This review contains spoilers
It's hard to exactly state why Dragon Quest V is so important without spoiling the whole premise of the game itself so here it is. Dragon Quest V features probably one of my favorite twists ever in a JRPG, one that both encapsulates the spirit of Dragon Quest while being bold in its own right.
The story unfolds through the life of Abel (the "Hero" of this game, at least that's what people tell me his name is.) where he starts out as a child, unable to even read, as he follows his dad Pankraz along on his journey. Pankraz has true dad energy. He's strong, brave, and caring to his son along with everyone else, and he helps Abel decimate any threat along the way and even heals you. However things go dark a few hours in when after a failed attempt to save Prince Harry from a kidnapping, Pankraz dies to the evil Ladja but before he does he tells Abel his lost mother is still alive and then he gets blasted by a Kafrizzle. Abel and Prince Harry are then sold into slavery until they are in their teens whereby the help of someone else, they are able to escape in a barrel out onto the sea. From there, you get your typical Dragon Quest affair.
Then something happens, the time skips and Abel starts to rule a kingdom on his own, much as his father did. And he gets married to a choice of three different girls. And hey, guess what? She gives birth. Twins! One boy and one girl! And after another time skip, they grow old enough to become party members! And they're pretty good for being children too.
This is when sometime in the late game you learn something from another NPC, and that all this time Abel, your player character is not the almighty chosen one to take down the evil Nizmo that has been causing chaos around the country. No, it's your son instead.
That's when I got Dragon Quest V's message. It hit me like a freight train. Dragon Quest up to this point has always been about you, the player, destined to go out on this journey to a vast unknown land to take down an ambiguous evil entity and be the hero you were always destined to be. But here, Dragon Quest V tells you you're not this grandiose hero, at least not in the cliche "prophesized" way, no, you are a hero because you are like Pankraz.
Pankraz had a heart of gold from the start, he used to be a great ruler of his kingdom but more importantly, he was a true father through and through. He loved his wife and son more than anything, but he died a horrible, tragic death in an attempt to protect his son. All this time, you follow in your father's footsteps. You fall in love, you have children of your own to protect, you help those in need, and you even lead a kingdom of people. Your righteousness completely mirrors that of Pankraz.
So when Dragon Quest V states that it is your son that you raised that is destined to become the chosen one, that's not a cheap shot to get a subversive expectation in the script, it felt earned. Because in the end, your actions lead to that point. You may not be explicitly told you are "the hero", but a real hero doesn't need to be told that he is destined to be great, a hero is someone who is already righteous enough as is. Pankraz was a righteous man who kept his head up high until the end. He was a hero. His successor Abel, much like his father, is a hero in his own way too.
And I think there's something so genuinely wholesome about that, it keeps the essence of Dragon Quest's commitment to you being the hero but in a different more down-to-earth kind of way. I think that's the reason this Dragon Quest especially has stuck with me the most, because that message is just so relatable and pure it makes this almost 29-year-old game stand all of the time skips.
The story unfolds through the life of Abel (the "Hero" of this game, at least that's what people tell me his name is.) where he starts out as a child, unable to even read, as he follows his dad Pankraz along on his journey. Pankraz has true dad energy. He's strong, brave, and caring to his son along with everyone else, and he helps Abel decimate any threat along the way and even heals you. However things go dark a few hours in when after a failed attempt to save Prince Harry from a kidnapping, Pankraz dies to the evil Ladja but before he does he tells Abel his lost mother is still alive and then he gets blasted by a Kafrizzle. Abel and Prince Harry are then sold into slavery until they are in their teens whereby the help of someone else, they are able to escape in a barrel out onto the sea. From there, you get your typical Dragon Quest affair.
Then something happens, the time skips and Abel starts to rule a kingdom on his own, much as his father did. And he gets married to a choice of three different girls. And hey, guess what? She gives birth. Twins! One boy and one girl! And after another time skip, they grow old enough to become party members! And they're pretty good for being children too.
This is when sometime in the late game you learn something from another NPC, and that all this time Abel, your player character is not the almighty chosen one to take down the evil Nizmo that has been causing chaos around the country. No, it's your son instead.
That's when I got Dragon Quest V's message. It hit me like a freight train. Dragon Quest up to this point has always been about you, the player, destined to go out on this journey to a vast unknown land to take down an ambiguous evil entity and be the hero you were always destined to be. But here, Dragon Quest V tells you you're not this grandiose hero, at least not in the cliche "prophesized" way, no, you are a hero because you are like Pankraz.
Pankraz had a heart of gold from the start, he used to be a great ruler of his kingdom but more importantly, he was a true father through and through. He loved his wife and son more than anything, but he died a horrible, tragic death in an attempt to protect his son. All this time, you follow in your father's footsteps. You fall in love, you have children of your own to protect, you help those in need, and you even lead a kingdom of people. Your righteousness completely mirrors that of Pankraz.
So when Dragon Quest V states that it is your son that you raised that is destined to become the chosen one, that's not a cheap shot to get a subversive expectation in the script, it felt earned. Because in the end, your actions lead to that point. You may not be explicitly told you are "the hero", but a real hero doesn't need to be told that he is destined to be great, a hero is someone who is already righteous enough as is. Pankraz was a righteous man who kept his head up high until the end. He was a hero. His successor Abel, much like his father, is a hero in his own way too.
And I think there's something so genuinely wholesome about that, it keeps the essence of Dragon Quest's commitment to you being the hero but in a different more down-to-earth kind of way. I think that's the reason this Dragon Quest especially has stuck with me the most, because that message is just so relatable and pure it makes this almost 29-year-old game stand all of the time skips.