RandomNPC – Video Game RPG Reviews, Editorials, and Features

These days, remakes are all the rage, and many of them are finding their way onto Nintendo’s dual-screened portable juggernaut.  These transitions typically mean new features as well as the expected boosts in graphics and sound, but they also mean comparisons to games that have been released years and sometimes even a decade after the initial release of the source material.  In this light, remakes are unique in that they must compete with games of the past, present, and future in a modern day setting, yet Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen for the DS manages to hold its own.

Like many popular RPG franchises, Dragon Quest games have many things that are definitive to the series as a whole.  For instance, each game gets its easily recognizable art style from Akira Toriyama, who has been at the helm for the entire series.  Likewise, even though other games have eschewed turn-based combat for other engines, Dragon Quest has kept this mechanic at its core throughout.  The series is also known for its long dungeons without save points, and these things define Dragon Quest to its fans.

Though the game technically begins with the the player selecting the name and gender of the unnamed hero from a remote village, the game really starts with the story of Ragnar, a knight of Burland.  Children have suddenly gone missing, and Ragnar has set out to discover the cause.  Like most of the first half of the game, Ragnar’s story is short, but it introduces the player to him.  In a similar fashion, three more chapters introduce the player to the other members of the chosen few to help the hero save the world, and it is only in the fifth chapter that the game truly begins as the hero unites with everyone from the previous chapters and begins his or her quest.

Due to increased prices, they’ve had to resort to cheap knockoffs for the fourth movie.

This chapter-based plot system is one of the most interesting parts of Dragon Quest IV.  On the one hand, all of the members of the final team get the spotlight for a while as we see their motivations and background, but at the end of the first four chapters, players must switch from one person or group that they may have grown attached to and begin a new chapter.  Though all of the stories eventually intertwine, this method of plot progression somewhat stunts the overall narrative.  The plot is pretty good on the whole, but it just gets slow midway through before picking up again towards the end.

As mentioned before, the turn-based battle system is one of the defining elements of the main Dragon Quest series.  As in other games, players input all their actions, and then both sides attack with faster units going first.  One of the most interesting and frustrating aspects of Dragon Quest IV‘s version of battle is that when monsters appear in a group they cannot be individually targeted.  Typically, it is not a problem.  The computer will almost always allocate hits such that the most enemies are killed, but there are issues when there are multiple groups of the same monster.  Take for example multiple groupings of monsters in the metal slime family with any other monster.  Metal monsters typically only receive one point of damage per landed attack, and they are very hard to hit.  To make matters worse, on any given turn, they typically flee the battle.  Since they are so difficult to kill, they are worth more experience points than any other monster type in the game.  Since they rarely stick around long in battle, it is extremely frustrating to target a group of metal slimes only to have every slime in that group run.  Rather than target the other group of metal slimes, the computer will automatically assign attacks to get the highest number of kills. Also, for some unexplainable reason, attacks are sometimes split up between different monsters instead of concentrating on one foe at a time.  This is especially frustrating since random battles tend to be unforgiving, and there is no way to revive fallen allies outside of towns until the game is nearing completion.

There is one mitigating factor to this battle system.  Once the player reaches the fifth chapter and acquires a wagon, many battles will offer the ability to switch out characters on the fly.  There is no penalty for doing so, and the last boss fight would be significantly more difficult without this ability.  In fact, it will all but require carefully swapping out team members to get access to specific spells and abilities since no one character has a full set of useful support magic, and no one gets every healing spell.  Also, most characters either get good support spells or good healing spells, but rarely does one character get both.  As for the six most important spells, they are divided up amongst the six magic users with each getting at most only two of them apiece. Should the team be defeated, the characters in the wagon will jump out as a second string, but this is not always possible.  The wagon does not follow the party in many dungeons, so players should not rely solely on this tactic.

Sensing defeat, the healslime stubbornly sticks to the tactic that got it here: not attacking the enemy. The struggle is soon over.

Another thing that gives Dragon Quest its oft-cited difficulty comes from the longer dungeons that lack save points, but this is not as much a factor this time around.  Compared to both earlier and later entries into the Dragon Quest series, the dungeons of Dragon Quest IV are generally shorter.  Also, the second screen helps tremendously as it extends the player’s view over what would have been visible in the original.  In most dungeons, the camera can be rotated to show which paths end up as dead ends and where treasure can be found.  Not only does this speed up the game to an extent, but it also limits the number of random encounters, thus sparing the use of unnecessary healing spells.   Nearly every battle will require at least some healing afterward, and running out of MP can be disastrous.

Graphically, Dragon Quest IV is gorgeous.  The world abounds in vibrant colors, and the battle animations are extremely smooth.  Unlike Dragon Quest VIII, which had a cel-shaded graphics, Chapters of the Chosen opts for a more cartoony, sprite-based approach that is a wonderful medium for Toriyama’s trademark drawing style.  The end result is that this game holds its own against later entries spectacularly.

Not only does the game excel graphically, but the redone music is superb as well.  Each of the five chapters gets its own battle music, and towns, caves, and towers each have a theme.  All are presented in the orchestrated fashion of Dragon Quest VIII, and it is one of the highlights of the game.

The sound effects are much less noticeable, but longtime fans of the series will recognize them all as the same battle sounds that have been around since the beginning of the series.  Their impact is minimal on the game, but for what it’s worth, they are also well done.

In hindsight, a DDR RPG might not have been the best idea…

One of the biggest changes for the North American version of the game is that there are 13 regional dialects that recent Dragon Quest games have become known for.  Unlike recent console games which have had voice acting to help make it easier to follow, there is no voice work at all in Chapters of the Chosen.  This makes it a bit more difficult to follow some of the plot, and sometimes, the player may have to speak the text aloud to catch the meaning.  Unless players are knowledgeable of common expressions used in countries like Scotland or Ireland, they still may not understand every word they read, but nearly everything can be gleaned from context.  Though the dialects do help give each region some individuality, they are a bit overdone at times, especially considering they are entirely done with text.

Completing the main story will take between 35 and 45 hours depending on how much and how effectively the player chooses to level grind.  Magic, especially healing spells, make all the difference in battle, and spells are awarded for reaching certain levels.  In this way, a difference of one level can have a significant impact on the difficulty of most boss fights and even many random encounters.  With proper leveling, the game is not too hard, but some of the earlier dungeons can be challenging, especially if the team’s healers run out of MP.  There are also a couple hard boss fights, but again, simply gaining a level or two can make a world of difference.

Once the players complete the game, they are offered a chance to save their progress and begin the post-game content that was introduced in the Japanese PSX releases.  This extra content can add a fair bit of playtime onto the game, and it will also slightly change the ending.  It consists of an extra dungeon and two more boss fights.

In the end, Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen is a solid remake of a classic game.  Though the battle system is frustrating at times and the dialects can get a bit too heavy, it is an enjoyable experience from start to finish.  It is also important to note that this is the first game in the Zenitian trilogy, only one of which made it to North America previously, so for fans that are excited about playing the other two games in the set, it is highly recommended that they begin with this one.  Those that enjoyed Dragon Quest IV back on the NES will almost assuredly love the remake.  New fans of the series that began with later entries from the series will find a lot to love, but they may not find it as good as Dragon Quest VIII. Regardless, it’s a good game that should please anyone looking for a classic RPG experience for the DS.