What Makes Dragon Quest V Special

[@AuraLeafstorm]

"Dragon Quest has a way of showing you a thing, establishing a clear trope with which you are intimately familiar with and have grown to fully expect, and yet, somehow, still surprise you with it." ...What an apt description of the series. DQ's utterly sincere storytelling and its way of remixing classic fairy tale elements in its own unique way is a huge part of what makes the series so charming.

[@MoonlapseOpethian]

My favorite was the Slime Knight.

[@dakotadoyle7573]

Same. Whenever I play DQ5 I always try to recruit a Slime Knight and use him until you recruit your characters Kids

[@Zeomantic]

I was the "rad roommate" in college introducing a guy I lived with to Dragon Quest 8 on the PS2. He was a big FPS and online poker fan who also had a soft spot for RPGs. The guy was really big into online poker at the time and unfortunately wound up flunking out of school that year. Great video!

[@mbe102]

Gambling is rigged... online gambling is even more so. Good on you for showing him. Those are things and people you never forget.

[@samtheweebo]

I was also that rad roommate.

[@craigmckissick8840]

We live in a world where Dragon Quest lives in the shadow of Final Fantasy.. In reference to DQV- ‘It did literally create the monster catching genre’ SMT- ‘hold my beer’

[@justbilfo]

Yeah, I wish I could change that part of the script, this is a glaring oversight. I mean, I even mentioned SMT in the script but didn't stop to realize that it definitely came out before DQV. Dumb error that should have been caught in editing, I'll take it as a lesson to do an extra pass for fact checking instead of just assuming I remember things correctly

[@ahmedrahi5404]

@@justbilfo Nah ur good. Most people don't realize that so dwai.

[@craigmckissick8840]

Thanks for the reply, I was only having a little joke. I wouldn’t worry about it, it’s a solid video regardless. SMT and Dragon Quest monster collecting are completely different anyway. As if it isn’t difficult enough writing a script, gathering footage, editing, uploading and then optimising your video with tags and time stamps etc for the algorithm already without going over everything multiple times. Keep doing what you do :-)

[@ProjectTony]

SMT? You mean that spin off of persona? Nah brah......................

[@yoavitanzehavy6244]

@@justbilfo smt created that genre, but dqv made another type of monster catching, the more pokemon'ish and dq monsters and, and also dqv inspired pokemon

[@Morgil27]

"We live in a world where people think Final Fantasy is the original jrpg" There was a high profile show on Netflix not too long ago on the history of video games, and its episode on RPGs tried making that claim, which infuriated me to no end.

[@vladik87]

I had the same reaction

[@briangriffin5701]

I've been playing DQ and FF since NES and there's no mistaking which one was first but FF was better.

[@audrniasn]

@@briangriffin5701 Dragon Quest 3 is by far the best JRPG of the 8 bit era. The perfect classic OG JRPG. It took everything created by DQ1 and 2 and elevated it to the highest level. FF1 is fine, 2 and 3 suck because of jogability issues. FF begun to trully dispute Dragon Quest legacy in the 16 bit era, especially with FF6.

[@BringbackgAmberleafns]

tbf in europe anyway the dragon quest games didnt appear till way after ff games. i have no memory of ever seeing them in any game shop or retailer as a youth and i would be in my local game shop daily.

[@audrniasn]

@@BringbackgAmberleafns That's a shame. DQ was legendary on the 8 bit era. Especially III and IV. On the 16 bit era FF started to dispute with DQ with legendary games like FFVI.

[@Pdstor]

Thank the Lord there's one other person out there who doesn't think I'm crazy. When I played the port of this, back when there were just three characters, it STILL holds the same place the later port does today. As someone who recently lost his father and who, in my old age, play only the games that connect me to my nieces and nephews and that, most of all, still keep giviing more than nostalgia, the latter is ordered in top three as: 1. Chrono Trigger; 2. Dragon Quest V; 3. Final Fantasy Tactics. And these three are in a list becase I'm forced to put them in one. They are equal.

