The story is captivating and the characters' relationship with Abel feels sincere and genuine. The monster-collecting concept is very interesting both in terms of gameplay and narration: traveling alone, growing up around monsters... Narratively, I notice a lot of nods (voluntary or not) to some of my favorite works such as The Count of Monte Cristo or Dragon Ball. But DQ5 has something unique, more than any other opus in the saga... By far the greatest story in a Dragon Quest game.