The fourth and final installment of the Dragon Warrior series for the NES console. This one… this one is a winner, ladies and gentlemen, as far as the NES installments go.

This game sets off a new storyline entirely from the first three games. (Generally with DQ/DW you would see a trio of games having an interconnected storyline/timeframe)

This game has 5 chapters. The first introduces Ragnar, a soldier of Burland, who must find the cause of children disappearing and rescue them. I’ll let you play the game to learn the rest, but I will say this– chapter 5 will introduce not only your final permanent character, but re-introduce everyone else from chapters 1-4. In other words…

This game, not even counting temporary chapter members in any sense, has 8 playable characters.

This was quite a few for a game of this technological level, considering they all had pre-made stories, motivations, etc. This game is not short at all either, so there is a lot to take in and enjoy. Seriously, if you have the time, check this one out. You do not have to have played any previous Dragon Warrior game to play this, because again, it begins a storyline completely different from the first three.

This game is unique, you could say, in that it was for the longest time in re-translation hell. It was never made available ported to the SNES, like 1-3 were. And it’s Playstation re-release never made it to US shores either, which personally disappointed me when I was younger. The DS has finally solved this, but if you want to experience it in it’s original integrity I encourage you to do so.

I go on too much. Go check this out!