killeryoshis

User Score
8.0

Presentation - 9.0
Gameplay - 8.0
Value - 8.0

    Dragon Quest III was a great game that was fun to play through. It was also story and gameplay wise a culmination of what came before. So how does Dragon Quest IV compete with a game that had so much built up to it? Easy they improve the game in ways that make Dragon Quest IV become bigger and better. However, most of all it innovates as well.

    Dragon Quest IV is unique in terms of gameplay compared to the previous games in that the game is split into chapters. These chapters each focus on a different set of characters. They all have their own reasons to go on a journey but they eventually come together in the last chapter to defeat the big bad. So think about in Superhero movie forms. Each movie focuses on one superhero like Iron Man. Then there are other movies that focus on others like Captain America and Thor.  Then they come together in the movie “The Avengers” where they defeat the center, bad guy. That is more or less what Dragon Quest IV does. It is awesome to see them all come together. It is the same feeling as I had while watching the Avengers.

    The gameplay of the game is mostly the same as the previous games. Since this game is the DS game the spell moves have all been renamed. This wouldn't be a problem as old NES games usually have some dumb names. Like what is FireVolt? Fire and Volt combined? How does that work?  Also, the spell Hurt is just a damage spell and the later spell is hurtmore? These names are both dumb and lazy. However, the names in the DS game can be just as dumb. I know what Raising can do. It will revive a teammate. Kazing is the updated name and I have no idea what that means. I think they made the word up.  

    The game removes the class system of the last game. So no more going into a bar and recruiting people from there. Instead, we get predetermined characters with predetermined classes. This sounds more limiting than the last game but it is not. In this game, you get about 8 characters. Each of them does something more unique in a sense.  However, that’s not really the case. Maya and Borya are both offensive magic users whose only difference is that they learn some spells exclusively from each other. Meena and Kiryl have the same problem only with healing magic. So while you might have 8 characters it is not 8 uniquely players. You will just have to pick the person you want to train based on design and spells they learn. My main team was Hero, Alena, Maya and Kiryl. What awesome about this game is that even if you do not use the other characters they can still level up. If you have your wagon you can effectively train everyone at the same time with no reduction of experience earned. This allows you to experiment a lot better. What’s even cooler is that you can switch teammates in mid-battle! So if things are going south you can just switch all your teammates. This can be heavily abused so it usually isn’t allowed in dungeons.  All of these features allow you to use pretty much everyone at some point. Allowing one to experiment on what you want to do. Very fun!

   Now let’s talk about the story for a bit. The game is split into 5 chapters plus a 6th epilogue one that only appears in the remake. The first 4 are based on individual characters and their stories. The 5th story is the one that has them all team up against each other.

Chapter 1: Ragnar.
You play as a soldier named Ragnar whose job is to find the missing children. The only major thing done here is going through a dungeon. Not a hard one to get through. However, it has a bad guy at the end who is kidnapping children to find the chosen one. The game sets up evil really well here.  The plot reminds me of a lot of Wind Waker’s plot where Ganondorf steals all the girls to find Zelda.

Chapter 2: Alena
Alena probably has the most interesting background. She is a princess who really doesn’t like acting like one as she loves going on adventures without her dad’s approval. She routinely breaks out of the house loony toons style by just jumping through a wall.  Which her dad tries to fix but Alena just keeps breaking it down anyway. She eventually teams up with Kiryl and Borya. This is where she finds a villainous group saying that they kidnapped the princess (whose supposed be Alena) and even having a fake princess to do this. Alena and her group, of course, know that person isn’t the REAL princess as  Alena is clearly with them.. Later on, a different kingdom Endor holds a tournament in who is the strongest fighter. The strongest fighter can marry the princess of Endor. This is a problem because the princess of Endor does not like being used as a prize so she asks Alena to win it. Obviously, because a woman can’t marry another woman after all. (Which is funny in today’s climate as that can totally happen today.) The chapter eventually ends with Alena going back home and finding no one there. Cliffhanger!

