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107-516: 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. Dragon Quest IV offered several new features over

214-535: A Game Link Cable . Two bonus dungeons become available after the main quest is over. The remakes feature updated graphics. An overhauled introduction for the game was made, similar to the one in the original Dragon Quest III , which included Ortega's battle with the Dragon Queen. Monster and attack animation in battles were added, a feature first introduced in Dragon Quest VI . A personality system

321-502: A bank, quick item sorting with "Tidy Item" and "Tidy Bag" command, and a "Full HP" command to automate the process of casting healing and status restoring spells. And while earlier Dragon Quest games were non-linear in structure, Dragon Quest III featured an even more open-world experience. It also allowed the player to freely swap characters in and out of their party and introduced the day/night cycle in which certain items, characters, and quests are only accessible at specific times of

428-479: A compilation of music from the first six Dragon Quest games. This game's music has also been featured on other Dragon Quest compilation albums, such as Dragon Quest on Piano Vol. II , which was released in 1990, and Dragon Quest Best Songs Selection ~Loula~ , released in 1993. A compilation album of Dragon Quest III ' s music was put on Dragon Quest III ~And into the Legend...~ Remix Symphonic Suite and

535-429: A console-exclusive character for Heroes II . The male version of the protagonist also appeared as a playable character in the 2018 crossover fighting game Super Smash Bros. Ultimate via downloadable content. He is fully voiced for the first time by Takeshi Kusao . Dragon Warrior III Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation , titled Dragon Warrior III when initially localized to North America,

642-487: A desire to find Alena in the mobile gacha game Dragon Quest Tact , noting how strong she is and that she was the character she used the most in Dragon Quest IV along with Maya. When asked who his favorite member of the Dragon Quest IV cast was, voice actor Hikaru Midorikawa picked Alena, suggesting that his role as Kiryl influenced his affinity for her. RPGFan writer Wes Illiff regarded Alena as one of

749-450: A dream sequence at the start of the game, while other characters' personalities are determined by their status at the end of the character generation process. Most personalities are available to both male and female characters, while a few are exclusive to male or female characters. A character's personality can be temporarily changed by equipping certain accessories, or permanently changed by using certain consumable books. The game starts in

856-640: A lower 604,000 copies in Japan by the end of 2001, and eventually became the fifth best selling Game Boy Color game in Japan, with 638,551 copies sold. Together with the sales of the remakes, Dragon Quest III is the most successful title in the series and one of the best-selling role-playing games in Japan. As of November 2010, Japan mobile phone version was downloaded more than 1,000,000 times. Wii Dragon Quest Collection sold 403,953 copies in 2011. Upon release, Famicom Tsūshin ( Famitsu ) magazine reviewed Dragon Quest III and scored it 38 out of 40, making it

963-482: A nearby town, befriending a Cureslime named Healie , who aspires to become human. Ragnar finds and defeats the monster responsible for the abductions and returns the children to their homes. In doing so, he learns the monsters were looking for the Legendary Hero, who is supposedly still a child, in order to kill them. Ragnar decides to leave his home and set out on a quest to protect them. Chapter Two follows

1070-421: A nearby village in order to get the jump on the monster responsible, defeating him. She later learns that her father has fallen mute, causing her to seek out a treatment for him. After curing him, he apologizes for being overprotective, allowing her to teleport to the city of Endor. There, the princess is slated to be wed to whomever wins the local tournament, leading Alena to join the tournament to prevent this. She

1177-409: 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

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1284-520: A new translation, incorporating many adult elements that were cut from its original American release, and becoming the first Game Boy Color RPG with a "Teen" rating. It was also one of the largest Game Boy Color game released in North America, with 32 Mb ROM and 256Kb of save-state SRAM on one cartridge. A new class, the Thief, was added to the roster in each of the remakes. Many of the names of

1391-478: A perfect 10/10. The male Hero from this installment appears in the Japan-exclusive mobile game Dragon Quest Rivals . He also appears as a guest character in the 2018 crossover fighting game Super Smash Bros. Ultimate via DLC and is officially voiced for the first time by Nobuyuki Hiyama . The game's director, Masahiro Sakurai , explained that the Hero's inclusion was originally meant to include just

