This review contains spoilers
If I want to start off this review of Dragon Quest V, I have to talk about the concept of the silent protagonist in video games. The silent protagonist is supposed to be the catalyst for the player to project themselves onto as being apart of the games story. Giving the feeling that you the player are an integral part of the game in the way that is irreplaceable. A bunch of games I love have used this idea well such as Zelda and Pokemon, but it wasn't until DQV where I feel as though I was TRULY a part of this game.
The journey we embark on starts at our literal birth and we see our main heros life unfold through literal decades. Giving each generation of his life a distinct identity and moments that become special to us. Like I will never forget visiting the world of the Fairies for the first time during childhood or exploring the Zenithian castle during the later stage of adulthood. Characters like Henry and Sancho continuing to have our backs no matter how many years go by. Even as far, in the case of Henry, as leaving our party to further develop his own life. People come and go, but that's just how life is. You can argue that DQV doesn't have a "crazy" narrative or whatever, but I feel as though it doesn't really matter. What ultimately makes DQV so compelling to me is the sense of personal journey that is in the game.
However what strongly impacted me about the game is how it tackles grief. At the end of the Heros childhood our father is killed right in front of us. A part of why I was able to connect to this character is because my father was killed years ago. When I read Henrys message on the treasure chest to the Hero I'm gonna be honest I cried my eyes out. Both because the death of Pankraz is a crushing moment in the game and that I was thinking of my father in that instant. The pain of losing a parent is one so great that it can affect our actions moving forward. That's why our journey is dictated by wanting to fulfill our dads wish and to find our mother to see that she is hopefully still alive. Moments in relation to all this that stuck out to me are when we see Pankrazs ghost in one of the towers and when we go back to the past. The latter especially destroying me when I was playing. In our conversation with Pankraz, with us being much older, there is an option warning him not to go to Coburg. Because if he never went there he would've never lost his life, but to be expected he disregards our warning. This got to me because I've had similar thoughts about if I could go back I would warn my dad and try my best to save him. However with Pankrazs dismissal it made me and the Hero ultimately realize something that being what's happened happened. We can't change the past, we can't be haunted by ghosts, and we have to move forward in spite of the pain.
Part of moving forward is putting faith both onto ourself and the next generation. Later in the game we find out that we are not the legendary hero, but rather our son is. On one hand you could be feeling sad about not being the hero of legend, but on the other hand you could be excited about helping the legendary hero! Which was how I felt pretty much. To me our guidance of the hero is a culmination of every choice made in our journey showing that it has been worth it even though we are not "the one". The fact that we are still in control of the party shows that this is still our story to finish. The goals of those who came before us now finally fulfilled and the new generation can move on. Free to learn and face whatevers coming at them head on. To me that is DQV: learning from the past and moving forward. I find that to be beautiful.
I want to dedicate this last section of the review to Akira Toriyama who passed away days after I started this game. To say I was devastated would be an understatement. That man and his art defined aspects of various stages of my life. I wouldn't really know where I would be without Dragon Ball and Chrono Trigger. And I just could not possibly fathom what this game and Dragon Quest as a whole would be like without him and his art. All throughout the game I found myself amazed by all the art for both the human characters and the monsters. This was my first Dragon Quest game and I hope the series can come to impact my life in a similar way DB and CT did years before. Thank you for everything good sir, I hope you rest easy.
The journey we embark on starts at our literal birth and we see our main heros life unfold through literal decades. Giving each generation of his life a distinct identity and moments that become special to us. Like I will never forget visiting the world of the Fairies for the first time during childhood or exploring the Zenithian castle during the later stage of adulthood. Characters like Henry and Sancho continuing to have our backs no matter how many years go by. Even as far, in the case of Henry, as leaving our party to further develop his own life. People come and go, but that's just how life is. You can argue that DQV doesn't have a "crazy" narrative or whatever, but I feel as though it doesn't really matter. What ultimately makes DQV so compelling to me is the sense of personal journey that is in the game.
However what strongly impacted me about the game is how it tackles grief. At the end of the Heros childhood our father is killed right in front of us. A part of why I was able to connect to this character is because my father was killed years ago. When I read Henrys message on the treasure chest to the Hero I'm gonna be honest I cried my eyes out. Both because the death of Pankraz is a crushing moment in the game and that I was thinking of my father in that instant. The pain of losing a parent is one so great that it can affect our actions moving forward. That's why our journey is dictated by wanting to fulfill our dads wish and to find our mother to see that she is hopefully still alive. Moments in relation to all this that stuck out to me are when we see Pankrazs ghost in one of the towers and when we go back to the past. The latter especially destroying me when I was playing. In our conversation with Pankraz, with us being much older, there is an option warning him not to go to Coburg. Because if he never went there he would've never lost his life, but to be expected he disregards our warning. This got to me because I've had similar thoughts about if I could go back I would warn my dad and try my best to save him. However with Pankrazs dismissal it made me and the Hero ultimately realize something that being what's happened happened. We can't change the past, we can't be haunted by ghosts, and we have to move forward in spite of the pain.
Part of moving forward is putting faith both onto ourself and the next generation. Later in the game we find out that we are not the legendary hero, but rather our son is. On one hand you could be feeling sad about not being the hero of legend, but on the other hand you could be excited about helping the legendary hero! Which was how I felt pretty much. To me our guidance of the hero is a culmination of every choice made in our journey showing that it has been worth it even though we are not "the one". The fact that we are still in control of the party shows that this is still our story to finish. The goals of those who came before us now finally fulfilled and the new generation can move on. Free to learn and face whatevers coming at them head on. To me that is DQV: learning from the past and moving forward. I find that to be beautiful.
I want to dedicate this last section of the review to Akira Toriyama who passed away days after I started this game. To say I was devastated would be an understatement. That man and his art defined aspects of various stages of my life. I wouldn't really know where I would be without Dragon Ball and Chrono Trigger. And I just could not possibly fathom what this game and Dragon Quest as a whole would be like without him and his art. All throughout the game I found myself amazed by all the art for both the human characters and the monsters. This was my first Dragon Quest game and I hope the series can come to impact my life in a similar way DB and CT did years before. Thank you for everything good sir, I hope you rest easy.