Dragon Quest V
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Dragon Quest V | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Developer(s) | Chunsoft (original) Artepiazza (remake) |
| Publisher(s) | Enix (Japan) |
| Release date(s) | JPN September 27, 1992 (SFC) JPN March 25, 2004 (PS2) |
| Genre(s) | Role-playing |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo Super Famicom, PlayStation 2 |
| Media | 16-megabit cartridge, (SFAM) DVD (PS2) |
Dragon Quest V Tenkū no Hanayome (ドラゴンクエストV 天空の花嫁 Doragon Kuesuto Faibu Tenkū no Hanayome?, lit. "Dragon Quest V: Bride of Heaven") is the fifth installment in the Dragon Quest video game series. It was first released as a Super Famicom game in Japan on 1992, and has been remade as a PS2 game in 2004 in Japan. It remains one of the two installments in the series to not have been released in North America (the other game being the next Dragon Quest VI). Enix did not release the game outside of Japan due to programming issues discovered after the game's Japan release. While the game was never officially translated, two fan translations exist for the Super Famicom version.
Dragon Quest V takes place over twenty years of the main character's life, in which he gets married and has a family. The title features an interesting gameplay dynamic in which monsters from random encounters may offer to join your party. This concept was used in later Dragon Quest games, and focused on exclusively in the Dragon Quest Monsters series. This idea would be later used in the Pokémon video game series.
Contents |
[edit] Development
[edit] PS2 remake
Square Enix released a PlayStation 2 enhanced remake of Dragon Quest V on March 25, 2004. As of April 2004, the game has sold over 1.5 million copies making it the top selling Dragon Quest remake game of all-time. The remake was developed by former Dragon Quest VII art directors, Artepiazza. It features 3D graphics that are similar to Dragon Quest VII, but it utilizes the extra PlayStation 2 graphical capabilities. The hero and his companions have to fight more monsters in the PlayStation 2 remake than they did in the Super Famicom original, but the character limit on the party has been increased from three to four. Also, there were only 40 monsters available to your party in the Super Famicom version of Dragon Quest V due to ROM limitations. The PlayStation 2 remake, however, does not suffer from this restriction. The music is performed by the NHK Symphony. Another new feature in the remake is the "Yuujii's Speciality Museum;" the player has to collect local specialties from all around the world, return the items back to a character named "Yuuji," and receive rewards for them. The Dragon Quest V remake is the first Dragon Quest release in the Square Enix name. Lastly, a Dragon Quest VIII preview video disc is included in the Japanese release of Dragon Quest V remake. As of 2004, Square Enix's North American branch has no known plans to localize the Dragon Quest remake, but that may be possible depending on how well Dragon Quest VIII does in North America. The likelihood of localizing of this version of Dragon Quest V is unclear as of now. (Dragon Quest VII was announced for localization as Dragon Warrior VII one year after its Japanese release. Unlike the Dragon Quest IV remake, Heartbeat was not involved in the development of the Dragon Quest V remake.) If this version of the game does get localized to North America, it will be released in the Dragon Quest name, because Square Enix registered in the Dragon Quest trademark in the US in 2003 signaling the retirement of the Dragon Warrior name. As of this fiscal year, as Dragon Quest is one of the company's flagship franchises, Square Enix is planning to release at least four Dragon Quest titles in North America, and that may include Dragon Quest V. A fan translation of the PS2 version is currently being worked on by Kojiro Translations.
[edit] US SNES Cart
A rumor has begun that the release of the game for the US SNES was apparently underway when the decision was made to shelve the project. The rumor states that a number of cartridges for the US NTSC SNES are in circulation, and can occasionally be found up for auction on eBay. The rumor usually continues by stating that the exact number of carts in existence is unknown, but is estimated by some to be under 1,000. This rumor was started by people selling reproductions made from fan translations on ebay and the rumor is completely false.
Reproductions are not approved for sale on ebay, so a small release rumor was created so that their reproduction could be sold on ebay under ebay's rules. The story is also used to pump the rarity of the item and increase its final sale. Reproductions can be easily made with the proper soldering skills and electronic knowledge. Because they use fan translations and usually use stolen rom files, they do break copyright laws.
[edit] Plot and setting
[edit] Plot
Dragon Quest V begins with a brief scene of the Hero's birth (Dragon Quest V's hero is named by the player) and his mother's subsequent death. After that scene, the Hero finds himself in his room with his father Papas. After checking the drawers, they leave the ship and Vista Port for Santa Rosa, where Papas' friend Sancho lives. Upon arrival, the Hero meets Sancho's daughter Bianca. After exploring the cave behind Santa Rosa, he and Papas accompany Bianca to Alkapa. Upon arrival at that town, Bianca and the Hero explore the haunted castle Lenoire, where they obtain a mysterious Golden Orb. Afterwards Papas and the Hero return to Santa Rosa, along with a pet tiger named Borongo.
The next day, the Hero notices a man in the town who looks very similar to him. That man asks the Hero to show him the Golden Orb and, after returning it, asks him to take care of his father Papas. Elsewhere in town, he finds the ghost of Bella. She asks him to return with her to her country, the land of Faerie. Here, the two must defeat the Queen of Ice to allow Spring to return to the land. After accomplishing this feat, the Hero, Papas, and Borongo travel to the eastern kingdom of Reinhart. Here the Hero befriends Prince Henry; the Hero and Papas must then rescue him after he is kidnapped. But while doing so, Papas is killed by a trio of powerful monsters, the Golden Orb is destroyed, and the Hero and Henry are sold into slavery.
