Dragon Warrior IV
Encyclopedia
, known as Dragon Quest: The Chapters of the Chosen in Europe and originally published as Dragon Warrior IV for the North American NES version, is a console role-playing game and the fourth installment of the Dragon Quest
video game series developed by Chunsoft
and published by Enix
(now Square Enix
). It was originally released for the Famicom
on February 11, 1990 in Japan. A North American version followed in October 1992, and would be the last Dragon Quest game localized and published by Enix's Enix America Corporation subsidiary prior to its closure in November 1995, as well as the last Dragon Quest game to be localized into English prior to the localization of Dragon Warrior Monsters in December 1999. The game was remade
by Heartbeat for the PlayStation, which eventually was available as an Ultimate Hits title. This was followed with a second remake developed by ArtePiazza
for the Nintendo DS
, released in Japan on November 22, 2007. This remake was released in Australia on September 11, 2008, in Europe on September 12, 2008 and in North America on September 16, 2008.
Dragon Quest IV differs from the rest of the series by breaking up the game into five distinct chapters, each of which focuses on a different protagonist or protagonists. The first four are told from the perspective of the Hero's future companions and the fifth one, from the hero's perspective, brings all the characters together as they begin their journey to save the world. The PlayStation remake adds a sixth chapter, which is retained in the DS remake.
, the Hero of Dragon Quest IV is not required to be in the party at all once the wagon becomes available. Despite this, the Hero is again the character that possesses the most powerful healing and attack spells. Many spells, weapons, armor, and shops (including the vault/bank) function the same as in past games.
In addition to the new chapter-based storylines, an artificial intelligence system called "Tactics" was implemented that allowed the player to provide strategies to the party members (who become NPCs in the final chapter) while maintaining full control of the Hero. Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride, Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation and the remakes of IV allow tactics to be set for characters individually rather than using one tactics mode for all characters, as well as including the "Follow Orders" Tactics mode, which allows other characters to be controlled manually. The wagon, first introduced in this game, allows the player to choose which characters are used in battle. The wagon can also be seen in Dragon Quest V and Dragon Quest VI. The first casino appears in this installment as a place to play several mini-games (slot machine
, poker
, and the Monster Betting that was introduced in Dragon Warrior III
) using tokens that could be traded for special items. Searching drawers and inside of jars was first introduced in this game as a means to find items. Small Medals, later Mini Medals, were introduced as a new item to search for and trade for special unique items from a secluded king.
Saving the game was made easier by allowing one to save a game in a House of Healing, rather than talking to a king. Also, the save ("Confession" in the DS remake) and EXP point to the next level-up ("Divination" in the DS remake) are now separate commands. Returning to the format of the original North American Dragon Warrior, programmers allowed users to open a door using a command appearing in the top level of the menu (rather than requiring users to search through various characters' inventories for the key as in some previous games). The only requirement was that at least one character in the party needed to have an appropriate key in his or her inventory. Since this command was added, an unlocked door was added in this game, as well as large Castle Doors. However, this command was eliminated in later games and the remake, in which doors can be opened by attempting to walk through them.
These are the main characters of the story, and are controllable party members during their introduction chapters (Chapters 1-4). When they join the Hero in Chapter 5, the other party members become NPC characters that are only controlled by the "Tactics Command". In the re-releases, this setting can be changed to "Follow Orders", which allows the player to choose their actions. Also, with the re-releases, many of the character's names were changed to be closer, or incorporate their Original Japanese names.
Non-Playable Characters:
. The first four provide back-story for the Hero’s party members, while the fifth follows the Hero himself as he meets up with the other characters. Chapter One begins when a knight from Burland rescues abducted children from monsters. He discovers a plot to kill the Legendary Hero and decides to set out on a quest to protect him.
Chapter Two follows tomboyish Princess Alena and her two friends as they try to prove their strength. Partway through her journey, Alena’s father loses his voice after speaking of a dream he had depicting the end of the world. After restoring his voice, she travels to the town of Endor to enter a tournament. She defeats all of the combatants except a warrior named Psaro the Manslayer (originally localized as Saro until he learns of Rosa's death and changes his name to Necrosaro), who failed to appear. After the victory, she returns to find the castle empty, so she sets out to find out what happened to everyone.
Chapter Three follows a merchant named Torneko as he establishes a thriving business in Endor. Later, he hears about a set of legendary weapons, which he sets out to find.
Chapter Four follows Maya and Meena, two sisters seeking revenge for the murder of their father. They avenge their father’s murder, but are thrown in a dungeon by the murderer’s master. They escape from the dungeon and make their way to Endor.
Chapter Five follows the game’s protagonist
, known as the Hero. It begins with the Hero’s hometown being attacked by monsters, led by Psaro the Manslayer. The Hero manages to escape, and is joined by the main characters of the previous chapters, as well as Hoffman, who drives the cart. Together, they spy on Psaro and discover that Estark, the Ruler of Evil (originally localized as Esturk), has been awakened. Their quest then becomes to travel to Estark’s palace and defeat him.
