Dragon Quest V
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Dragon Quest V: Tenkuu no Hanayome (Japanese: 天空の花嫁, lit. 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.
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 III and IV remakes, 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. A fan translation of the PS2 version is currently being worked on by Kojiro Translations.
US SNES Cart
A release of the game for the US SNES was apparently underway when the decision was made to shelve the project. A number of cartridges for the US NTSC SNES are in circulation, and can occassionally be found up for auction on eBay. The exact number of carts in existence is unknown, but is estimated by some to be under 1,000.
Storyline
Dragon Quest V begins with a brief scene of Eiyuu's (Dragon Quest V's hero, who is named by the player) birth and his mother's subsequent death. After that scene, Eiyuu 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, Eiyuu 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 Eiyuu explore the haunted castle Lenoire, where they obtain a mysterious Golden Orb. Afterwards Papas and Eiyuu return to Santa Rosa, along with a pet tiger named Borongo.
The next day, Eiyuu notices a man in the town who looks very similar to him. That man asks Eiyuu 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, Eiyuu, Papas, and Borongo travel to the eastern kingdom of Reinhart. Here Eiyuu befriends Prince Henry; Eiyuu 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 Eiyuu and Henry are sold into slavery.
The story continues ten years later, when Eiyuu 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 Eiyuu 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.
Characters
- The Hero
- Martha
- Papas
- Sancho
- Bianca
- Henry
- Dale
- Ludman
- Flora
- Maria
- Borongo
- Andy
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)
External links
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