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.
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.