I’ve been playing Dragon Quest V. A game that has received an A+ from one of my favorite reviewers. Also, it’s probably the most revered of the entire DQ franchise… But even though I have only scratched the surface of this so called “timeless” RPG, it just hasn’t grabbed me yet. It might have to do with the fact that you start as a 6 year old boy, and the first quest was to wander into a cave to help a man who fell asleep under rocks trying to find medicinal herbs. I know that eventually things will start picking up, but I guess I’m just used to games like FF4 (which seems like the equal equivalent, considering they are both 16-bit entries for each series) where serious shit happens RIGHT AWAY. As far as compelling narrative goes, having the main character in FF4 doubt his loyalty to the crown after slaughtering innocent people is much more interesting to me then starting off on a boat as a child in DQ5…
Now, as far as the old-school RPGs go, I’ve played a shit ton. I don’t want to go though my entire history with the genre, but I do have a great understanding and appreciation for them. It seems like a no-brainer, this Dragon Quest V shit is right up my ally… but I guess time will tell.
