Originally developed by Chunsoft and published by Enix Corporation, Dragon Quest V was the first title in the series to be released for the Super Famicom video game console in Japan in September 1992.

[6] The game takes place over roughly thirty years of the main character's life, from when he is born through to when he gets married and has a family.

The title introduced a gameplay dynamic in which monsters from random encounters may offer to join the player's party.

The game's monster-collecting concept had been used before in the Megami Tensei series and appeared in many later franchises such as Pokémon, Digimon and Dokapon.

There are a total of 40 monsters that are capable of joining the Hero's party in the Super Famicom version, with 71 in the PlayStation 2 remake.

It also expanded the tactics system by allowing the artificial intelligence routines to be set individually for each ally rather than for the party as a whole.

The quest takes the Hero and his party to many exotic locations, such as a fairy village, a mansion made of ice, several caves, and a volcano.

Similar to the previous two entries in the series, the final enemies reside in a dark world, separate from the main map.

The Hero meets Bianca and the two explore the haunted Uptaten Towers (レヌール, Renūru), where they obtain a mysterious Golden Orb.

The first section of the story ends with Pankraz being killed by Ladja (ゲマ, Gema), a mysterious member of the Order of Zugzwang, when he tries to protect his son and Prince Harry.

The story continues ten years later, and the Hero and Harry have grown up working on a giant temple, but escape as the scene opens.

The Hero travels to the west to the town of Mostroferrato, where the wealthy nobleman Rodrigo Briscoletti and his daughter Nera live.

During this stage of the journey, the Hero avenges Pankraz by killing Ladja, and restores the Dragon God, as well as Zenithia castle, to their proper homes in the sky.

After returning to the temple the Hero helped build as a slave, the Zenithian armor is found, as well as the statue of his wife.

After the king of the Order of Zugzwang, Korol (イブール, Ibuul), is defeated, the party is informed by him that the Hero's mother, Madalena (マーサ, Martha) remains in the dark world of Nadiria, and that the god of darkness, Grandmaster Nimzo (ミルドラース, Mirudorāsu), is lying in wait for the Legendary Hero there.

The Hero, his wife, and their children agree not to leave Madalena in the Nadiria, so together they travel there via a portal near Lofty Peak, soon reaching Mt.

[27] Square Enix released a PlayStation 2 enhanced remake of Dragon Quest V on March 25, 2004, with first day sales of 722,000.

The Hero and his companions have to fight more monsters in the PlayStation 2 remake than they did in the Super Famicom original, but the character limit on the party has been increased from three to four.

Also, there were only 40 monsters available to the player's party in the Super Famicom version of Dragon Quest V due to ROM limitations.

[29] The Dragon Quest V remake for the Nintendo DS was announced in late 2007 by Square Enix, to be developed by ArtePiazza.

[60] The game sold out over 1.3 million cartridges within one day of its release in Japan,[61][62] higher than the Super Famicom version of Street Fighter II earlier the same year.

[72][73] The success of Dragon Quest V led to rising demand for the Super Famicom, which increased in price following the game's release.

[78] The Nintendo DS remake of Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride was the seventh best-selling game of Japan in 2008, selling 1,176,082 copies that year.

This made it one of their three highest-rated games of 1992, along with Shin Megami Tensei and World of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.