The SNES version, along with this fan translation, was my first exposure to Dragon Quest V, and to anything Dragon Quest. Prior to playing this, I already played though other hard-hitting RPGs on the SNES, some include Final Fantasy 6, Chrono Trigger, and Terranigma. I didn’t have access to playing the PS2 version because I didn’t have a PS2 (let alone modded) and the DS version is out of reach to get a physical copy alongside that upon discovering it I preferred to go for the PS2 version later on solely because of the orchestrated soundtrack. I couldn’t emulate the other versions because the computer I have is ill-equipped to run emulators efficiently. Playing through the very first version of the game (with this fan translation of course) was fairly unique in its own way.

Like the reviewer before me, the fan translation is overall excellent, since I prefer going with the original Japanese script as much as possible (including names), and I too also saw errors in parts of the text as well (text scripting placement notably), though minor at best. I found only one part of the translation that’s questionable (and it only comes off as a minor error), and that’s the Depository. Whenever you try to withdraw any of your weapons/armors and give it to a party member that can’t equip it, it’ll say “(Party Member) cannot equip this item, but will they like to still hold on to it?” or something along the lines of that. I find it better to let the Depository lady say “…but will you like to still hold on to it?” since she’s asking you, the player, or in this instance, the party, if you want to hold on to it, because she says “Here you go” afterwards (referring to you, the player). Again, a minor error at best. Nothing else besides that feel off overall.

Gameplay-wise, it’s overall harder and clunky compared to the remakes. Let’s list the most notable ones:

• First up, due to this being an early SNES game (since it’s released in ‘92) the overall look and feel feels like an NES game - in addition, the lack of a run button made traversing through the areas of the game S L O W and makes it feel sluggish to go through (even though there is an existing hack now, it didn’t come to light on RHDN due to it being posted on Japanese romhacking sites and not converted to work with the fan translation during the time I played this, in fact it was posted during the very end of December ‘22, and it has the tendency to softlock during cutscenes, at least according to the author). In comparison, the remakes (at least according to the PS2 version, in my experience) have the walking speed become overall faster and more moderate to work with.
• Second of all is the inventory system - sure, the inventory system in DQV was standard for RPGs like it, especially on SNES, except that the remakes had an additional Bag storage system on you, it’s basically like if the Depository is with you at all times (but for armor and equipment only). And because sometimes you will have a lot of stuff on hand, especially when you stock up on healing items, get new equipment (and you take off your old equipment) from dungeons, and get small medals from Mimics (since medals acquired from chests and hidden places automatically get sent to the Medal King, ones from Mimics don’t) - it can clutter your inventory space fairly quickly and you have to often throw away stuff that you would have sold or used throughout your adventure, and money is tight throughout the game because the equipment you buy in stores is expensive.
• 3rd, you only have 3 party members. This isn’t the patch’s fault, this is a limitation of the game itself. Fortunately, the game is balanced around that limitation, so the remakes actually give you more monsters to fight instead to accommodate for that 4th member. What sucks about this is that, unlike the remakes which grants 4 party members, you won’t be able to fight the final boss with the whole family at once (you, your wife, and two kids). Like the faster walking patch I mentioned, the hack that enable 4 party members wasn’t compatible with the fan translation during the time I played it alongside that it was also released at the end of December ‘22, but it’s great that there exists a hack to being that back.
• The 4th reason is that since this is the original version, you have less different monsters to recruit (41) than the remakes (65).
• Lastly, you only have 3 save slots. Again, this is a limitation of the game itself. The remakes have more save slots (especially on PS2).

However, despite these things, there are a few things that make the SNES version very unique to the remakes:

• If you put 6 specific items in a very specific order in the main character’s inventory, every normal attack is a critical hit (except for those equipped with group/all enemy attacking weapons) and every recruitable monster is a 100% chance rate. This, to my knowledge, doesn’t exist in the remakes and is very helpful for a 100% monster run. Funnily enough, it also means that you and your wife can just take a backseat while your two kids and recruited monster(s) just do all the hard work against the final boss.
• Certain walkthrough websites (like shrines.rpgclassics.com) are dedicated to this fan translation, making it ideal and more clean for looking up info about the game itself. The remakes are just limited to wiki sites (like the ad-filled Fandom) and text-focused GameFAQs.

If you want my overall recommendation, I would say play the PS2 remake with its fan translation (or if you don’t have access to that, hunt down the DS version, but you’ll be missing out on the GORGEOUS orchestral soundtrack). It’s overall better in every way. Not to downplay the fan translation itself, but for a game like this, there’s a difference between it being outdated and it being aged well - unfortunately DQV on the SNES is the former. However, if you are curious to what the SNES version looked like and how it plays, or this is your only reliable platform playing it (and it, IMO, goes great playing this with a flash cart like the FXPAK Pro like I did) - then this should fill that gap for you. DQV is an excellent RPG, and is a good recommendation overall. I’d even say it’s one of the manliest RPGs you’ll ever play because of the main character’s story, ha!