Dragon Quest is one of the most popular RPG franchises currently out on the market, and in Japan, the popularity of the series is second to that of Pokémon. It is no surprise that the fourth installment, “Chapters of the Chosen†is an impressive RPG blending together great graphics (for the DS) and a solid storyline with excellent game play. Long-time players in the RPG genre may be familiar with the game’s previous life: it originally reached American shores in 1990 as Dragon Warrior IV (for the NES).
The game’s plot is split into five distinct chapters, which each provide additional information that ultimately culminates in a store that is easy an equivalent to a solid fantasy film. For example, the first chapter (Ragnar McRyan and the Case of the Missing Children) provides players with the information that there will be a legendary hero that comes forth out of the youthful populace, without having to couch it in needless dialogue or other deviations from the story line. Aside from just having slightly different chapter or character/spell names from the original iteration, there seems to be a little more care taken in “Chapters of the Chosen†to differentiate the number of characters that players will meet over the course of the game, providing different dialects and twists to really ingrain the characters deeply into players’ minds.
For those players that had not played Dragon Warrior IV in the past, the game (and Dragon Quest IV by association) has some stellar game play elements that are unique for the title. This means that there are different automatic strategies that players can assign to their party, and the Wagon allows different sets of characters a chance to defeat whatever baddies may come across their path. Mini-games, such as poker and slot machines, will give players increased time on the game. Re-issues of games have typically been hit or miss depending on how much care that the re-issuing company has taken to revamp the plot, game play, and graphics of the title. Square Enix has taken tremendous care in changing up the game to remove any weaknesses, but has not changed the fundamental fun and flow of the original title. If you had fun playing Dragon Warrior IV in the past, or just want to stumble on a new title, make it a point to pick up “Chapters of the Chosenâ€.
Rating: 8.6/10
Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen (DS) / 2008 Square Enix / http://www.square-enix.com /