1498-675: A pit to the Dark World, which the Hero jumps into. The Dark World is, in fact, Alefgard (of the previous installments of the series), where the Hero must acquire several of the artifacts that were collected in the original Dragon Quest , including the Sun Stone and the Rain Staff. Rubiss, a legendary sage, has been turned to stone and is rescued by the Hero, and the Hero receives the Sacred Amulet in return. These items, as in

1605-556: 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

1712-474: A port to mobile phones and the Wii in 2009 and 2011. A version of the game for Android and iOS was released in Japan on September 25, 2014, and worldwide as Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation on December 4, 2014. It was the first time the game was given an official English subtitle. Later in 2021, another remake of the game titled Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake , based on Octopath Traveler 's style,

1819-409: A silent protagonist to make the player feel like they have become the main character, but at one point in the story, Horii was forced to make the hero shout, "Leave him to us! Run! Quick!" The game was localized in North America as Dragon Warrior III in 1991 (though not officially released until 1992). Several changes were made in this version. Among them were the addition of a new title sequence (in

1926-532: 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

2033-460: A very intelligent manner." A version based on 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 reintroduces the party talk feature removed from the international Nintendo DS releases, being translated into

2140-873: Is a 1988 role-playing video game developed by Chunsoft and published by Enix . It is the third installment in the Dragon Quest series and was first released for the Family Computer (Famicom) in Japan and later for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in North America. The game saw an enhanced remake for the Super Famicom (the Japanese release of the Super NES) in 1996 and the Game Boy Color in 2001, and

2247-406: Is a character in the 1990 video game Dragon Quest IV , one of its main characters. She is the star of the second chapter, going out to explore the world and become a strong warrior with her retainers Kiryl and Borya, before discovering her kingdom wiped out. She later joins with the protagonist of the game in their quest to defeat the leader of the monsters, Psaro , and save the world. Her design

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2354-431: Is an arena where the player can place bets on the outcome of monster battles in order to win more gold. In the remakes, after selecting a character, the player can change the character's starting abilities with five magical seeds, given at the tavern. Also, each character has a personality trait which affects the growth rate of their abilities. The Hero's personality is determined by the player's choices and actions during

2461-513: Is slated to fight a man named Psaro the Manslayer , though he does not show, making her the winner by default and not marrying the princess. After the arena, a soldier from the kingdom finds her and tells her to return before dying. She returns to find the kingdom devoid of life, leading to them to investigate the cause. Alena later appears in the fifth chapter, searching for a cure for a fever Kiryl developed. The protagonist helps cure him, and

2568-576: The London Philharmonic Orchestra performing the soundtrack in Warwick Castle , along with clips of acting. Upon release in Japan, the game sold out 1.3 million cartridges and grossed ¥14 billion ( $ 98 million at the time, or $ 229 million adjusted for inflation) within one hour of its release. By 1992, it had sold 3 million units in Japan. The original Famicom version went on to sell 3.1 million units, becoming

2675-605: The PlayStation and Nintendo DS versions of the game, an extra chapter was added, which has Psaro joining the protagonist, Alena, and the others to defeat a traitorous minion of Psaro, Aamon. Alena was created for Dragon Quest IV , designed by Akira Toriyama . She is one of the game's main characters, and the lead character of the second chapter. She is voiced in Japanese by Shoko Nakagawa in Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree's Woe and

2782-649: The best-selling game in Japan between 1986 and 1989, grossing $ 230 million at the time. The original game sold a worldwide total of 3.895 million copies, including 3.8 million in Japan and 95,000 in the United States, grossing several hundred million dollars by 1993 ( $ 770 million adjusted for inflation). It is often mistakenly thought that in 1988 the game's success caused the Japanese government to outlaw further releases of Dragon Quest games on school days. In truth, Enix themselves decided to hold off

2889-560: The 58th best console video game of all time, calling it "easily the best RPG ever released for the NES - in the U.S. or Japan." They particular cited the epic length of the game's quest. In August 2008, Nintendo Power ranked Dragon Quest IV the 18th best Nintendo Entertainment System video game, describing it as the peak of the NES' Dragon Quest series and praising it for its innovative five-act story that made it one of their favourite old-school role-playing games. Readers of Famitsu voted

2996-420: The 96th best Nintendo Entertainment System game. GamesRadar ranked it the 12th best NES game ever made. The staff chose it over the other Dragon Warrior titles due to its job system which they felt had depth and was influential to video games. In 2023, Time Extension included the game on their "Best JRPGs of All Time" list. The Game Boy Color remake received very good reviews from critics. GameSpot gave

