Just Around The Riverbend!!

I may have done a blog about this already, but just roll with me because I'm taking you to a game and place that you'll want to go to!

Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen is one of the best RPG games that I have played recently, if not ever; it's a remake of an old NES game, now being sold for Nintendo DS systems. A new Dragon Quest has come out recently (IX!) which I've been eye-balling, but I've wanted to beat this game before attempting pursue another.

I found this game by going into Gamestops with Ricky while he's been searching/buying video games way before DQ IX came out. I was always intrigued by the poster due to Akira Toriyama's artwork (the Dragonball/Dragonball Z man!), however, I never looked into it or really played any of the Dragon Quest games before. Eventually with a little pushing and shoving on Ricky's part, he convinced me to buy a used version Dragon Quest IV on the off chance that maybe I'd like it and think about getting number 9 for the series when it'd come out.

It blew me away. Everything about it was refreshing. I loved the idea and concept behind the game: the fact that you saved in a church, the different culture variations among the people living in the world, the backstory for each of my characters slowly being revealed through gameplay. True, I was constantly changing characters during each chapter of the game, so when I leveled up one character to level 10 and completed their chapter, I'd be thrusted into new characters who start at level 1. But eventually, all of my characters came together to form around the hero: a male or a female predetermined when you start your game. It's a game solely dependent on a player's patience and drive to be the best. I've played my game for 47+ hours and I'm just about finished, but I've never gotten bored with the game. I never get tired of grinding my characters up so they succeed with flying colors against their enemies. My complaints would only stem from the fact that armors, especially, get exceptionally pricey at the end of the game: all armors and weapons were fairly priced, but the good stuff sold very high (35,000 coins for one armor that 4 of my party members could wear?). For every setback, there's been nothing but positives. For every coin that went towards the best weaponry, armor, helmets, what have you, there were plenty of monsters who provided lots of cash, as well as experience points. All of the characters are quirky, and if I delved into each personality and back story, I would be typing for ages.

Even the characters, I didn't like so much (I'm looking at you Borya and Maya!) grew on me in some aspect. The animation is brilliant, adding in 3D effects to create an awesome image. The game even incorporates surround vision, so you can alter the camera angle, showing you treasure chests and pots that you may not have found or looted yet because they were behind a house. The music has grown on me, despite the fact that the village music remained the same throughout each town. The music has become a part of me so much so that upon entering Gamestop today, I had recognized the advertisement for DQ IX playing on the television way before they announced the title.

I do not regret buying this game, especially at such a nice, low price for such a high quality game. I would gladly play this game over and over, and I haven't even fully finished the game yet. With two bosses to go, I'm already raving about it and I can't stop, because it's that good.

If I haven't sold you on this game yet, I can honestly say that you need to just try it. There's a little bit of something for everyone in the game: violence (obviously!), loyalty, dreams of aspiration, kingdoms, world cultures, tragic love, gambling, legends, prophecies, bittersweet revenge. All of this with just a band of genuine characters who never would have known each other except for their one common goal to restore peace, protect their families, right wrongs, and to fulfill their destiny as a legendary warrior.

Oh, and by the way, there's girls with bunny suits in the game. No lie.