Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride

This game is so cute and cozy with this art style, this might be the correct way for these games to be.

I also thought the first person perspective for fights was weird, but now I kind of dig it. It's very cute.

I don't know why I like this more than FFIV but I do. It seems basically similar to it, with a similar shallow depth of combat.

It's probably because it's actually challenging?

Alright, we made it out of the childhood act. God damn this game gets dark as hell. They are not pulling any punches with the "boy it must suck to be a child slave for ten years." It's so random and feels out of place with the brightness of the look.

We got to the monster recruiting part and it’s still fun. My biggest issue so far is just the aimlessness of it. Just point me at things better. I feel like I just need the outline of a walkthrough. Go here, talk to this dude next. The game is just willing to let you flounder for a while until you get to the right spot. I ain’t got time for that!

I found a slime knight! And now we're investigating the happenings at Harry's old house.

How on earth was I supposed to know to go get Maria to get in the tower? It's also very annoying that the monsters don't listen to you. I get that they eventually will but it sucks. Also this old ass man wouldn't let me take the portal back to Coburg at night for no apparent reason?

Extremely frustrating fifteen minutes of gameplay.

I finished the prince's quest extremely glad I never wasted any seeds on this mofo and then got my cat back.

Also got through picking my wife. After consulting THE INTERNET I went with Debora. Kind of crazy that the ds exclusive wife is considered the best written and the best mechanically? If I replay again I'll pick Bianca.

Debora kind of sucks right now but Mr. Briscoletti is awesome as hell. So much love from that dude.

Enjoying this overall. I don't think it's as good as DQXIS but how could it be? It's just missing a ton of QOL stuff and improvements learned over the decades since. I also miss the big skill tree in XIS a lot. The progression is definitely lacking in this game and yet it still remains fun.

I think the choice to have basically no party members just monsters for long stretches is highly questionable. It's also a little frustrating that the recruit rate is so random. I feel like this game would be so much easier with one of those cureslimes and I spent a good hot minute trying to get one.

Also thank the lord I'm playing this emulated, the ability to fast forward is so nice.

God damn some dramatic stuff happens in this game. Got the kids though.

The kids after being weak, ineffective, and an overall drain on resources are now coming into their own and pulling their own weight.

I almost quit this game tonight. I finished up the Zenithian thing, needed to leave to find the gold orb and had to go back through Diggery Pokery. Like come on man, let me evac, is that not what this spell is for? I did not want to walk back through this mine cart nonsense. Legit almost decided I've seen enough!

Alright, I had to grind to get both parts of this dragon eye. I did turn on a cheat to do 4x exp gain because I find grinding offensive to my valuable time. We're close to the end here and well, I'm ready to be over it.

DQXIS was definitely more captivating. The mechanics here are a little thin. I thought the monster recruitment might be more interesting but it just isn't because you ride with Slime Knight so long and the rest are just okay, and then the kids come in and they're better than everyone else.

I also think this game is pretty good story wise but like it's gated through optional party talk. Sometimes I'll be playing and then I realize I should just be checking in with the kids or the wife or whatever.

Which is another weird strength/issue with this game! There are stretches (pretty long) where there's nobody to talk to and check in. That chat is awesome but they just don't let you do it.

Two more bosses down, we're pretty close to the end here. Found my wife statue, not entirely sure why she can't just be unrocked like me. Overall I'd say I'm pretty disappointed in how long it takes to get the wife back especially because it was billed as such a huge, monumental choice.

The monsters that change your party tactics need to be removed from the game. It's a cute thing the first time but it's purely a time waster.

We beat this too. Okay, so meeting your mom and then losing her didn't land as well for me. I think there is an issue where the story isn't as resonant due to lack of voice over and real cinematics. The wife also has shockingly little to say.

Speaking of, I consistently feel like this game could/should run twice as fast most of the time. The sage's stone is essentially broken.

The victory lap here is much too manual.

I think this is primarily a let down of expectations and in hindsight it never could have capitalized. The ds is just not going to be able to execute on it. There are great ideas here but the end result falls short.