[@Pdstor]

And I'll shamelessly say that DQV would have topped Chrono had it been there in my formative years like CT was. ... probably not, but it WOULD have brought its equal perfect-10 experience to me at 18 than at twice that age. I needed these things at 18. FFIV and VI were not enough. FFVII and Tactics came during my fosh year in college. ... but did I regret missing out all those "bad" years of my life with one fewer comfort story to help me place my father before he deceased (in tthe sense of having it as a conceptual frame upon which to discuss Dad with my best friend, with whom I shared such convos from contextual comparisons from FFX to There Will Be Blood)? Nope. Did I consider it a "slap" at the US because its more mature themes had been too "hard", like the true Mario II, the true FF II/III/and for F's sake V? Yeah! So what if I and 39,999 others would have played FFV throughout the big, foreboding United States? I gravitated toward some of those 39,999 men and women, those were and still are my friends and the people with whom I play D&D still today at 44 despite starting it at my nephew's age of 10. I'll die with an Orthodox prayer book in one hand and a fistful of dice in the other. Also I had one game where I recruited a metal babble. I had a few hit point increases in my bag just for that occurrence. I knew I'd be mopping up metababbles, so that 1/64 chane became 1/16 or 1/8. Wow was that ever a good deal the one time it's happened so far. It's ruined future Dragon Quests. I can't remember a hair of VI except you get married and go to a casino ... or is that V? I haven't even completed VII or IX, sins I'll rectify shortly. I'm still waiting for XI to come out on cell phone. I've given up home on X. There's another DQ with a hand to hand component that is fun, but it is not in the canonical order. I like the game. I played it only 10 hours or so, though. Did V ruin my DQ experience? No, I just played it for the first time grown up.

[@granzedora]

​@@Pdstorno need to wait for x.

[@TheBrazilRules]

I have no idea what the op is supposed to mean

[@granzedora]

@@Pdstor you can just play it on PC with a translator

[@Dahras1]

This is a really, really great video and it captures so much of what I love about Dragon Quest as a series and about Dragon Quest V in particular. From the outside, plot-synopsis level, Dragon Quest comes off as very simple. Some of that is the fact that we in the West received Dragon Quest as the Ur-Fantasy-Adventure through mountains of derivative/referential anime and manga before most people even played the series. Some of it is that Dragon Quest really is a basic Fantasy Adventure. But the reason it works so well is that Dragon Quest uses the fact it is a game, its narrative *design* better than most video games release even today. It is magical that so much of your relationship with your Dad in DQV is told, not through dialog where he is nice to you and tells you he loves you, but through his mechanical effect on your play. Through the way he babies, restricts, but also cares for you and trusts you. It feels so much more like a real relationship with a father and makes the moments where he does express his love so much more meaningful. One thing I will point out about the back-half of Dragon Quest V is that the mechanical expectations of the JRPG genre were very different back then. I didn't play DQV on release, but I was a handheld-only, JRPG fan until high-school. That meant I basically played the history of JRPGs in rough chronological order from DQ 1, 2, and 3 on the GBC to FF1/2 on the GBA, to DQIV-V and FF3-6 on the DS. Playing in that order, it's plain to see that treasure hunts were a big aspect of JRPGs at the time, and that the way you were expected to engage with these hunts was by talking to every single NPC you could find and keeping mental note of what they were telling you. Of course, in games like DQIII and DQIV, the game explicitly began with a section where you are forced to talk to a bunch of people to find out where to go, and this was meant to train you to do so for the entire game. DQV doesn't really train you in the same way, since most of your direction in the first half of the game comes through the main story. But in the latter half, DQV still definitely expects you to play it like older Dragon Quests by talking to all NPCs and revisiting all areas you couldn't visit. If you do that, DQV is actually pretty straight forward, with the main confusing bit being what to do with the Flying Carpet. But then again, I played DQIII before DQV, and three gives you a boat and the entire world 10-15hrs into the game and tells you to knock yourself out. Personally, I really like open style of those older JRPGs, but I can definitely understand why DQV would be confusing without the prior experience it clearly expects you to have. Its kind of like how modern shooters don't explain that you are supposed to crouch behind waist-high cover. There is some affordance there, sure, but a lot of how we interact with waist-high cover is just convention. We've been trained to look for cover of that type by dozens of games featuring the mechanic, so at this point the mechanic is basically invisible to us.

[@ignotumperignotius630]

great, personal review and rec. Thanks for this, I enjoyed it all!

