Tips and Tricks – Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen (DS)

If you’ve been playing video games since the NES era, then there’s a good chance that you’ve already heard about or played Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen, which was recently released for the diminutive Nintendo DS. If you haven’t for one reason or another, then this primer would definitely help.

If you’re new to console role-playing games or to Dragon Quest in general, then it’s important to remember the following pointers:

• The level of your characters is the most important detail to consider in any decision, particularly when exploring new areas. Since the battles are random in Dragon Quest IV, you should contemplate how far your characters should travel since trips to far-flung locations could spell disaster during lower levels.
  

  One should practice Dragon Quest basics early on.

• Levels also increase your characters’ statistics, making subsequent battles easier to accomplish. If a particularly nasty boss is giving you a rough time, a couple of level increases would make the job much easier.
• Naturally, you won’t be able to beat the bosses (or any monster for that matter) if your characters don’t have the proper equipment. The first order of business in any new town is the weapon and armor shop because you should check for more powerful equipment. If you have the cash, make the purchase. If you don’t have a sufficient amount, a few fights outside town would earn you more gold to afford the equipment. Just make sure you save your game before looking for a fight—you never know when you’d encounter a random monster that’s strong enough to kill all your characters.
• Next on the list are healing items. After all, you can’t always count on healers since they run out of MP. You should stock on the healing items, especially when going on a long trip with no towns in between.
• If your characters are running low on HP or MP, visit an inn before stopping over a church. Inns let you fully replenish your characters’ HP and MP. If one of your characters has a status effect or is dead, you should visit a church first before going to the inn. A night’s rest may restore the HP/MP of other party members, but it won’t help afflicted or dead teammates. When all the members are healed or resurrected, that’s the time you should save the game.
• Explore, explore, explore. Doing this would greatly help your party because of the hidden items and other loot that you may discover along the way. Don’t forget to break open every barrel, pot, or container because it may yield very useful items like healing items, buffs, or even gold. Make sure you rotate the camera to see all corners—they sometimes hide such breakable containers.
• Save often, even if the process takes some time. If you feel your handheld’s battery is running low, then do a quicksave in the middle of a dungeon just in case.

Keeping the basics in mind won’t make you a Dragon Quest guru overnight, but it would surely make your journey much easier. Most of all, enjoy every moment. Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen is indeed a gripping ride that’s worth the effort.

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