Dragon Quest V & VI Worth Playing?

[Tempest]

Back in the day(tm), I was an avid Dragon Warrior fan. I owned and beat DW I-IV and once I got a PS2 I played and beat VIII. A year or so ago I went back and played through DW II and III again and found myself groaning from all the pointless grinding and weak storyline. Sure I beat them again, but I wasn't having as much fun as I did playing DQ VIII (I never did get back around to IV). I then decided to go and beat DW VII since it was the only one I had skipped (not owning a PS1 when it was released) and found myself absolutely hating it. The plot was weak, the dialouge was horrendous, and the whole game just seemed like one long joyless plod. I ended up beating it, but only to say I beat it (and to at least get some return on my 80 hours of life lost).

Now with the release of DQ IX around the corner, I'm looking back on the DQ games that I never played. I see that people have translated the roms for DQ V and VI, so I'm wondering if they're worth playing? Are the storylines interesting? Do they offer something worth seeing? Interesting gameplay mechanics? Or are they just graphically supped up versions of the same old DQ games? I don't want to start them only to find out it's DQ VII all over again.

Also, has anyone played the DS remakes? I see they put out DQ IV, and I was wondering if it was worth playing over the NES version I already own.

Tempest

[kainemaxwell]

Can't speak for V, but VI is definietly worth a run-through.

[Tempest]

Is DQ VI playable with the current english patch? I read somewhere that it was only around 85% or so. I'd hate to beat the game only to see a whole bunch of Japanese text I can't understand. :)

Tempest

[backguard]

they are both cool - you have to be careful though b/c in at least one of them you can get stuck because you can no longer get job points. can't remember the details (its been years) but basically your character progression stops.

[Xander]

DQVI's translation was never completed but the game is considered fully playable.

[Tempest]

DQVI's translation was never completed but the game is considered fully playable.
Any idea on what wasn't completed? If it's just some random town conversations then I could care less, but if it's battle text then that could make things harder.

Tempest

[Trebuken]

I believe I read that V and VI are coming to the DS eventually. You might be better waiting...

[eskobar]

You need to remember that this RPGs are old-school; their storylines cannot be compared to any of the contemporary RPGs, Dragon Quest is more about epic Role Playing than interesting and intense scripts.

For a Story Driven RPG you better try FFXII, Suikoden III, Odin Sphere or the latest from Atlus, like Persona 4.

I am a huge fan of Dragon Quest and my favorite DQ's games are : Dragon Warrior III for Game Boy Color, Torneko : The Last Hope and Dragon Warrior IV (the NES original, not the remake for DS or PS1)

[Xander]

Any idea on what wasn't completed? If it's just some random town conversations then I could care less, but if it's battle text then that could make things harder.

I remember reading it was trivial informations. I might be able to track the information back. I'll check around when I get home.

[Tempest]

You need to remember that this RPGs are old-school; their storylines cannot be compared to any of the contemporary RPGs, Dragon Quest is more about epic Role Playing than interesting and intense scripts.

For a Story Driven RPG you better try FFXII, Suikoden III, Odin Sphere or the latest from Atlus, like Persona 4.

I understand that, but some DQ/DW game plots are worse than others. DQ 4 had a great plot, but DQ 7's sounded like it had been written on a bar napkin 5 minutes before closing time.

Tempest

[badinsults]

Any idea on what wasn't completed? If it's just some random town conversations then I could care less, but if it's battle text then that could make things harder.

Tempest

Most of the things that were untranslated were pretty minor, for instance the dialog when you sell something, and certain menu errors. However, there are some showstopping freezes that happen if you back out of the equip menu.

As for the original question, if you are a fan of the other Dragon Quest games, then DQ 5 and DQ6 are definitely must plays. I never managed to get all the way through them (DQ6 is possibly as long as DQ7), which I always regret. I look forward to the DS remakes that will be out next year, especially if they are as well done as DQ4.

[kupomogli]

Dragon Quest 5 and 6 are worth it if you're a fan of the series, definitely.

I don't see why there's all this DW7 hate. I personally love the game and it's my favorite in the series tied with DW3.

[Xander]

You may have seen NoPrgress mentioned on DeJap and stuff, but don't be fooled! This patch right here is entirely his own work. And it looks sweeeeeet! You can play the game from beginning to end; the untranslated 10% is just random strings here and there that have no real bearing on the game. There are some fatal bugs in the game (most notably, backing out of the Info->All option sometimes crashes the game), so if you plan to use this translation (and you should, since it's currently the furthest along), be sure to keep a batch of savestates at the ready.

Edit: Website link taken out, it contains roms.