In the town of Strathbaile (originally localized as Izmit), the heroes have a dream that explains Psaro’s plan. Developing a deep hatred of humanity after the death of his elven
girlfriend, Rose (originally localized as Rosa), at the hands of humans, Psaro plans to become the next Ruler of Evil using the power of evolution
he obtained from the “Armlet of Transmutation
.” The party then travels to the Zenithian Castle. There, they meet the Zenith Dragon
, who takes them to Nardiria (originally localized as Evil World/Last Refuge), where Psaro is. There, they defeat his generals before challenging Psaro. After fighting a continually evolving form of Psaro, he is vanquished.
The PlayStation and DS remakes include a sixth chapter. This chapter focuses on the heroes working with Psaro to avenge the death of Rose, and finally put the world back in order. Throughout this chapter, Rose is revived and the party is able to defeat her true killer, the Dark Priest Aamon (originally localized as Radimvice), one of Psaro the Manslayer's subordinates who intended to take the secrets of evolution for himself and usurp Psaro the Manslayer, setting all plans in motion that drove Psaro to his insanity.
, he wanted to have something the player went around collecting as the previous Dragon Quest games had crests and orbs respectively. However, he did not want to do the same thing over again by forcing the player to collect a certain number of items before they beat the game; mini medals instead have nothing to do with clearing the game.
for the PlayStation on November 22, 2001 in Japan. It was developed by Heartbeat
and published by Enix. The remake was developed using Dragon Quest VII's 3D graphics engine, but was still Dragon Quest IV's story and world. The characters, towns, world maps, sound, battles and enemies all received updates. The character sprites were updated to match the original artwork for the characters in the original Dragon Quest IV Manual and artwork.
With this remake came several new features. Among these features were a new chapter in which Psaro is available as a party member (as well as a prologue chapter), an intra-party talk command similar to Dragon Quest VII, and the ability to turn off the artificial intelligence for party members to allow for direct control of their attacks (except UC Party Members). The game sold over one million copies in Japan by the end of 2001.
Enix America
originally planned to bring the remake to North America
in 2002 and had even advertised this upcoming release on the back cover to the US instruction manual for Dragon Warrior VII, but it was later canceled due to Heartbeat closing its video game development operations before the localization and translation could be completed. It was later explained that the cost and time that a different company would need to invest to complete the translation prohibited Enix from passing this to another developer, as Heartbeat was the most familiar with their own design.
in Japan in November 2007. The game has been remade in 3D, similar to the PlayStation version. This release has kept many of the enhancements from the PlayStation, such as the slightly altered immigrant town, but has received enhanced upgrades to smooth the graphics further, and improved sound. This release also allows players to take manual control of all of their party members in the final two chapters.
Shortly after the Japanese release, several people editing the Japanese ROM file discovered a near complete English translation along with Spanish, French, German, and Italian translations already inside the Japanese game. Many fans took this to mean such an announcement was imminent. On April 9, 2008, Square Enix applied for a trademark to the title "Chapters of the Chosen", and speculation began that this is the new subtitle to Dragon Quest IV for an American Release.
On April 18, 2008, Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen was found to have a rating of E10+ by the ESRB, for Alcohol Reference, Animated Blood, Mild Fantasy Violence, Mild Language, Simulated Gambling, and Suggestive Themes. An official release date of September 16, 2008 was finally established on the official North American site. The game was released in Europe under the title Dragon Quest: Chapters of the Chosen, omitting the number IV in a similar fashion to the European version of Dragon Quest VIII.
This version of the game contains an entirely new translation of the script. It was claimed in Nintendo Power that the new translation has changed the names of many of the main characters, weapons and towns to be closer to, or include their original Japanese names, while adding several new localizations, yet an analysis of the location and character names indicates the original localization of Dragon Warrior IV was closer to the original Japanese. This version also uses the new spell naming convention first used in Dragon Quest VIII, such as the spell Beat from Dragon Warrior IV is now Whack. The western translations have been slightly changed in places where the Japanese version included sexual components, and the Japanese version's party talk feature was completely excised from the western versions.
The Nintendo DS English
translation includes 13 regional dialects for the various areas, including Burland now being Scottish, and Zamoksva being Russian. Simon Carless of Gamasutra
discusses the difficulty of using dialects in a game with text-based dialog. According to Carless, in addition to confusing some players by using "non-standard" English for certain characters, the use of dialects by characters from small villages could be viewed as derogatory to people with less fortunate backgrounds, or even racist to others. At the same time, he feels that the use of dialects can help some people to understand different cultures, saying, "It has the potential to nurture cross-language and cross-cultural understanding in a very intelligent manner."
and random dungeon
games produced by Enix
(and Square Enix
) and developed by Chunsoft
. The success of the games later inspired the creation of the Mysterious Dungeon series.