[@davec4274]

I am about to finish this video. Even though i am older than you, i feel compelled to hear your tale. Thank you for sharing. Love you man.

[@MagikMKW]

What a great video! There are so many subtle narrative moments that this game shows you without telling you. My most memorable moment is when I got to Bianca's town in Act 2 and I saw a new sprite with blonde hair, praying at a grave and my heart sunk in the happiest possible way. There are so many small ways this game makes you FEEL Klaz's journey and I love it so much

[@amm2media472]

For some reason I thought Klazz's official name was Luca, but then again my first exposure to DQV was the "Your Story" movie.

[@MHA-TSBro]

Im pretty sure the official name is Abel

[@nightwish1453]

@@MHA-TSBro actually it's Madason, abel is the manga name but only basing off the games themselves they use Madason

[@bigcurly3881]

This video is so fucking good I can’t believe how underrated it is. I hope the algorithm blesses this

[@Arragos]

You did a wonderful job on this retrospective! It is easy to tell how big of an impact DQ 5 had on you even though you were older when you played it, and I myself had a similar experience. It's my personal favorite game in the series. There's something very magical about the Dragon Quest series in general, but 5 takes a special spot due to its unique (yet simple) storytelling. I really enjoyed this video and I'm happily subbing for more. Personally, I'd really like to see some more Retrospectives on any game you had a close connection to, as you articulate your thoughts nicely.

[@DanishingAct]

Algorithm give this man your energy

[@-batman-1328]

Dq made the jrpg Ff popularized it in the west SMT made the monster hunting jrpg Pokémon popularized it in the west those four franchises are the cornerstones of the jrpg

[@trainerredcharizard7982]

Kinda sucks that in DQ11 you have a childhood friend but unlike Bianca she dobt do much/go with you.and she is very bland and yet everyone ship you with her

[@PazuChill]

"in the shadow of its own knock-off" - what a banger. I love Final Fantasy, but you've got me hooked with that, sir.

[@jordanresin9226]

I really appreciate the way you managed to put words to the subtle and sometimes uncanny ways Dragon Quest V connected you with its protagonist throughout your journey. Where so many other games I'd played prior to DQ aimed to wow me with thrills and shocking twists, Dragon Quest's writing style often crept up on me with the profundity behind its understated dialogue and gameplay/story synergy (with EarthBound's approach being my only analogue at the time, though Dragon Quest is working within a more "predictable" framework). When I first played DQV, there was a point when I looked back at my time with it and wondered at which point I became so invested in its world and characters; it's this gradual mounting of little, honest moments that caught me off-guard. I completely agree that the period of the game spent coddling and protecting your own children contains "the point" of Dragon Quest V (and the integration of the monster party mechanics does feel somewhat at odds with the rest of it, though anyone who swapped their kids out of the group is gonna have to see me after class), and it's vindicating to hear you felt that way about it. If you're down to struggle through some more random encounters, I think DQIV is almost, if not *as* interesting as DQV in the field of expressing unique story concepts through JRPG mechanics. For my money, 3, 4 and 5 are the series' crown jewels, though 11 is definitely the comfiest of the bunch. Excellent work on this, I'm always open to an honest retrospective.

[@hdfbhjds]

This game isn't the first monster taming game imo. Megami Tensei did monster taming in 87. Five years before this game.

[@sniveria]

I found myself close to tears while hearing about your story with Dragon Quest 5. I don’t know how it happened. Maybe because your narrative style is evocative. There were multiple moments where you abruptly brought up your gut reaction, or when you spoke of a human theme that the game evoked in you.

[@Taranturat]

I remember on one playthrough getting a Metal Slime by pure chance not even grinding for it, it felt amazing

[@paulhepworth3659]

I had to stop watching cause I really am going to play it and don't want any spoilers. I played 1 as a kid and just recently replayed 1 then played for the first time 2, 4, currently halfway through 8. Next up 5 then 3 2DHD.

[@veteran0121]

On a serious note the line "I hated my younger self" is definitely how I feel when I think about Dragon Quest nowadays. In many ways this series is better than Final Fantasy.

[@stevemanart]

I picked Debora for my playthrough that matters, and there are only 3 words to describe her "Best Worst Girl". I found her party chat is the most interesting of the three. Nera was kind and gentle and was always "on your side" even if you did spend time feeling each other out, and Bianca was already in love with you so it was already happily after after with her. But Debora had to really warm up to you. She complained a lot at first, then started enjoying things, then eventually actually started to really show that she cared about you.

