If Dragon Quest V is anything to go by, I think I will sincerely enjoy the Dragon Quest series. Dragon Quest V is my first of the series, and as such this review is more than likely going to be a bit different. My easiest comparison is going to be Final Fantasy and Pokemon, the two JRPG series' with turn-based mechanics I have the greatest amount of time in. As such, forgive me if I sound incredibly ignorant to things like deeper mechanics or series trends, but I've attempted to do my research, and at the very least should be in the ballpark of all things.
All of that said, the reason I picked Dragon Quest V as my first game in the series when I had made the decision to play one (other games considered were Dragon Quest XI, Dragon Quest VIII, and Dragon Quest III) was the gimmick with its story. Dragon Quest V takes place over three generations, starting when you are a child following your father on his quest to find the legendary hero in order to save his wife, then moving into your adulthood where you continue your father's quest and get married, and finally becoming a father yourself to two kids that become your party members in the latter third, finally finishing your father's quest and defeating the big baddie attempting to take over the world. The story itself underneath this generational structure is your basic hero's journey stuff, of which you will predict every last step as you play, but the execution of the story was generally quick and fun, a swashbuckling adventure story that feels as epic as the 18 years that makes up its timeline. So long as you aren't expecting the philosophical toying that, say, Final Fantasy generally plays with, you are bound to enjoy this game's story the way you would a fun adventure novel.
What surprised me was that the story wasn't really what kept me around as I played. Despite the interesting premise, the family-as-party dynamic was severely underused (props where props are due though for a pre-Chrono Trigger JRPG on the SNES: it is incredibly unique plot-wise), and the aspect I was least thrilled about became what sucked me in, despite some of its less appealing aspects. You see, Dragon Quest games are well known for not changing up the formula of the JRPG turn-based combat system, as opposed to its peers in Final Fantasy. You cannot see your party in combat, you can't pick enemies to attack (instead picking groups of enemies, which sometimes feels arbitrary in how it groups them), and you have a basic party of four (in the re-release versions of Dragon Quest V). What Dragon Quest does well, however, is it keeps these basic mechanics incredibly tight. Dragon Quest as a series has quite the reputation of being grindy in parts, and Dragon Quest V is no exception. The last 15% of the game took just as long for me to get through as the first 85%, and that could turn a lot of people off the game. I generally made it through the game somewhat underleveled (as I like to do, because it gives a stronger focus on mechanics rather than leveled power), so this is partially my own fault. Likewise, one of the coolest mechanics (which we will get to soon) was something I had somehow breezed past without much experimentation. If you have a good sense of JRPG mechanics (not just experience with these systems, but a relatively tight understanding of buffs, debuffs, and party dynamics) then you will do much better than I did. The game averages out at around 30-35 hours, and it took me a little over 40 to complete, largely because of my approach. That said, no matter your skill level, there is still quite a few parts of the game where at least some grinding will become mandatory. These grindy bits, however, end up playing an interesting tight rope that I've never felt was well executed until Dragon Quest V. Generally speaking, grinding in an RPG should be a dis-incentivizing mechanic. It should be a red flag that there are some mechanics you aren't quite up to snuff on. The issue here is that sometimes you are underleveled, and figuring out which is which can often be a crapshoot. For the most part, Dragon Quest V does a fantastic job of upping the difficulty - particularly with boss battles - to force you into exploring its mechanics. Buffing, debuffing, and balancing out item usage for healing, MP regeneration, etc. is absolutely required in the latter part of the game. Bosses quickly start using buff and debuff spells, screaming at you that you should be doing the same. Likewise, later bosses use the Bounce spell heavily, which means any spells thrown their way will bounce back to the caster, requiring you to be aware of just what type of attack you are using and when, and to tailor your party accordingly. I've always felt that turn-based combat was a bit of a means to an end rather than an outright fun in and of itself (despite valiant efforts from Final Fantasy VII's materia system, or Chrono Trigger's group attacks), but Dragon Quest V squeezes out the most strategy it can from the base mechanics, and I found myself re-strategizing constantly as newer and more difficult bosses reared their wonderfully cartoony heads. (As an aside: the iOS and Android port, which is what I played, is one of the best mobile ports I've ever played, and I strongly recommend it if you are on a budget and don't want to splurge for the DS version, which is identical).
Of all of Dragon Quest V's tight-if-trite mechanical design, they innovated in one spectacular way: they included recruitable monsters. One of the Dragon Quest mechanical staples started its life here, and it is this game that heavily influenced the creation of the Pokemon games. Recruiting monsters takes quite a bit of trial and error, but it becomes one of the most fun and unique aspects of the game. Monsters can be added just like party members, and the best healers (and some of the best tanks) in the game are monsters, thus investing time into capturing and training monsters can give you a serious leg up, as well as opening up the customizable options for your party. As well, when you are in the overworld map (or facing certain endgame bosses), you have a bench of four party members that can be switched out at the beginning of a turn, giving you even more customization and strategic options. At the final boss, just before I beat him, I had lost my entire first lineup and was relying on my severely underleveled 2nd string, of which I had virtually no healers, only one who could buff and debuff, and one who was virtually useless in attack and defense. I won by the skin of my teeth because of them, and it was one of the most exciting moments I had in a game in recent memory.
Dragon Quest V is by-the-numbers in so many ways, but it is tight in how it utilizes the usual. It challenges subtly, rarely to the point of being hard (unless you made some serious error along the way, of which you only have about an hour of grinding or re-structuring before you're caught up again), and feels about the correct length for its content. Understandably, it doesn't innovate the way many other SNES RPGs did (one of the most competitive categories for a JRPG), but it is so incredibly solid I have to recommend it to anyone who loves the genre. Your mileage will certainly vary, but never so much as to regret playing it. All future Dragon Quest games have some serious heights to live up to, but I'm excited to check out them all.
9.0
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