GAME CLEAR No. 19 -- Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen

Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen (2007, DS)

Remake of: Dragon Quest IV (1990, NES)
Original Developer: Chunsoft
Remake Developer: ArtePiazza, Cattle Call
Original Publisher: Enix
Remake Publisher: Square Enix
Clear Date: 2/19/2021
Clear Platform: Nintendo DS

Dragon Quest! This one took the longest so far to get its hooks in me, but it finally did, and it’s another great one. Dragon Quest IV is the first game in the series to have any meaningful characterization for your fellow party members, and I found that quite enjoyable. Alena is now by far my favorite character in the series. I’m always a fan of punchy characters in games, and her Russian manner of speaking put her over the top. The other characters all had their own charms as well, but she was the clear winner for me. I hope the characters in further games are even more fleshed out and amusing.

To that point, my only regret with playing the DS version (as opposed to Android) is that the localized version lacks the Party Chat feature of the original Japanese and new mobile ports. I prefer my physical copies (and physical buttons), but I did miss that. I think I’d be an even bigger fan of this game if I’d had that feature. Alas!

Anyway, it’s pretty clear that deviation from the general formula is not DQ’s MO. The gameplay skeleton here is basically identical to what has been in its predecessors. Running around to towns and dungeons and engaging in simple turn-based combat against cute monsters. And that’s fine! It works pretty well. I don’t care if they never really mix it up, which I’m kind of under the impression they don’t.

But, as I said, one key change here is that your party members all have strong characterization and indeed their own chapters wherein their backstory is explained and their collision course with the game’s protagonist set in motion. These were fun enough, but I thought the game really picked up once everyone got together. I appreciate that that gratifying moment can’t happen without those intros though. It’s a cool little idea, and I’m curious to see how party member acquisition is handled in future titles.

This is a pretty good JRPG and a good entry-point for the series. I recommend it basically as highly as any of the others I’ve played so far. I’ve been keeping my Yakuzas in lockstep with my DQs, so I’ll probably play Yakuza 4 soon instead of jumping straight over to Dragon Quest V, but I hear really excellent things about it, so I look forward to playing it whenever I do.