Ragnar, Healie, and Torneko all later appear as cameos in Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King in the Monster Arena. Torneko later cameos in Dragon Quest Yangus as a merchant.
Woman, and new locations, including an Arctic location and a haunted house. This story ends with Alena fighting Psaro and defeating him before he goes on with the Golden Bracelet to perfect the secret of evolution.
composed the music and directed all the associated spinoffs. The song heard during gameplay depends on a number of factors. A specific track is always played for towns, another for caves or dungeons, another while the party is mounted on the hot air balloon, for instance. Lastly, while out in the world, each of the first four acts has its own theme song, as does the Hero—in act five, the theme song played depends on who is the first character in the formation.
The original Dragon Warrior IV was one of the only games to feature a crescendo
during the battle music. Such a technique was virtually unheard of for an NES game. Not even the PSX remake, Dragon Quest IV, featured this musical concept.
Dragon Quest IV ~The People Are Shown the Way~ Symphonic Suite is a compilation of music from Dragon Quest IV. The first print of the album was in 1990, the London Philharmonic version came out a year later, and a reprint of the original was released in 2000.
In 1991, Enix released a set of videos featuring Koichi Sugiyama conducting the London Philharmonic Orchestra
performing the soundtrack in Warwick Castle
, along with clips of acting.
, runner-up "Best Role Playing Game of 1992" by GamePro
, "Best Role Playing Game of 1992" by Game Informer and "Best NES Adventure/RPG of 1992" by Game Players. In August 2008, Nintendo Power ranked Dragon Warrior IV the 18th best Nintendo Entertainment System
video game, describing it as the peak of the NES' Dragon Quest
trilogy and praising it for its innovative five-act story that made it one of their favourite old-school role-playing games. Readers of Famitsu
magazine voted the game the 14th best game of all time in a 2006 poll. In particular, critics noticed with interest that the game's third chapter, Torneko's, departed largely from standard RPGs by making the only goal to collect money and by allowing players to have Torneko simply working in an in-game store.
The PlayStation version of Dragon Quest IV was the 4th best-selling game in Japan in 2001, and has sold nearly 1.2 million copies as of December 26, 2004.
As of August 8, 2008, the DS remake has sold 1.15 million units in Japan. Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen was a nominee for Best RPG on the Nintendo DS in IGN
's 2008 video game awards. The game has sold 1.46 million copies worldwide as of May 31, 2009. Critics pointed out that the game may feel outdated, especially to players not accustomed to Dragon Quest games, but that some of the characters, such as Ragnar, make the game stand out of the recent JRPGs. "Ragnar McRyan is in no way a character designed off the back of some intense Japanese schoolgirl demographic focus testing", wrote Eurogamer.net's Simon Parkin, pleased.
Dragon Quest
, published as Dragon Warrior in North America until 2005,Due to the inconsistent usage by sources since Square Enix obtained the naming rights to Dragon Quest in North America. Dragon Quest has been used by sources to refer to games released solely under the Dragon Warrior titles...
video game series developed by Chunsoft
Chunsoft
is a Japanese video game developer specializing in console RPGs and visual novels. It was founded by Koichi Nakamura, a video game designer from Enix...
and published by Enix
Enix
The was a Japanese company that produced video games, anime and manga. The company was founded by Yasuhiro Fukushima on September 22, 1975 as and renamed Enix in 1982...
(now Square Enix
Square Enix
is a Japanese video game and publishing company best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include the Final Fantasy series, the Dragon Quest series, and the action-RPG Kingdom Hearts series...
). It was originally released for the Famicom
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
on February 11, 1990 in Japan. A North American version followed in October 1992, and would be the last Dragon Quest game localized and published by Enix's Enix America Corporation subsidiary prior to its closure in November 1995, as well as the last Dragon Quest game to be localized into English prior to the localization of Dragon Warrior Monsters in December 1999. The game was remade
Enhanced remake
A video game remake is a game closely adapted from an earlier title, usually for the purpose of modernizing a game for newer hardware and contemporary audiences. Typically, a remake shares essentially the same title, fundamental gameplay concepts, and story elements of the original game...
by Heartbeat for the PlayStation, which eventually was available as an Ultimate Hits title. This was followed with a second remake developed by ArtePiazza
Artepiazza
ArtePiazza is a video game development and computer graphics studio based in Japan. Their name derives from the Italian words for "art" and "a public square".-History:...
for the Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
, released in Japan on November 22, 2007. This remake was released in Australia on September 11, 2008, in Europe on September 12, 2008 and in North America on September 16, 2008.
Dragon Quest IV differs from the rest of the series by breaking up the game into five distinct chapters, each of which focuses on a different protagonist or protagonists. The first four are told from the perspective of the Hero's future companions and the fifth one, from the hero's perspective, brings all the characters together as they begin their journey to save the world. The PlayStation remake adds a sixth chapter, which is retained in the DS remake.