The story continues ten years later, when the Hero and Henry have grown up working on a giant temple. They get into a scuffle with the guards after seeing a girl named Maria being whipped; the three of them are released from the temple and sent drifting to the casino town of Oracleberry by Maria's brother. Here the Hero and Henry discover that Santa Rosa has been destroyed by the armies of the Queen of Reinhart (Henry's mother, acting as regent for his brother). Upon paying a visit to his homeland, Henry discovers that his mother has been replaced by a monster. After unmasking and defeating the monster, Henry and Maria marry and become advisors to the king.
Afterwards, the Hero will travel to the western continent, where he will meet up with Borongo once more, and travel to the town of Salabona, where the wealthy nobleman Ludman and his daughter Flora live. He sends the hero on a quest to retrieve two magic rings, of fire and water. The hero is able to accomplish this task only with the aid of Bianca, who is living in a nearby village. Afterwards, Ludman offers him the chance to marry Flora; but it is also possible for Eiyuu to marry Bianca instead.
After the marriage, the Hero takes his bride (Bianca is widely considered to the canon bride amongst fans) through a great mountain path that leads to his homeland of Granbania. Upon their arrival, Sancho is shocked to see the Hero and Bianca, and immediately takes them to see the current King of Granbania, Ojiron, younger brother of Papas. The Hero must undergo a Royal trial before he can assume the throne, while a pregnant Bianca rests. During the coronation celebration, Bianca is kidnapped, but the newly born twins were safely hidden.
The Hero rushes to save Bianca, but upon defeating the powerful monsters who kidnapped her, both the Hero and his bride were cursed -- turned into stone. They would both remain this way for over eight long years.
The Hero is found by his two children and Sancho in the garden of a wealthy man's estate. The Hero is revived, and brought back to Granbania castle. They still have not found Bianca, but they have a lead on the whereabouts of the Hero's mother; she was from the town of Elhaven on the continent north of Granbania. The Hero goes there, finds more information and a magic carpet. Travelling the world to collect the legendary "Heavenly" or "Celestial" armanents for the Legendary Hero, it is discovered that the Hero's son is indeed the Legendary Hero.
During this stage of the journey, the Hero avenges Papas by killing Gema, and restores the Dragon God to his rightful form, as well as his flying castle. To accomplish this, the Hero had to enter a time warp to retrieve the Golden Orb from his child self. The Hero, older and wiser, attempts to talk Papas out of going to Reinhardt to his demise, but Papas does not heed the warning.
After returning to the temple the Hero helped build as a slave, the Celestial armor is found, as well as the statue of Bianca. After the final source of evil is eradicated from the world, the party is told about Martha remaining in the Demon World, and the final source of evil, Mildrath, lying in wait. The Hero, Bianca, and their children agree not to leave Martha in the demon world, so together, they travel there via a portal near Elhaven, and reach the Evil Mountain.
Martha is found inside, but dies shortly after meeting the Hero and his family. The party continued on, to confront and destroy the lord of evil, Mildrath. They return to Granbania, and have a joyful party. As the family celebrates, Papas and Martha watch their son and his family from the heavens, happy and content with their progeny.
After beating the game, you can gain access to the bonus dungeon. Dragon Quest V was the first Dragon Quest game to have a bonus dungeon (though the remakes of DQ III and DQ IV added bonus dungeons later). Defeating the boss at the end of this dungeon, is regarded as the "true" ending of the game.
[edit] Characters
- The Hero
- Martha
- Papas
- Sancho
- Bianca
- Henry
- Dale
- Ludman
- Flora
- Maria
- Borongo
- Andy
[edit] Setting
 |
This section is a stub. You can help by expanding it. |
[edit] Soundtrack
As with every Dragon Quest, Koichi Sugiyama composed the music and directed all the associated spinoffs. Here is the tracklisting of the Symphonic Suite:
- Overture (1:59)
- Castle Trumpeter (2:21)
- Melody in an Ancient Town ~ Toward the Horizon ~ Casino ~ Lively Town ~ Melody in an Ancient Town (7:50)
- Magic Carpet ~ The Ocean (7:39)
- Melody of Love (3:00
- Monsters in the Dungeon ~ Tower of Death ~ Dark World ~ Monsters in the Dungeon (6:20)
- Violent Enemies ~ Almighty Boss Devil Is Challenged (5:44)
- Noble Requiem ~ Saint (5:53)
- Satan (4:52)
- Heaven (2:57)
- Bridal Waltz (3:39)
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Dragon Quest V FAQ (at GameFAQs.com)
- Dragon Quest V at MobyGames
- Dragon Quest V translation at Romhacking.net
Categories: Articles with sections needing expansion | Articles lacking sources from November 2006 | All articles lacking sources | 1992 computer and video games | 2004 computer and video games | Computer and video game remakes | Dragon Quest games | Japan exclusive computer and video games | PlayStation 2 games | Super NES games
