Dragon Quest IV PSX - Retroview

Review Breakdown
Battle System	7
Interface	10
Music & Sound	10
Originality	10
Story & Plot	10
Localization	NA
Replay Value	5
Visuals	7
Difficulty	Moderate
Completion Time	60-80 Hours
Overall
Getting a healing slime in your party.

   When I first heard that Enix was making a remake of Dragon Quest IV for the PlayStation, I got excited, knowing that this would be a big leap from the game's NES 8-bit roots all the way to the 32-bit PSX. This game was originally going to be released in America, but sadly, Heartbeat, the developer of the game, had to leave in the middle of translation, and, well, you probably get the picture. Still, getting an import PlayStation and copy of the game, I decided to play it in all its untranslated glory.

   The game's battle system, while being quite similar with the other Dragon Quests (i.e. not seeing your heroes in battle, only the enemy, having all your characters attack at once and pray, especially when you're healing, that the enemy doesn't attack first, and seeing a narration of all that goes on in battle), still features the carriage system, quite similar to Final Fantasy X's letting you switch out characters in battle (I can see whence FFX got that inspiration).

   What about graphics and sound? As for the former, although they're not quite what one would see in the PSX Final Fantasies, being based on those of Dragon Quest VII, they are still quite tolerable, and although the camera angle in towns and dungeons can be quite annoying, that can be easily fixed by rotating the camera. Also, there are no CGI or anime cinema scenes at all in the game, the former unfortunately gracing this game's predecessor, DQ7, quite unlike Akira Toriyama, whose scenes for "Chrono Trigger" on the PSX were stellar. As for the latter, they are very superior to Dragon Quest VII, sounding even far better, compared to DQ7's campy music on occasion, and being enhanced imitations of that which the NES version features.

   The plot, too, is pretty similar with the original NES version, letting you see through the stories of all the supporting allies before you finally get to play with the hero or heroine (you get to choose gender), although the game features a new prologue letting you briefly play the protagonist before getting to the other characters' chapters. In my opinion, other RPGs should make use of the chapter system so that their stories can be enhanced.

I see enemies, no heroes, though.

   As for gameplay, the battle system and dungeons do constitute a large portion, although included is an immigrant town similar with that of DQ7, except you cannot exchange immigrants over memory cards, something that in DQ7 contained the potential for causing bugs and such. Furthermore, this provides a good diversion from the hassle of building up your levels constantly (accounting for the 60 hours plus of playing time, complete with the bonus dungeon at the end, which requires *a lot* of leveling), and can even let you get good items and weapons in the process. Also, let's not forget the Small Medals, which can let you get good prizes from the Medal King, although you can only get one of each, unlike in the NES version. As for replay value, considering the playing time, it's quite unlikely anyone, such as I, would want to reset after beating everything, getting every possible immigrant town version, and so forth.

   In conclusion, this game was indeed a very excellent effort, superior to Dragon Quest VII, though that still was a good game. Although it's difficult for Americans such as I to see why this series is a cultural phenomenon in Japan, there's no reason why we Americans shouldn't still try and enjoy these games, translated on not. With the recent merger of Squaresoft and Enix, it's quite likely that Dragon Quest (Warrior here in the States) could get as much popularity as Final Fantasy, although I wouldn't bet my life savings on it. Still, this game is definitely worth playing, so play it however you can! Come on, you know you want it!