3103-580: The Blight Below and its sequel, Dragon Quest Heroes II , offered the role by Yuji Horii . In an interview, Nakagawa noted she was excited to portray Alena, with her having been a character in her life for a long time. She referenced herself frequently visiting Luida's Bar in Roppongi and growing excited whenever she saw Alena on one of the screens. She also portrays Alena in live action. Alena has received generally positive reception, being voted

3210-597: The Carmen's king for seven years, the kingdom fell to the hordes of evil. The only survivors were Prince Arus and an army General's daughter, Lunafrea. Meanwhile, in the Kingdom of Loran, a child by the name of is born with the name Jagan per the orders of Demon Lord Imagine. As Loto 's descendant, Arus, along with Lunafrea, set out to defeat the monsters and restore peace to the world. Dragon Quest Retsuden: Roto no Monshō ~Monshō o Tsugumono-tachi e~ takes place 25 years after

3317-614: The Children Who Inherit the Emblem) , published by Square Enix started in 2005 and is still ongoing; as of December 2012, fifteen volumes have been released. The first four volumes were written by Jun Eishima and all the rest volumes written by Takashi Umemura. All of them have been supervised by Yuji Horii with artwork done by Kamui Fujiwara. Dragon Quest Retsuden: Roto no Monshō is meant to take place between Dragon Quest III and Dragon Quest . After monsters possessed

Dragon Quest IV - Misplaced Pages Continue

3424-762: The Cursed King in the Monster Arena. Torneko later cameos in Dragon Quest Yangus as a merchant. In the Dynasty Warriors spin-off Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree's Woe and the Blight Below , Alena, Kiryl, Maya, and Psaro appear as playable characters; they are joined by Torneko and Meena in Dragon Quest Heroes II , and the compilation port Dragon Quest Heroes I·II for Nintendo Switch also includes Ragnar as

3531-521: The DS remake has sold 1.15 million units in Japan, and 1.46 million copies worldwide as of May 31, 2009. Dragon Quest IV was awarded " Best Game Grand Prize " and "Best RPG Game" in Famitsu magazine's 1990 Best Hit Game Awards . It was also awarded "Best Challenge" and 2nd place "Best Overall Game" (NES) in 1993 by Nintendo Power . In 1997 Electronic Gaming Monthly editors ranked Dragon Warrior IV

3638-456: The Famicom and Super Famicom versions of Dragon Quest III in Japan on September 15, 2011, as part of Dragon Quest 25th Anniversary Collection Famicom & Super Famicom Dragon Quest I & II & III , a compilation of emulated Dragon Quest games for the Wii to celebrate the series' 25th anniversary. A quick save feature was added to these versions, allowing for pauses at any time, but

3745-515: The Game Boy Color version a "good" 7.6/10, saying that "DWIII is a worthy port of its old NES ancestor, but its firm grounding in the RPG old-school means that only the hard-core need apply." The publication nominated the game for its annual "Best Game Boy Color Game" award, which went to Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages . Nintendo Power gave the remake a 4/5, while IGN gave the game

3852-572: The Hero, son or daughter (the player can choose to be either male or female, with few gameplay changes) of the legendary warrior Ortega. On their sixteenth birthday, the Hero is summoned to the castle and is given by the King of Aliahan the challenge to rid the world of the evil archfiend Baramos, which Ortega attempted in the past but seemingly perished in a volcano. The Hero then is able to recruit up to three traveling companions to help fight Baramos. The Hero leaves their home country of Aliahan to travel

3959-551: 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

4066-457: The Japanese version's party talk feature was completely excised from the western versions. The Nintendo DS English translation includes 13 regional dialects for the various areas, including Burland now being Scottish, and Zamoksva being Russian. Simon Carless of Gamasutra feels that the use of dialects can help some people to understand different cultures, saying, "It has the potential to nurture cross-language and cross-cultural understanding in

4173-433: The Manslayer , who fails to appear. After the victory, she returns to her home castle to find all the inhabitants have gone missing, so she sets out to find out what happened to everyone. Chapter Three follows the merchant, Torneko , a humble merchant working in a weapon shop in his hometown with his wife and young son. His dream is to own his own shop and be the world's greatest merchant. As he travels and performs favors at

