Dragon Warrior IV -NES- 10

January 30, 2023

I have just finished Dragon Warrior 4 for the NES. This was a massive epic for its time. It follows the story of a young hero who is destined to defeat the Ruler of Evil (Estruck) being awakened by the villain (Necosaro). The hero is followed by a group of several other fighters that the game gives their own chapters to play through before the hero is introduced into the story. This was a very refreshing way to get the player involved with the characters before throwing us into the main plot. Keep in mind that this was an 8bit rpg, and those were usually not as narrative driven as the 16bit rpgs that came later. But it does have more story and character development than the original Final Fantasy. It felt like a happy medium between narrative driven and exploration/adventure. Exploring the world was a awe inspiring, and when all the sections connect in chapter 5, it’s a sight to behold. Finding new areas, discovering more about its lore, and being given the small bits of story gave me a similar sense of wonder I had with Elden Ring and Breath of the Wild. The game box also comes with a physical map that numbers each area to go to next, which felt really interactive. During battles, you only control your lead character, while the others are on autopilot, but you can still assign certain tactics for them to follow. It’s a lot like modern rpgs today, like Xenoblade Chronicles and the very recent Final Fantasy games. Fighting is also done in first person view with black backdrops, which I didn’t prefer at first, but I got used to. Grinding and leveling up a lot was relaxing to me. The soundtrack was beautiful with classic chip tunes throughout. There is a simple charm to this game that’s different from rpgs that came later. Those games took huge steps forward with the genre themselves, but there is a unique magic to this one. Dragon Warrior 4 is a masterpiece, and I am giving it a 10 out of ten. It took me on an unforgettable journey with a childlike wonder to the end. I would rank it in my top five Nes games of all time, and I am very eager to play the other games in the series.