Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen

"Suprisingly, a real decent game!"

For a while I was hesitant to purchase this game, why? I bought the Final Fantasy IV remake and didn't quite enjoy it, and sometimes I forced myself to play through the game. However after doing a bit of research of Dragon Quest IV and asking around how the game was, I decided to pluck up the courage and buy the game. I was not disappointed!

(Story: 9/10)
The story in my honest opinion, is a lot more original than Final Fantasy IV. This game isn't about finding crystals to stop an evil wizard to save the world, oh no, its a lot more interesting than that. I am not going to spoil the story to much, as a story is what makes a decent RPG, is it not? The game is split into chapters, i.e. prologue, chapter one, chapter two etc. Each chapter within the game, explains why a character is doing what he is doing, it also explains the back story of the game. Without spoiling to much, it seems the monsters are searching for "the hero" to eliminate him. Wonder why? Buy the game and find out. You won't find this type of story in many other RPGs.

(Gameplay: 10/10)
Its pretty simple, you move the icon (character you are playing) about, interact with other non playable characters, objects etc. If you want to buy items, weapons etc, you talk to shop keepers, Something that is different in this game though, is the save system; to save the game, you must either finish a chapter or talk to the priest in a church, this makes travelling dungeons quite dangerous and saving the game quite tedious. Like other dragon quest games, the menu is original in itself but simple, just open it, equip items, put items in bags etc. The battle system is easy to use, the battles them self are quite easy for new players to. As most RPGs, the monsters get harder, but equipping your characters with better gear will null that. Unlike some RPGs where you get random battles every 4 steps, which is very frustrating, in this game you don't. I've some times walked through entire maps without a single battle. In all honesty, it should take a new player about 5 minutes to work out how to play Dragon Quest IV. Not all players enjoy hard RPGs, people like me for example, love simple guys just to pass the time. Like most decent RPGs, there a plenty of side quests for you to enjoy. These side quests are to extras just to make it a tad easier to finish the game.

(Sound/Music: 8/10)
Sometimes the music will make you cringe but sometimes you'll fall in love with the music, as sometimes I feel the music doesn't quite fit in with the background. However 90% of the time the music is spot on, real nice to listen to. The sound on the other hand, is near perfect. You'll love the sound of how the pots smash, when the sword hits the enemy etc, or maybe you won't! But I did. :P

(Graphics:10/10)
This in my opinion is where Dragon Quest really shows off. I looked at the original version of Dragon Quest for the NES, and it looked terrible, then I looked at the remake and it looks remarkable. There is detail in every building, in every character, in every item etc, lets not forget the characters were designed by the legendary Akira Tokayama. To top it off, you can change the angles of the screen by pressing the L and R buttons, this is very useful when theres something you can't quite see or want to simply enjoy the surroundings of the game.

(Use of DS/Stylus: 6/10)
Could potentially be a lot better. You'll never find use for the stylus in the game, the stylus is what makes the DS original, so the people should of worked harder to allow the stylus into the game somehow. Whether it was character movement or selecting items or anything. However the use of the DS is nice to see, for example you can see the beautiful graphics on both screens of the DS. The top screen shows the upper part of the map, and obviously the bottom screen is the character you are controlling and the enviroment you are in. The battles are similar, with the monsters on the top etc.


(Overall: 9/10)
A very good game, but certain aspects such as use of the DS could of made the game much greater. If you see this game in the shops and love RPGs, then certainly buy it. However this game is a very decent remake of the original game that came on the NES, it doesn't look like the game it once was. The game has got its flaws but that doesn't make it less enjoyable than games without flaws.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/25/08

Game Release: Dragon Quest: The Chapters of the Chosen (EU, 09/12/08)