When I heard of SquareEnix was going to revamp the Dragon Quest series to the DS format, I was indeed curious. As originally the Dragon Quest/Warrior (DQ), was published by Enix (before Square and Enix made out and became SquareEnix [ha I made a funny]).  Would the taint/blessing of Square make this game any better….or worse?

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            Originally called Dragon Warrior IV; Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen revolves around several characters spanned into a total of five chapters.  In each of these chapters, you play the role of the characters.  Each character has their own storyline and each chapter, except chapter five, is very linear, you can’t stray off easily as you can in most rpgs.  Eventually, you’ll encounter chapter five were you play as the Hero (whoever you named him or her) and eventually you learn you are the destined hero/heroine to defeat the evil monster king of the underworld.  The hero sets out on his/her journey.  Eventually, you’ll encounter the previous characters from the last four chapters and they’ll join your party to help you rid of this evil.  The storyline is pretty linear to that of the previous DQ’s games, although unlike the previous titles, this is the first one that doesn’t mention the Dragon Lord (who was the original enemy of the first DQ game and is also mentioned in II and III).

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            Those who have played DQ7; will recognize the revampness DQ4 has to offer.  You’re basically playing DQ7 (graphically).  From its original debut on the Nintendo system, it’s done very well.  Enemies are colorful and animate very well.  Everything is very well revamped such as music, the goofy attack sounds, and as well as the menuing system. 

​

The game doesn’t use the touch pad (no reason to) character movement is at the bottom screen while any action (such as combat or the map screen) is displayed on the top screen.  The game is exactly remade the same way as its original counterpart, there were no serious changes other than a graphic overall and improvement of sound & control.

​

In terms of difficulty, the DQ series were known to be a pretty difficult game.  DQ had vagueness at times where to go next and had very epic tough boss battles.  DQ4 isn’t as tough as its original version.  Boss battles and fights were still difficult, but it didn’t feel as hard.  In terms of length game play, this game wasn’t as long as I completed in about 35 hours.  Maybe because I was kid when I first played this game, it just didn’t feel as long.

​

All the characters fit in very well and each play their role well.  You’ll end up managing up to 9 party members at once and you will have to, at times, determine what the best setup to use.  I personally enjoyed that the red headed Tomboy princess Alena still kicked a lot of butt.  “Alena attacks!  A tremendous blow!  The metal slime takes 478 points of damage!”  It is nice to see that SquareEnix didn’t skip a beat they brought back good memories.

​

Overall, if you have never played the DQ series before, you might enjoy this title.  It’s not as hard as its counterparts but its good RPG nonetheless and it might get you into the series to play the others. SquareEnix plans to released the remaining two (V & VI) to the DS (V is already out), which is great because these were series that were never released originally to the states.  I plan to get both titles down the road.

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Graphics:  .800/1.000:  Overall great graphics in its all new 3D environment.  A big overall, however, it looks just like DQ7, which was from the PS1.  The DS has much more graphical power; some clearness would have nice to have.  However, the graphics are pretty well done and nothing is confusing about them.

​

Sound:  1.000/1.000:  Absolutely great sounds & musics from its original NES counter part.  All the music is very well done.

Control: .800/1.000:  Controlling your characters on the main map sometimes got stiff at times causing un-needed encounters.  Menuing system is pretty clear and understandable.

​

Storyline:  .800/1.000:  Considering the DQ series, the storyline is pretty much the same.  Hero saves the world bit but with a little spice.  The storyline isn’t bland though.  Each character has their own storyline and reason to join the hero (you’ll find out in each chapter).

​

Gameplay:  .700/1.000:  Great gameplay overall.  Avid fans though will notice certain differences.  They changed the names of some of the spells, which at times got confusing because I didn’t know what the spells did until after I casted it.  They didn’t really add any new spells they just renamed them.  Also combat is also a plus compared to its counter part.  Originally, you could only control the heroes actions and you would set each party member to a specific AI (such as go all out, be balanced, do nothing but heal, or conserve MP).  Now you can manually control some or all characters!  Which is a great plus in my book, especially for vital boss fights; characters AI is a bit better in this version.  Characters will follow what you tell them to do (most of the time).  Additionally, there is an extra chapter to play in DQIV, which gives you a bit extra storyline about some of the characters, which I thought was a neat add-on.  It’s a short bonus, but a fun one.

