Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride - Nintendo SNES - 1992

While gamers in North America were still playing Dragon Warrior III, and a month before Dragon Warrior IV was released there, those lucky Japanese gamers were already getting their teeth into Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride.  Poor sales of the previous games and the cost of localisation meant this game was not released in the US.  I am playing an English version from DeJap Translations.  I started this game soon after finishing Dragon Warrior IV and, whilst the game engine is basically the same, the difference between the graphics and sound quality is staggering.  The archaic graphics have received a 16-bit makeover and the soundtrack has been dramatically improved on the new hardware.

The game begins with an effective in-engine cut scene that sets up the story nicely....

Dragon Quest V starts on a ship with you playing as a six year old boy.  You are heading back to your home town of Santa Rosa with your father Papas, who has been away for five years searching for 'something'.  Your father is distracted with his research allowing the young Wingnut to get into mischief (and level himself up).  You are soon off to nearby Alcapa to see your father's friend Duncan who has fallen ill.  You are befriended by Bianca, Duncan's daughter, and set off on an adventure together while Papas recovers from the illness he caught from Duncan.  I grew quite fond of Bianca but had to leave Alcapa when Papas recovered. 

Back in Santa Rosa, Papas is summoned by the King of Reinhart and tasked with guarding Henry, heir apparent to the throne.  Henry is subsequently kidnapped but Papas manages to chase down the culprits.  Papas defeats his guards but their leader, Gema, holds a knife to Wingnut's throat and says that if Papas continues to fight, you will be killed.  Papas is attacked again but does not fight back.  Before he dies he tells you your mother is still alive and to find her.

The story continues 10 years later with you and Henry as slaves building the Great Temple.  You manage to escape and return to Reinhart where Henry stays on.  Santa Rosa has been destroyed but you find a scroll from Papas along with the Zenithian sword.  The scroll explains that Papas had been searching for a 'legendary hero' who can wear the Zenithian armour and is capable of wielding the Zenithian sword.  It also says you mother is still alive but has been kidnapped by an evil power.  I also visited Alcapa in search of Bianca, but Duncan had long since sold up and moved on.

I will note my thoughts below... 

• Maximum party size in Dragon Quest V has been reduced to three characters.  Wingnut is the only permanent member with other NPCs coming and going as the plot progresses.

• In common with the series, Dragon Quest V contains a wide variety of weird, wonderful and strange monsters.

• After obtaining a wagon, defeated monsters occasionally offer to join your party.  They can be used to top up the party when there are no NPCs and can be put in a wagon when not needed.  They can also be equipped with weapons and armour and some can use magic.

• A nice touch are the shops where it shows you who can equip particular weapons and armour and how much difference it will make to their stats.  It saves making pointless purchases.

• During the game I discovered Baron Ludman possessed the Zenithian shield.  The town had several suitors wanting to marry, Flora, his daughter.  The one who could bring Ludman the Fire and Water rings could win her hand and get the shield.  During the quest for the Water ring we met up with Bianca.  Even though she obviously had feelings for Wingnut she joined the party and helped recover the ring.  In the end I was given the choice of marrying Flora or Bianca and I chose Bianca.  The good baron still funded the wedding and on hearing about the search for the legendary hero from Henry, gave us the Zenithian shield as a wedding present.

• On our travels I discover Papas was King of Granavia and I am heir to the throne.  On the way there Bianca faints a couple of times, obviously telegraphing the fact she is pregnant.  Sure enough when we reach Granvania she gives birth to a twin boy and girl.  After your coronation the whole castle celebrates but during the festivities Bianca gets kidnapped like your mother.  You eventually find her but after his defeat the boss turns you both to stone.

• Fast forward another few years during which you are sold as a statue, you are eventually found by your children.  They have grown up and your son reveals he can use the Zenithian sword and armour.  You now have to find both Bianca and your mother.

