The DS gets yet another RPG classic remake, is this one worth fighting for?
Dragon Quest: The Chapters of the Chosen is a feature-packed remake of one of the best-selling adventure games ever made. Now, for the first time in Europe, you too can experience this timeless classic only on Nintendo DS!
As game designer and scenario writer, Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii weaves a captivating narrative set in a vibrant fantasy world. Over five distinct chapters, focusing on the stories of a disparate band of heroes, players will traverse land, sea and sky on an epic quest to defeat a great evil. Along the way, players will meet and befriend a colourful cast of characters designed by world-famous comic book artist Akira Toriyama (creator of the Dragon Ball series).
Completing the line-up of world-class creative talent, renowned composer and conductor Koichi Sugiyama contributes an unforgettable musical score that perfectly captures the mood of DRAGON QUEST, immersing you wholly in its unique world.
Dragon Quest The Chapters of the Chosen for DS Features:
Having just reviewed the mighty impressive Final Fantasy IV for DS, it seems that Square-Enix likes to remake their classics and add new content to them. The Chapters of the Chosen is no different, except it retains its 2D visuals, it doesn’t get a 3D facelift…which may have worked to getting it a whole point higher in this review. I can’t say that I have ever played a Dragon Quest title before, so Chapters of the Chosen was completely new to me as was FFIV. As a consequence, it’s nearly impossible for me to tell you what’s new and what isn’t. So moving on…
Dragon Quest puts you into the hands of other characters as different stories are told, it’s a nice touch and definitely something different than you’d expect at the beginning of an RPG. Combat itself is where I was the most disappointed, there doesn’t appear to be any battle animations…just an enemy on screen that takes or deals damage, maybe that was the way the original was meant to be…but I was expecting that at the very least. It maintains the classic RPG elements that may scare off potential players, but those who love that kind of thing will love what COTC has to offer with its rather long story.
Dragon Quest definitely plays well, but it is beginning to show its age. For a remake, you would expect something revolutionary or unique that would entice new players to enter the franchise…unfortunately, that’s not the case here. Instead it stays true to its roots, which isn’t a bad thing…it just doesn’t feel like it reaches its full potential. DQ: CotC looks fairly good for a DS title; pushing one area onto both screens is very clever but not unique. It would have perhaps been better from more of a visual polish, but that really only goes for us graphic whores. Dialogue is quite comical, it’s not voice-acted but it does have strange spellings for words that try to represent a characters’ accent, at first I thought my DS was broken but alas tis’ not teh case!
Chapters of the Chosen delivers in giving RPG fans a huge world to explore, its combat is fluid…even if it lacks animation. The original game never hit Europe, so even if I was aware of it…I would never have been able to pick it up, so this is the first chance for us Europeans to play Dragon Quest IV, hard to believe it’s taken all this time to finally appear here, it’s very welcome though.
Comparing this DQ game to the recent FFIV remake, it’s clear from the start that the latter is indeed the better title. It’s aged much better and more care and attention has been paid to it, not just due to its visual upgrade…but more to all of its improvements. CotC improves a few things like dialogue and combat while adding new content, but it doesn’t change the fact that the game simply won’t appeal to everyone, which FFIV almost does.
It’s hard to put into words, but it’s obvious which RPG you need to pick up if you have to make a choice. Having said that, don’t be discouraged from picking up Dragon Quest..just be aware that it shows its age a lot more and you may not enjoy it as much, but you should have some good times with it…if you appreciate it.
The Verdict
Dragon Quest: The Chapters of the Chosen lacks any DS touch features, but makes good use of the dual screens while keeping the classic fairly intact. It makes some improvements but appears older than most RPGs out there.