4280-556: The Manslayer. The Hero manages to escape, and is joined by the main characters of the previous chapters. Together, they accomplish various deeds, such as defeating Marquis de Léon and Balzack, as well as collecting various pieces of Zenithian Armor, equipment that can only be worn by the one chosen to save the world. Later, they spy on Psaro and discover that Estark, the Ruler of Evil, has been awakened. They then travel to Estark's palace and defeat him just as Psaro's followers discover him. In

4387-567: 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

Dragon Quest IV - Misplaced Pages Continue

4494-706: The NES version) was popular enough to star his own series, in which he finds himself in quests in order to expand his store. These games are the Torneko no Daibouken sub-series (translated as Torneko's Great Adventure ), roguelike and random dungeon games produced by Enix (and Square Enix ) and developed by Chunsoft . The success of the games later inspired the creation of the Mystery Dungeon series. Ragnar, Healie, and Torneko all later appear as cameos in Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of

4601-496: 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

4708-508: The appropriate language. It also replaced the orchestrated music with the synthesized MIDI music in the title screen, which is performed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra . However, the synthesized music is entirely remastered in the iOS and Android versions, other than the synthesized music in the DS version. A five volume manga called Dragon Quest: Princess Alena was released. It followed

4815-604: The castle town of Aliahan. Like the rest of the Dragon Quest worlds, this castle is set in a medieval -like time period, complete with knights and magicians . The party explores several caves, ruins, and castles during the adventure. The geography of Dragon Quest III largely corresponds to the actual geography of Earth, and many towns correspond to their real-world cultures, including "Romaly" for Rome , "Portoga" for Portugal , "Assaram" near present-day Iraq (derived from " as-salamu alaykum "), "Jipang" for Japan (where

4922-550: The classes were changed in the English localization of the Game Boy Color version, such as Soldier to Warrior. Also, in the new versions was the ability to change into the Jester class at Dhama, which was not allowed in the original. New mini-games were added to the remakes, including Pachisi (called Suguroku in Japan / Treasures and Trapdoors as of the Dragon Quest V remake), which is a giant board game style adventure from which

5029-542: The dancer, Maya , and the fortuneteller, Meena , two sisters seeking revenge for the murder of their father by his former student, Balzack. By teaming up with a former student of their father, Oojam, they manage to plot a way into the Palais de Léon and find the man responsible. They attempt to avenge their father's murder by defeating Balzack, but are quickly defeated by Balzack's master, the Marquis de Léon, and are thrown in

5136-543: The day. Dragon Quest III features a class system, in which each character has a certain class. At the start of the game, the player begins as a single male or female hero but is able to recruit members at the local tavern. While the Hero always keeps the Hero class, the other characters can choose to be any of the following of either gender: Soldier (Warrior in the GBC version), Fighter, Pilgrim (Cleric), Wizard (Mage), Merchant (Dealer), Goof-Off (Jester), Sage, and Thief which

5243-415: The dungeon. Oojam sacrifices himself to allow the sisters to escape the castle. They then decide to flee the continent and head for Endor, where they hope to learn more about their new foe and about the Legendary Hero, whom they became aware of during their travels. Chapter Five follows the game's protagonist , known as " the Hero ". It begins with the Hero's hometown being attacked by monsters, led by Psaro

5350-545: The events in Dragon Quest Retsuden: Roto no Monshō . The world is once again in chaos and a young boy, Arosu ( アロス ) , sets out gathering companions to once again save the world from evil. Dragon Quest Retsuden: Roto no Monshō was popular in Japan, it has sold 18 million in Japan. Its sequel Dragon Quest Retsuden: Roto no Monshō - To the Children Who Inherit the Emblem has also sold well in Japan. For

5457-470: The ever-lengthening game development process of the series. Yuji Horii, in a 1989 interview, said that developers had perfected the series' game structure in Dragon Quest III , and this was reflected by the transition from one character's quest to a party of heroes. The password system used on the first two Dragon Quest titles was dropped in favor of a save slot due in part to Horii's dislike of

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5564-406: The first three titles, while carrying on many of those introduced in the previous games. Similar features included are the day and night cycles, the ability to travel via ship and a flying vehicle (this time, a hot air balloon), and the three levels of keys. They are Thief, Magic and Ultimate (originally localized as Final). There are also travel doors, which allow the party to move a great distance on

