Dragon Quest IV

Main series games
North American box art for the DS remake Developer(s) Chunsoft
Heartbeat, ArtePiazza (PS)
ArtePiazza, Cattle Call(NDS) Publisher(s) Enix
Square Enix (NDS) Designer(s) Yūji Horii Artist(s) Akira Toriyama Composer(s) Koichi Sugiyama Series Dragon Quest Platform(s) Nintendo Entertainment System, Famicom, PlayStation, Nintendo DS Release date(s) Famicom/NES
^JP February 11, 1990
^NA October 1992
PlayStation
^JP November 22, 2001
Nintendo DS
^JP November 22, 2007
^NA September 16, 2008
^EU September 12, 2008
^AUS September 11, 2008
Genre(s) Console role-playing game Mode(s) Single-player Rating(s) CERO: A (PS1, DS)
ESRB: E10+ (DS)
OFLC: PG
Media 4-megabit NES cartridge
CD (PS1)
Nintendo DS Game Card

This article needs to be localized. This article references names which are not consistent with the localization policy.

Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen (Japanese: 導かれし者たち, Dragon Quest IV: Michibikareshi Monotachi, lit. The People Who Are Shown the Way) is a role-playing game and the fourth installment of the Dragon Quest video game series. The game was originally released for the NES but was remade for the PlayStation and later Nintendo DS. It begins the Tenkuujyou (Celestial Castle) trilogy.

It was originally released for the Famicom on February 11, 1990 in Japan. The North American version, titled Dragon Warrior IV, was released for the NES in October 1992.

Gameplay

Dragon Quest IV had a unique way of advancing the story. It was split into five chapters. The first four chapters were told from the perspective of the hero's future companions. The fifth chapter was the hero's quest. During that quest, you would meet with and join with the companions whose stories were told in earlier chapters. Then, with a full cast of companions the group would begin their journey to save the world.

The storyline of Dragon Quest IV does not relate to the storyline of Dragon Quest I, II, and III.

Dragon Quest IV introduced several new features over the first three titles. The new chapter-based story telling system was one of them. Also the inclusion of the, now common, casino. In addition, there were party member artificial intelligence options, which allows the player to give strategies to his party while still directly controlling the hero character. Finally, the wagon which allowed extra characters to wait and be exchanged during battle if needed.

A classic turn based style like its predecessors, Dragon Warrior IV breaks apart from the trilogy of its previous three games and sets you in a new world to venture and explore. Also unlike, the games before it you don't start out as the hero, instead the game is divided into 5 chapters in which you play as your party members in the first 4 before finally controlling the hero and meeting your companions in the fifth chapter.

In the fifth chapter 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 chapter 2 also contain Non-Player Characters, which travel with the player, but cannot be directly controlled. They act on their own, guided by the game's AI.

The wagon system was also introduced in Dragon Warrior IV. With the wagon you can travel with more than four party members and can switch them in and out of battle on command. Also new to the game was the Medal King who makes appearances is the sequels as well. If you collected small medals for him you could exchange them for prizes. The casino was also expanded to include poker, slots, and monster fight betting. If you won big at the casino you could exchange your chips for extremely valuable prizes.

Version Differences

Both the Playstation and Nintendo DS versions have a Prologue chapter to introduce the hero before chapter one begins, as well as a 6th chapter with a bonus dungeon and alternate ending. There is also a new Tactics feature to manually control your party in chapter 5. The playstation version uses the graphics engine from Dragon Warrior VII and the Nintendo DS remake uses nearly the same style.

Plot

The story in Dragon Warrior IV revolves around the hero and his/her companions and their quest to stop the resurrection of the ruler of evil, Estark. The first four chapters of the story are about the hero's companions and their journeys. While they each travel with their own goals and dreams in mind they all eventually find out about Psaro and his plot to kill the hero and revive Estark leading them all to continue their journeys so they can find and protect the hero and stop Psaro and his plans. Chapter 5 begins with the hero who has just turned 17 and is living peacefully in a small mountain town when Psaro and his minions attack trying to destroy the hero while he/she is still inexperienced. One of the hero's friends Eliza transforms herself into the hero and dies at the hands of the fiends. Thinking their mission was accomplished Psaro and his monsters return from whence they came leaving the hero to begin his/her journey and fulfill their own destiny.