Gameplay
Dragon Quest IV offered several new features over the first three titles, while carrying on many of those introduced in the previous games. Similar features included are the day and night cycles, the ability to travel via ship and a flying vehicle (this time, a hot air balloon), and the three levels of keys. They are Thief, Magic and Ultimate (originally localized as Final). There are also travel doors, which allow the party to move a great distance on the world map with little travel. Unlike the Hero in Dragon Warrior IIIDragon Warrior III
Dragon Warrior III, known in Japan as , is a console role-playing game developed by Chunsoft and published by Enix . It is the third installment in the Dragon Quest series , first released for the Famicom in Japan, and then the NES in North America...
, the Hero of Dragon Quest IV is not required to be in the party at all once the wagon becomes available. Despite this, the Hero is again the character that possesses the most powerful healing and attack spells. Many spells, weapons, armor, and shops (including the vault/bank) function the same as in past games.
In addition to the new chapter-based storylines, an artificial intelligence system called "Tactics" was implemented that allowed the player to provide strategies to the party members (who become NPCs in the final chapter) while maintaining full control of the Hero. Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride, Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation and the remakes of IV allow tactics to be set for characters individually rather than using one tactics mode for all characters, as well as including the "Follow Orders" Tactics mode, which allows other characters to be controlled manually. The wagon, first introduced in this game, allows the player to choose which characters are used in battle. The wagon can also be seen in Dragon Quest V and Dragon Quest VI. The first casino appears in this installment as a place to play several mini-games (slot machine
Slot machine
A slot machine , informally fruit machine , the slots , poker machine or "pokies" or simply slot is a casino gambling machine with three or more reels which spin when a button is pushed...
, poker
Poker
Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...
, and the Monster Betting that was introduced in Dragon Warrior III
Dragon Warrior III
Dragon Warrior III, known in Japan as , is a console role-playing game developed by Chunsoft and published by Enix . It is the third installment in the Dragon Quest series , first released for the Famicom in Japan, and then the NES in North America...
) using tokens that could be traded for special items. Searching drawers and inside of jars was first introduced in this game as a means to find items. Small Medals, later Mini Medals, were introduced as a new item to search for and trade for special unique items from a secluded king.
Saving the game was made easier by allowing one to save a game in a House of Healing, rather than talking to a king. Also, the save ("Confession" in the DS remake) and EXP point to the next level-up ("Divination" in the DS remake) are now separate commands. Returning to the format of the original North American Dragon Warrior, programmers allowed users to open a door using a command appearing in the top level of the menu (rather than requiring users to search through various characters' inventories for the key as in some previous games). The only requirement was that at least one character in the party needed to have an appropriate key in his or her inventory. Since this command was added, an unlocked door was added in this game, as well as large Castle Doors. However, this command was eliminated in later games and the remake, in which doors can be opened by attempting to walk through them.
Characters
- Hero (Male Hero is named Solo, while the Female Hero is named Sofia) The main character of the game, who's eighteen-years-old and does not appear until Chapter 5. The Hero can use the best equipment, and is the only character who can learn lightning spells and the most powerful healing spell in the game, Omniheal (originally localized as HealUsAll), in the DS remake, the Hero also learns Gigasword, the game's most powerful single target attack spell. The player can choose the name and gender of the hero. The gender of the hero has little impact to the story, only affecting some dialogue, however a few optional weapons, pieces of armor and accessories can only be equipped by female characters. In the remakes, the Hero first appears during a short prologue chapter before Chapter 1.. Captain of the Burland (a Scottish English speaking land) army, and Royal Knight. He investigates a case of children who are disappearing throughout the kingdom which is causing havoc and despair throughout the kingdom. He first appears in Chapter 1. He also cameos in Chapters 2 (Inn by Endor) and 3 (Endor Casino). He is the classic Warrior or Soldier, specializing in melee combat with no magical abilities. Ragnar is the last character to join the Hero in Chapter 5, having coincidentally set out to kill the Marquis de Leon (originally localized as Keeleon) at the same time the party arrives.. Tomboyish Princess of the Zamoksva (a Russian dialect English speaking land) (originally localized as Santeem) Kingdom. She is bored of the palace life and wishes to travel the world, much to the dismay of her father and his officials who urge her to act more like a woman instead of a tomboy. She first appears in Chapter 2 but joins after the party cures Kiryl with a Feverfew Seed. She is the classic Fighter or Martial Artist, preferring to use claws as a weapon though she can use other weapons as well.. Alena's tutor. He's a magician who travels with Alena to look after her because he promised her late mother to do so. He learns Ice attack magic, and more buff and debuff spells than Maya; in the DS remake, he also learns Snoop (localized as MapMagic in other games in the series), a spell generally associated with the thief class which reveals the location of treasures. He first appears in Chapter 2, and he joins the party to search for a Feverfew Seed to cure Kiryl's sickness right away.. A priest (originally localized as chancellor) that travels along with Alena and Borya, and has feelings for Alena (but she is oblivious to it) He can use healing and support magic, as well as instant death spells. He first appears in Chapter 2, but is recruited in Chapter 5 after the Hero finds a rare Feverfew Seed to cure his sickness.. A weapons merchant from Lakanaba (an Irish English speaking town), who wishes to open his own store. He first appears in Chapter 3. He is much like the Merchant class in other Dragon Quest games, however he also learns abilities used by Jesters, Thieves and Dancers in other games in the series, when he joins the Hero in Chapter 5 he sometimes performs a random action in battle, such as summoning an army of merchants, throwing sand in the enemy's eyes, tripping and scoring a critical hit on an enemy or stealing an item from an enemy. In the DS remake, he learns four non-combat spells: padfoot, which reduces the encounter rate, eye for distance, which locates the nearest town, nose for treasure, which reveals the number of remaining treasures in the area, and whistle, which causes a random encounterRandom encounterA random encounter is a feature commonly used in various role-playing games whereby encounters with non-player character enemies or other dangers occur sporadically and at random...
