Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen

"Not perfect, but a shinning exemple of RPG rudiments"

The Dragon Quest IV remake doesn't look like much at first glance for someone who's never played the original NES version before (such as myself), but it's without contest the best traditional RPG on the DS... at the moment, in my opinion surpassing the Final Fantasy remakes. That being said, DQIV totally got me hooked to the Dragon Quest series, and I'll be sure to buy the next remakes when they come out, though it's hard to conceive how they could be any better, this already being the pinnacle of old-school RPG. DQIV is, put simply, exactly everything a good traditional RPG should be.

The appeal in DQIV starts with the way it's set up at the beginning. Instead of jumping right from the start into the adventure, you're familiarized with the events leading to it and the characters that will be part of it, before the "actual game" begins. DQIV is made of five chapters, the last one being the main quest led by the hero of the story, a male of female character that you name at the very beginning of the game, and kinda forget about until s/he finally shows up. The first four chapters introduce you to each of the party members that will end up on the hero's team later on, with small side stories happening in different parts of the game's world.

Although the characters are one-dimensional -- they never talk, and you don't really know that much about them, a sort of attachment grows to them as you get to know them separately and experience part of the quest with them alone. In each chapter, you'll control one of the characters, follow their short storyline, then move on to the next until the final chapter where they all meet. Some people may hate this as each new character starts with its level at 1, so it's like starting a new game every time, but I personally enjoyed the peculiar setting as not many RPGs do it this way. DQIV sure drags on a bit at the beginning and is slow to really starts, but it's totally worth it once things start going.

The storyline itself is pretty shabby, but at least it doesn't try to take itself seriously. Each character's path leads to the hero's quest, which is simply to defeat the evil Psaro, who obviously wants to turn the world into evil and conquer it. Typical enough. The hero is, to no surprise, from a small village which gets burned to ashes, and he/she is the chosen, the only one powerful enough to save the world. Et cetera, etc. There's no character development either, nor with the hero, nor with any of the party members beyond the fifth chapter. However, the cities you'll visit during your adventure have a lot of townsfolks with each their own little story and a lot of different things happening in each villages. The storyline develops more through the stories you're told from different characters in towns and castles than from the quest itself. This adds a charming effect to the game's lively world and makes you forget your team is so silent.

Your merry party travels through the world map, at first by foot, then by boat, and finally, by air balloon. DQIV's world is pretty large, and following the RPG formula of the time, it's made of several villages and caves, which serve as dungeons. The game starts off as seemingly easy, but the more it goes, the quest becomes a lot more laborious. At first you'll find yourself walking from here to there as new places open up, but once you've been everywhere, it gets difficult to figure out where to head next without some help from a walkthrough. The storyline gives very little clue as to where to go, and to make it even harder, the town names aren't displayed anywhere so it's problematical when you want to know where you are.

Dragon Quest IV is as traditional as it gets, and traditional implies it's generic. There's nothing really special about the game compared to other old-school RPGs, but the quest just feels so satisfying that it's hard not to feel you've had your money's worth once it's over. It's not a particularly long game (25-30 hours at the most), but nothing's missing from the package. This is pretty much the best you can get. The villages all have a similar look and feel, which can be a bit disappointing as you travel further, but the dungeons show enough variety in design and theme that it never gets too repetitive. As mentioned earlier, there's a lot of different stuff happening as you travel to new places, each village has its own little thing going for it, and as a result the game's world feels rich and alive.

Don't be misled by the game's colorful world though; DQIV is quite tough, especially near the end where the enemies and bosses hit hard. The battle system is classic turn-based, and very old fashioned at that; you don't actually see your characters attacking, but you see the enemies taking damage. It might be a turn-off for some as there isn't much to look at (the spells are very basic too), but if you're used to the Dragon Quest series then you should know what to expect since even recent ones have kept this style.

Dragon Quest IV's world is indeed very flamboyant, with vivid colors that are so vibrant it takes a little getting used to, especially on the DS Lite's optimal brightness level. Not a bad thing in itself, since that's exactly the look the game needs for its cheerful nature. Unlike the Final Fantasy remakes, which have a more serious and gloomy tone, the Dragon Quest remakes just aim to look fun and happy-go-lucky. The graphics look a bit subpar when you compare them to something like FF, but the fact that you can rotate the camera around in towns and dungeons really helps. Otherwise the game almost looks 2D, until you actually rotate the environments and realize it's a sort of cel-shaded 3D. The characters are unfortunately really 2D sprites, and there aren't many flashy effects, but it still looks fairly good compared to the NES version at least, especially displayed on both of the DS' screens.

It's hard to rate a game like this because some people totally loathe the genre and others simply love it. I myself have always enjoyed traditional RPGs so for me DQIV is quite simply a delight. From the simplistic quest, to the light-hearted nature of the game that makes it so endearing, to the many villages, castles and caves to explore, and with the always beautiful musical score, DQIV is absolutely charming and engaging to play, but only to old-school RPG fans. The flaws (barely any character development, hard to figure out where to go, not much diversity in the actual gameplay and somewhat monotonous battles) could turn new players off, but keeping in mind this is a remake of a classic, it's a very worthy and fulfilling one whether or not you've played the original.

Breakdown

Presentation DQIV has a very simple plot that doesn't develop enough, but the way it's introduced is original and the game's lighthearted atmosphere is alluring. Besides the visuals, the game's not that much of a huge remake, it stays very close to the original. 8/10

Gameplay This is pretty much the most traditional, old-school RPG you can get on DS, few games aside. If you like the genre, then DQIV is a gem. If you don't like it, then this won't make you change your mind. The battle system is a little redundant, but the villages and dungeons are actually fun to explore. It's somewhat tedious to progress, but the adventure feels rewarding. 9/10

Graphics The graphics look more 2D than they look 3D, so it's a bit disappointing for this remake, but the style is fitting to the game's colorful approach. Being able to rotate the environments and see them on two screens at the same time is great. Nothing very spectacular overall but it works. 7.5/10

Music Brilliant musical pieces, especially the intro theme and the music played in castles. The tunes do seem to repeat themselves in most towns and dungeons however. The world map fortunately has different tracks playing as you progress through the quest. 8.5/10

Replay Value There aren't really any sidequests during the adventure itself, besides mini-medals to find hidden around, but there's an optional dungeon and more once the game is over. I'm not sure I would replay it, but it was definitely fun the first time through. 7/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/28/09, Updated 02/06/09

Game Release: Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen (US, 09/16/08)