Dragon Quest V: Happy ending

After 35 fulfilling hours, my DQV playthrough comes to an end. That's not to say that I defeated the last boss and saw the credits roll, though; because the truth is that I didn't. I found said last boss at the bottom of his lair, and engaged him unprepared to test the waters; and while vanquishing his first form was easy enough, his second form wiped out my whole party in a matter of turns. The right course of action would be to go back at him with an vengeance and a solid strategy; however, I just cannot bring myself to do that. To be honest, I don't really care that much about beating Grandmaster Nimzo to a pulp. For once, he's not exactly my sworn enemy: the first time I met him was precisely during the final showdown, and it feels weird to kill a big baddie I just met. Sure, he more or less destroyed my MC's whole life through his minions' actions; but he remained such an elusive presence throughout the whole game that it's hard to resent him genuinely. Slaughtering Ladja was a thrill because of all the bad blood between us; but slaughtering Nimzo feels more like your obligatory Final Boss Fight. And then, there's the issue of me being lazy: there were so few boss fights during the game that I basically grew complacent, and I just cannot be arsed to rack my brain for strategies and try again.

And so will DQV remain unfinished business for now. I had a most lovely time with that game, and I'll definitely miss my awesome party — especially my little jailcat Jayla, i.e. the best party member an RPG player could wish for. (She was fast, strong, versatile, and totally adorable to boot; what's not to love?) I won't lie and claim that I loved DQV more than DQIX, though. My DQIX run was one of my most epic RPG playthroughs ever, and DQV simply cannot emulate the sheer scale of DQIX. DQV is more of a domestic RPG, with basic mechanics, a small game world and a mundane yet endearing story. The overall simplicity of the game bordered on shallowness at times, and there was a bit too much flirting with fake longevity; but playing DQV made me happy all the way through, and that's all that matters.

So what's next, you may ask? Well, I just secured physical copies of the 'Summer of Mystery' otome games from Aksys; and since I've had my fill of grinding for the time being, I'm gonna unwind by playing those ultimate Aksys offerings. (I cannot imagine any physical Vita game coming out in the West in the months to come, let alone an otome game.) I'll see you soon with tidings of romance and mystery, dear fellow gamers; and as usual, thanks for reading, and be my guest anytime!