5671-524: The fourth best-selling game of the system, below its predecessor Dragon Quest III . The original game sold a worldwide total of 3.18 million copies, including 3.1 million in Japan and 80,000 in the United States, grossing several hundred million dollars by 1993 ( $ 700 million adjusted for inflation). The PlayStation version of Dragon Quest IV was the fourth best-selling game in Japan in 2001 with over 1 million copies sold, and has sold nearly 1.2 million copies as of December 26, 2004. As of August 8, 2008,

5778-556: The game as the 14th best game of all time in a 2006 poll. In particular, critics noticed with interest that the game's third chapter, Torneko's, departed largely from standard RPGs by making the only goal to collect money and by allowing players to have Torneko simply working in an in-game store. Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen was a nominee for Best RPG on the Nintendo DS in IGN 's 2008 video game awards. Critics pointed out that

5885-472: The game may feel outdated, especially to players not accustomed to Dragon Quest games, but that some of the characters, such as Ragnar, make the game stand out of the recent JRPGs. "Ragnar McRyan is in no way a character designed off the back of some intense Japanese schoolgirl demographic focus testing", wrote Eurogamer 's Simon Parkin, pleased. Dragon Quest IV is the first game in the series to spawn spin-offs. The merchant Torneko (also known as Taloon in

5992-410: The game was made easier by allowing one to save a game in a House of Healing, rather than talking to a king. Also, the save ("Confession" in the DS remake) and EXP point to the next level-up ("Divination" in the DS remake) are now separate commands. Returning to the format of the original North American Dragon Warrior , programmers allowed users to open a door using a command appearing in the top level of

6099-418: The game. It set sales records by selling 1.1 million game cartridges in Japan within a day and 3 million in a week, and grossing ¥20 billion ( $ 143 million at the time, or $ 368 million adjusted for inflation) within a month. It topped the Japanese sales charts from February, through March and April, to May 1988. It became the best-selling game of 1988 in Japan, with 3.8 million units sold, and

6206-432: The gameplay of the original Dragon Quest and Dragon Quest II . The game uses basic role-playing video game conventions such as leveling up by gaining experience points and equipping items. The battle system is turn-based like the other games in the series, though the remakes incorporate various interface changes from later titles. These include simpler door opening, a bag to store items instead of keeping them at

6313-482: 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. Shortly after the Japanese release, several people editing the Japanese ROM file discovered a near complete English translation along with Spanish, French, German, and Italian translations already inside the Japanese game. On April 9, 2008, Square Enix applied for

6420-408: The greatest female characters in role-playing games (RPGs), feeling that she stood in opposition to the notion of NES RPGs at the time that women were either damsels in distress or healers. He called her "the butt-kicking princess we all need and deserve" and that "games are still struggling to make a character as perfect" as her. Fellow RPGFan writer Mike Solossi agreed, considering her possibly

6527-473: The hero Erdrick (Loto in the Japanese releases and Game Boy Color localization). The story follows "the Hero" who is tasked with saving the world from the archfiend Baramos. Gathering a group of companions into a party, the Hero must travel the world, stopping at various towns and locations, and make their way to the Demon Lord Baramos' lair. Dragon Quest III is noted for greatly expanding upon

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6634-566: The hero fights Yamata no Orochi ) and even a "New Town" in eastern North America that experiences a revolution against an overbearing ruler (derived from the American Revolution against the United Kingdom in 1776). Dragon Quest III is set many years before the original Dragon Warrior in a world separate from the first two games. A wicked fiend named Baramos threatens to destroy the world. The story revolves around

6741-429: The land and the Hero will not live long enough to stop it. For their bravery, the Hero receives the title of "Erdrick" ("Loto" in the Japanese version). The Hero later vanishes from Alefgard, leaving their sword and armor to be passed down throughout the ages so that their descendants can continue to protect the world from evil. As with the other main games in the Dragon Quest series, Dragon Quest III ' s scenario

6848-476: The long codes that players needed to memorize or record . Horii had a policy of removing any features from his games that had been used elsewhere, which turned out to be unworkable during Dragon Quest III s development when the game's world map concept was used first by another game maker in Mirai Shinwa Jarvas , but Horii's team was too far into development to change anything. Horii also preferred

