Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen

I figured I'd give a go at these short, simple "what I liked" and "what I didn't like" reviews, what seem to be popular with the kids these days 'n all. It's a good format, it suits my tastes, and I often have a lot to say after beating a game. I just beat the DS remake of Dragon Quest IV, so let's see how it works out.

Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen, originally known in North America as Dragon Warrior IV for the NES, was the last game in the series to be released in the US until Dragon Warrior VII for the Playstation. A Japanese-only port was released on Playstation, and this is largely the basis for the DS version. Dragon Quest IV is notable for its chapter system in which you play four chapters as rising heroes who will meet up with the main character in Chapter 5 (which comprises the majority of the game). I suppose it's worth noting that I never played the NES original.

What I loved:
-Using buffs, debuffs, and other magic in random encounters. Seriously, name one other RPG series where you bother to do anything like taking a turn to increase your attack strength, or heck, even put a group of enemies asleep or use a variety of attack spells... all in run-of-the-mill battles. Well, it's worth it in Dragon Quest IV, and it keeps things much more interesting.
-Excellent balance of linear and non-linear gameplay. You're rarely ever told, "Go here," or "Get this." Early in the game, when it is mostly linear, you still piece together your objectives, in a manner of speaking. You might talk to NPCs who mention something to the north, or something to the west, and it's up to you to investigate and decide what needs doing first. Later on, the game becomes even more open, though it's obvious that some areas are meant to be tackled later, due to the difficulty of the monsters.
-I was never at a loss for something to do. If I came across something that I couldn't access, or the monsters were too difficult for me, I didn't have to think very hard to come up with another destination. There was always something to do, and I never felt stuck.
-Brisk pacing. I was able to feel like I had accomplished a lot even if I only played for a short period of time. Early in the game, I may have needed to fight a few monsters to earn some gold, but even that took very little time. I've heard accusations of "grindfest," but honestly, nothing could be further from the truth. I practically never grinded through the whole game.
-Save system. The Dragon Quest series may feature my favorite save system in all of gaming. Anymore, it seems like everyone wants the most forgiving system possible, checkpoints everywhere, and the ability to save anywhere. No one wants to be punished or redo what they've already done. Well, sure, who does? But if there's no threat of that, then where's the tension? Dragon Quest strikes a happy balance, actually being more forgiving than it appears to be. You can only save at churches, which means there is no save point before bosses. But if you die, you keep your experience points and all treasures you've gathered. After death, you appear in the church, but you lose half your gold. Losing half your gold can really sting, actually, and satisfies my need for a threat against dying. Also, it requires that you be able to navigate through a dungeon and reach the boss without being worn out. It's the perfect system for my tastes.
-Character balance. Early on, it seems like the characters are so weak and you wonder how any of them will ever amount to anything. Once they begin to set themselves apart from one another with distinctive stats and spells, you'd be surprised who is useful in battle... in truth, everyone is worth using at least sometimes (well, maybe not one guy, but he's cool outside of battle).
-Character design. The main characters who join your party, "The Chosen," have very distinctive designs, and I enjoy them all... well, not so much the Hero, and I'm also not a fan of the NPCs, but that's for the next section...
-Battle animation. Dragon Quest VII had already set a high standard for attack animations, and the DS remakes are taking things a step further by having idle animations as well. The Dragon Quest monster animators really know their stuff. Dragon Quest IV may even rival the sprite work in the GBA Fire Emblems.
-Music and sound quality. Aside from having the usual distinctive style of Koichi Sugiyama, the DS remake of Dragon Quest IV features some of the best sound quality I've heard on DS, if not the absolute best. The main title theme sounds so good it's unreal.
-Perfect length. I beat the game in only a little over 25 hours. Over that time, I never felt like I just wanted it to be over with, but I also felt like I saw everything that the world had to offer. It certainly didn't overstay its welcome, and the game's climax was just when it felt right.

What's alright...
-Decent story for its time. Elements are eerily similar to what I already saw in Dragon Quests VII and VIII, but it works.
-Regional dialects. I like the concept of different parts of the world speaking in different dialects, but in practice, it's pretty iffy. The most difficult accent to read, the Scottish accent, is the one you encounter at the very beginning of the game. I got used to it, though, and each region sort of repeats some of the same words and phrases over and over enough to where it started to make sense.

What I didn't like so much...
-Limited magic early in the game. In three of the four opening chapters, the main characters do not possess any battle magic. In the second chapter, there are two other characters who use magic, but so early in their level growth, there is not much they can do. Uncontrollable support characters can offer their services, however. Despite the limited battle strategies available in such scenarios, the early chapters remained compelling.
-Graphics and perspective. Aside from the impressive battle animations, main party sprites, and character portraits, Dragon Quest IV isn't a terribly pretty game. It inherits Dragon Quest VII's charming but ugly graphics. Fortunately, the DS's take on this graphical style is more technically sound than the Playstation versions, smoothing out the sprite scaling that was so hideous in Dragon Quest VII. The textures and polygons that make up the world leave a lot to be desired. The perspective can be problematic because from the default angle, it can be difficult to see where doors are. On the plus side, the rotatable camera didn't irritate me as much in this game as it did in VII.
-NPC character design. Akira Toriyama certainly can make a wide variety of distinctive character and monster designs, but it occurred to me that it is for this reason that he may not be suited to run-of-the-mill NPC design. It's one thing for RPGs to have repetitive bland characters wearing bland clothes with bland hairstyles, but another to have the bald guy with the goatee... and the king... and the old guy... and the old lady... and the shirtless guy with the horned helmet... and that guy who wears that green suit and that green hat... and to see these same characters all over the dang place. They're too distinctive. Not to mention these are the same character designs that I saw all over the dang place in Dragon Quest VII... every single one of them! For some reason this didn't jump out at me in Dragon Quest VIII, but I won't deny that it had its share of repeating characters.
-Hero character design. Spoilers here? Not really, it's pretty obvious... anyway, something about the main character just bothered me. The way he smirks at you on the box art, arms crossed, looking all, "Rally behind me, let us vanquish evil!" Him and his green hair and weird headgear with dragon wings or whatever. Why the crap is he wearing the weird headgear with dragon wings? He's being raised in a village by foster parents, and he has no idea that he has unusual ancestry or that he is the Chosen Hero who will save the world. Your foster dad is the bald guy with the goatee that I see a couple times in every other town... no need to look like a hero if you don't know you're a hero! The female version doesn't look much different, but at least she doesn't wear the dragon wing hat.

And that, as they say, is that...
I gave Dragon Quest IV a 4/4-stars rating for "Excellent." This isn't quite as strong of a 4-star rating as Dragon Quest VIII, and the game is certainly not without flaws, but its polished take on tried-and-true gameplay is a triumphant achievement in my book. I expect that anyone who enjoys very old school RPG design will have a heck of a good time.