Dragon Quest V Raids The Play Store With A Party Full Of Monsters Demanding $14.99

Square Enix has been quick about porting the Dragon Quest entries to Android, even if they haven’t come in necessarily the right order. We got Dragon Quest VIII in May of last year, followed by IV in August, the original in September, II the next month, and III in December. Now Square Enix has brought over Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Blade.

  

Dragon Quest V originally debuted in 1992 for the Super Famicon, but the game didn’t come to North American shores until the release of a remake for the Nintendo DS in 2009. The Android version looks more like that one, only with the display and controls optimized for mobile devices. The game utilizes 2D spites atop basic 3D dimensional backgrounds in a way that became less common after the end of the 32-bit era but enables you to rotate the camera 360 degrees when walking around.

This entry is notable for allowing you to befriend and collect enemy monsters, giving you access to special abilities during combat and opening up a whole new strategic element. But if you tire of thinking during battles, you can set your allies to fight automatically and see how they fare.

 

Square Enix has ramped up the price of each port as the series progresses, with I going for $2.99 and VIII costing a substantially higher $19.99. Dragon Quest V sits closer towards the latter end of the scale, at $14.99. But once you pay the upfront cost, there are no unexpected in-app purchases to face afterwards. JRPG fans know better than anyone how annoying random encounters can be.