TLDR review: This is peak gaming.

Actual in depth review:
The story is completely unlike anything that came before it. The characters actually had unique goals and personalities. The story structure switched protags every few hours to get you accustomed to their tales and gameplay mechanics. Even the main antagonist had a reason behind his beliefs which was very uncommon in video games that were initially released before 1990.

Chapter 1 didn't particularly stand out to me but looking back it was a fine tutorial. It was there as a quick intro to teach players all the fundamentals before suddenly every single chapter that followed was a banger in every possible way. I can forgive an ok hour long tutorial when the rest of the game is nonstop peak gaming.

Chapter 2 introduced one of my favorite characters in the franchise, Alena. Think of any early video game that has anything even remotely close to a strong martial artist princess. There really weren't many even close. There were barely even woman leads in games back then, let alone princesses that were more than just kidnapped plot devices. But Alena? Nah she gonna punch those demon lords into oblivion. This is something I think Dragon Quest and especially this game shine at. The woman are actually super vital to the plot and I love that. Even the main hero can be a woman at the player's chice (kinda wish more DQ games had that option but that's besides the point). Kiryl was introduced in this chapter too and he grew on me quite aw bit too. Spin-offs like to build off his whack memes (his AI would cast that spell constantly in the original NES version) which is neat. Boyra is the only let down party member story wise but meh it's whatever. This chapter had a few surprises near the end that made me go "oh wait yeah this game might actually be pretty dark".

Chapter 3 blew all expectations away. What I mean by that is you play as merchant named Torneko whom has almost no good combat qualities. What you do for this chapter is try to make money and set up shops. You can even play a sell items mini game to make money, but it's definitely worth actually exploring for gold. I have to this day never played another RPG where you actually play as a merchant behind the counter selling items to heroes. There were quite a few neat discoveries I found in this chapter too like a town that only exists at a certain time of day. This chapter is also the first one where a setting is reoccurring which I think adds nice world building. So far each story felt semi standalone minus he main antag's schemes, but now you actually see things line up.

Chapters2 and 3 were good but 4 is where the ball really starts rolling. Two sibling protags trying to get revenge on their father's killer is a really good concept. Meena and Maya ae once again central woman in the story and they both have super fun move pools. Meena is a fortune teller and Maya is a spell casting dancer. Together they are powerful magic users, they add racial diversity to the cast, and they continue the family oriented kind of tales DQ likes to tell (1-3 all about a bloodline, 5 super family oriented, 6 has sibling party members, etc). Narratively and setting wise I really enjoyed chapter 4's revenge tale.

Chapter 5 begins with one of the most icon scenes in the game. Wasn't what I was expecting at all and really proved the game was going for a dark tone but with a sense of "keep moving forward even in the darkest of times". From there you make your way around the world to gather all the previous major party members. This segment is really cool because everything you've worked for so far finally comes together. You meet many legendary characters in this game like the Zenith Dragon and Estark who continue to reappear and connect multiple games in the series together. You also start learning about the main antagonist Psaro. I will really surprised to see his motivation being to protect Rose from humans that constantly abuse her. DQ is very much a story about protecting those important to you and opening one's mind to different perspectives. Not everything is black and white. Even the real world is full of conflict where both sides thin they're doing the right thing, and I think this game portrays that excellently.

The final boss is actually raw the way it transforms throughout the boss fight. DQ1 was the first RPG where a final boss had a second phase and tis game cranks that up to so many more. This is a good time to talk about the fact that this is actually a remake review because oh gosh the remake has such good DS era pixel art, especially during that final boss phase. The remake is such a vast improvement on the original in nearly every way but unfortunately within the DS version a feature called Party Chat was cut from international releases. That's why the mobile version which this review is actually for is the very best version. It lets you talk to allies at any point and they will always have something neat to say about the setting or events that transpired. It adds additional personality and world building to a game that was already full of both.

The biggest addition these remake versions have is an entirely new chapter. After beating the final boss you typically go back to right before the fight when reloading the game, which is true still, but now a new dungeon is opened up. This dungeon is difficult and a bit weird but it adds a new duo boss that upon beating, gives you access to an entirely new storyline. The rawest party member in the franchise's history joins you as you go take down an evil mastermind that is the reason most of the conflict in game occurred in the first place. The actually post credits isn't too different besides a few more characters being alive but it's such a beautiful addition nonetheless. The best part is this new story direction doesn't even break the canon of later games in any way whatsoever so you can interpret either ending as canon.