.. A dancer who works in Lassize Fayre (originally localized as Monbaraba) and is originally from Aubout du Monde (originally localized as Kievs) who can use magic, primarily fire and explosion attack spells. Her father, Mahabala (originally localized as Edgar), died under mysterious circumstances. She and her sister seek revenge. They both first appear in Chapter 4, and are the first to join the Hero in Chapter 5, after Meena reads the Hero's fortune.. Maya's younger sister. She is a fortune teller that can use healing spells and wind attack spells, as well as support spells. Unlike Kiryl or the hero, she cannot learn any multi-target healing spells, but only she can use her Tarot weapon as a battle item to generate random effects, similar to the Chance spell in other DQ games. Meena reads the Hero's fortune in Endor and joins because of the unique destiny she read.
Non-Playable Characters:
- Healie, a friendly Healslime who meets Ragnar during Chapter 1. He is an invaluable ally, providing free healing, saving Ragnar the trouble so he can concentrate on killing monsters. After Ragnar joins the party, Healie can be seen in a human form.
- Laurel & Hardie (originally localized as Laurent and Strom), two mercenaries who Taloon can meet in Endor during Chapter 3. Hardie, a soldier, requests 400 Gold and simply uses a powerful physical attack each turn. Laurel, a magician, requests 600 and has a small, versatile magical repertoire along with an average physical attack. While unconnected story-wise, their naming is a nod to the early-20th century comedy duo, Laurel and HardyLaurel and HardyLaurel and Hardy were one of the most popular and critically acclaimed comedy double acts of the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema...
. - Oojam (originally localized as Orin), he was a student of Maya and Meena's father that went into hiding after Balzack had killed his teacher. The girls seek him out during Chapter 4 to assist them in their quest for revenge. Oojam provides a powerful physical attack each turn, in addition to being able to pick locks. At the end of Chapter 4, Oojam appears to be mortally wounded fending off the guards of Palais de Léon (originally localized as Castle Keeleon) to allow Meena and Maya to escape, but it is revealed in Chapter 5 that a young woman who was fleeing the castle found him near-dead and managed to get him safely to the town of Vrenor so he can rest and recover.
- Hank Hoffman Junior (originally localized as Hector), a young man hanging out near Casabranca who is initially cold to people, having been betrayed by a friend. After the Hero finds the "Symbol of Faith" in a nearby cave, Hoffman offers to lend the party his services, and his wagon. He tags along for a short while until shortly after Taloon is recruited, then leaves his cart to the Hero so he can pursue his own endeavors in owning an inn. In the DS remake, he resurfaces later at the oasis where he opens up the "Immigrant Town" sidequest.
- Tom Foolery (originally localized as Panon), he is a performer who works at the same stage-house as Maya and Meena. While not particularly good at combat, Tom is necessary for one game mission which nets the Hero the Zenithian Helm.
- Orifela (originally localized as Lucia), a Zenithian the party encounters at the Great World Tree, YggdrasilYggdrasilIn Norse mythology, Yggdrasil is an immense tree that is central in Norse cosmology. It was said to be the world tree around which the nine worlds existed...
. She needs the party to help her get back up to Zenithia, and provides the party with information regarding the Zenithian Sword. - Sparkie (originally localized as Doran), a baby dragon found in Zenithia. He doesn't have great battle intelligence, but can occasionally mow down enemies with a breath attack.
Plot
In the original version, the game is divided into five chaptersChapter (books)
A chapter is one of the main divisions of a piece of writing of relative length, such as a book. Chapters can be numbered in the case of such writings as law code or they can be titled. For example, the first chapters of some well-known novels are titled:*"The Boy Who Lived" – Harry Potter...
. The first four provide back-story for the Hero’s party members, while the fifth follows the Hero himself as he meets up with the other characters. Chapter One begins when a knight from Burland rescues abducted children from monsters. He discovers a plot to kill the Legendary Hero and decides to set out on a quest to protect him.