• Up to this point the plot was pretty easy to follow.  I soon became stuck and did not know where to go next and had to consult a walkthrough.  It turns out I had to revisit Ludman.  One of his ancestors had trapped a demon in a jar and now the seals were weak and it was about to escape.  I hadn't needed to do any grinding until this bastard appeared over the horizon...

 
Defeating Buorn took several attempts and a lot of grinding. Once defeated he dropped the Final Key which meant I was able to access areas I couldn't reach before.

• There was a brief time travel element in the game where you had to retrieve a quest item from your younger self before it was destroyed by Gema.  I remember the scene from earlier in the game but I didn't think any more of it.  You can also warn Papas not to travel to Reinhart but he says he doesn't believe in fortune tellers.

• Your quest eventually leads you to the Demon World and the Evil Mountain.  In the evil mountain you arrive to find you mother being killed by Mildrath, the Demon Lord.  Her spirit joins Papas and they tell you you must destroy Mildrath.

 
And so we finally meet Mildrath...

Whatever.

As usual the final boss comes in two forms.  The first form was simple enough to defeat but I could not beat the second form.  

He didn't take much damage from physical attacks and he reflected magical attacks back at the caster.  Conversely, Mildrath can do a lot a damage with physical attacks and can cast the most powerful party damaging spells.  Additionally, he clears any buffing effects and heals himself every few rounds.  After several attempts and a lot of grinding I had to admit defeat and resigned myself to leaving this game unfinished.  I didn't feel to bad as I greatly enjoyed the journey up until this point.


After playing the previous two games in the series I was expecting another long slog.  Although it was very long, I found Dragon Quest V much more bearable.  This was helped in part by the more detailed graphics.  The sound was much improved too but I had to mute it long before I finished the game.  What really made the game enjoyable was the fantastic storyline and the fact that Wingnut was kept on as the lead character even after finding the legendary hero.  It made a change from Dragon Warrior IV with the main player character changing after every chapter.  Following Wingnut from childhood through marriage and parenthood made me feel more attached than I normally would to a game character.  I was genuinely interested to see what would happen next as the game progressed.  Overall Dragon Quest V is a brilliant game and I would rate it as my favourite JRPG to date.






Later...


The thought of not completing this game kept niggling away in the back of my mind.  After a few weeks I went back the game a did some grinding in the Evil Mountain every couple of days.  After a few failed attempts and with a lot of grinding in between I eventually defeated Mildrath.  This was done using the Increase and Bikill spells on the party and using the Sage's Seed every round (restores a few hit points to each character including those in the wagon).  I also swapped out party members that were low on hp until they were healed enough to re-enter the fray.  Eventually I managed to defeat Mildrath.
 

The ending was a bit anti-climactic.  You get whisked around the world to visit the main cast of characters which seemed to last an age.  The last place you visit is Granavia.... 

 

Dragon Warrior IV: Chapters of the Chosen - Nintendo NES - 1992

Here is another RPG I have completed, but is not one of my favourite games.  It started off well enough and I enjoyed it but lasted too long and eventually became a chore to play....

Hot on the heels of Dragon Warrior III, we have Dragon Warrior IV: Chapters of the Chosen, also released in 1992 for the ageing NES.  The game first came out in Japan in February 1990 as Dragon Quest IV. It took over two and a half years before it was translated and released in North America.  The original Dragon Quest game first appeared in 1986 and the graphics haven't really improved since then.  With the deIay between respective versions of the game, I can see why the Final Fantasy series became the JRPG of choice in the US, and the Dragon Warrior series was more popular in Japan.  Dogged by poor sales this would be the last Dragon Quest game to be officially translated into English until 1999.

Gameplay, graphics, sound and game mechanics are pretty much the same as Dragon Warrior III so I won't go into details here.  The main change is that you can save your progress at the more numerous Healer rather than tracking down a King.  The story however is very different.  It is divided into chapters, each one focusing on a different character or set of characters...

