Dragon Quest IV #02

EDIT: YouTube video for this segment, now live!

Let's get back into the game, shall we?!

Ragnar is ready to get moving! We have to go back to Burland to tell Fiora that her husband has regressed into childhood (or as they may say in the DS, "bairnheid"). So when we get there she just accepts that and demands we take her to see him. ...Uh oh, he doesn't recognize her. That can't bode well. So she smacks him. (HAAAAAAAA, of course in the Japanese versions she puff-puffs him! Boobies strike again! The DS remake has her instead showing him her wedding ring in hopes that he'll remember how much it cost him.) And he's cured! It's a miracle! Poor fool lost his mind in fear over the monsters. Alex repays us with a clue about a secret playground. Seems like a good place to kidnap children from, if you'd ask me. Let's check it oot!

Due southeast of the sign that says not to play in the woods, we find the secret playground in the woods. Typical! Actually, on the NES-J run I forget what I'm doing and I try going here before getting Fiora—the playground totally isn't there yet, which implies it gets built between my two visits to Izmit. Makes sense, right?! Anyway, a voice tells us to enter the well, but first there's an enticing storehouse to the left. Inside is an Agility Seed and an Herb. In the DS remake I'm going to save seeds for later since inventory space is unlimited with the "bag"; however, in the originals I'm going to go ahead and use them whenever I find them because space is so limited. In the PS remake, I'll save them unless my inventory fills, since there is a little bit more wiggle room than on the NES (each character gets 12 slots instead of just 8), but there's no "bag" yet as in the DS. Now that we have that settled, let's jump down a well!

A voice tells you which way to go. Most of the time you want to listen, because otherwise you'll be open to random monster encounters, which will give you ouchies. I hope you filled up on Herbs! Sizarmages (a.k.a. Winksters) can use Blaze, which can be deadly, and Lethal Gophers (a.k.a. Mad Moles) can increase their attack power for one turn. Interesting note, in Japanese the Gophers/Moles are called "Killer Shovels." There is a Medical Herb at the end of a long tunnel on the first floor, but it's totally not worth it. I use this knowledge on the NES-J run to, you know, not go that way so I don't use up all my healing. (You can pick it up on the way out with no monsters, too! Win!) On the second floor, however, there is a Healer at the end of a tunnel, and you do want to go get him! And of course I'm one step away and I die. That was on the NES version, folks—these old games don't mess around! I work my way back down and meet Healie, the Kind Healer who dreams of becoming human. Hey, if I follow a human, I can become human, right?! So let him do it, you desperately need the healing!

Circle back around, follow the voice this time, and when you get to a T-intersection, go right. It'll take you around to where you met Healie and put 600G in your pocket. Just follow the voice from here on out and you'll be fine; of course, that T is the last intersection of the dungeon, so whatever. At the end of the tunnel, you will find some Flying Shoes. How strange! In the DS remake these are called Talaria, the winged sandals of Hermes (!), and Healie mentions that the children found these same shoes before, saying that if you wear them you fly into the air! Wheeee! I guess this is to make up for removing Party Chat which was present in the PS remake...perhaps if I were to chat Healie up on the PS he'd mention the same thing, but unfortunately I'm not planning to dig that deep into the Japanese this time, sorry. In any case, there's nothing else here, so it's time to leave! The way back out is a little more complicated since you arrived by jumping, but it's not hard to find and you'll come out through the storehouse. In the remakes you'll continue meeting monsters, though. The NES version was really quite clever; the monsters only attack when you go the wrong way, and once you reach the goal they still let you back out so you can use the shoes freely, as long as you keep to the path. If I were a kid, I might even fall for it!

Back at the town, I buy some new armor (weapons seem okay for now). I opted for the Iron Shield first, because of its alleged magic resistance. I'll let you know if I can confirm or deny whether that's true in any version besides the DS. A save and a quit, and that's that!

Name Changes
NES (U)	NES (J)	NDS (U)	PS (J)
* denotes an entry which was not significantly changed from the previous version in the same language. Blank entries either have not appeared yet or were not named in that version.
Who's Who
Healie	ホイミン [hoimin]	*	*
Toolkit
Flying Shoes	そらとぶくつ [sora tobu kutsu]	Talaria	*
Spellbook
Blaze	メラ [mera]	Frizz	*
Heal	ホイミ [hoimi]	*	*