Genre: Role-Playing
Publisher: Square Enix
Developer: ArtePiazza
Release Date: September 16, 2008

Although it's a long-running RPG series in Japan, Dragon Quest often lives in obscurity in the U.S. mainly due to the popularity of its counterpart, Final Fantasy. The series was originally named Dragon Warrior, and the first few entries were available on the NES. Dragon Warrior IV was ported over to the PlayStation in 2001, and now it's getting a complete overhaul for the Nintendo DS in the form of Dragon Quest IV.

Like the other offerings in the series, the story involves a group of adventurers who gather together to fight evil. Dragon Quest IV introduces the main characters in five chapters and then continues with the actual quest. The demo I played took place during the first chapter, where I guided the knight, Ragnar McRyan, who was ordered by the king to investigate the kidnappings that have plagued the kingdom.

The demo had a fairly standard interface. The two screens display twice as much content during cut scenes, such as what's going on up above and what's occurring on the ground level. On the world map, your party will appear and move on the touch-screen, while your location is displayed on a map on the top screen. Like other RPGs on the system, movement can be controlled with either the d-pad or dragging the stylus in the direction you want to go. Likewise, you can navigate through your menus with either method.

In battle, your party's status appears one the top screen, while the enemies and your battle commands appear on the touch-screen, which makes it easier to select your actions and a target. As with other games in the series, battles are turn-based and retain the traditional feel of a classic RPG. Some of the spell names have been updated to reflect their nomenclature in 2005's Dragon Quest VIII. For example, the original name for the instant death spell was called Beat, but now it's Whack. In addition to altered spell names, all of the dialogue from the original game has been rewritten to modernize it.

Another update to this iteration is a minor graphical overhaul. Environments will appear as polygons, but characters come in the form of nicely drawn sprites and character portraits. The art direction in this title is different from that of the upcoming Dragon Quest IX for the DS. In DQ9, characters are drawn in the same cel-shaded fashion as those from DQ8. The soundtrack has also been a staple of the series, and this entry should be no different. You'll hear the familiar overture theme when you start up the game, and a few other classic tunes are featured throughout the demo.

All in all, Dragon Quest IV is shaping up to be quite the treat for classic RPG fans when it releases later this month. If Dragon Quest VIII was the first of your quests, then this remake should help you catch up with the series.