The Chosen

I've always been a big fan of games that give ample screen time to each of its characters. Too many RPGs introduce new characters and the plot quickly forgets them. They lose relevance and have very little impact on the game as a whole. As much as I love Fire Emblem, the games in that series are frequently guilty of doing just that. Chrono Cross springs to mind as another game with a large cast that neglects to flesh out many of its characters. I like the idea of an RPG having an "ensemble cast" wherein each of the characters are just as important and fleshed out as any other. This is the case for games like Live A Live and also for Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen, which I completed early last month.

Dragon Quest established a formula and a mythos in its first three titles, although II and III both expanded or evolves the format in their own ways. Dragon Quest II expanded the party size and made those characters more relevant to the plot. Dragon Quest III expanded the party size once again and left it up to the player to determine the party composition by implementing a class system. Dragon Quest IV changes it up again for what is probably my favorite system so far. The characters have predetermined classes and abilities, but all are relevant to the plot in some way. They are the Chosen Ones, destined to save the world.

Unlike your typical Dragon Quest title, you won't find yourself in control of the hero (which can be male or female) until about halfway through the game. First, you'll play through a series of side chapters that introduce the various playable characters of the game and the trials they overcome before coming in contact with the hero. Not only does this help the player decide which group of characters to field for the latter half of the game, but it allows each character to get a reasonable amount of screen time and character development.

I must reiterate that I absolutely love the format in which characters start out a game separated and then reunite later to form a unified force. One other example of this kind of gameplay I can think of is Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, where characters from Path of Radiance start out the game separated from Micaiah's Dawn Brigade. Of course, the quintessential example for me is the much more obscure Live A Live, in which the entire game is a series of separate chapters from different time periods, followed by a final chapter in which these characters come together. Of course, Dragon Quest IV is a little different in that once the characters unite, you've still got about half the game left to go.

Other than this unusual (and highly satisfying) format, Chapters of the Chosen is typical Dragon Quest fare with turn-based combat, magic keys, treasure hunting, and Akira Toriyama art. It's a formula I've grown to enjoy and I see no reason why I won't continue to play through the series--with little breaks here and there, of course. I'll be ordering Dragon Quest V and VI whenever I have some extra cash.