Chapter 1 - The Royal Soldiers
The King of Burland is concerned that children are going missing in the Kingdom so he sends out soldiers to investigate.  You play as Ragnar, one of these soldiers. On your travels you team up with Healie, a healer monster who wants to be human.  The only place the children can be held is in a tower which can only be reached by using flying shoes found in a dungeon.  Making your way through the tower you come across a dying soldier.  He said he heard some monsters talking about an evil being resurrected and that one of the children was destined to be the hero that would defeat it.  I then went on to kill the bosses of the tower and freed the children.  

Returning to Burland, the King gave Ragnar leave to search the world to root out evil.  Chapter 1 was very short and needed little grinding.

Chapter 2 - Princess Alena's Adventure
The second chapter on the other hand requires a lot of grinding.  This chapter features Princess Alena, the tomboy daughter of the King of Santeem.  Alena wants to go out into the world to prove her strength but the King has forbidden her from leaving the castle.  Alena manages to escape through a badly repaired window and is soon joined by Cristo (a 'Chancellor') and Brey (a wizard) who insist on coming along to protect her.  Alena is the best fighter of this group but cannot cast any spells.  Cristo is almost as good at fighting, can use good weapons and armour, and can cast defensive or non-harmful spells (such as 'Heal' and 'StopSpell').  Brey is a pretty weak fighter but can cast offensive spells.

The first quest is in the village of Tempe, where the townsfolk are having to sacrifice their daughters to prevent monsters destroying the town.  Killing the monsters was fairly straightforward.  This quest allowed us access the town to Frenor where the grinding really started.

In Frenor there was an imposter pretending to be the Princess.  Before we can confront her she is kidnapped and a golden bracelet is demanded as ransom.  

The bracelet was located in a cave south of Frenor and with all the random combats was hard to reach, let alone explore.  I had to grind a lot for money to buy the best equipment for the team.  I eventually found the bracelet to rescue the phoney Princess.  For saving her she gives us the Thief Key.

South of the cave was a travel gate which the guard prevented us from using by orders of the King.  The only way left to go was west where we came to Bazzar.  A messenger there said we should go back to Santeem as something had happened to the King.

The King had been struck dumb so we had to find some Birdsong Nectar to cure him.  Once cured he said he could not speak after dreaming of a great evil coming from the east.  He also gave us his permission to explore the world.

This time we could get through the aforementioned travel gate to arrive in Endor where a tournament was taking place.  The winner would win the hand of the King of Endor's daughter.  To win the tournament the participant would have to defeat five opponents to reach the final.  A fighter called Necrosaro had already defeated his five.  Alena managed to get to the final quite easily but Necrosaro did not appear so she won by default.  This meant Princess of Endor did not have to marry.

Outside the castle another messenger turned up telling us to return to Santeem again.  When we got there the castle was deserted and Chapter 2 ended.

Chapter 3 - Taloon the Arms Merchant
Chapter 3 follows Taloon the Arms Merchant as he sets out to become the best merchant in the world.  He starts out working in a weapon shop in Lakanaba and is advised to go north to a cave where he can collect an iron safe (I later found out this stops half the party's money being lost when they die).  Eventually he ends up in Endor where he opens his own shop and moves in his family.  After fulfilling an arms order for the King of Endor he has enough money to complete a tunnel that links Endor with Branca.  The chapter ends up with him travelling through the tunnel in search of a fabled weapon.

A couple of neat touches is the the weapon shop in Endor was up for sale when I visited it in the previous chapter.  Also a message board outside the castle proclaims Alena as the winner of the tournament.

Going back to controlling one character again was a bit disconcerting as it takes some time getting up to speed and this chapter again required a lot of grinding.  Also, being a merchant, Taloon often finds treasure chests containing additional items after combat.  This is fine but carrying a full set of armour, a weapon and the iron safe leaves only three inventory slots.  Add a couple of healing herbs and an antidote potion means plenty of juggling with the inventory and leaving potentially valuable items.