Other Thoughts:  $39.95 for a DS game is expensive!  I kinda got my money worth out of the game for the time spent playing, but 40 bucks for me on a hand held game is pushing it.  I’m a $29.95 kinda guy. (ha ha)

​

When I heard of SquareEnix was going to revamp the Dragon Quest series to the DS format, I was indeed curious. As originally the Dragon Quest/Warrior (DQ), was published by Enix (before Square and Enix made out and became SquareEnix [ha I made a funny]).  Would the taint/blessing of Square make this game any better….or worse?

            Originally called Dragon Warrior IV; Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen revolves around several characters spanned into a total of five chapters.  In each of these chapters, you play the role of the characters.  Each character has their own storyline and each chapter, except chapter five, is very linear, you can’t stray off easily as you can in most rpgs.  Eventually, you’ll encounter chapter five were you play as the Hero (whoever you named him or her) and eventually you learn you are the destined hero/heroine to defeat the evil monster king of the underworld.  The hero sets out on his/her journey.  Eventually, you’ll encounter the previous characters from the last four chapters and they’ll join your party to help you rid of this evil.  The storyline is pretty linear to that of the previous DQ’s games, although unlike the previous titles, this is the first one that doesn’t mention the Dragon Lord (who was the original enemy of the first DQ game and is also mentioned in II and III).

            Those who have played DQ7; will recongize the revampness DQ4 has to offer.  You’re basically playing DQ7 (graphically).  From its original debut on the Nintendo system, it’s done very well.  Enemies are colorful and animate very well.  Everything is very well revamped such as music, the goofy attack sounds, and as well as the menuing system. 

The game doesn’t use the touch pad (no reason to) character movement is at the bottom screen while any action (such as combat or the map screen) is displayed on the top screen.  The game is exactly remade the same way as its original counterpart, there were no serious changes other than a graphic overhall and improvement of sound & control.

In terms of difficulty, the DQ series were known to be a pretty difficult game.  DQ had vaugness at times where to go next and had very epic tough boss battles.  DQ4 isn’t as tough as its original version.  Boss battles and fights were still difficult, but it didn’t feel as hard.  In terms of length game play, this game wasn’t as long as I completed in about 35 hours.  Maybe because I was kid when I first played this game, it just didn’t feel as long.

All the characters fit in very well and each play their role well.  You’ll end up managing up to 9 party members at once and you will have to, at times, determine what the best setup to use.  I personally enjoyed that the red headed Tomboy princess Alena still kicked a lot of butt.  “Alena attacks!  A tremendous blow!  The metal slime takes 478 points of damage!”  It is nice to see that SquareEnix didn’t skip a beat they brought back good memories.

Overall, if you have never played the DQ series before, you might enjoy this title.  It’s not as hard as its counterparts but its good RPG nonetheless and it might get you into the series to play the others. SquareEnix plans to released the remaining two (V & VI) to the DS (V is already out), which is great because these were series that were never released originally to the states.  I plan to get both titles down the road.

 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Graphics:  .800/1.000:  Overall great graphics in its all new 3D enviorment.  A big overall, however, it looks just like DQ7, which was from the PS1.  The DS has much more graphical power; some clearness would have nice to have.  However, the graphics are pretty well done and nothing is confusing about them.

​

Sound:  1.000/1.000:  Absolutely great sounds & musics from its original NES counter part.  All the music is very well done.

​

Control: .800/1.000:  Controlling your characters on the main map sometimes got stiff at times causing un-needed encounters.  Menuing system is pretty clear and understandable.

​

Storyline:  .800/1.000:  Considering the DQ series, the storyline is pretty much the same.  Hero saves the world bit but with a little spice.  The storyline isn’t bland though.  Each character has their own storyline and reason to join the hero (you’ll find out in each chapter).

​

Gameplay:  .700/1.000:  Great gameplay overall.  Avid fans though will notice certain differences.  They changed the names of some of the spells, which at times got confusing because I didn’t know what the spells did until after I casted it.  They didn’t really add any new spells they just renamed them.  Also combat is also a plus compared to its counter part.  Originally, you could only control the heroes actions and you would set each party member to a specific AI (such as go all out, be balanced, do nothing but heal, or conserve MP).  Now you can manually control some or all characters!  Which is a great plus in my book, especially for vital boss fights; characters AI is a bit better in this version.  Characters will follow what you tell them to do (most of the time).  Additionally, there is an extra chapter to play in DQIV, which gives you a bit extra storyline about some of the characters, which I thought was a neat add-on.  It’s a short bonus, but a fun one.

Other Thoughts:  $39.95 for a DS game is expensive!  I kinda got my money worth out of the game for the time spent playing, but 40 bucks for me on a hand held game is pushing it.  I’m a $29.95 kinda guy. (ha ha)

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