Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen, titled Dragon Warrior IV when initially localized to North America, is a 1990 role-playing video game, the fourth installment of the Dragon Quest video game series developed by Chunsoft and published by Enix, and the first of the Zenithian Trilogy. It was originally released for the Famicom on 11 February 1990 in Japan. A North American NES version followed in October 1992, and would be the last Dragon Quest game localized and published by Enix's Enix America Corporation subsidiary prior to its closure in November 1995, as well as the last Dragon Quest game to be localized into English prior to the localization of Dragon Warrior Monsters in December 1999. The game was remade by Heartbeat for the PlayStation, which eventually was available as an Ultimate Hits game. The remake was ported by ArtePiazza to the Nintendo DS, released in Japan November 2007 and worldwide in September 2008. A mobile version based on the Nintendo DS remake was released in 2014 for Android and iOS.
Dragon Quest IV differs from the rest of the series by breaking up the game into five distinct chapters, each of which focuses on a different protagonist or protagonists. The first four are told from the perspective of the Hero's future companions and the fifth one, from the Hero's perspective, brings all the characters together as they start their journey to save the world. The remake adds a sixth chapter.
Gameplay
left|thumb|The Hero and the party with a wagon that is able to travel through one of selected dungeon areas in the NES version of Dragon Quest IV, where menu commands and character stats are displayed
Dragon Quest IV offered several new features over the first three titles, while carrying on many of those introduced in the previous games. This "Tactics" system is seen as a precursor to Final Fantasy XII "Gambits" system. The wagon, first introduced in this game, allows the player to choose which characters are used in battle. The wagon can also be seen in Dragon Quest V, Dragon Quest VI, and Dragon Quest Monsters: Caravan Heart (JP release only). The first casino appears in this installment as a place to play several mini-games (slot machine, poker, and the Monster Betting that was introduced in Dragon Warrior III) using tokens that could be traded for special items. Searching drawers and inside of jars was first introduced in this game as a means to find items. Small Medals, later Mini Medals, were introduced as a new item to search for and trade for special unique items from a secluded king.
Saving the game was made easier by allowing one to save a game in a House of Healing, rather than talking to a king. Developing a deep hatred of humanity after the death of his elven girlfriend, Rose, at the hands of humans, Psaro plans to become the next Ruler of Evil using the power of evolution he obtained from the "Armlet of Transmutation". The party then complete the set of Zenithian armor to permit entry into the Zenithian Castle. There, they meet the Zenith Dragon, who guides them to Nadiria, where Psaro is undergoing his evolution into the new Ruler of Evil. There, they defeat his generals before challenging him. After fighting a continually evolving form of Psaro, he is vanquished.
The PlayStation and DS remakes include a sixth chapter that acts as an alternate ending. This chapter focuses on the heroes working with Psaro to avenge the death of Rose, and finally put the world back in order. Throughout this chapter, Rose is revived and the party is able to defeat her true killer, the Dark Priest Aamon, one of Psaro the Manslayer's subordinates who intended to take the secrets of evolution for himself and usurp him, setting all plans in motion that drove Psaro to his insanity.
Development
According to Yuji Horii, he wanted to have something the player went around collecting as the previous Dragon Quest games had crests and orbs respectively. However, he did not want to do the same thing over again by forcing the player to collect a certain number of items before they beat the game; mini medals instead have nothing to do with clearing the game. The promotional illustrations for the Japanese version were drawn by famed manga artist Akira Toriyama, who provided the artwork for the previous games in the series and would continue to do so for every future installment.
1992 North American localization
Unlike all the other games up to this point, the changes in this version were not as radical. Among them were the usual religious/violence censorship, new graphics for the opening copyright and ending credits, and the betting in the Casino was slightly modified to allow more money being won during a bet.