Chapter Two follows tomboyish Princess Alena and her two friends as they try to prove their strength. Partway through her journey, Alena’s father loses his voice after speaking of a dream he had depicting the end of the world. After restoring his voice, she travels to the town of Endor to enter a tournament. She defeats all of the combatants except a warrior named Psaro the Manslayer (originally localized as Saro until he learns of Rosa's death and changes his name to Necrosaro), who failed to appear. After the victory, she returns to find the castle empty, so she sets out to find out what happened to everyone.
Chapter Three follows a merchant named Torneko as he establishes a thriving business in Endor. Later, he hears about a set of legendary weapons, which he sets out to find.
Chapter Four follows Maya and Meena, two sisters seeking revenge for the murder of their father. They avenge their father’s murder, but are thrown in a dungeon by the murderer’s master. They escape from the dungeon and make their way to Endor.
Chapter Five follows the game’s protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
, known as the Hero. It begins with the Hero’s hometown being attacked by monsters, led by Psaro the Manslayer. The Hero manages to escape, and is joined by the main characters of the previous chapters, as well as Hoffman, who drives the cart. Together, they spy on Psaro and discover that Estark, the Ruler of Evil (originally localized as Esturk), has been awakened. Their quest then becomes to travel to Estark’s palace and defeat him.
In the town of Strathbaile (originally localized as Izmit), the heroes have a dream that explains Psaro’s plan. Developing a deep hatred of humanity after the death of his elven
Elf
An elf is a being of Germanic mythology. The elves were originally thought of as a race of divine beings endowed with magical powers, which they use both for the benefit and the injury of mankind...
girlfriend, Rose (originally localized as Rosa), at the hands of humans, Psaro plans to become the next Ruler of Evil using the power of evolution
Transmutation of species
Transmutation of species was a term used by Jean Baptiste Lamarck in 1809 for his theory that described the altering of one species into another, and the term is often used to describe 19th century evolutionary ideas that preceded Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection...
he obtained from the “Armlet of Transmutation
Alchemy
Alchemy is an influential philosophical tradition whose early practitioners’ claims to profound powers were known from antiquity. The defining objectives of alchemy are varied; these include the creation of the fabled philosopher's stone possessing powers including the capability of turning base...
.” The party then travels to the Zenithian Castle. There, they meet the Zenith Dragon
Dragon
A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
, who takes them to Nardiria (originally localized as Evil World/Last Refuge), where Psaro is. There, they defeat his generals before challenging Psaro. After fighting a continually evolving form of Psaro, he is vanquished.
The PlayStation and DS remakes include a sixth chapter. This chapter focuses on the heroes working with Psaro to avenge the death of Rose, and finally put the world back in order. Throughout this chapter, Rose is revived and the party is able to defeat her true killer, the Dark Priest Aamon (originally localized as Radimvice), one of Psaro the Manslayer's subordinates who intended to take the secrets of evolution for himself and usurp Psaro the Manslayer, setting all plans in motion that drove Psaro to his insanity.
Development
According to Yuji HoriiYuji Horii
is a Japanese video game designer and scenario writer best known as the creator of the Dragon Quest series of console role-playing games, as well as the visual novel adventure game Portopia Renzoku Satsujin Jiken.-History:Dragon Quest is recognized as the first role-playing game to posit the idea...
, he wanted to have something the player went around collecting as the previous Dragon Quest games had crests and orbs respectively. However, he did not want to do the same thing over again by forcing the player to collect a certain number of items before they beat the game; mini medals instead have nothing to do with clearing the game.
PlayStation
Dragon Quest IV was remadeEnhanced remake
A video game remake is a game closely adapted from an earlier title, usually for the purpose of modernizing a game for newer hardware and contemporary audiences. Typically, a remake shares essentially the same title, fundamental gameplay concepts, and story elements of the original game...
for the PlayStation on November 22, 2001 in Japan. It was developed by Heartbeat
Heartbeat (company)
Heartbeat was a Japanese video game developer, famous for developing the sixth and seventh installments of the Dragon Quest series. Heartbeat also developed a remake of Dragon Quest IV. Plans to localize this remake in North America were halted when the employees of Heartbeat decided to take a...
and published by Enix. The remake was developed using Dragon Quest VII's 3D graphics engine, but was still Dragon Quest IV's story and world. The characters, towns, world maps, sound, battles and enemies all received updates. The character sprites were updated to match the original artwork for the characters in the original Dragon Quest IV Manual and artwork.
With this remake came several new features. Among these features were a new chapter in which Psaro is available as a party member (as well as a prologue chapter), an intra-party talk command similar to Dragon Quest VII, and the ability to turn off the artificial intelligence for party members to allow for direct control of their attacks (except UC Party Members). The game sold over one million copies in Japan by the end of 2001.
Enix America
Enix
The was a Japanese company that produced video games, anime and manga. The company was founded by Yasuhiro Fukushima on September 22, 1975 as and renamed Enix in 1982...
originally planned to bring the remake to North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
in 2002 and had even advertised this upcoming release on the back cover to the US instruction manual for Dragon Warrior VII, but it was later canceled due to Heartbeat closing its video game development operations before the localization and translation could be completed. It was later explained that the cost and time that a different company would need to invest to complete the translation prohibited Enix from passing this to another developer, as Heartbeat was the most familiar with their own design.