Chapter 4 - The Sisters of Monbaraba
In Chapter 4 we meet Mara and Nara.  They are on a mission to avenge the murder of their father, Edgar, who had discovered the secret of evolution.  Balzack, Edgar's apprentice, stole the secret and murdered his master.  Aided by Orin, another of Edgar's apprentices, the sisters track down Balzack to his castle.  Using the secret of evolution, Balzack has become powerful but the party manage beat him in combat.  Before Balzack dies, Keeleon, his master steps in and defeats the party.  

They are thrown into prison but soon escape.  Orin holds up the guards while the girls go on the run.  They manage to flee on a ship to Endor with their father unavenged....

Chapter 5 - The Chosen Ones
Chapter 5 begins in a hidden village.  Wingnut and his family are living a peaceful existence when the town is suddenly attacked by monsters.  Wingnut is put into hiding where it is revealed he is the hero prophesied to prevent the resurrection of the Ruler of Evil, but his training is not yet complete.  His best friend Celia takes on Wingnut's form and goes out into the village.  From his hiding place the hero hears a cheer coming from the monsters saying Wingnut has been killed.  When he leaves the hiding place the village is in ruins.

It seems the idea of this chapter is to collect the characters from the previous ones before going off the defeat the big bad.  The hidden village is not far from end of Taloon's completed tunnel.  I travelled through it to Endor where I found Mara and Nara who joined the party.  New recruits can be swapped in an out of the party but cannot be controlled directly in combat.  There are a number of preset combat options....

The only way to go next was through a desert by cart.  In the next town we found a ship commissioned by Taloon but it could not sail as a lighthouse was emitting 'bad light' causing monsters to appear.  We found Taloon at the lighthouse.

After we replace the 'bad light' with the Flame of Serenity, Taloon joins the party and suggests we sail south to Mintos.  

There we find Brey and a seriously ill Cristo.  Brey said Alena had gone to Soretta to find a cure for Cristo and joined us as we headed east.  We found Alena in another party and discovered the cure before her.  We cured Cristo and were told that Ragnar once stayed in the town but had headed to Keeleon Castle.  There we find Healie who is now a human.  He informed us Ragnar had been captured and was being held in the castle.  

We killed Keeleon and rescued Ragnar.

I now had the full complement of eight characters to choose from to place in my party of four (the others remain in a cart).  I had the idea of using the weaker characters in my party to strengthen them up but soon discovered those in the cart still gained experience - at least in the overworld.  The cart can't travel in most of the dungeons so only those in the party are awarded XP.

Next we returned to Santeem Castle where we once again faced Balzack who had used the secret of evolution to become even more powerful.  It felt right that Mara and Nara were in the party for this fight.  After these two boss fights I was hoping we would go on and find Necrosaro on my way to the end of the game, but oh no.  We now had to scour the world to find the famed Zenithian Helm, Armour, Sword and Shield.

At this point I was getting fed up with innumerable random combats and disappointed I had to invest at least several more hours in the game.  I took a month off before I could face the game again.

During my long hunt for the Zenithian items I came across and defeated the prophesied Prince Esturk, the resurrected ruler of evil.  Still the game refused to end....

FFS!

After retrieving the items I had to spend more hours battling through several more dungeons until we finally reach Necrosaro's Castle.

After lots more battles we finally, finally meet Necrosaro himself.

This resulted in a long battle and despite most of my party dying and running out of MP, I managed to eventually beat Necrosaro and reach the end of the game.


In my last post I bemoaned the fact that Dragon Warrior III took too long to complete.  Dragon Warrior IV was even longer and I lost the willpower to carry on during the last part of the game. One can only put up with so many random combats every few steps and pressing the same button over and over.  The completionist in me won out in the end but I can't say I enjoyed the experience.  Although I appreciate the effort that went into cramming such an epic game into an NES cartridge it could have done with being a lot shorter.  And I must learn to bail quicker than I have been doing. Dragon Quest V is next on my shortlist, but I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't make it onto my blog

The Ending