A remake of one of the most iconic sRPG in videogame history, Shadow Dragon shines in its capacity of respecting the saga defining canons built in the first chapter of Marth's history while also adding intringuing new features: pawns of your army can now change their class and evolution paths may now possess alternative routes that enhance both the replayability and the overall personalization of your characters.

An online mode, playable through Nintendo wi-fi connection, was also present: in this mode, you could battle 1vs1 against an opposing army or simply trade in online shops to find rare items such as cool swords or alternative promotion object.
Although it was plagued by cheaters and not much played overall, I had quite a bit of fun with it: in hindsight, I think this is the first taste of what would later become the fire emblem heroes PVP mode.

Talking about cons, we should talk about the elephant in the room: as many have said in the past, I don't think the art style is very good.
Colors, both of characters and of maps, are really dull and character models, designed with a 3D plastic-like appearance are kinda aesthetically displeasing and unexpressive.

I would suggest to play it even now, not only for those who want to discover the roots of the Fire Emblem franchise but also for those who want to experience a good sRPG that won the test of time.

Although it is often regarded as a stepping stone that leads to more famous Dragon quest games like the 8th or the 11th chapter, this is not only my favourite Dragon Quest game but one of my favourite games of all time.

Why?
This answer is a difficult one:

- Is it because of the story?
The story, even though it follows the DQ standard pattern established officially in Dragon Quest III and further strengthened in Dragon Quest IV, contains innovations (foremost, the iconic choice of which I'm not gonna talk about) and a richness of expressive characters that adds a unique flavor to a game with an already strong foundation.

Is it because the gameplay?
Dragon Quest V is particularly famous for having introduced to the franchise the monster taming mechanic: as a player, you could capture certain monsters in order to make them fight in your party and having them participate in other minigames. This, combined with the unique monster designs of Akira Toriyama, make a compelling argument for anyone who wants to start this game while also scratching that 'Monster collector' itch.
The battling gameplay itself is a traditional, yet refined version, of the one already seen in Dragon Quest IV.

Is it because of the sound compartment?
The soundtrack retains the Dragon Quest feeling already fully established in earlier chapters by Koichi Sugiyama so, although good, it does not strike as groundbreaking or innovative by any means: however, I think that the particular vibe of the tracks really influenced my taste for jRPG music throughout my life.

-Is it the world?
One of the things I love the most about Dragon Quest is the way people in cities are represented: being an Italian, I felt amazed by seeing a wonderful localization where all the different dialects of my native land were used to neatly characterize cities and regions.
The world is colorful and full of things to discover, museums to fill (rather specific thing to say...) and extra dungeons to explore: not even the skies will be safe from your wanderlust!

However, I think the true factor that made me really love this game lies within the fact that it is one of the major representative of something that I always thought as a key message in the Dragon Quest franchise: 'be playful in the face of adversity and always look straight ahead'.
It is a really simple message, maybe clichè at times, but I think that, in its linearity, it contains an unspoken hope capable to give to the player strength and a unique sense of freedom: even with the terrible tragedies that adorn the main character's life throughout its existence, he never stops to move forward and to try his best to make his life worth living. By living the game with his eyes we, as players, become heroes ourselves capable of saving the world against all odds, even for just a moment.

I think that this unwavering effort to make things better is, ultimately, true heroism and why I felt so inspired by playing it.
To cite the Dragon Quest movie, 'This is as real as it gets, I was the hero".