The DQ community's praise for Dragon Quest IV kinda got my hopes up. That might've hurt the process.
To be honest, this 4th game in the series is good.
After the beautiful simplicity of III, IV tried to take a step further here and there. Trying to do things slightly different and giving a bit more character to the franchise. And you can clearly see this in the story.
The best thing about this game is definitely the "chapters of the chosen" approach. You get a bit attached to the characters and you understand their motifs. The fact that this cast is very charismatic, with each chapter presentation and tale filled with charm, just adds more to the experience. Especially if you've played previous entires. It's basic, but it's candid.
The gameplay saw little improvement, but it doesn't mean it's bad. The overworld still feels great to explore, soundtrack is alright, enemy and character designs are still top notch, there are good secrets to find around the world and bosses and dungeons are amazing! Dungeons are short, well designed and sweet. Bosses are challenging and super fun to fight.
And let's not forget that the remake did a fantastic job on giving the game a new look and feel. The experience definitely feels pleasant on the handheld.
And what else? Well, that's the problem. There's not much else.
It comes as no surprise, but be prepared to grind. And I mean REALLY GRIND, because during my 50+ hours with the game, that's what I did the most. And normally I don't even care about that stuff, but this game is just SO SLOW! Around chapter 5, I was pretty much done with it. Progressing through DQIV's final chapters felt like a massive slog. I just wasn't having fun at all anymore. Bosses and story were the only things keeping me going, but even that felt like it wasn't reason enough.
The game just got... boring. Why wouldn't they tone that down on a remake? Even saving is slow!
Besides, I started questioning some design choices around my final hours with the game.
Why is equipment so expensive? Why are most items useless during battles? Is Torneko supposed to be useful? Couldn't they include more songs in the remake? Why does chapter 6 even exist? Will Dragon Quest never get the enemy variety right? And why the hell Zing fails so much in this game?
I've read so many good things about DQIV that I actually thought that I'd feel a major diference from previous games. And while yes, I did feel, it just wasn't enough, I guess. If it wasn't for the story, bosses and characters, I wouldn't even try to reach the end.
By no means this is a bad game. It's got its charms and Dragon Quest still lives in my heart. But I just don't see myself going back to this one.
To be honest, this 4th game in the series is good.
After the beautiful simplicity of III, IV tried to take a step further here and there. Trying to do things slightly different and giving a bit more character to the franchise. And you can clearly see this in the story.
The best thing about this game is definitely the "chapters of the chosen" approach. You get a bit attached to the characters and you understand their motifs. The fact that this cast is very charismatic, with each chapter presentation and tale filled with charm, just adds more to the experience. Especially if you've played previous entires. It's basic, but it's candid.
The gameplay saw little improvement, but it doesn't mean it's bad. The overworld still feels great to explore, soundtrack is alright, enemy and character designs are still top notch, there are good secrets to find around the world and bosses and dungeons are amazing! Dungeons are short, well designed and sweet. Bosses are challenging and super fun to fight.
And let's not forget that the remake did a fantastic job on giving the game a new look and feel. The experience definitely feels pleasant on the handheld.
And what else? Well, that's the problem. There's not much else.
It comes as no surprise, but be prepared to grind. And I mean REALLY GRIND, because during my 50+ hours with the game, that's what I did the most. And normally I don't even care about that stuff, but this game is just SO SLOW! Around chapter 5, I was pretty much done with it. Progressing through DQIV's final chapters felt like a massive slog. I just wasn't having fun at all anymore. Bosses and story were the only things keeping me going, but even that felt like it wasn't reason enough.
The game just got... boring. Why wouldn't they tone that down on a remake? Even saving is slow!
Besides, I started questioning some design choices around my final hours with the game.
Why is equipment so expensive? Why are most items useless during battles? Is Torneko supposed to be useful? Couldn't they include more songs in the remake? Why does chapter 6 even exist? Will Dragon Quest never get the enemy variety right? And why the hell Zing fails so much in this game?
I've read so many good things about DQIV that I actually thought that I'd feel a major diference from previous games. And while yes, I did feel, it just wasn't enough, I guess. If it wasn't for the story, bosses and characters, I wouldn't even try to reach the end.
By no means this is a bad game. It's got its charms and Dragon Quest still lives in my heart. But I just don't see myself going back to this one.