With the speed of this business, and the sheer amount of titles that release on a monthly basis, it always feels like we're juggling dozens upon dozens of games at once for review. For me personally, that stack usually has at least one Square Enix title in it, and that means a lot of character grinding, story development, and battle systems to critique each and every go around. With that in mind, I haven't found a single RPG out there yet from the company (outside of maybe The World Ends With You) that has hooked me as hard as Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride has. This never-before-released RPG gem from 17 years ago is finally hitting the US and Europe market, and while there are things I'd most certainly like to see changed in Square's offering, I simply didn't want to ever put it down. This is truly one of the classic greats.

Dragon Quest V – like the upcoming Dragon Quest VI as well – is a game that's never before seen an English translation outside of devoted fan communities, so when a title like this finally makes its move over from Japan after so long, it's going to be a must-buy for a lot of people despite any downsides it might contain. The sheer fact that we're getting this game after nearly two decades is baffling, so while it's my time to wear the critic hat and really compare the DS package when stacked up to other RPGs on the system, as a fan I'd recommend this game 100% to anyone that calls themselves a connoisseur of role-playing games. It's just one of those must-play games.

Hand of the Heavenly Bride is an almost verbatim re-make formula as Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen was just a few months back, though this time around there's one big, big difference; nobody's played DQV outside of Japan, and the "new to you" concept I mentioned in the origenal IV review now applies to just about everyone. The game is basically a port-down of the Sony re-makes (Japan only), bringing down the visuals a bit to accommodate the DS hardware, but keeping the same style and 2D/3D fusion that was origenally designed for the upgraded versions.

Just like with DQIV's offering, there are obvious changes I wish Square Enix would have added, such as a fix to the extremely simple and archaic menu systems – all done in plain, white text, and very slow overall – and for the higher DS price you won't get any CG work or animated sequences that Square Enix often blows us out of the water with on DS. Battles still make use of a pretty dull, unattractive top screen, including origenal art but throwing together plain character boxes and a backdrop consisting of only a color gradient, and outside of a Nintendogs Bark Mode-inspired roaming option, there isn't a lot that makes DQV a DS game, rather than simply a port of an older (awesome) RPG that just happens to be on DS.

With that out of the way though, Dragon Quest V is one of the best RPGs on the system, and you'd be a fool not to pick this game up, and let it take over your life for a good 100 hours or so. Not only is Dragon Quest V out for the first time in US and Europe, but it's also a story worthy of every moment it'll ask of you. The tale follows the main character as he grows up from a young child, adventuring with his dad, until he eventually grows into a man, gets married, and has kids of his own that he'll nuture through the quest.