Dragon Quest V: Tenkuu no Hanayome for SFC

Review #2091

Dragon Quest V: Tenkuu no Hanayome

The grindy game is grindy

SFC 1992 Enix RPG RPG › Japanese
Dragon Quest V: Tenkuu no Hanayome screenshot for SFC
Screenshot used for review/reference purposes.
2 / 5

Gameplay

I hope you like grinding, because that's 90% of what this game offers you. This is the anti-Chrono Trigger. It's amazing how much the genre evolved in only 3 years.
I wish I could rate it higher, but this RPG has an ancient inventory system, no ability to select a specific target (you can only pick a group of similarly named enemies), very slow movement, the convoluted menu rather than a simple one-button for everything, and a long opening where you're weak and alone. Pretty much everything that I hate from the 8-bit era of JRPGs.
Besides that there's not much to report. The game does include a couple of QoL features such as X which replaces the need for clicking A to open the menu for everything (yes I know I complained about that earlier), and a helpful slide when you're half a tile over whehn you walk into a wall. But that's all I can say positive about the gameplay. The Pokemon-esque monster recruitment feature is neat but annoying since it's a roll of the dice every time. Again, grind, grind, grind!

4 / 5

Level Design

The gameplay sucks, but the game's story and missions are well-crafted. Easily this game's saving grace. They're simple, so nothing near the quality of the Final Fantasy mainline titles, but decently interesting.

5 / 5

Theme

There's something so warm and inviting about the DQ titles. I don't know what it is exactly, but they suck me in.

3 / 5

Art Style

Barely more than NES quality. All sprites are tiny. Not a visually impressive game by any stretch.

4 / 5

Audio

Gotta love the music in this game. I don't think it reaches the same heights as other games in the genre, but the compositions are excellent.

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