PlayStation remake
right|thumb|One of the overworld areas of the PlayStation Dragon Quest IV remake
Dragon Quest IV was remade for the PlayStation on November 22, 2001, in Japan. It was developed by Heartbeat and published by Enix. The remake was developed using Dragon Quest VII's 3D graphics engine. The characters, towns, world maps, sound, battles and enemies all received updates. The character sprites were updated to match the original artwork for the characters in the original Dragon Quest IV Manual and artwork. With this remake came several new features. Among these features were a new chapter in which Psaro is available as a party member (as well as a prologue chapter), an intra-party talk command similar to Dragon Quest VII, and the ability to turn off the artificial intelligence for party members to allow for direct control of their attacks (except UC Party Members). The game sold over one million copies in Japan by the end of 2001.
Enix America originally planned to bring the remake to North America in 2002. The company had even advertised this upcoming release on the back cover to the US instruction manual for Dragon Warrior VII. However, the remake was later canceled, due to Heartbeat closing its video game development operations before the localization and translation could be completed. It was later explained that the cost and time that a different company would need to invest to complete the translation prevented Enix from passing this to another developer, as Heartbeat was the most familiar with their own design.
Nintendo DS remake
Dragon Quest IV was later re-released for the Nintendo DS in Japan in November 2007. The game has been remade into a 2D/3D hybrid, similar to the PlayStation version. This release has kept many of the enhancements from the PlayStation, such as the slightly altered immigrant town, but has received enhanced upgrades to smooth the graphics further, and improved sound. This release also allows players to take manual control of all of their party members in the final two chapters. On April 9, 2008, Square Enix applied for a trademark to the title "Chapters of the Chosen", and speculation began that this was the new subtitle to Dragon Quest IV for an American release.
On April 18, 2008, Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen was found to have a rating of E10+ by the ESRB, for Alcohol Reference, Animated Blood, Mild Fantasy Violence, Mild Language, Simulated Gambling, and Suggestive Themes. An official release date of September 16, 2008 was finally established on the official North American site. including Burland now being Scottish, and Zamoksva being Russian.
A version based on the Nintendo DS remake was released in Japan on April 17, 2014, for Android and iOS. It was released internationally on August 7, 2014. The Android version of the game features cloud saving, autosaves, a quick save feature, and a pause feature for ease of use on the mobile platform. This version also restores the party talk feature removed from the international Nintendo DS releases, being translated into the appropriate language. It also replaces the orchestrated music performed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra with synthesized MIDI music in the title screen. However, the synthesized music is entirely remastered in the iOS and Android versions.
Other media
Manga
A five volume manga called Dragon Quest: Princess Alena was released. It followed the story of Chapter 2, Alena's adventure, but begins to divert during the events in the Birdsong Tower. From this point forward, it introduces several new characters, including the evil Evil Leather Dominatrix Woman, and new locations, including an Arctic location and a haunted house. This story ends with Alena fighting Psaro and defeating him before he goes on with the Golden Bracelet to perfect the secret of evolution.
Soundtrack
As with every Dragon Quest, Koichi Sugiyama composed the music and directed all the associated spinoffs. The song heard during gameplay depends on a number of factors. A specific track is always played for towns, another for caves or dungeons, another while the party is mounted on the hot air balloon, for instance. Lastly, while out in the world, each of the first four acts has its own theme song, as does the Hero—in act five, the theme song played depends on who is the first character in the formation.
The original Dragon Warrior IV was one of the few NES games to feature a crescendo during the battle music, a gradual increase in volume from soft to loud. This technique was rare for an NES game. However, the PlayStation and Nintendo DS versions do not feature the crescendo in the battle music. This level of detail can be found in the NES version's soundtrack, as well as the 2014 Android and iOS mobile releases.
Dragon Quest IV ~The People Are Shown the Way~ Symphonic Suite is a compilation of music from Dragon Quest IV. The first print of the album was in 1990, the London Philharmonic version came out a year later, and a reprint of the original was released in 2000. In 1991, Enix released a set of videos featuring Koichi Sugiyama conducting the London Philharmonic Orchestra performing the soundtrack in Warwick Castle, along with clips of acting.