I’m a big fan of role-playing games, but I very rarely finish them. In fact, the only RPGs I can remember finishing within the last few years are the Mario & Luigi games on the GBA and DS. I came very close to beating the original Final Fantasy remake for the PSP, but the final boss frustrated me to no end and I ultimately gave up. RPGs are the perfect games to play in bed while you’re waiting to doze off. Mindless level-grinding doesn’t seem so bad when the entire reason you’re playing is to make yourself tired.
In that regard, I finally found a copy of Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride on the DS. I’ve been searching for a long time, but it seems to be in pretty short supply. I’ve never actually played a Dragon Quest title (although I do own DQ VIII for some reason). I was a bit skeptical about the first-person combat (I’ve never played a Phantasy Star game either). But I’d much rather play an old-school RPG remastered for the newer consoles than a new RPG with ear-grinding dialogue.
So far, I’m enjoying it. The story progression doesn’t go as quickly as I’d like, but the art style is charming and gives me something pretty to look at while I grind away. I also seem to be at a loss for money. Everything in the game is very expensive, and monsters don’t seem to drop all that much loot. The translation/localization is all done very well except for one minor yet glaring mistake. It comes up so often that I have to believe it was done intentionally as some sort of tribute to the original release that I’m just not aware of. After every battle, regardless of how many monsters you kill, you get a message that says “The enemyare defeated.” It’s got to be some sort of in-joke that I’m just not privy to, right?
Posted by brianfishman 
