Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride for Nintendo DS Reviews by Gamers

Dragon Quest V for the Nintendo DS is a remake of an age old classic. This game is one of my favorites in the series, and like the majority of past DQ's allows you to create your own party and take on the games story however you may choose. One of the top features of this title, which I feel it executes better than other DQs, is the monster raising system. Throughout your quest (once you obtain a wagon) you are able to defeat and through total chance, recruit monsters to fight along side you in the game. Monsters may not be utterly important to your success in defeating the ultimate evil, but they not only bolster the classic RPG's gameplay, they add hours upon hours of replayability to it as well! Each monster has its own set of skills and abilities it can learn through leveling up, some of which arent obtainable even through leveling up the main human characters in the game. Whether you recruit a lowly regular Slime, or the elusive Liquid Metal Slime (which has the lowest recruit rate of all monsters), you can effectively enjoy hours and hours of monster raising throughout your quest! Another great feature in this DQ is the extremely unique way(at least for the DQ series) the story is played out- instead of chapters like its predecessor DQ IV, it is played out through a series of time skips, allowing you to experience the world and its characters as they change over time. As with all Dragon Quest titles, along your journey you will face hardships and shocking story twists, which will excite you and keep you guessing at every turn! And all along the way you can recruit new monsters, collect knick-knacks that act as trophies of your accomplishments or perserverence, meet tons of colorful characters, and explore a plethora of tough dungeons and unique kingdoms! Dragon Quest V is a must play for any fan of traditional Japanese RPGs! And anyone that likes a good story which is told throughout a fantastic game!

well dragon quest v is a great game for a dragon quest fan, you start off as boy searching for a legendary hero. This game can be hard for some well... because its dragon quest if you played one you know what to expect, level grinding, but that's dragon quest. The game lets monsters join your team and you can give them armor and weapons which is nice but the game deserves a try if you get upset or stuck find a walkthrough.

I couldn't even play more than a hour because of the battle system, you lock on 2 targets and it hits 1?

This series is tired. All of these games are exactly the same, but with a different plot twist. I used to love this series but it is just getting old. These games consist of the same monsters, the same problems that the hero gets dragged into and the same need to constantly grind in order to properly progress through the game. I used to be a fan but not anymore.

hi

I've been playing Dragon Quest since it was known on the American shore as Dragon Warrior. I've beaten just about every one of the series, so I feel I am qualified to judge this game on it's merits.

Story: 9/10 The plot to this game follows your main character throughout his life, from birth through the end. Different things happen based on your (relitively few) choices. I beat this in roughly 25-30 hours (I forgot to check before I sent it back). It's a fairly robust story, though I would've liked to see more backstory to your other characters. Essentially, instead of "Let's save the world, and we might find your family" as an afterthought, the story was more like "Let's find your family, and we might save the world".

Gameplay: 8/10 Bear in mind, this is an old school rpg. There's not alot of things to affect this score as it's entirely menu driven. That said, they included an ability to speed up battle text, which for me kept most battles from being tedious. Also, while there were only 6 consistantly playable human characters (and most of them aren't with you for most of the game), they include the ability to catch and train monsters. This is random, though they give you a way to tell if you can catch them via the "Big Book of Beasts" item.

Music: 9/10 Standard Dragon Quest faire. This hasn't changed a whole lot since NES.

Graphics: 9/10 Good, for the DS.

Replayability: 10/10 I realize on this one I'm not a good judge, but in 25+ hours, I didn't do everything, and there's still two other brides to pick.

Rent/Buy: If you like old school RPG's, buy. If not, probably either rent or stay away.

I was so excited about this game the funniest part is when you get a wife!lol!!!!!!!!!!!!I used cheats to beat it but I could not beat the final secret boss estark.

+Epic, engaging story.
+Choosing monsters for your party adds depth to combat and a design element.
+Characters joining/leaving party with story keeps things fresh.
-Slow to get started, very few interesting combat options at first.
-LOTS of grinding for experience and money.

This one was great! The random battles are actually fun. Finding the knicknacks is fun. Even the casino is fun. The story is engaging, the characters are good, and it contains all the features that made the DQ franchise popular -- recruiting monsters, and the quest for the elusive King Metal Slime. This is a great DS game, well suited to the platform. The graphics are great and the music is very well done.

I have been a fan of akira toryama's work since dragonballz was shown on TV. All of his games have a unique art style and can be easily identifyed. This installment is better than 4 mainly because of the more detailed graphics. The story is pretty cliche the usual save the world from a looming evil stuff. One interesting option is choosing your wife which slightly changes the ending of the game. The gameplay is rigourous yet rewarding with tons of usefull spells and abilities. Every boss fight is epic especcial the one agianst the giant godzilla monster in monsterferresto(I hope i spelled that correctly). There is the usually casino with a few unique board games like TNT where you traverse a board to win weapons. This is a long game about 40 hours

Graphics: 8/10
For a DS game, the graphics are great: animations are smooth, and the world highly detailed. Classic Dragon Quest art style.

Gameplay: 7/10
Smooth battle animations, quick random battle load times, and simple controls are great. Slighty hampered by a tedious inventory system.

Story: 6/10
Main story and side quests are cliche. Protagonist often reduced to a supporting role. Little immersion.

Replayability: 4/10
You won't miss anything the first time through, so unless you really enjoy the story, or thoroughly enjoy grinding, there really isn't anything to bring you back.

Overall: 6.25/10

This game should have been done on the GBA not the DS. I only give it a 6 Because it is Dragon Quest if it had a different name I would have giving it a lower rating.