Dragon Warrior IV

Review

by Kyle Knight

Dragon Warrior IV is really five RPGs in one. The game consists of five chapters, each of which is focused around one specific character. Thus, the game manages to elaborate five different stories to great depth, and gamers get more character development than most other RPGs.

Graphically, Dragon Warrior IV shows little if any improvement over Dragon Warrior 3. The character sprites are recognizably human, although they're very simple in design and often have only three colors. World graphics consist of simple terrain blocks arranged in different patterns. Everywhere you look, you get the feeling that the Enix artists expended the minimal amount of effort necessary. The one exception is the combat sequences. When you're in combat, the monsters are remarkably well drawn, with great detail and coloring. Unfortunately, they're set against a plain black background, which diminishes their impact somewhat.

The game's music is yet again improved over its predecessor's. Each of the game's chapters has a set of songs written specifically for it, giving Dragon Warrior IV almost five times the musical variety present in other RPGs. Even the music for the world map changes in each chapter. The simple beeps posing has sound effects haven't improved at all. If you take the time to compare, it would not be unreasonable to come to the conclusion that most of Dragon Warrior IV's sound effects are lifted straight out of the first Dragon Warrior.

Dragon Warrior IV's main strength is in the depth and scope of its game world, as it ties together five disparate and fleshed out storylines together into one cohesive unit. Once you get past the sheer weight of the game, though, you'll find that Dragon Warrior IV is just an average RPG. It has its moments, but doesn't really build on its predecessors except in length. The pacing is much better than the original, but you'll still find the occasional frustrating moment where you're forced to level up to buy a necessary item or to defeat a particularly tough boss character. And you still have to work around the Dragon Warrior menu system. To open doors, talk to characters, or perform any other action, you have to go to the hotspot for that appropriate action, go to the menu, then click on the appropriate verb. It's annoying having to press two buttons to initiate a conversation with someone. If you want to open a door you have to press the menu button, press down three times, and then press the button again.

If you're looking for new experiences or innovations then Dragon Warrior IV is not for you. But if you don't mind playing through a generic RPG system, then you'll find that the game's amazingly well-developed and extended storylines go a long way toward making up for its deficiencies. Dragon Warrior IV is really five RPGs in one. The game consists of five chapters, each of which is focused around one specific character. Thus, the game manages to elaborate five different stories to great depth, and gamers get more character development than most other RPGs.

Graphically, Dragon Warrior IV shows little if any improvement over Dragon Warrior 3. The character sprites are recognizably human, although they're very simple in design and often have only three colors. World graphics consist of simple terrain blocks arranged in different patterns. Everywhere you look, you get the feeling that the Enix artists expended the minimal amount of effort necessary. The one exception is the combat sequences. When you're in combat, the monsters are remarkably well drawn, with great detail and coloring. Unfortunately, they're set against a plain black background, which diminishes their impact somewhat.

The game's music is yet again improved over its predecessor's. Each of the game's chapters has a set of songs written specifically for it, giving Dragon Warrior IV almost five times the musical variety present in other RPGs. Even the music for the world map changes in each chapter. The simple beeps posing has sound effects haven't improved at all. If you take the time to compare, it would not be unreasonable to come to the conclusion that most of Dragon Warrior IV's sound effects are lifted straight out of the first Dragon Warrior.

Dragon Warrior IV's main strength is in the depth and scope of its game world, as it ties together five disparate and fleshed out storylines together into one cohesive unit. Once you get past the sheer weight of the game, though, you'll find that Dragon Warrior IV is just an average RPG. It has its moments, but doesn't really build on its predecessors except in length. The pacing is much better than the original, but you'll still find the occasional frustrating moment where you're forced to level up to buy a necessary item or to defeat a particularly tough boss character. And you still have to work around the Dragon Warrior menu system. To open doors, talk to characters, or perform any other action, you have to go to the hotspot for that appropriate action, go to the menu, then click on the appropriate verb. It's annoying having to press two buttons to initiate a conversation with someone. If you want to open a door you have to press the menu button, press down three times, and then press the button again.

If you're looking for new experiences or innovations then Dragon Warrior IV is not for you. But if you don't mind playing through a generic RPG system, then you'll find that the game's amazingly well-developed and extended storylines go a long way toward making up for its deficiencies.