6955-596: The magazine's all-time highest-rated game up until then. In the 1988 Famitsu Best Hit Game Awards , Dragon Quest III won the awards for Game of the Year , Best RPG and Best Character Design. In 1989, Famitsu gave Dragon Quest III the award for the best game released since 1983. A survey conducted by Famitsu magazine in early 2006 among its readers placed Dragon Quest III as the third most favorite game of all time, being preceded by only Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy VII . In North America, Dragon Quest III

7062-483: The main characters, weapons and towns to be closer to, or include their original Japanese names, while adding several new localizations. This version also uses the new spell naming convention first used in Dragon Quest VIII , such as the spell Beat from Dragon Warrior IV becoming Whack . The western translations have been slightly changed in places where the Japanese version included sexual components, and

7169-410: The menu (rather than requiring users to search through various characters' inventories for the key as in some previous games). The only requirement was that at least one character in the party needed to have an appropriate key in his or her inventory. Since this command was added, an unlocked door was added in this game, as well as large Castle Doors. However, this command was eliminated in later games and

7276-470: The new chapter-based storylines, an artificial intelligence system called "Tactics" was implemented that allowed the player to provide strategies to the party members (who become NPCs in the final chapter), such as prioritizing damage, healing or MP conservation, while maintaining full control of the Hero. Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride , Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation and

7383-685: The next remake, for the Game Boy Color , was released in both Japan and the US. The Game Boy Color version is based on the Super Famicom version. For the North American release of the Dragon Quest III Game Boy Color remake, Enix decided to give the packaging an anime feel, due to fan demand on Enix's message boards. Both remake versions of Dragon Quest III offer many new features and changes. The game received

7490-593: The original game, create the Rainbow Bridge which leads the Hero to Zoma's castle for the final confrontation. Along the way, the Hero briefly reunites with Ortega as he is slain by Zoma's monsters, then continues on to defeat the revived Baramos, now turned into the powerful Baramos Bomus and later into the skeletal Baramos Gonus. With the Ball of Light given by the Dragon Queen, the Hero defeats Zoma and frees Alefgard, but Zoma boasts that evil will eventually return to

7597-401: The original, it was on a simple black screen with the title of the game in the center), and a new prologue which depicted Ortega, who also was given a brand new sprite in this version, fighting a Dragon, and being dragged into the volcano (in the original, the player was unaware of Ortega's fate, until talking to the King for the first time). There were also brand new music cues, including one for

7704-509: The original, the menu was silent). Finally, most of the monsters were given a boost in experience points. The Super Famicom version, released in late 1996, during the last days of the Super NES in North America, was never brought to North America, due to Enix America Corporation 's closure in 1995. By the time Enix of America returned, the SNES had been discontinued in North America. However,

7811-487: The player can win items. This game is based on Horii's series Itadaki Street . The Mini Medal system, which lets players collect hidden medals to gain new items, seen in later Dragon Quest games (it originated in Dragon Quest IV ), was added. Another medal system, Monster Medals, lets players collect medals from fallen enemies, was added in Game Boy Color remake, and two players could trade Monster Medals via

7918-408: 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 was drawn by famed manga artist Akira Toriyama , whom provided the artwork for

8025-470: The previous games in the series and would continue to do so for every future installment. 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. Dragon Quest IV

8132-459: The release of future Dragon Quest games until weekends. The North American release of Dragon Quest III did not meet nearly as much success. The North American release's poor sales are partly due to the fact that the game was released after the release of 16-bit gaming systems, making it seem archaic to gamers. The Super Famicom remake sold 1.4 million units in Japan, with nearly 720,000 units sold in 1996 alone. The Game Boy Color version sold

8239-410: The remake to North America in 2002 and had even advertised this upcoming release on the back cover to the US instruction manual for Dragon Warrior VII , but it 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

8346-427: The remake, in which doors can be opened by attempting to walk through them. In the original version, the game is divided into five chapters . The first four provide back-story for the Hero's party members, while the fifth follows the Hero themself as they meet up with the other characters. Chapter One follows the soldier, Ragnar McRyan , who is tasked by the King of Burland to find children who have gone missing from

8453-618: The remakes of IV allow tactics to be set for characters individually rather than using one tactics mode for all characters, as well as including the "Follow Orders" Tactics mode, which allows other characters to be controlled manually. This "Tactics" system is seen as a precursor to Final Fantasy XII 's " 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