[@juicyfartsofjimcornette1154]

I too played the DS version where she appeared in, and picked Debora too. By the end, I wanted to shove a grenade down her 20th letter 8th letter 18th letter 15th letter 1st letter 20th letter, and pull out a 7th letter 21st letter 14th letter, shooting at the grenade, 19th letter 16th letter 12th letter 1st letter 20th letter twice 5th letter 18th letter 9th letter 14th letter 7th letter her 2nd letter 18th letter 1st letter 9th letter 14th letter 19th letter all over a sidewalk! Anybody that says "that's an order" in that tone will become 2nd letter 5th letter 8th letter 5th letter 1st letter 4th letter 5th letter 4th letter! A poor woman's Louise Belcher (before the latter was created) is what Debora is! If you wanted to create a love interest that isn't a "Penelope Pitstop" for once, then copy Princess Ariel from Thundarr the Barbarian. Not an irritating Lola Loud! But hey, this is just another reason why I respect Yuji Horii and his writers as much as Jimmy Johnson respects Buddy Ryan! PS - KZbin's "filters" is the reason for why some words are spelled with numbers in case you are wondering.

[@c.w.simpsonproductions1230]

Lucky for me, I was one of the few people who actually bought the Dragon Quest titles when they came out in the West.

[@uroboloss]

21:12 SMT actually did the monster recruiting mechanic first. Megami Tensei Digital Devil Story came out in 87 and it featured the Demon Negotiation system.

[@Car-qu2bc]

I've never heard of you or your channel before, but i gotta say that this is an incredible video. Listening to your stories/perspective on the game mixed with the brief summary of the games plot, made this retrospective very interesting to listen to. I'd definitely be interesting in seeing more retrospectives of other games that left on impact on you. Whether it's the other games in this series or something else.

[@hitrapperandartistdababy]

Its among my top 10 if not top 5 games of all time. The story is just that good.

[@rafaelluciano5596]

Good work my guy. I'm glad you could see The light within jrpgs. Would love to see you play other similar games and tackle things in this format, but I suppose they would probably need to be special games for that.

[@abzu235]

4 and 5 are my favorite DQ games, thank you for this lovely video

[@J_Nasty]

I thought the DQ 5 protag's name was Abel?

[@nightwish1453]

in the manga however in VI's postgame they actually name him Madason in reference to the beginning of the game, if you pick madason you do get an erdrick reference instead

[@INFPGamer]

I've only played DQ 1-6 and 5 is currently my fave just above 4.

[@TheBrazilRules]

One thing you did not realize is that in the beginning of the game, as you are getting out of the ship, Nera, Debora and their father are boarding. It's in his ship where the intro happens.

[@monitor-mindtheover-void6712]

I love this game! Thanks for covering it.

[@EPS5000]

Megami Tensei was the first game to have monster taming, in 1987.

[@Bevtone]

It actually wasn't, Hack 1984

[@EPS5000]

@@Bevtone I searched Hack, and the Wikipedia page mentions the word "monster" 5 times but at no point does it say you can tame the monsters. In fact the word "tame" appears zero times on the page.

[@Bevtone]

@@EPS5000 mate please, I've played it. You did a 5 minute wiki search to see if it had the word "tamed" the game allows to to tame and keep multiple monsters, you can train them to use difrent abilties and even feed and ride them, its not the primary focus of the game much like MT and DQ5 but its a feature that non the less pre-dates both those games. You could have just been like "that's cool I wasn't aware of that game" allot people aren't but instead you where fixated on whether the wiki page features the word tamed in order to back up your idea of the concept, so maybe play the game and you can experience it for yourself rather than coming from a place of "oh my google seach didn't quite fit my personal criteria"

[@cragland94]

hell yeah this game is tight

[@wedding2710]

Amazing video. DQ5 is one of my all time favorite games. It's got the only silent protag that emotionally resonates with me and was so ridiculously ahead of its time. Your narration is also top notch. The only game I respect more than DQ5 is Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War. I'm still in awe of that game months after finishing it. I will be looking forward to the FE4 video you won't be making

