Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen: Difference between revisions

''Dragon Quest IV'' is the first of the series to not be related to the [[Erdrick trilogy|lineage of Erdrick]]--the game is the first of a new trilogy revolving around the legend of a [[Zenithia trilogy|castle in the sky]] that watches over the world below. The world map is of a comparable size to that of ''III'', but has no direct parallels to the real world in regards to the shape of the continents and nature of the kingdoms.

Introduces The {{Hero 4}} and his/her friend [[Eliza]].  This portion of the story was introduced in the {{PlayStation}} Version, and became standard in later remakes.

===Chapter 1: Ragnar McRyan and the Case of the Missing Children===  

===Chapter 2: Alena and the Journey to the Tourney===

===Chapter 3: Torneko and the Extravagant Excavation===

===Chapter 4: Meena and Maya and the Mahabala Mystery===

===Chapter 5: The Chosen===

===Chapter 6===

In a bold move for an {{NES}} title, a significant portion of the game's memory was dedicated to an intricate artificial intelligence that controls party members during the fifth chapter. In the fifth chapter of the {{NES}} Version of the game, the player no longer directly controls any of the previous characters; instead using the Tactics menu to deliver a loose set of instructions (Normal, Defensive, Offensive, Save {{MP}}, Use No MP, Try Out). The only character directly controlled is the Hero. All chapters except {{DQ4 Chapter 2}} also contain {{NPC}}, which travel with the player, but cannot be directly controlled. They act on their own, guided by the game's AI.

Building upon the gambling featured in the monster arenas of ''III'', the fourth game allows players to explore a large casino in the city of [[Endor]]. Redeemable tokens can be won at slot machines, poker, and monster betting, which can be spent on exclusive items and equipment.

''Dragon Quest IV'' was remade for the [[Sony PlayStation]] on November 22, 2001 in Japan. It was developed by Heartbeat and published by Enix. The remake was developed using {{DQ7}} 's 3D graphics engine. With this remake came new features; among them were a new chapter, a new character, a boom town reminiscent of ''VII'''s, an [[Party Chat|inter-party talk]] command similar to {{Dragon Quest VII}}, and the ability to turn off the artificial intelligence for party members. The Enix of America Corporation originally planned to bring the remake to North America in 2002, but it was later cancelled due to Heartbeat closing its video game development operations.

*A [[Pioneer Town]] was added, similar to [[The Haven]] in {{DQ7}}. It is located in place of the [[Desert Bazaar]] (which in the {{NES}} Version served no purpose in Chapter 5). It is run by [[Hank Hoffman Jr.]] (who remains in the Inn at [[Mintos]] in the NES Version).

*In the {{NES}} Version, Hank Hoffman Jr. leaves the party after [[Alena]] and her companions join. In this Version, he leaves immediately upon entering Mintos.

*Only [[Eliza]] and [[Float-o-copier]]s can use the [[Morph]] spell, whereas in the NES Version, the Hero could also learn it.

*In the {{NES}} Version, [[Marquis de Léon]] dies after his defeat, whereas in the remakes, he reverts to his human form and forgets his time as a monster.

*[[Liquid metal armour]] now costs 35,000 [[gold]] coins, as opposed to the 15,000 in the {{NES}} Version.

[[File:DQ4-DS-OVERWORLD-SCREENSHOT.jpg|250px|thumb|Exploring the world in the {{DS}} Version of ''Dragon Quest IV'']]

On November 22, 2007, this PlayStation remake was ported to the [[Nintendo DS]]. No significant changes were made to the game's story, gameplay, or bonus features, aside from modifying the boom town's immigration aspects to reflect the lack of memory cards in the DS hardware and the calculation method for [[Alena]]'s [[Critical Hit]]s. The [[Fungeon (Dragon Quest IV)|Fungeon]] ({{Bonus dungeon}}) changed it's layout to random locations for each floor, whereas the {{PlayStation}} Version was a mix of previous areas from the game and from {{DQ7}}.  This portable version was released internationally in September of 2008, but without the party chat feature. This was due to Square Enix's uncertainty regarding the reception of the title, and the budget to translate the two-thirds of the script that the chat contained was slashed. However, the international release performed well and the budget for localization was expanded to allow the feature to be retained in ''V'' and ''VI''.

*The [[Nintendo DS]] remake uses nearly the same style as the {{PS1}} Version, with some minor compression to account for the handheld's screen size.

*The [[Pioneer Town]] lacks the variants of the {{PS1}} Version due to replacing recruitable {{NPC}}s with ones that can be found after a certain point in game (see the article for more details).

*Religious references that were removed from the {{NES}} Version are now included in the game.

*Alena's [[Critical Hit]] formula cap has been raised to 87, restoring the 25% chance from the {{NES}} and {{PSX}} Versions.