Forums > Submission Feedback > honestgamer's Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen review

MASSIVE SPOILERS IN POST BELOW!!!!! FOLKS NON-FAMILIAR WITH THIS GAME BEWARE!!!!!

Really good review, Jason. In my opinion, the reason the story didn't have the same impact in the NES version was just because the technology of the time wasn't capable of really expressing it and things that should have been big wound up not really getting emphasized. You know, thinks like the sisters finally getting their true revenge on Balzack (or whatever he's called in this version, as I notice from the pics, some names aren't the same as on the NES) in Chapter 5. Should have been a big moment, but it just felt like any other boss fight. Or when Saro's lackey Radamvice gloats to you that he was behind Rosa's kidnapping/death in order to drive Saro over the edge. That's sort of a big announcement, but since you never heard of Radamvice before that moment and he just says it out of left field, you're more like, "Zuh? .....okay, dude....." And then, he's just a regular boss encounter who never gets mentioned again after you beat him. In the Japanese-only remake for the PS1, he gives more reasoning at least in that he caused Saro to lose his mind and overuse the evolution thing to be a mindless beast, setting the stage for him to rule the dark world.

Speaking of that first remake, from a GFs guide, I gathered there was bonus stuff you accessed after the game where you'd obtain Saro as a party member and a more powerful Radamvice was the actual boss. According to the guide, he was called Evil Priest in Japan, which makes sense as his on-screen avatar when you talk to him is of the priests who save your game, but Nintendo of America forbade religious references in games. Is that included in this version, as it seemed like a good way to tie up loose ends plotwise?

I'm not afraid to die because I am invincible
Viva la muerte, that's my goddamn principle

I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed the review, overdrive. I experimented a bit with it and wondered how people would respond.

As for your questions about post-game content, I can't address them personally because (this being the busy time of year that it is) I didn't worry about any of that. A FAQ would probably answer that for you pretty quickly.

And yeah, I didn't mention it in the reviews but the names in this version are changed from the original American release, presumably to be more in line with both the original Japanese version. Saro now goes by the name 'Psaro,' for example.

Speaking of that, you should really toss some spoiler warnings into your post. It's possible that not everyone who stumbles across this thread will have played through the game, and as spoilers go yours are pretty major. ;-)

"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." - John F. Kennedy on reality

"What if everything you see is more than what you see--the person next to you is a warrior and the space that appears empty is a secret door to another world? What if something appears that shouldn't? You either dismiss it, or you accept that there is much more to the world than you think. Perhaps it really is a doorway, and if you choose to go inside, you'll find many unexpected things." - Shigeru Miyamoto on secret doors to another world2

Spoiler warning created, Jason. And I know what you mean about "busy time of the year". I still haven't done the bonus dungeon stuff in Dragon Quest VIII and I've had that game a couple of years. Thing that stinks is I liked that game so much I figured I'd just play through the whole thing again, savor it (as opposed to sprinting through it to get a review out) and then do the bonus stuff. And.....it's been over a year since that project started and I haven't even got to Dhoulmagus because I'm almost always playing something else that I haven't reviewed yet. It's in that permanent "I'll get back to it when I finish this" zone because everytime I finish "this", a new "this" pops up.

I'm not afraid to die because I am invincible
Viva la muerte, that's my goddamn principle

Welcome to my world.

Good to hear DQIV's remake turned out this well. It remains squarely on the wishlist, but first there's other DS goodness to tackle.

"Deep in the earth I faced a fight that I could never win. The blameless and the base destroyed, and all that might have been. -- GK"

I think you meant to say that it remains Square-Enixly on your list, right?

"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." - John F. Kennedy on reality

"What if everything you see is more than what you see--the person next to you is a warrior and the space that appears empty is a secret door to another world? What if something appears that shouldn't? You either dismiss it, or you accept that there is much more to the world than you think. Perhaps it really is a doorway, and if you choose to go inside, you'll find many unexpected things." - Shigeru Miyamoto on secret doors to another world2

Oh man, Venter, if not for the safety of the Internet, you would've been beaten to death for that horrible pun. >_>

I can avoid death by not having a life.

I hate spamming twits.

I don't have to boost my review resume because I have a real resume.

I bought this game today, perhaps because of this review, but mostly because I had store credit at a game shop and Dragon Quest IV was roughly that amount.

I can avoid death by not having a life.

I did in fact get Dragon Quest IV a couple of days before Christmas and have advanced to somewhere in chapter 5. I'm a little stuck now on a boss that will require more grinding, and of which I'm honestly not even sure if he's my next intended target, storywise. Then again I don't think I missed anything else, so...

"Deep in the earth I faced a fight that I could never win. The blameless and the base destroyed, and all that might have been. -- GK"

While I like this game, there is one aspect of it that holds me back from truly enjoying it. It's the fact that I have to go through that Level 1, crap equipment, not much money phase numerous times. That's always the worst bit of Dragon Quest games, and my enjoyment does improve once my characters can hold their own in battle.

I can avoid death by not having a life.