[@kacomk24]

About the monster taming mechanic: i kinda actually really like how hard it is to capture the monsters, i can understand the frustration of wanting one and not being able to capture it because it requires hours of grinding, but really the fact it was hard and out of my choice realistically, made me value a lot more the monsters that i recruited, even if i didn't really wanted a mudraker named Clayton, i grew found of him and it stayed in my party until the end of the game fighting against Nimzo, every single player will have a unique experience with the battle system because ultimately people will have totally different monsters asking to join them, and I really appreciate that even if not perfect I still think it's for the best, it totally helps to imerse you in the hero's narrative With present context we may perceive this mechanic as a Taming Monster one but really in 1992 that wasn't a established genre, it's not about you recruiting them, they are the ones that choose the main protagonist, they want to be a part of your history, and it's up to the the player to accept their desire and stay with them, that's the feeling I think they intent to convey, monsters are not essentially evil "I'm not a bad slime"

[@AggressionSsbb]

Do you think the ds version is the best one? Just picking one to play

[@wedding2710]

Undoubtedly. It's a little on the easy side since you have 4 party members instead of 3, but it's just so smooth and perfect and nice-looking

[@justbilfo]

I agree with Wedding, the DS versions of IV-VI are all excellent and I'd say DQV on the DS is the definitive version. It's also the only version that was ever sold in the west. Both the SNES and PS2 versions would require patching roms with fan translations, which is a good solution when there aren't other options, but I tend to favor official releases whenever possible.

[@chrischandler889]

Ps2 is by far my favorite. If you are familiar with emulators and English patching or getting the pre patched Rom it is the way to go.

[@flyingrobotduck]

I played the first 4 dragon Quest games on Nintendo. I never played 5 or 6 until they come out on mobile. I liked it a lot, but I'd love to see a Switch port like we have of DQ 1-3.

[@knightmarin]

21:12 because Megami Tensei I & II on the nes didn’t exist 😭

[@ultimosis]

Great video. I really like your style.

[@NoLieIm51]

37:59 lol I thought the same, I must have missed a heal point, it took me 6 years on and off to beat dq5 it was amazing

[@AlleywayAcademic]

Just got your call, you're welcome.

[@AlleywayAcademic]

While I'm at it, SMT did monster catching before all of them. Again, you're welcome. Look into it.

[@jeffersonspyplanemusic]

This game has a lot of piccolo training Gohan vibes during the Saiyan saga.

[@nickritchie706]

Just finished the game last night via snes fan translation and I had pretty much the same experience. I know exactly what you mean when you say Klazz is the DQ hero, and I similarly can’t explain why. I think I felt the same intangible thing that you were feeling when you played through the game.

[@knightmarin]

I goofed up in the final fight, I only won because of my op golem💀 strong and can self Heal

[@TheBrazilRules]

6:39 be careful what you wish for *sniffle*

[@CarolinaHeart]

Having played the PS2 version (fan translated) this version looks massively downgraded in presentation (aesthetics/sound mixing) compared to that one. Although there's obviously a difference in technical power it'd be nice if it looked as good as IX.

[@Shoyru-UK]

I have been trying to get a hold of this game for years, the physical copy for the DS is £400.

[@gaiahinata]

Started playing dq5 yesterday on ps2 it’s so fun

[@Reaper478]

Felt like I was listening to a film noire detective monologue his thoughts on DQ. I love film noire so I adored this video. Thanks for making it ❤

[@RocksSocks-k2m]