8560-420: The remakes, their personality. This allows a player to create a character that knows Wizard spells but has the defense of a Soldier. Unlike most Dragon Quest parties, aside from the Hero, the party is not made up of characters involved in the story. Although only four characters can be in the party at a time, extra members of the party can be kept at the tavern, allowing room for new recruits. Another innovation

8667-609: The save file is deleted upon resuming. At the Dragon Quest 35th Anniversary Livestream, a remake of Dragon Quest III was announced in the "HD-2D" style of games like Octopath Traveler and Triangle Strategy . The remake was released on November 14, 2024. Koichi Sugiyama composed and directed the music for the game. Dragon Quest III ' s music is featured on Dragon Quest Game Music Super Collection Vol. 1 , Dragon Quest Game Music Super Collection Vol. 2 , and Dragon Quest Game Music Super Collection Vol. 3 , each album

8774-492: The second most-popular female character in the Dragon Quest series by readers of IT Media . She has been identified as one of the most popular characters from Dragon Quest IV by RPGFan and Inside Games . Inside Games writer Gen Gamachi felt she was an essential element to any discussion about Dragon Quest IV , appreciating that later versions of the game allowed him to see more sides of her, particularly her princess and girly side. Famitsu writer Satoruri expressed

8881-439: The secret of evolution. 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

8988-486: The ship, the Hero acquires the Final Key and the six mystical orbs which are used to revive the legendary bird Ramia. Ramia allows the Hero and their party to travel to Baramos' castle, which is surrounded by mountains. After defeating Baramos in a ferocious battle and returning to Aliahan, the Hero's celebration is cut off as Zoma, Baramos's master and the game's true villain, reveals his existence. He attacks and opens

9095-531: 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

9202-476: The three join them in their quest to defeat the monsters lead by Psaro and save the world. Together, they eventually discover that a demon named Baalzack was responsible for the harm that befell her kingdom, killing him in revenge. She accompanies the protagonist in their quest, eventually facing off against Psaro, who uses a power called the Secret of Evolution to become monstrous, before he is ultimately defeated. In

9309-469: The title sequence, and one that played after a non-player character death late in the game. To accompany the localization credits, the ending theme was extended to include a reprise of the Alefgard theme. It is unclear whether Sugiyama was brought back to score these new tracks, or someone else was brought in. The menu when starting a new or old save file also added the menu music from Dragon Quest IV (in

9416-416: The tomboyish Princess Alena and her two friends and mentors, tutor Borya and chancellor Kiryl, as she travels to prove her strength. Partway through her journey, Alena's father loses his voice after speaking of a dream he had depicting the end of the world. After restoring his voice, she travels to the town of Endor to enter a fighting tournament. She defeats all of the combatants except a warrior named Psaro

9523-490: The town of Strathbaile, the heroes have a dream that explains Psaro's plan. 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

9630-464: The towns he visits, Torneko eventually obtains permission to purchase a shop in Endor. Torneko is soon able to obtain the funds to purchase the shop and move his family to Endor. After establishing a successful business with his wife, he hears about a set of legendary weapons, which he sets out to find by funding the construction of an underground passageway to a neighboring continent. Chapter Four follows

9737-575: The translation prevented Enix from passing this to another developer, as Heartbeat was the most familiar with their own design. 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

9844-417: The two protagonists from Dragon Quest III and Dragon Quest XI , but the number would ultimately be doubled to four, including the protagonists from Dragon Quest IV and Dragon Quest VIII . The manga series, Dragon Quest Retsuden: Roto no Monshō ( ドラゴンクエスト列伝 ロトの紋章 , Dragon Quest Saga: Roto's Emblem) , was written by Chiaki Kawamata and Junji Koyanagi with artwork by Kamui Fujiwara and

9951-443: The week of August 26 through September 1, 2008, volume 7 was ranked 9th in Japan having sold 59,540 copies. For the week of February 24 through March 2, 2009, volume 8 was ranked 19th in Japan having sold 76,801 copies. For the week of October 26 through November 1, 2009, volume 9 was ranked 16th in Japan having sold 40,492 copies for a total of 60,467. Alena (Dragon Quest) Alena ( Japanese : アリーナ , Hepburn : Arīna )

10058-400: The world and complete their father's quest to defeat Baramos. A major portion of the adventure is the quest to acquire the last two of the three keys needed to open doors throughout the game. After saving two people of the town of Baharata from the rogue Kandar and stealing back the King of Romaly's crown, the Hero receives Black Pepper, which they then trade for a sailing ship at Portoga. With

