Finally reaches Europe's shores
Customer Rating: 
Well it's taken nearly two decades but finally we're starting to see the Dragon Quests of the NES/SNES era reach our shores. Dragon Quest 4 originally came out on the NES but was updated and ported to the SNES in Japan. Sadly this was never translated, so once more English speakers were denied some quality Japanese RPG's. It seems that Square Enix are making up for lost time now by starting to bring out their back catalogue and this game fits nicely alongside Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 4 as a slice of retro heaven.
The game is one of the more simplistic role-playing games in terms of item management, progression and combat. There's none of the game slowing friction associated with complicated sub-menus and acres of stats behind each piece of equipment and this is where the charm lies. Whilst not breaking any ground it is extremely pleasant for anyone who enjoyed the 16-bit era of RPG's to have a simpler more fun and straight-forward experience with brightly drawn locations, swift and straight-forward random battles and simple, yet charming, characterisations.
There have been a few tweaks graphically, most notably in the battles that have detailed, well-drawn monsters that perfectly capture the personality and character of Yuji Hori's monster designs in their look and animation. There are also a few sections that blend 2D areas with 3D backgrounds and cut-scenes, whilst nice to look at the DS hardware is not really pushed so don't expect the graphical over-haul that Final Fantasy 4 delivered. I have to say, this is probably a good thing too as keeping things 2D retains more charm and makes random battles and level grinding swifter and less of a chore than in the Final Fantasy series.
The story is told in a unique way (especially for a retro game) giving the player four prologues to play through before picking up their own named character to play through. These prologues are certainly of reasonable length and highly pleasant to play through, providing a good warm up to the main event and some unique experiences. Running a shop as a merchant was certainly a nice touch and added a welcome aside to compliment the standard exploration and questing. The quality of the story is very much standard fare; however the game does fall down somewhat when it comes to the complete lack of any feeling of "event" whenever a major plot point occurs in the game. This is certainly an attribute lacking in Dragon Quest where Final Fantasy clearly surpasses it. Oddly enough however the dialogue itself is surprisingly good with great attention being paid to regional accents. Despite playing to stereo-types it still manages to be entertaining and well written. It would be good to see more bold rewritten localisations like this in the future.
Chapters of the Chosen provides a great treat for RPG fans and also a good gateway to the genre for newcomers. Whilst it does not break any new ground it provides a sweet and surprisingly lengthy adventure, proving that an old school game that sticks to the basics of the genre is still enjoyable.
Good Old School Fun
Customer Rating: Pros:
+Updated visuals, script and battle animations
+Long quest
+Lots of things to do off the beaten path
+Not too hard
+Beautiful Soundtrack
Cons:
-The visuals are a little sloppy
-Good animations in battle, but the battle engine is very dated
Dragon Quest IV first dropped down in North America as Dragon Warrior IV in 1992. This is just a year after the release of the Super Nintendo in America and also a year after the release of Final Fantasy IV. Needless to say, it was one of the last RPGs to be on the NES. The Dragon Quest series has never been too big in America so it's possible that for a lot of gamers, this is the first encounter they've had with Dragon Quest IV. It stacks up pretty nicely on the DS, but it also keeps very true to its NES roots. If you were one who played the original NES version and were expecting a Final Fantasy IV DS revamp, you'll be disappointed. However, it is a treat for those who never got the chance to play the original NES title. If you did play the original NES game to completion, I repeat, there's really nothing new here.
Dragon Quest IV begins by actually taking four chapters to introduce you to the game's four main characters and the last Chapter to be the actual quest. Dragon Quest differs from Final Fantasy in terms of story. Dragon Quest puts a lot more emphasis on exploration and from time to time, battling. So there's not much of an emphasis on story here, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have merits. It's a fairly good story overall.
The most obvious update to Dragon Quest IV is the game's graphics. Japan got a Playstation remake in 2001 and the graphics here are right on par. However, it uses Dragon Quest VII's graphics engine. So there are 2D Sprites on a 3D world. The facelift is nice, but it looks a little sloppy. The sprites don't look that much better than what you'd find in a Super Nintendo game and they're pretty pixelated. It overall looks good, but it could look better.
The second major update is the game's translation itself. Character names, towns, etc., have been changed. The script has also been rewritten as well. So if you played the original NES game, there are quite a few changes in terms of dialog as well. It's also a little neater.
The game's updated music is perhaps the best part. It's now completely orchestrated and it sounds very good. There are a few old school sound effects that come through as well, but they're appropriate.
When battling, however, this is where a lot of the game's old school charm really comes out. Dragon Quest has the most basic of basic menu battle systems. Dragon Quest IV doesn't do a thing to update it in the slightest. The enemies now move in battle, but not much. You actually see enemies attack and some of the spell animations look good. However, you never see your enemy go up and strike the enemy. Beautiful backgrounds and enemies that move a little are nice, but it shows that there's no real update to the battle system. It probably won't bother you in the long run. After all, battling is actually pretty fun, but graphically, it's hard not to wish that Dragon Quest IV would've upped the ante a little bit.
In many Dragon Quest games, level grinding was a must. This isn't really true of Dragon Quest IV, at least not in the remake. Much of the game is pretty simple. There's no level grinding necessary.
There isn't really that much else added to Dragon Quest IV at all. It stays very true to its NES roots. You may be getting a game that looks like it belongs on the DS, but it is very much an NES game and holds true to everything the original NES game has including some of its limitations. If you don't mind that, then the game will be an excellent buy. If you're not really big on RPGs from the NES era it might not be for you.
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