If I may, for anyone or no one who reads this comment, I would like to give my story with this game. I think after watching this video it’s a story worth telling. Dragon Quest Five is not the best video game ever made, it isn’t best of its time, it isn’t the best of its genre or of said genre at its time. It is however to me, and I feel to many others who have played it, the most important game I’ve ever played in my life. Dragon Quest Five is not a terribly hard game, it’s difficult and I can say I had a very similar experience to the creator of this video, being under leveled the entire game and feeling a good sense of challenge throughout. However Dragon Quest Five is a game that took me five years to complete. When you hear this you may think I kept dropping the game and restarting it. That was never the case. It was one playthrough, the ds version, started when I was thirteen years old, and ended when I became eighteen. I got the game has a gift from my dad, I told him I wanted to play a dragon quest game(we were both massive rpg fans, and I had already played my share of final fantasies). I lived nowhere near my father, as I lived with my mother whom took full custody of me and moved across the country. I thought this was for the best at the time, I was a kid sucking up to their mother. I looked online for what final fantasy to play and it seemed five was the best one in many peoples eyes. My dad got me the game and not to long after I got to playing. I was a child when I started the game, and I ended it a man. Bobo(the name I decided the hero be called) also started the game a child. I remember the start of the game was this fun experience, a sort of whimsical fairy tale that filled me with joy on quiet afternoons home from school. I lived on a farm then, and those years were undoubtably the most whimsical my life has been. I was also a pompous brat back then, I had attitude for anyone or anything. I imagined Bobo the same way; I would snicker to myself as a boy imagining Bobo saying fuck you to the adults who talked to him. This game has a way of digging itself into the player. It’s not a terribly deep game but it grabs hold of its concept so firmly that as a player you truly feel like the protagonist, and the protagonist feels like you. This video equally points this out, this game digs into your soul, and puts it into the shoes of the main character. I would get lost. This is not the last time this would happen in the game. Months would pass without me realizing what I should do, then I’d drop the game for a year. However there’s something that pulls you into this game. Play any other game like it and if you take a year break you’d never be able to start from when you left off. You’d forget the story, characters, and would loose investment. However Dragon Quests Fives story is not complicated, its characters are simple. You don’t need to remember it well to know what exactly is going on. Has for the investment, you never stop being Bobo, or whatever you name your character. Just like you never stop being you. The moment I stepped into the game again, it was has if I never left. Things got bad in life. My mother did a lot of drugs, we lost the house, I lost connection to my sister and mother. I’ve still yet to see my sister again in person since this. I lived with my father, a fate I once dreaded. At this point I had also gotten to Bobo’s first twist of fate as well. His father died, and while I couldn’t yet find the power within me to care about the death of Pankrase, as I saw it coming a mile away, I did feel anger. I wanted revenge. I lost my identity when everything happened. I began to question everything I was. Many sleepless nights sobbing into the void plagued my fifteenth year of my life. Just the same Bobo had this happen to him. He lost everything, forced to live in a place where he could no longer be the same. The joke about cussing out adults slowly stopped. Two more years would pass, I would get lost two more times. One of which, when the character makes it to the church and in order to progress you need to go back into the church again would take me a year and a half to realize. I had grown to accept my surroundings more. I was in high school now and I had a girlfriend. I didn’t have time for Bobo anymore. When inevitably that relationship broke up into pieces(as most teenage relationships do) Dragon Quest Five was there to comfort me. I tracked onward, and got to the part where marriage comes back into play. When I first got the game, I was an arrogant child. One who thought he knew everything, one who thought his best attribute was his intellectual superiority to others. I lost that confidence in my new surroundings, but in my self loathing I had not realized a true strength within me growing, empathy. I remember the choice between wives was a difficult one. I remember the internal conflict, do I go with the girl I like more in Bianca, or do I go with the other choice. On one end I knew Bianca made more sense, but I felt a terrible guilt for that. It was a selfish choice, meanwhile the other primary bride option was one who had been essentially forced into marriage. If I don’t help her, then when some scumbag with enough money comes around who will be to her aid. I pushed my guilt aside and picked Bianca. The second twist of this game, when you turn to stone, hit me like a truck. Nothing had surprised me all that much until then. However it broke me inside a little. At this point it had been four years since I started playing the game. I had become a completely different person, a kinder person, but only onto others not towards myself. That was until a teacher I had, who saw straight through me told me that my kind heart was my greatest redeeming quality. I began to see myself more clearly, flaws and all. And as I continued to play I saw the same for Bobo, who after a troubled life had finally found happiness. I was genuinely joyed to rejoin with Bianca, bring the family back together. If there’s one thing this video failed to mention it’s how great the party chat is in this game. Every characters got something to say for every situation. In this moment, with the family reunited, does that feature truly shine. I had become an adult at this point but there was one thing still left to do, find my mother. It was not lost on me how Bobo had the same story. Has life carried on for me, so did his. Our searches intertwined and it led to a lot more self introspection. Eventually we both would find our mothers, learn the truth of everything that happened, who was responsible and who wasn’t. Everything would come true but there would be a realization shared by me and Bobo. It was too late. My childhood was already over, the years where my mother could’ve done anything to make up for what happened, to help me were over. Bobo was the same, when he’d finally see his mother again it’d be short lived, she would die and Bobo would be left without his parents, I can at least attest to being luckier than that. Still regardless both me and the fictional character would be left with the same message from our mothers, to keep pushing forward. Through the tears I would beat the game, and finally grant Bobo his happily ever after. This game didn’t change anything in my life physically, it’s not as though its existence played a role in how chaotic everything was. However it did hold a mirror up. One big clear mirror that was right in front of me for five years, sometimes I wouldn’t recognize what I saw in that reflection, sometimes I was to afraid to look, but now I see clearly. I partially have Dragon Quest Five to thank for that. I love Dragon Quest five and I love the video that was made about it here. Take good care of yourself.

