by apocalyptic standards, but DQV is overflowing with what many other RPGs are lacking—a personality—that alone makes it worth a look. The other stuff? That's just icing on the cake.
Draqon Quest V: Hand of The Heavenly Bride
Square-Enix
Nintendo DS
$34.99
4.5 out of 5 stars
