Dragon Quest 4 is sublime. Like, really sublime. Not in an earth shattering, FF6 emotional sucker-punch kinda way, but in a delightul, immensely endearing 8 and 16bit meta-RPG kinda way. If you liked SNES RPGs, the look of this game married with its scatter-shot, utterly charming narrative will have you grinning like a cheshire cat. But wait! I haven`t played the 5th game, or the 6th, or any other Dragon Quest games. So let me just clear that up first. I am, however, a huge SNES RPG nerd, and have played through all the classics and loved them immensely. Like a bear loves, er, salmon. Or is it honey? Both. Whatever. So, anyway, it was with trepidation I picked up Dragon Quest 4: Chapters of the Chosen for the DS, about 6 or so months ago, as the reviews had been luke-warm. Kinda 'it's good, but not that good'. Even Collette, uber old school RPG lover as she is, didnt seem overly enthused, but i`d imagine it was because she perhaps might not have had the amount of time to get stuck into it, with all the reviews she has to get done etc. Though, to be fair, she was catering for the whole community. I`m figuring if you are reading this, you love old school RPGs. That was the intention of my header, anyway. This review is for RPG fans, specifically. And, when you play this game, you will realise where a lot of your more recent RPG fun has got its inspiration from....



Because, what struck me as I played through it, was the amount of RPG conventions just stacking up in the game. Story twists, plot threads and side quests that were all very familiar. And this was kind of the reason I posted this blog, to highlight the raw ingenuity and narrative originality the games creative team mustered, being as it was a NES game released in the 80s. So, in other words, i`m writing this article out of respect for Enix and the original dev team that made this game, because, boy, has it been imitated.



For example: at one point in the game, you play as two sisters, hunting for answers about the death of their father at the hands of some rogue beastie, and finally discover said beastie. A fight ensues, a tough-ish one, which you (hopefully) win. Then, the REAL boss is revealed, and proceeds to utterly destroy you. But! You wake up, ok, and the story continues. This would of been a very fresh and tricksy gaming idea, to throw a pseudo boss at you that you attempt to fight, but that is way above your exp level. I have seen this replicated in every Final Fantasy game I have played. An effective moment of gaming trickery, that moves the plot along nicely. Because you feel immediate loss, followed by relief. For a game in the 80s, this was very fresh. You see? There are a myriad other small little RPG conventions like this peppered throughout the game. For instance, there is the games multiple plots, multiple characters, seperate narratives that all converge at the end. This is something of a 'just the done thing' in modern RPGs. I`m seriously impressed by DQ4s meandering story and cosy, culturally diverse world. The story grabs you, the characters are diverse and lovable in the extreme, and the narrative constantly suprises. Journeying from town to town, as a Knight, or a confused princess, or a trader with huge aspirations, or as one of the many other suprisingly endearing characters, you get a real feel of immersion in this games world. I havent felt for a long time a desire to 'live' in a 2D games world, invited by its depth and warmth, but this game managed that. And, yes, i`m a little odd.



Also, another source of grin juice in this game (as a kind of bonus with this updated translation) comes from it featuring regional dialects - something that inbues the adventuring with suprising amounts of humour AND adds cultural weight to the different areas you travel to in the game, further making the games rather large world even more alive. The silly accents channelled into text certainly brought a smile to my face many a time, especially coming from the UK (as i do), where a lot of these odd accents have been lifted from, and not necessarily well or accurately, to great comic effect.



And let me mention the DS versions gorgeous, gorgeous graphics. Beautiful sprites sit against a wonderfully colourful, 3D spin-o-matic background, that is rotatable with the shoulder buttons, to exceptionally eye pleasing results. That tiny interaction with the way the world looks increases the immersion, as peaking round the back of castles and buildings is something you always wanted to do within a 2D environment, but couldnt, of course. The 3D, though, is beautifully bitmapped, and sits with the sprites beautifully. The map you move around on, is in full 2D, and looks great. This is like a SNES RPG with bells on. Delicious on the eyes! Check it out on youtube when you get a moment.



The music, also, is exceptionally good, though obviously limited by the DS`s soundchip. Koichi Sugiyama`s score is a delight, and adds to what I would describe as this games most prominent 'character' trait: it is SO endearing. Really though. You will be humming the music before long, and it never gets annoying, except perhaps the battle music, initially, but you`ll grow to love that too. The sound effects, or at least the majority of them, seem to be straight out of the NES version, or emulated fairly accurately, to add to the old school feel. This may grind initially, but the games charm will soon erase any misgivings you have with its sonic quality.

It is slow to start, takes a bit of plodding and levelling up to get into the story, but, trust me, it is a superb game, and evidently set a benchmark that all RPGs would follow. I can`t say how many of this games unique elements were present in previous incarnations of DQ, so please let me know. I just couldnt stop thinking as I played that Sakaguchi (of Final Fantasy fame) must of adored these Dragon Quest games, and basically put a lot of their best elements into later Final Fantasy games. Whatever the case, for fans of old school RPGs, and especially for people who adore the SNES era 'look' (as i do), go and get this game, you will have a ball. Great characters, an engrossing, multi-stranded narrative and supremely attractive visuals and music all equal a stonking new school/old school RPG experience. And on the go too!

RPG Fan Rating: 9 out of 10

Now for DQ5!