Nintendo DS
Dragon Quest IV was later re-released for the Nintendo DSNintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
in Japan in November 2007. The game has been remade in 3D, similar to the PlayStation version. This release has kept many of the enhancements from the PlayStation, such as the slightly altered immigrant town, but has received enhanced upgrades to smooth the graphics further, and improved sound. This release also allows players to take manual control of all of their party members in the final two chapters.
Shortly after the Japanese release, several people editing the Japanese ROM file discovered a near complete English translation along with Spanish, French, German, and Italian translations already inside the Japanese game. Many fans took this to mean such an announcement was imminent. On April 9, 2008, Square Enix applied for a trademark to the title "Chapters of the Chosen", and speculation began that this is the new subtitle to Dragon Quest IV for an American Release.
On April 18, 2008, Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen was found to have a rating of E10+ by the ESRB, for Alcohol Reference, Animated Blood, Mild Fantasy Violence, Mild Language, Simulated Gambling, and Suggestive Themes. An official release date of September 16, 2008 was finally established on the official North American site. The game was released in Europe under the title Dragon Quest: Chapters of the Chosen, omitting the number IV in a similar fashion to the European version of Dragon Quest VIII.
Re-translation
This version of the game contains an entirely new translation of the script. It was claimed in Nintendo Power that the new translation has changed the names of many of the main characters, weapons and towns to be closer to, or include their original Japanese names, while adding several new localizations, yet an analysis of the location and character names indicates the original localization of Dragon Warrior IV was closer to the original Japanese. This version also uses the new spell naming convention first used in Dragon Quest VIII, such as the spell Beat from Dragon Warrior IV is now Whack. The western translations have been slightly changed in places where the Japanese version included sexual components, and the Japanese version's party talk feature was completely excised from the western versions.
The Nintendo DS English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
translation includes 13 regional dialects for the various areas, including Burland now being Scottish, and Zamoksva being Russian. Simon Carless of Gamasutra
Gamasutra
Gamasutra is a website founded in 1997 for video game developers. It is owned and operated by UBM TechWeb , a division of United Business Media, and acts as the online sister publication to the print magazine Game Developer...
discusses the difficulty of using dialects in a game with text-based dialog. According to Carless, in addition to confusing some players by using "non-standard" English for certain characters, the use of dialects by characters from small villages could be viewed as derogatory to people with less fortunate backgrounds, or even racist to others. At the same time, he feels that the use of dialects can help some people to understand different cultures, saying, "It has the potential to nurture cross-language and cross-cultural understanding in a very intelligent manner."
Spin-offs
Dragon Quest IV is the first game in the series to spawn spin-offs. The merchant Torneko (also known as Taloon in the NES version) was popular enough to star his own series, in which he finds himself in quests in order to expand his store. These games are the Torneko no Daibouken sub-series (Translated as Torneko's Great Adventure), roguelikeRoguelike
The roguelike is a sub-genre of role-playing video games, characterized by randomization for replayability, permanent death, and turn-based movement. Most roguelikes feature ASCII graphics, with newer ones increasingly offering tile-based graphics. Games are typically dungeon crawls, with many...
and random dungeon
Random dungeon
A random dungeon is a dungeon in a role-playing video game which is procedurally generated by the computer using an algorithm, such that the dungeon is laid out differently every time the player enters it, and a player often never plays through quite the same dungeon twice. Random dungeons are...
games produced by Enix
Enix
The was a Japanese company that produced video games, anime and manga. The company was founded by Yasuhiro Fukushima on September 22, 1975 as and renamed Enix in 1982...
(and Square Enix
Square Enix
is a Japanese video game and publishing company best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include the Final Fantasy series, the Dragon Quest series, and the action-RPG Kingdom Hearts series...
) and developed by Chunsoft
Chunsoft
is a Japanese video game developer specializing in console RPGs and visual novels. It was founded by Koichi Nakamura, a video game designer from Enix...
. The success of the games later inspired the creation of the Mysterious Dungeon series.
Ragnar, Healie, and Torneko all later appear as cameos in Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King in the Monster Arena. Torneko later cameos in Dragon Quest Yangus as a merchant.
Manga
A five volume manga called Dragon Quest: Princess Alena was released. It followed the story of Chapter 2, Alena's adventure, but begins to divert during the events in the Birdsong Tower. From this point forward, it introduces several new characters, including the evil Evil Leather DominatrixDominatrix
Dominatrix or mistress is a woman or women who takes the dominant role in bondage, discipline and sadomasochism, or BDSM. A common form of address for a submissive to a dominatrix is "mistress", "ma'am", "domina" or "maîtresse"...