Chapter 3: Torneko
Torneko’s story is kinda boring. He mostly prevents war between two kingdoms by shipping a prince and a princess of the two kingdoms. Torneko then starts a shop where has to fill some orders. Nothing interesting happens here. It also doesn’t help that you only get one person to fight and is ONLY a physical attacker. So gameplay wise it is less interesting than Dragon Quest 1. At least that guy had spells. So the only fun you will have here is in grinding. Hope you like doing that!

Chapter 4: Maya and Meena
Maya is an offensive magic user and Meena is a healer. Right away the gameplay is much more interesting than the last chapter. How about that story? Well in this chapter on the sisters of Maya and Meena are trying to find their father’s killer. Which is similar to Primrose’s story in Octopath Traveler. After some investigating, you find out where he is. You will, of course, need a bomb to get to him. However, the bomb isn’t used to blow up a wall to get into the castle but to scare a person to run into a secret lair with the killer. Strange but unique. There you will find and defeat the killer only to have a bigger bad guy to try and kill you. There you run away because he is far too strong for you. Ending the chapter. This chapter was very fun and interesting.

Chapter 5: The Hero
This is where things start to make sense. You start off as the hero who has been hidden from the bad guys. Only for said bad guys to find the village and destroy it. This dramatically increases tensions as you got to know the village a bit before it was destroyed. This is by far the more effective way to portray evil as you genuinely felt bad about all this. You eventually leave to the world and recruit everyone one by one. This part is awesome because now all these past characters you played as have an actual personality and dialogue. This makes the characters feel like more than satellites following you. It gives a sense of purpose to everyone and makes you feel like an actual group of people are following you. This is what was missing from the last game. Party members who actually matter. I mean they aren’t the deepest party members but your imagination tends to fill in the gaps here.

      After you get all the party members you will need to get all the Zenithian parts. Which means you are back to an open world structure. The world is just as open as the game before it. The fun you have by going back to areas of previous chapters is fun and shows how much you have grown.  The Zenithian parts will allow you to go into Zenethia a place of Dragons and Angels. From there you are given the power of the Zenithian Sword to defeat the final bad guy who is using the Secret of Evolution to get stronger. You go into the underworld and fight the final boss.

In the end, Dragon Quest IV is a great and fun time. The game will have you on the edge of your seat most of the time. The gameplay is as tight as ever. The first four chapters are hit and miss but the final 5th one makes it all worth it. The final chapter is pure fun and it is a joy to run around finding all the equipment. Granted I had to look up on how to get some of them since they can be questionable at times. The final boss is one hell of a fight and victory feels so much sweeter when you when in a close match like that one.

Scores:

Presentation - 9(Amazing)

Sprites are of SNES quality. Which means it is super nice to look at. The cartoony aesthetic really fits Dragon Quest.  

Gameplay - 8 (Great)

Having 8 characters is like having all the class systems of Dragon Quest III. So you can experiment all you want in this game. The individual characters don’t have any massive depth as they can’t break the game or do any interesting strategies.  Like all Dragon Quest games each random encounter is thought provoking and is nothing to take lightly. Most bosses in this game still easy to come up with a strategy and win.

Value - 8 (Great)

The game is decently long. The game can be beaten in about 20-25 hours. If you can get this less than $20 then it is a great deal. The game is very fun for most of the way. You will really only have a problem in the merchant chapter as it is a bit dry. The replayability is good with this one. I will replay this one in the future.  

Content - 7(Good)
The characters are not the most detailed people but they get the job done. When everyone teams up it feels awesome! The story is good for what is there. The places to visit are all samey. There really isn’t an interesting place to visit except for the final stretch of the game. The mythology doesn’t get interesting in this game until the very end.  You are mostly here for the gameplay and exploration.

Overall - 8 (Great)

The game is definitely worth playing if you are into JRPGs with great gameplay. The content itself isn’t the most interesting thing in the world since it can be generic at times. However, the gameplay is what makes the game worth playing. It always keeps you on your feet and never feels boring. Chapters 1-4 can be hit and miss but Chapter 5 is awesome. The characters all feel meaningful and with purpose. You really do feel like a hero in the end. By the time the credit roll, you will be happy at all the characters getting back into their improved lives.