[@yass3425]

This game narrative is deep tf XD

[@JoeFpoc]

I watched this while playing dq8 on my 3ds. I played dq4,5,and6 a while ago. Although I did love them I just can’t tolerate random encounters anymore after being spoiled with newer rpgs. Great refresher video though. Would be amazing if they remade 4-6 in the style of dq11

[@Genethagenius]

I cannot recommend the PS2 version with English patch enough! Definitely check out if you’ve played & enjoyed the SNES & DS versions!

[@TheBrazilRules]

You can't criticize DQV for the monster recruiting mechanic. Grinding is the ethos of the series. If you are playing the game properly, you are going to recruit all the monsters you need inevitably. Eventually but inevitably. You asked if having to grind for the haunted castle was intentional, and the answer is yes. The way Dragon Quest was designed to be played is buying every equipment a town offers and THEN moving on with your adventure, so your grinding is for money first and experience later, which is great, because it gives you a tangible goal instead of being like "I wonder if I should be level 4,5 or 6 to beat the next boss". Also the reason you only lose half your money when you die, is also to enable organic grinding. Oh you lost your money, so you will take longer to buy that weapon you want, but at least you keep all your experience and will level up a bit more than if you did not die.

[@Nando75549]

Not to mention, DQV also gave birth to the Monsters spin-offs.

[@bornanime3255]

A beautiful retrospective man. Loved this game so much. Not sure if I want a remake for it or not. Still, its very good. I feel like for the marriage thing I didn't mind that it pushed towards Bianca. I liked Bianca the most and felt like the Hero would've felt the same. Only problem I have with it is that we don't even get a decent taste of what the other girls are like before choosing, plus the pressuring is fine until you talk to Bianca's Dad. Who in his practically DYING WORDS essentially begs you to marry her so she's not alone when he eventually passes on. Like, that was where the game lost me. It didn't need to be that deep bro💀 I also wanna say I don't mind grinding in JRPGs at all. Just like mob enemies in a hack and slash, practicing with NPCs in a fighting game or what have you. I fully expect to be some section of the game where I'll have to go through monotony to get better in some capacity. I mean I always felt like I obviously don't just wanna be handed all this power. Of course I wanna feel like I earned it rather than me just coasting and the game just making me a god simply for existing.

[@samtheweebo]

Yo get the ios phone version of Dragon Quest V. It has the monster magnet item that you can get as soon as you can recruit monsters if you don't mind cheating the casino a bit with saves.

[@leandrabarros3582]

And you are right, Bianca is best girl

[@gloven2run689]

I'm truly impressed.. what a gem of a video... Consider me subscribed... Consider the video +1 more likes.. time to ring that bell

[@aes6474]

Shin Megami Tensei came out only a month after DQ5 so saying it wouldn’t exists without DQ5 is a biiiiig stretch

[@Bevtone]

Well it actually pre dates that 1987 and then hack was in 1984 but the producer's of pokemon have actually stated thier primary influence was dq5 so it isn't a stretch in the slightest

[@aes6474]

@ DQ5 came out in September of 1992 and SMT1 came out in October of 1992. Not really sure what you mean by 1987 and 1984, neither of those dates have anything to do with DQ5 from what I can tell.

[@Bevtone]

@@aes6474 Sorry I didn't specify that Megami Tensei (1987) (the og) has a monster taming mechanic, and a game from 1984 called Hack has a similar mechanic although the monster's aren't party members but you can capture them and train them to use special abilities and even feed them, both of them pre date dq5 but dq5 was the primary influence behind pokemon.