Sequels and spin-offs have greatly expanded how much I love this game too. 5 and 6 reference and build connections to 4 in such fun and unique ways. Heroes and other games also love including 4 content due to how great and large its main cast is. The game that makes me appreciate 4 the most though is Monsters The Dark Prince due to it basically being D4 from Psaro's perspective. It actually adds new twists and lore even fans of 4 would not see coming at all. DQ4 was a timeless classic by itself but even today it continues to become better and better as its legacy impacts modern games in the series immensely. Heck its not even this game that it has a vast legacy in. Games like Live A Live were directly inspired by it and that had a domino effect leading to Chrono Trigger, Xeno, Trails, etc. This game is such an important part of RPG history. It truly is the Chapters of the Chosen.

PS: I love this game so much that I have a replica of the sword, my boyfriend made me bead art of multiple party members, and I talk about the game so actively I grew a modest sized social media following. DQ4 genuinely impacted my life for the better and I'm happy thinking about it. Such a beautiful game with a great legacy. Will always be one of my favorite games of all time and that has absolutely 0 nostalgia bias behind it. In fact, it was one of the last mainline DQ games I got into. It really was just the perfect game for me.

really great entry to the dragon quest series. after having only beaten the original trilogy all of the new animations and 3d environments and everything just feel like such a step up and really add to the character of dragon quest. there's just so much here to love and it all feels elevated with huge upgrades in a lot of this game's departments compared to the previous titles.

the gameplay is still pretty simple for this series by this entry, not a whole lot has changed in this one since 3. the new party system with a lot of choices to make is cool but eventually towards the end of the game and the post game you figure out a party that is really just better than any other combination in every way just because of what spells they have, their stat growth, or what equipment theyre able to use. i still have fun with this super simplistic gameplay style though. it did start to wear on me a bit especially during the post game when you break down the combat to a science in order to beat this games superbosses. speaking of the post game, i did grow to enjoy it after not too long of playing it, especially once you get to a certain point, but i will say it was really demoralizing to have to sit there and farm metal slimes when i realized it wasnt feasible for me to beat the first superboss with where my levels were after beating the base game. the true final boss was also a real challenge, i beat him in one try but it was very close

with this game's exploration and atmosphere they really did a great job at creating such a lively world with a lot of spectacle and cool setpieces. its especially cool with the chapter structure early on and getting to see how the world changes with the passage of time in each chapter. i also really like the ability to rotate the camera in this game, it allows for the ability to hide some cool secrets and see the world in different ways that i find really cool, it feels like an early version of the hd 2d rpg artstyle

the characters and story here are well done, they're nothing complex but i think the way they structure the story in chapters and introduce each new party member/set of party members is really cool. having a dedicated section to each character’s story and their motivations for eventually joining the hero are all well told. once you get to chapter 5 though each character’s dialogue is pretty much solely found in the game’s party chat feature and i think without it the game’s characters would feel a lot more flat. even with party chat the characters dont really have great revelations or developments, they just make things feel less empty by having them comment on the surroundings like characters would in any other rpg with a cast of unique characters. that said there are some things that really stick out to me that these characters do outside of the dialogue. one example is torneko and his actions in battle, i love visualizing in my head all of the funny actions he can take like a leg sweep or tripping, dropping his weapon, and accidentally critting an enemy, it’s stuff like that that they do a few times outside of characters themselves talking that i love and helps make characters feel so much more lively. this is one of the reasons why i think that for a silent protagonist they do a great job at making the hero feel like a real character and it makes me happy they did more than just make the hero a blank slate for the player to project themselves onto, i think this is something they did well in dq3 too and i hope more games in the rest of the series are like that as well. additionally, with this game’s villain i think he’s a character that goes from pretty eh to a lot better characterized with the post game story which is one of the aspects i loved most about the post game and made it feel worthwhile and happy that i had more dq4 to play.

while i do think this game isn’t perfect, it’s battle system isn’t without criticism because of its simplicity that gets boiled down way too much when you need to play optimally for the endgame and i do wish they did a little more with the characters to make me care about them more, i think it’s still really damn good. i adore the simplistic battle system prior to the endgame and the game’s world, characters, and overarching story are also fantastic. this game was the first in a little while where before i fought the base game final boss i was thinking about how sad i was about to be that the game was gonna be over, so much so that i felt like pushing off the final boss until the next day. this was before i decided i was gonna play the post game and when i did play it i was just happy to be playing more of this game and now that its actually over over and i did all the side content i have a sense of completeness after beating it and i feel great affection for it.

There are a few small issues tied to the mobile version (some weird text spacing, the Stairway to Zenithia not stretching to the end of the screen when you're inside it, stuff like that) but it's the only official English version DQIV to have party chat, which really helps take the party from basic JRPG roles to charming characters that stand alongside some of the best ones from later DQ games. I also never played through chapter 6 when I first played IV, so that was neat. This game's fungeon was way better than V's but it really sucked that the new party member basically only joins you for the final boss and the repeat Foo Yung/Chow Mein fights.