Editing Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride (section)

==New features==
''Dragon Quest V'' follows in the footsteps of {{IV}} by virtue of continuing [[Yuji Horii]]'s narrative experiments. Rather than dividing the game into chapters focusing on several characters, the story exclusively follows the life of the [[Hero (Dragon Quest V)|person]] from childhood to adulthood, and finally to parenthood. This divides the game into 3 separate generations, with the world and characters ageing along with the protagonist. The nature of traversing the world's towns and combating {{MFamilies}}s is still the same as in previous titles, but with the introduction of a well lauded addition to the series: 

===[[Monster recruitment]]===
The largest gameplay addition was the inclusion of a monster recruitment system. Under this system, [[List of recruitable monsters in Dragon Quest V|certain monsters]] may elect to join the player's party after being defeated in battle. These monsters then behave as typical player characters who can Level up, use equipment, and receive orders/tactics in battle, but will often have abilities and resistances unavailable to [[human]] characters. This new feature adds a great deal of replay value as it exponentially increases the number of possible {{Party 5}} configurations a player can use. 

In the original {{Super Famicom}} Version, only 42 monsters were recruitable and 70 was the limit for how many could be kept in total. In the current {{DS}} and [[Cell phone]] versions, these limits were raised to 72 recruits and 80 spaces respectively.

===Player conveniences===
*This game was the first to use katakana and numbers to name characters; earlier 8-bit games had only allowed the use of hiragana. Also, message windows can now display kanji. This '''significantly''' expanded the amount of text that could be stored to a cartridge without eating up space saved for music, graphics, and so forth, with the original advertisements stating the game had as much text as a novel. 
*Search, Talk, and Open commands can now be issued by a single button press, bypassing the menu. 
*The shop interface now shows what stat changes will occur when a weapon is equipped, and purchased items can be equipped automatically.
*Characters can now move a half-block tile at a time rather than only a full block, leading to smoother animation.
*Pots, barrels, and similar objects can now be searched, and will often contain useful items. Unfortunately, this also meant that they sometimes contained monsters laying in wait.

===Battle refinements and balancing===
*For the first time, any character who is targeting an already-defeated monster will have their target automatically transferred to one of the other monsters (selected at random). In earlier games, the action was simply cancelled and the turn wasted.
*More advanced party [[artificial intelligence]] than the previous game. An A.I. controlled character is now guaraunteed to "learn" a foe's resistances and vulnerabilities by the third turn of a battle with no exceptions, avoiding infamous snafus such as a character wasting turns casting [[Whack]] on a boss monster. It is also possible, unlike in the previous game's original version, to set characters to manual command and allow them to be controlled individually as in the first three games. 
*There is now a separation of spell resistances for monsters. In previous games, all spell resistance was based around ''accuracy'', whereas in V an offensive spell's resistance is now calculated as ''damage reduction'', thus preventing a caster from completely wasting their {{MP}} unless the foe is immune. This would set the precedent for resistances in all future titles and side games.
*There is now a distinct defensive stat in {{Resilience}}, determining a character's base defence; in earlier games the base defence was calculated from {{Agility}}. This was implemented on human characters because monsters have always had separate {{Agility}} and {{Defence}} stats in the previous games, and introducing tamable monsters without addressing this discrepancy would only confuse players.
*Armour and shield resistance is now based on static number subtraction instead of a percentage. For example, the [[Magic shield]] will always reduce damage dealt from [[Sizz]] by 7 points.
*{{Boomerang}}s and {{Whip}}s can now attack groups of enemies. This feature leads to some weapons being replaced in remakes of older titles to avoid inconsistency.
*Some traditional spells had their effects slightly altered, such as [[Kabuff]] improving {{Defence}} by 25% instead of 50%.
*The [[Zoom]] spell can only be acquired at a certain stage of the plot (in the first half of the second generation); it cannot be acquired by leveling, and if a monster recruit learns this spell, the spell will not appear until after the plot event occurs. This marks the first time in the series that spell acquisition has been tied to story events.
*Background images return to the combat screen, reminiscent of the first game. The images depend on the local terrain and time of day, and feature animations such as clouds rolling through the sky. Also, attacking a monster or casting an offensive spell will produce a matching animation.
*The mechanism for replacing characters with reinforcements from the [[wagon]] was changed. It no longer takes a turn for a character to be swapped with one in the [[wagon]], and it is possible to replace all characters at once. This significantly changes battle strategy, especially against major bosses. To balance this, several bosses possess much higher stats than were featured in previous games--{{HP}} in particular.
*The original {{SFC}} Version only allows 3 active {{Party 5}} members instead of 4; a 5-person [[wagon]] is still available, however. The {{PS2}} and {{DS}} remakes restored {{Party 5}} size to 4.

===New types of vehicles===
In addition to the typical [[Ship|sailing vessel]] and flying mount, there are several additional modes of fantastical transportation. These new crafts carry their own restrictions but offer more intricate exploration.
*[[Flying Carpet]]: This whimsical rug can travel on grass, water, and shoals, and will suppress wandering monster encounters due to its high speed. It can be carried as an item, allowing it to be used anywhere where there is a sufficient region of grass to take off. However, it cannot travel through forests, so a line of forest inside a line of water (or vice versa) remains an impassible barrier.
*The [[Zenithia|Sky Castle]]: The home of the divine Zenithians can fly over any terrain; but it cannot reach or pass the high mountain on the central continent where the Great Temple of [[Crocodilopolis]] is located. It can only land or take off from grass or desert (and only large areas of grass/desert, due to its size). The [[Zoom]] spell will not relocate the castle since [[Zoom]] directly transports the party into its control deck. 

===[[Knick-knack]]s===
Introduced in the {{PS2}} version, these locally-flavoured baubles provide an additional side-quest. Throughout the game, many special items called [[Knick-knack]]s may be collected by the player. These items can be displayed in a special museum that will come under the ownership of the protagonist; {{NPC}}s will be attracted to the museum once it has exhibits, reminiscent of the boom town featured in other titles. Some special products will be upgraded by certain plot events, and can even be used as equipment in battle. Knick-knacks are unrelated to the overall plot of the game and exist only as a sidequest, but they offer a glimpse into the everyday life of an {{NPC}} that other games attempt to illustrate.