Chapter 1

Main article: Chapter 1

Ragnar McRyan (ライアン, simply Ragnar in the NES localization), one of the soldiers in the royal palace of Burland, is sent by the king on a journey to find out why children are disappearing across the kingdom.

Chapter 2

Main article: Chapter 2

Alena (アリーナ), princess (Tsarevna in the Nintendo DS localization) of Zamoksva, slips out of the castle in hopes of attending a tournament in the castle of Endor. She is accompanied by the priest Kiryl(クリフト,&nbsp) and the mage Borya (ブライ).

Chapter 3

Main article: Chapter 3

Torneko Taloon (トルネコ, simply Taloon in the NES localisation) lives in Lakanaba with his wife and son, and works part-time in the local weapon shop. He wants to become the best merchant in the world, so he leaves his hometown in search of profit.

Chapter 4

Main article: Chapter 4

Maya (マーニャ, Mara in the NES localization) the dancer and her younger sister Meena (ミネア, Nara in the NES localization), the fortune teller, have left Monbaraba in search of vengeance against Balzack, their father's traitorous apprentice.

Chapter 5

Main article: Chapter 5

The Hero (Dragon Quest IV) has been brought up by the inhabitants of a remote and nameless mountain village. But Psaro and his legions destroy the village, leaving only the hero alive. The hero leaves in search of his seven companions, in the hopes of defeating Psaro and saving the world.

Chapter 6

Main article: Chapter 6

Chapter 6 is a post-epilouge continuation of the game's storyline. Originally appearing in the PlayStation remake of Dragon Quest IV (and the subsequent DS port), Chapter 6 offers a lengthy bonus dungeon, and the culmination of certain plot points that were unadressed in the original release.

Legacy

Remakes

Dragon Quest IV was remade for the PlayStation on November 22, 2001 in Japan. It was developed by Heartbeat and published by Enix. The remake was developed using the Dragon Quest VII's 3D graphics engine, but was still Dragon Quest IV's story and world. With this remake came new features. Among these features were a new chapter, a new character, an 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 canceled due to Heartbeat closing its video game development operations.

Sequels

Dragon Quest IV is the fourth game in the Dragon Quest series. The next game in the series is Dragon Quest V, which has some references to Dragon Quest IV, but is mostly an independent story.

Soundtrack

Koichi Sugiyama composed the music and directed all the associated spinoffs. This is the tracklisting of the Symphonic Suite:

1. Overture (1:55)
2. Minuet (3:07)
3. Comrades (10:28)
4. In a Town (8:16)
5. Homeland ~ Wagon Wheels' March (5:58)
6. Frightening Dungeons ~ Cursed Towers (5:19)
7. Elegy ~ Mysterious Shrine (5:03)
8. Balloon's Flight (4:32)
9. Sea Breeze (4:31)
10. The Unknown Castle (4:37)
11. Battle for the Glory (7:51)
12. The End (5:12)

Version differences

PlayStation and DS

• A sixth chapter was added.
• An Immigrant Town was added, similar to Sim's Town in Dragon Quest VII.
• Boomerangs were replaced by crossbows.
• Instead of the liquid metal shield, the casino sells falcon swords.
• A new dungeon was added in the "after-game," along with a new Return Point. Completing this dungeon a certain number of times grants access to get Psaro's equipment and causes Psaro, a naked and gender-confused man, to appear in the Immigrant Town.

Gallery

• Dq4dsbox.jpg

  Nintendo DS box art

References

This page uses CC BY-SA-licensed content from FANDOM.

External links

• RPG Classics shrine
• Dragon's Den
• DQ Shrine