Dragon Quest V is an RPG about the bonds of family and the importance of teaching the next generations. This game's story, while extremely simple, manages to evoke emotions throughout the plot even if their simplicity and predictability lessen the impact.
Having said all that, I can't recommend this game to people unless i know for a fact they'd like almost any turn-based RPG the same as i do. The mechanics are simple enough as expected of any Dragon Quest title but they aren't fun, in combat the best choice is always to just press the attack command because magic is rare, not always hits all enemies (only groups of them instead) and not cost effecient. This means all you do in the game is run around place to place pressing the A button all the time. To make this faster you'd need to get better equipment but the issue with this is that the stat difference between equipments is so small and the price is so high you end up skipping equipment for most of the game adding to the samey feeling. Regarding party members, they change during the course of the game with the only exception being the main character, this means you are almost forced into the newly added mechanic of monster taming in which monsters you defeat become party members. This would deal with the problems i mentioned earlier, the monsters could be adept at magic with decent amounts of MP, provide support, etc. In practice, since monster taming is random, you could end up with mediocre monsters and no supports or mages which would mean all those roles would have to be taken care of by the player character, your best DPS. Not to mention that using monsters instead of the party made by your family defeats the purpose of the game (And the most optimal party is made entirely of monsters and your character).
Speaking of your family, the titular character, your bride, could be any of 3 characters chosen by you, sadly, her role on the story is barely anything more than being the mother of your children and this is also reflected in-game, being the worst member of the family party regardless of your choice, she gets the worst equipment, the worst strenght and no support, she could be passable as a mage. The kids aren't that special, the boy is actually the chosen hero which is a cool spin to the formula but doesn't amount to much at least he is good as a party member but it's weird how the 2nd best damage character is the only non-monster that learns a multi heal spell (the worst one) so he spends more time healing than attacking, the little girl sadly has no story relevance and she is a mage, while a decent one at the end of the game a lot of enemies have annoying immunities to her.
In summary, my main problem with this game is that gameplay-wise it's nothing more than pressing A all the time and the characters aren't that interesting despite the premise. I wouldn't recommend this game to anyone because it's just boring and plain.
Having said all that, I can't recommend this game to people unless i know for a fact they'd like almost any turn-based RPG the same as i do. The mechanics are simple enough as expected of any Dragon Quest title but they aren't fun, in combat the best choice is always to just press the attack command because magic is rare, not always hits all enemies (only groups of them instead) and not cost effecient. This means all you do in the game is run around place to place pressing the A button all the time. To make this faster you'd need to get better equipment but the issue with this is that the stat difference between equipments is so small and the price is so high you end up skipping equipment for most of the game adding to the samey feeling. Regarding party members, they change during the course of the game with the only exception being the main character, this means you are almost forced into the newly added mechanic of monster taming in which monsters you defeat become party members. This would deal with the problems i mentioned earlier, the monsters could be adept at magic with decent amounts of MP, provide support, etc. In practice, since monster taming is random, you could end up with mediocre monsters and no supports or mages which would mean all those roles would have to be taken care of by the player character, your best DPS. Not to mention that using monsters instead of the party made by your family defeats the purpose of the game (And the most optimal party is made entirely of monsters and your character).
Speaking of your family, the titular character, your bride, could be any of 3 characters chosen by you, sadly, her role on the story is barely anything more than being the mother of your children and this is also reflected in-game, being the worst member of the family party regardless of your choice, she gets the worst equipment, the worst strenght and no support, she could be passable as a mage. The kids aren't that special, the boy is actually the chosen hero which is a cool spin to the formula but doesn't amount to much at least he is good as a party member but it's weird how the 2nd best damage character is the only non-monster that learns a multi heal spell (the worst one) so he spends more time healing than attacking, the little girl sadly has no story relevance and she is a mage, while a decent one at the end of the game a lot of enemies have annoying immunities to her.
In summary, my main problem with this game is that gameplay-wise it's nothing more than pressing A all the time and the characters aren't that interesting despite the premise. I wouldn't recommend this game to anyone because it's just boring and plain.