[Volcanon]

Ive never heard of progression stopping in 5 or 6. Maybe you are talking about level caps on some of the recruitable monsters. V was the first jrpg game ever where you can get monsters to join you randomly, and some of the monsters capped at level 50 (behoma slime), level 20 (king healer) or level 7 (magic jewel bag).

[eskobar]

I understand that, but some DQ/DW game plots are worse than others. DQ 4 had a great plot, but DQ 7's sounded like it had been written on a bar napkin 5 minutes before closing time.

Tempest


Among the DQ series, 5 and 6 are quite good but i read japanese ... the english translation can ruin the experience if its done by rookies. So i do not think that is worth playing if you are very interested in the story.

If you care about gameplay, they are worth every hour invested in it.

[Sudo]

Dragon Quest V is excellent, it's my second favorite entry in the series behind VIII. I only played about a third of the way through DQ VI, but I liked what I did play.

[Daria]

5 is one of the best in the series. It takes the generational idea that Phantasy Star III had going for it but doesn't suck.

[Tetsu]

might be a bit off topic, but if you are a DW/DQ fan:

you might want to try the Game Boy Color Dragon Warrior I and II. They kept the music and graphics of the original for the most part (the limitations of the GBC screen and sound chip nonwithstanding) and made the game shorter by reducing the amount of old school, mindless wandering around and killing stuff to level up. Also, the translation is a little better, with "Edrick" and his stuff being referred to as "Loto" as in the Japanese versions.

[Jisho23]

Dragon Quest VI is alright, Dragon Quest V on the other hand is hands down one of the best RPGs on the console, and thats even considering you have to play off of a fan translation (something I hate to do).

Its especially important to play because it's sort of the origin of where the idea for Dragon Warrior Monsters came from (although the major characters in DWM are based off of DQ 6).

[j1e]

Hey guys,

I just finished DQ V on the SNES (repro cart from gamereproductions.com.) I am really interested in playing DQ VI. Is there any where I can buy this repro that's English translated? The 85% translation doesn't bother me.

[Kid Fenris]

If you're willing to wait, the DS version of Dragon Quest VI is being translated and will likely be out by the end of the year. So that's an option.

Just don't buy it new unless you're comfortable giving money to composer Koichi Sugiyama, who thinks the Nanking Massacre never happened (http://studyofenglish.wordpress.com/2007/09/20/paid-advertisement-concerning-%E2%80%9Ccomfort-women%E2%80%9D-run-in-the-washington-post/).

[j1e]

^ Thanks for the suggestion, but nooooo. I can't stand playing RPG's on the DS. The screen is way too small.

[Sailorneorune]

I'm not buying the DQ DS games new anyway, because I don't care for the Squenix Tax. $20 is my magic number - it even made me cave in and give The World Ends with You another try.

[Blitzwing256]

I recently played through 5 and 6 and I loved them, but since you mentioned you didn't have the patience to level up (sorry the current term is grinding..blah) they both require some effort to play through so they probably aren't up to your standards as the leveling does take a long time and you also aren't babied through eiither game like in most of the modern rpgs. i'd definaatly vote against them since you mentioned you don't like that style. The storylines weren't anything special (the two games depend on gameplay over storyline) Although they at least attempt a storyline in both of them (mostly failing)

stick with final fantasy.

[Cryomancer]

5 has a pretty good story I thought. Sure it falls into the destined to save the world pit but not for a long time and the overall plot is still ultimately a personal journey. Playing as a family in an RPG is still pretty rare, too.

The DS versions are pretty damn good, I sort of wish they'd go and make 1-3 as a big long game or something with the engine/graphics. Can't wait for 6.

[j1e]

Someone repro DQ VI and sell it to me damnit!

[Purkeynator]

On the game reproductions thread I asked the guy behind Gamereproductions.com if he could make me a Dragon Quest 3 cart with the new translation that was completed this year. He said no. I am not sure the exact details but not just any game can be translated and burned to a new eprom. Maybe email him on this one and see. If he makes you one then I would definitely buy one too.

[Blitzwing256]

The problem with dq3 and the translation is it ups the cartridge to a very large size (i think it was 48 megabit?) so finding compatiable chip would be rather dificult. (i think this makes it the largest snes game bigger then phantasia)

[badinsults]

The problem with dq3 and the translation is it ups the cartridge to a very large size (i think it was 48 megabit?) so finding compatiable chip would be rather dificult. (i think this makes it the largest snes game bigger then phantasia)

I don't see what the issue is. Dragon Quest III uses this PCB (http://127.0.0.1/pcbboards.php?chip=SHVC-1J3M-20), which doesn't appear to have anything special about it. It uses a 32 Mb ROM, but Seiken Densetsu III also has a 32 Mb ROM (and uses the same PCB type, incidentally). NHL '95 and Madden '95 would be suitable donor carts for both these games.