Published: Tuesday, 30th September, 2008 12:30
Dragon Quest IV
By Narin Bahar
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If the last few months are anything to go by then it would seem decent RPGs for handheld consoles are like buses – you wait around for ages and then loads come along at once.
The best I've got to grips with so far is actually the one with the oldest pedigree though – Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen. A veteran of the NES and the Playstation, DQ4 has now found a home on the Nintendo DS, and so far it seems to be a happy and cosy home at that.
The game is long, rich with detail and distractions and very engaging indeed, with a great quirky offbeat humour (albeit a prediliction for slime puns). The world is big and you're not going to get bored with the grind. Yes, there's the usual fighting of monsters and questing to receive important items to further the story, but you can also take some time to run a sideline business or participate in tournaments for cash and kudos.
It's pretty standard RPG fare – an ancient evil awakens and a motley crew band together to stop him – but it's charming nonetheless, although it actually suffers slightly from having a supporting cast of characters so lovely that you'll find them way more fun to play than the main character.
Four stars out of five.
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