Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen
Square-Enix isn’t shy of returning to past glories. While the company’s concerted run of Final Fantasy remakes continues unabated, we’re soon to be treated to an update of another much-respected classic RPG, albeit one that’s far lesser-known.
Dragon Quest IV has never before been released in the UK. Originally an NES title, it’s regarded by many as one of the finest role-playing games of its generation. And now the esteemed NES title’s been buffed up, repainted in 3D graphics that stretch across two screens, and given a gameplay overhaul to make its more unforgiving original characteristics palatable to modern audiences.
Unusually for the genre, this isn’t a game in which you play as a solitary hero on a quest to rid the world of some universe-threatening wizard – at least, not to begin with. Rather, Dragon Quest IV is a collection of different stories, broken into distinct chapters. The first four chapters in the game place you in the shoes of four different characters, while the fifth and final chapters bring this group of personalities together for the final quest in which the story is tied up into a neat conclusion.
In contrast to the sometimes po-faced Final Fantasy games, the Dragon Quest series is all about humour, light-hearted questing and funny accents. Indeed, the first chapter of the game that we’ve played is titled ‘Ragnar McRyan and the Case of the Missing Children’, a quest that’s full of charm and giggles, with a heavy dose of regional dialect.
Of course, being a Japanese RPG, the gameplay swings between exploration and battling. Outside of the game world safe-haven towns, you move across a world map and, every few seconds, some local monsters attack your team. These monsters must be defeated by executing attacks, spells and defense moves via a menu system and, once defeated, you’ll earn some experience points (to upgrade abilities) and money (to upgrade weapons and armour). In towns you get to chat to local villagers and try to solve the puzzles and problems they present you with.
Fand of this genre will know exactly what to expect and, likewise, those who find the Japanese RPG’s rigid template and endless random battles too much to stomach won’t find anything here to change their minds. But for those who enjoy a good yarn and to whom Dragon Quest’s quaint charm appeals this is a game that promises a unique and compelling adventure.