[@gentronseven]

I went to Amazon to buy Dragon Quest 5 and it's literally $300 for DS lol.

[@MyPisceanNature]

I chose Debora. 😂 Easily.

[@theepickyo]

I chose debora

[@LindaTaylor-e7u]

Lopez Patricia Wilson Susan Wilson John

[@TrevRockOne]

Okay, but Megami Tensei predates DQ5.

[@ahmedrahi5404]

Nah ur right on that. Megami Tensei helped create the monster collecting genre.

[@-batman-1328]

That it did still one of the best too

[@ahmedrahi5404]

@@-batman-1328 damn straight.

[@El4N73L0XII]

Okay, but Cosmic Soldier predates Megami Tensei.

[@karebushmarebu233]

@@El4N73L0XII okay, but it’s a shit game compared to Megan Tensei, especially megami tensei 2 which also predates DQV

[@sztrife1]

it's impossible to explore in this game with the rate of random encounters

[@justbilfo]

this was how i felt as well, though the common response from dragon quest fans is to use auto-battle for random encounters. i still don't love this, but its worth trying out. regardless of that, i'd say this is a game where it might not be the most fun for everyone, but it definitely is an important game in the history of the genre and deserves respect for that if nothing else

[@joaonitro5149]

git gud

[@analogmoz]

And yet generations and generations did somehow.

[@MisterSpeedStacking]

Another "video essay retrodpective" where the guy just retells the entire story of the game. ZZZZ

[@dangerass1982]

Calling Final Fantasy a Dragon Quest knock off is dumb as hell. Is every heavy metal band a knock off of Judas Priest? Is every mob movie a knock off of The God Father? Final Fantasy is far more character driven and almost immediately took the genre to heights far beyond Dragon Quest, which has barely evolved since it debuted. And Dragon Warrior was the first JRPG I played. Dragon Quest is a solid, generic JRPG series.

[@justbilfo]

It was hyperbolic and reductive to call Final Fantasy a dragon quest knock-off, but the point of the video wasn't to discuss the history of the JRPG genre, but instead to highlight a classic game that is beloved by a niche community but lacks mainstream recognition. FF is not a DQ knock off, but it is a series that would not exist without DQ. Dragon Quest created the genre, and now people call it generic when it's only generic because of how many people have been so inspired by it that they made games which reuse the same tropes and mechanics. It's the Seinfeld effect, where someone has consumed so much media inspired by the original that the original feels bland and generic as a result.

[@tacticsogreman]

FF took genre to heights far beyond DQ?? The whole of Japan disagrees with you. DQ series are called National RPG. FF ain't called that. Everyone knows what a slime looks like. There isn't a single FF monster that famous with so much merch around it. There are DQ styled cafes. FF has none. There are multiple successful games based around side characters from DQ series. FF series have 1 spinoff (I lump all chocobo games in one since it's same character as the focus). FF is another great series, sure. But it ain't as impactful. Calling Lord of The Ring a "generic high fantasy" is basically what you're doing here by calling DQ a generic jrpg.

[@yoavitanzehavy6244]

You are the stupid dq hater that seems like he is nostalgia filled and can't believe ff (especially ff6, ff7, ff10) sucks compared to dqV. ff is the most overrated game series with story that is complex for the wrong reasons, dqV and dqViii and XIS are character driven as much as ff7 6 and 10, in ff games the main cast is like the most npc cast ever, in dq they have personalities. Although dq 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 10 have very bland characters, 11, 5, 8 have very good cast that makes the games amazing. Dq games have a basic concept, the developers experiment with it making games with different focuse, most are very bland in the story and little like DQ8, 5, and 11 are actually good, simple story concept doesn't mean it's bad, DQ5 11 8 take a simple story concept and make it very complex with a lot of emotional and happy moments with amazing characters. In the end almost every ff and dq game can be described as "bad man is stopped by heroes", but what's matter is the way you get to that moment that matters. This what makes those 3 dq games special, because the stories there are very actually character driven

[@yoavitanzehavy6244]

@@tacticsogreman Can't agree with you more

[@holysmoke7236]

Luca is a G!