Woman, and new locations, including an Arctic location and a haunted house. This story ends with Alena fighting Psaro and defeating him before he goes on with the Golden Bracelet to perfect the secret of evolution.
Soundtrack
As with every Dragon Quest, Koichi SugiyamaKoichi Sugiyama
is a Japanese music composer, council member of JASRAC , and honorary chairman of the Japanese Backgammon Society...
composed the music and directed all the associated spinoffs. The song heard during gameplay depends on a number of factors. A specific track is always played for towns, another for caves or dungeons, another while the party is mounted on the hot air balloon, for instance. Lastly, while out in the world, each of the first four acts has its own theme song, as does the Hero—in act five, the theme song played depends on who is the first character in the formation.
The original Dragon Warrior IV was one of the only games to feature a crescendo
Crescendo
-In music:*Crescendo, a passage of music during which the volume gradually increases, see Dynamics * Crescendo , a Liverpool-based electronic pop band* "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue", one of Duke Ellington's longer-form compositions...
during the battle music. Such a technique was virtually unheard of for an NES game. Not even the PSX remake, Dragon Quest IV, featured this musical concept.
Dragon Quest IV ~The People Are Shown the Way~ Symphonic Suite is a compilation of music from Dragon Quest IV. The first print of the album was in 1990, the London Philharmonic version came out a year later, and a reprint of the original was released in 2000.
| Dragon Quest IV ~The People Are Shown the Way~ Symphonic Suite tracklist | |
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In 1991, Enix released a set of videos featuring Koichi Sugiyama conducting the London Philharmonic Orchestra
London Philharmonic Orchestra
The London Philharmonic Orchestra , based in London, is one of the major orchestras of the United Kingdom, and is based in the Royal Festival Hall. In addition, the LPO is the main resident orchestra of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera...
performing the soundtrack in Warwick Castle
Warwick Castle
Warwick Castle is a medieval castle in Warwick, the county town of Warwickshire, England. It sits on a bend on the River Avon. The castle was built by William the Conqueror in 1068 within or adjacent to the Anglo-Saxon burh of Warwick. It was used as a fortification until the early 17th century,...
, along with clips of acting.
Reception and sales
Dragon Warrior IV was awarded "Best Challenge" and 2nd place "Best Overall Game" in 1993 by Nintendo PowerNintendo Power
Nintendo Power magazine is a monthly news and strategy magazine formerly published in-house by Nintendo of America, but now run independently. As of issue #222 , Nintendo contracted publishing duties to Future US, the U.S. subsidiary of British publisher Future.The first issue published was...
, runner-up "Best Role Playing Game of 1992" by GamePro
GamePro
GamePro Media was a United States gaming media company publishing online and print content on the video game industry, video game hardware, and video game software developed for a video game console , a computer, and/or a mobile device . GamePro Media properties include GamePro magazine and...
, "Best Role Playing Game of 1992" by Game Informer and "Best NES Adventure/RPG of 1992" by Game Players. In August 2008, Nintendo Power ranked Dragon Warrior IV the 18th best Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
video game, describing it as the peak of the NES' Dragon Quest
Dragon Quest
, published as Dragon Warrior in North America until 2005,Due to the inconsistent usage by sources since Square Enix obtained the naming rights to Dragon Quest in North America. Dragon Quest has been used by sources to refer to games released solely under the Dragon Warrior titles...
trilogy and praising it for its innovative five-act story that made it one of their favourite old-school role-playing games. Readers of Famitsu
Famitsu
is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Enterbrain, Inc. and Tokuma. Currently, there are five Famitsū magazines: Shūkan Famitsū, Famitsū PS3 + PSP, Famitsū Xbox 360, Famitsū Wii+DS, and Famitsū Wave DVD...
magazine voted the game the 14th best game of all time in a 2006 poll. In particular, critics noticed with interest that the game's third chapter, Torneko's, departed largely from standard RPGs by making the only goal to collect money and by allowing players to have Torneko simply working in an in-game store.
The PlayStation version of Dragon Quest IV was the 4th best-selling game in Japan in 2001, and has sold nearly 1.2 million copies as of December 26, 2004.
As of August 8, 2008, the DS remake has sold 1.15 million units in Japan. Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen was a nominee for Best RPG on the Nintendo DS in IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
's 2008 video game awards. The game has sold 1.46 million copies worldwide as of May 31, 2009. Critics pointed out that the game may feel outdated, especially to players not accustomed to Dragon Quest games, but that some of the characters, such as Ragnar, make the game stand out of the recent JRPGs. "Ragnar McRyan is in no way a character designed off the back of some intense Japanese schoolgirl demographic focus testing", wrote Eurogamer.net's Simon Parkin, pleased.
External links
- Official Nintendo DS Dragon Quest IV site
- Dragon Warrior IV on MobyGamesMobyGames-Platforms not yet included:- Further reading :* Rusel DeMaria, Johnny L. Wilson, High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games, McGraw-Hill/Osborne Media; 2 edition , ISBN 0-07-223172-6...