10165-400: The world and to become a warrior, but her father, the king, refuses to allow it, asking her to behave more princess like. Disobeying him, she punches through her bedroom wall to break out and go on her own. She is stopped by her retainers, Kiryl and Borya, who allow her to go, but only if they accompany her. They explore the world, assisting various people, first by posing as a human sacrifice in

10272-478: 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. According to Yuji Horii , he wanted to have something the player went around collecting as

10379-407: The world map with little travel. Unlike the Hero in Dragon Warrior III , the Hero of Dragon Quest IV is not required to be in the party at all once the wagon becomes available. Despite this, the Hero is again the character that possesses the most powerful healing and attack spells. Many spells, weapons, armor, and shops (including the vault/bank) function the same as in past games. In addition to

10486-484: 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

10593-561: Was added to the remakes of Dragon Quest III . A pre-game sequence in which the player answers moral dilemmas similar to that in Ultima IV determines the Hero's personality. The personality of the other members of the party is determined by the stat-raising seeds that the player gives them during the character generation process. Personalities determine which stats increase when a character levels up. The personalities may be changed by use of special items and books. Square Enix released both

10700-453: Was announced during the franchise's 35th anniversary livestream, and later confirmed in the June 2024 Nintendo Direct to be released in November that same year for Nintendo Switch , PlayStation 5 , Windows , and Xbox Series X/S . The first three Dragon Quest games are part of the same story, and Dragon Warrior III is the first game chronologically, as well as the third game that features

10807-408: Was available only in the later versions. The choice of class greatly affects the character's stats and spells he or she can learn. Furthermore, upon reaching experience Level 20, a character has the option of changing classes at the temple of Dhama, found halfway through the game. A character who changes classes has their stats halved and restarts at experience Level 1, retaining their spells and, in

10914-548: Was considered an improvement over the first two games, with critics finding the new day/night system and the addition of an in-game bank praiseworthy, but the game was criticized for keeping "the same ugly graphical style and clumsy interface" according to Kurt Kalata of Gamasutra . Its reputation has risen in America since its release, primarily due to its gameplay innovations, leading Nintendo Power to list it as number 176 on their Top 200 Games list. IGN later listed it as

11021-472: Was created by Akira Toriyama , and she is voiced in Japanese by Shoko Nakagawa . She is a fan favorite Dragon Quest IV character, noted as a strong female character by multiple critics, one from RPGFan noting how rare this was on the NES . Alena appears in Dragon Quest IV as one of its main characters. She is first introduced in chapter 2 as the main character of the chapter. She desires to go out and explore

11128-417: Was designed by Yuji Horii , whereas the artwork was done by Akira Toriyama , of Dragon Ball fame. Koichi Sugiyama composed all the music for Dragon Quest III . Chunsoft president Koichi Nakamura , co-creator of Dragon Quest , stated he contributed about "10%" of the games programming. The game was released a year after the original, a longer period of development than its predecessor, and reflected

11235-586: Was finally established on the official North American site. The game was released in Europe under the title Dragon Quest: Chapters of the Chosen , omitting the number IV in a similar fashion to the European version of Dragon Quest VIII . This version of the game contains an entirely new translation of the script. It was claimed in Nintendo Power that the new translation has changed the names of many of

11342-402: Was published by Sony Records in 1996. In 2011 Sugiyama played a concert focused on Dragon Quest III in his "Family Classic Concert" series he has done for many years, playing fifteen of the games songs. All tracks are written by Koichi Sugiyama Dragon Quest III sold over one million copies on the first day, with almost 300 arrests for truancy among students absent from school to purchase

11449-664: Was published in Monthly Shōnen Gangan from 1991 through 1997. The series was later compiled into for 21 volumes published by Enix; in 1994, it was released on CD and was released for the PlayStation Portable on December 11, 2009, as part of manga distribution library. In 1996, an anime movie based on the manga was released on video cassette . A sequel series, Dragon Quest Retsuden: Roto no Monshō ~Monshō o Tsugumono-tachi e~ ( ドラゴンクエスト列伝 ロトの紋章 ～紋章を継ぐ者達へ～ , Dragon Quest Retsuden: Roto no Monshō - To

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