Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride Image
Metascore

Generally favorable reviews - based on 46 Critics What's this?

User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 37 Ratings

  • Summary: This entry in the Zenithia Trilogy follows a journey that transcends three generations. Travel alongside your father on his quest to see the world, grow to set forth on a journey of your own and face life-altering decisions as you continue your family’s legacy. [Square Enix]
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 40 out of 46
  2. Negative: 0 out of 46
  1. 100
    DQV is a great RPG just in terms of its mechanics, being built on the series' time-tested fundamentals while throwing in enough improvements to make it feel far fresher than its predecessor. Factor in the game's story, though, and it becomes truly exceptional: an intimate, personal odyssey of a kind rarely seen in this medium.
  2. Probably my favorite entry into the Dragon Quest series.
  3. 86
    After playing this game, and taking time to weigh out all the good and bad in this review, the only thing left for me to say is this: "I can't wait for Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Reverie!" Let's hope Square Enix does another excellent job localizing that one as well, so we'll have a wonderful, complete trilogy for the Nintendo DS.
  4. When compared to other Square-Enix remakes of late, such as Final Fantasy IV and Star Ocean: First Departure, Dragon Quest: The Hand of the Heavenly Bride just feels far too archaic.

See all 46 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 6
  3. Negative: 0 out of 6
  1. By far one of the best games of the system, Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride is an example of a JRPG done right. I have nothing bad to say about this game, all of my expectations have been met and exceeded. Expand
  2. 10
    a game that took a classic and added on few things and made it better. the squel to DQ IV: chapters of the chosen, it takes place a significant time after the previous game but makes refernces and shares a dungeon. the addons are game changing, making it easier to progress in the story and adding a new possible party member. the story is 99% the same. there is a mode for wireless communication but it is local and is basically useless. the story and characters are well done, there is a feature to rotate the camera, and a board game type mini game that gave me much needed armor and weapons. this game is on the list of top ten games I have ever played and I don't see it leaving that list anytime soon. Expand
  3. Dragon Quest V is simply a great game. I can't really compare this DS version to any of its previous versions, but it's clear that the US certainly got a great remake. The story is surprisingly deep, and the mish-mash of 2D sprites and 3D rendered areas look pretty good. Going through the life of the main character really gives a feeling for him, and makes the events that happen have just that much more of an effect, in my opinion. The battle system is straight old-school RPG, so if you're looking for something new and inventive, you won't find it here. It can also be difficult, especially in earlier parts when you don't have static party members. Overall, though, it's a great experience, and a definite recommendation for any RPG fan. Expand
  4. Matthew
    8
    Quite an impressive remake of an already great game from the SNES era. Simple yet deep gameplay abound, if a little bit on the old school side (not that ; as expected of the granddaddy of Jrpgs. The only real drawback is the localization, which changes the original names of characters to suit a certain pun, to reference something or someone, or, in quite a few cases, no reason whatsoever. This of course is small compared to the script itself, which is just littered with butchered English that substitutes for accents were the game actually using voice acting, which it and almost all other games of the series do not have (VIII being the exception only due to the localization it received when being brought overseas, and even then it only had European accents, unlike V's ridiculous attempt at a Mexican, Hick, and even, for god only knows reasons, a Ned Flanders accent). This doesn't just make the lines harder to read than necessary and making the game harder to access for newer gamers, it also takes any seriousness from the games scenes away due to the needless attempt to bring humor to the game and makes what should be a simple sentence that can be read in a few seconds a chore, not to mention that it resulted in changing certain characters personalities for little to no reason (besides, last I checked people with natural accents don't spell the way they speak). Despite the rather glaring flaws in the localization, the game is still really good. Next time, however, I hope that Square Enix's US localization team realizes that needless changes to the games script can be more harmful to the overall product than they realize and look unprofessional at the same time. Also, they should keep in mind that a good localization is to be simple, accurate, and have little changed. Expand

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